Elders and Deacons: Choosing our Shepherds

We will now read from two passages in the Bible.

If you have a Bible with you,

and then please turn to Acts chapter 6.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

It's also printed in your bulletin,

and you can see it on the screens.

There are, however, Bibles at the back

if you would rather like a hard copy in your hands.

So first, Acts chapter 6,

Acts 6:1–6

verses 1 to 6.

Now, in these days,

when the disciples were increasing in number,

a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews

because their widows are being neglected

in the daily distribution.

And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said,

It is not right that we should give up

preaching the word of God to serve tables.

Therefore, brothers,

pick out from among you seven men of good repute,

full of the Spirit and of wisdom,

whom we will appoint to this duty.

But we will devote ourselves to prayer

and to the ministry of the word.

And what they said pleased the whole gathering,

and they chose Stephen,

a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit,

and Philip, and Prochorus,

and Nicanor, and Timon,

and Parmenas, and Nicholas,

a proselyte of Antioch.

These they said before the apostles,

and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

And then the second passage is 1 Timothy 3, verses 1 to 10,

1 Timothy 3:1–10

which talks about the qualifications for elders and deacons.

The saying is trustworthy.

If anyone aspires to the office of overseer,

he desires a noble task.

Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach,

the husband of one wife,

sober-minded, self-controlled,

respectable, hospitable,

able to teach,

not a drunkard,

not violent but gentle,

not quarrelsome,

not a lover of money.

He must manage his own household well,

with all dignity,

keeping his children submissive.

For if someone does not know

how to manage his own household,

how will he care for God's church?

He must not be a recent convert,

or he may become puffed up with conceit

and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders,

so that he may not fall into disgrace,

into a snare of the devil.

Deacons, likewise,

must be dignified,

not double-tongued,

not addicted to much wine,

not greedy for dishonest gain.

They must hold the mystery of the faith

with a clear conscience,

and let them also be tested first.

Then let them serve as deacons,

if they prove themselves blameless.

This is the Holy Word of God.

Amen.

All right, well, we are in a month

where we are nominating

both elders and deacons for office.

And so, in a season like this,

a lot of questions come up.

Who can be an elder?

Who can be a deacon?

What is an elder?

What is a deacon?

Who should we choose?

What do they do, for that matter?

Why do we have church leadership

in a structure like this

with elders and deacons?

There are more questions

that might come up for you

than we can answer today.

So, let's do the most foundational thing,

the most fundamental things

with this call for elders and deacons

that we're having right now

and look together at Acts 6.

So, we read from Acts 6

because this is one of the few places

in the Bible

where we see elders and deacons

working together in a really live way.

The apostles acting as some of the first elders

and then the first seven proto-deacons,

as we often say,

called here at the beginning,

right in the earliest moments of the church.

And let's see the realism of the church

that gives way to deacons,

the reality of what the church is like,

the need for deacons, in other words,

the priorities of elder and deacon,

and then lastly, the people themselves.

Okay, so first, the realism,

the circumstances,

the reality of the church

that gives rise to a need for deacons.

That's what we see here.

So, in Acts 6,

there's a couple circumstances taking place

that give rise to the office of deacon

for the first time ever.

First, the church was growing explosively.

So, Jesus died,

He rose from the dead,

He commissioned His apostles,

and now the church is expanding really rapidly.

And so, we learn in Acts already twice,

3,000 people came to faith in Jerusalem

in a weekend, in a day.

5,000 people in the next chapter

come to faith around Jerusalem.

And then, in the passage just before this,

Acts 5, 14,

it says that a multitude of men and women follow Jesus.

And so, there's this explosive growth,

and they're trying to figure out

how to do church and churches

in the light of all the people

coming to faith in Jesus

and following Jesus.

The other circumstances,

we see really clearly

from the very beginning of the church

that the apostles,

the disciples,

the first leaders,

were really, really committed

to daily distributions

of food and clothing

to the poor.

So, that's the context

that this passage is all about.

Now, to understand that,

you've got to understand

that in the first century,

there are a lot of people

experiencing abject poverty,

true poverty.

So, we have the materially poor,

poor people

who struggle with material poverty

in our city.

And here in the first century,

you would have had

the type of poverty

where truly people

could often not find clothing.

So, when Jesus says,

feed the poor,

give a cup of water

to the thirsty,

and clothe the naked,

he was serious.

It was not,

that was not just a metaphor,

that was very real.

There were people

who literally

could not find clothing.

And so, there's a lot

of abject poverty here

in the earliest moments

of the church in Jerusalem.

Just in a couple chapters

previously,

Barnabas,

one of the early evangelists,

he, we're told that

when he experienced

the gospel,

the transforming work

of the gospel in his life,

he turned around

and sold his land

so that he could give

the money

to cover the clothing

and food needs

of the poor in Jerusalem.

And so, people were doing

that all the time.

This was not

communism.

No, it was people

who had been transformed

by the generosity

of Christ in the gospel.

And so, we're willing

to give away everything

to meet the needs

of the people

all around them.

They had a real needs ministry.

And they learned that

through God's generosity

to them,

the generosity

of the cross,

the love of God

in the gospel.

So, we read in James,

Jesus' brother,

James, biological brother,

who did not believe

in Jesus

when Jesus was doing

his ministry,

but after the resurrection

came to faith

in his biological brother,

his Messiah, Jesus.

In the book of James,

James 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

this is what he says

about needs ministry

that Georgie was talking

about,

what we read about here.

He says,

if a brother or sister

is without clothing

and in need of daily food

and one of you says to them,

go in peace,

be warm,

be filled,

but you do not give them

what is necessary

for their body

to make them warm

or fill them up with food.

What use is that?

Even so,

even so faith,

even with faith,

if it has no works,

it is dead.

So James says,

faith without the living act

of service of people

in need is dead faith.

Faith loves,

faith works,

faith exhibits itself

in transformation.

And so caring for one another

was a really,

really big deal

in the early church

and we learn here

just from the example

of Christ,

the example of the apostles

that faith in Jesus

must be accompanied

by care for one another,

by loving works,

by good works.

And we learn that

from who?

From God himself

in the Old Testament.

One scholar talks about

the quadrilateral

of the vulnerable

in the Old Testament,

this fourfold way

of understanding paradigm

for who are the most vulnerable

in the Old Testament

ancient Near Eastern society.

And he says,

they are the widow,

the orphan,

the sojourner,

the person who's traveling

without a home,

and the materially poor.

And we all across

the Old Testament

see God say,

I care for the widow,

the fatherless,

the sojourner,

and the poor.

Psalm 68,

Isaiah chapter 1,

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

do good,

do justice.

I am a father

to the fatherless.

I am a home

for those who have poverty,

God says.

And then he turns

and he says to God's people,

go and do likewise.

Jesus said,

love as I have loved.

So he gives the church

really clearly

this example

in the early days

of the church.

Now,

the specific issue

in Jerusalem,

this specific issue

we're reading about here

in Acts chapter 6,

Acts 6 · chapter mention

is that

when all these thousands

of people

came to faith

in Jerusalem,

there were largely

two groups of people

that came to follow Jesus

in the beginning.

They were Hebrew-speaking Jews,

Hebrew and Aramaic-speaking Jews

on the one hand,

and on the other hand,

Greek-speaking Jews.

So that's what's referred to

here in verse 1

as the Hellenist.

And so you've got Jews

spread out all over

the Roman Empire,

and many of them

have come back

to Jerusalem.

And so they would have

spoken the lingua franca

of the day,

which was Greek,

not Hebrew,

not Aramaic.

And so what's happened

is all these people,

all these Jews

have come to faith

in Christ,

but some speak Hebrew,

some speak Greek.

And you know that

when you have

different languages,

you're often separated,

and there's cultural difference.

And so in the daily

distribution for the poor,

the widows who spoke

Greek said

that they were getting

neglected

by the apostles

in the daily distribution

of food and clothing.

So we don't know

all that was going on

in there,

but we learned a couple

things about that.

One is,

and here's the realism

of the church.

The church,

as it grew,

was struggling

administratively,

was struggling

organizationally.

Now,

I'm sure you've never

been in a church

that struggles

administratively

and organizationally,

right?

You've never been

in a church

that fails to communicate

well.

You've never been

in a church

that struggles

to get it all in order

and get all the volunteers

in place,

right?

Look,

the realism of the church,

churches struggle

organizationally.

And the longer

you've been around

the local church,

the more you know that.

And we see that

right here.

Even the apostles,

they couldn't keep

it all together.

They were

all over the place

trying to meet

everybody's needs

and there was just

too many people

and they couldn't do it.

You know,

the church is much more

of a family

than it is a corporation

and so sometimes

there's a lot of struggle

in the midst of that.

The second real thing

we see here

is that

we don't know for sure

but it very well

may have been the case

that there was prejudice

involved in this.

So when you're speaking

a different language,

when you're a Hebrew speaker

and there's the Greek speakers,

but you're all

in the same church,

there's a lot of

cultural difference,

a lot of divide,

and it's just a natural thing

that probably many people

were favoring those

that speak their own language

from their own culture

and community.

And there was maybe

an element of prejudice

in all this

and there's relational messiness

from the very beginning

even with the lives

of the apostles here.

And that means

we see

that churches

can be organizationally messy

and relationally messy.

We are not

perfect people

and this is not

a perfect place

and that is the culture

and the context

that gave rise

to the office of deacon.

Quite unremarkable

in many ways,

so important

in another sense of it.

But what we do see

is that

in spite of

the messiness,

the relational messiness,

the organizational messiness,

the two things

we learn about here

that they would not

let go of

is the apostle said

we have an intense

devotion

to the ministry

of the word

so we will not neglect

the preaching

of the gospel,

the opening of the Bible

on the one hand

and we will not neglect

the caring

of the daily distribution

on the other.

We'll do whatever it takes

to figure it out.

Even God

in his providence

creating an office

called deacon

to satisfy this issue

and satisfy

these needs.

Look,

in the early church

the historians

will tell you

Rodney Stark,

Larry Hurtado,

they will say

these great scholars

of church history,

they will say

that what gave rise

to the rapid growth

and expansion

of Christianity

in the Roman Empire

in the first three centuries

was two things.

One,

people going around

in the first generation

saying

I saw Jesus Christ

die on the cross

and I saw Jesus Christ

alive three days later.

And then

that's called

the preaching of the gospel,

the sharing of the gospel

and the apostle said

we'll never let that go.

On the other hand,

the historians

will tell you

the other thing

was the churches

care for the poor

anywhere they were.

And so many people

were attracted

to Christianity

through that means.

And it wasn't just

care for the poor

within the community

of faith

like our needs

ministry does,

but it was care

for also outsiders,

those who are yet

to become Christians

as well.

We learn this

in Galatians chapter 6.

Galatians 6 · chapter mention

Paul says,

do not neglect

to care for the needs

of all,

especially those

in the household

of faith.

He says,

do not neglect

the care

of the needs

of everyone,

especially those

in the church community,

meaning both inside

and outside.

In the late

fourth century,

the late 300s,

Christianity

had really

gathered momentum.

A lot of people

had come to faith

in Christ

across the Roman Empire.

But there was

an emperor

named Julian

called Julian

the Apostate.

That's his nickname.

And he was

a big enemy

of Christianity.

He sort of

took the charge

on the last ditch

effort to try

to rid the kingdom

of Christianity.

So there was

a grand persecution

across the empire

in that time.

But we have a letter

from Julian.

And Julian

writes a letter

to the priests

of polytheism,

the priests

of the Greco-Roman gods

across the empire.

And he writes

a letter

about the church,

about the Christian church.

And listen to what

he says about it.

This is what he says.

He writes this

in an age

where polytheism

is in decline

and he's really

worried about it.

Okay, that's the context.

Why do we think

that what we have done

is sufficient

and do not observe

how the kindness

of the Christians

to strangers,

their care

for the burial

of the dead,

the sobriety

of their lifestyle

has done the most

to advance

their cause

in the kingdom?

Each of these things

ought to be practiced

by us.

Tell the priests

to stop drinking

so much.

I'm devising a plan.

Erect hostels

for strangers

in all the cities.

Be kind

to strangers

for it is disgraceful

that when no Jew

ever has to beg

and the Christians

support not only

their own poor

but our poor

as well,

all men see

that our people

are lacking

aid from us.

So this is

Julian's attempt

to try to battle

the Christians.

He said,

look at what they're doing.

Look at how they love people.

Now in the midst

of that point too,

we learn in the midst

of a context like this

the priorities

of the elders

and deacons.

And it's real simple.

We've already said it.

It said,

they said,

we will not neglect

the ministry of the word,

opening up the Bible,

preaching and teaching

the gospel,

and will not neglect

the ministry of love.

Right?

So we see the priorities

of elders and deacons.

Very simple.

The two offices

and what they're supposed

to be doing.

So here,

the apostles say,

we will not give up

our focus on preaching

the gospel to serve tables.

And it's really fascinating.

What does it say?

It says,

we will open up the Bible

and do the ministry

of the word

like we're doing now

and we pray.

So the apostles,

it says,

devoted themselves

to preaching

and prayer.

But then they say,

nevertheless,

let's raise up seven men

to fulfill this task.

Now,

today,

we're in a time

where there's a lot

of resurgence

in the church communities.

And this has happened

over really the past century

in Scotland especially

for recovering

the ministry of mercy.

Recovering the focus

that the church

is in the Bible

called to take care

of the needs of the poor.

First inside the church,

then also outside the church.

So we've had

a century of resurgence

and talking about that.

And notice here

that the apostles say,

no,

we're serious about that.

But a lot of times

in our culture,

in our past century,

that has been

at the expense of

and neglect

of preaching the word,

right?

So churches might focus

on the ministry of mercy,

on social causes,

on justice

in the broad sense

of the term.

But oftentimes,

there's a false dichotomy

or a zero-sum game.

Where that just means

that the gospel

is no longer preached anymore.

And you see

what the apostles do here?

They say,

we will never stop

preaching the gospel.

And we will appoint

seven men

to make sure

that the ministry of love

is taking care of

the ministry of mercy.

So for them,

it's never a zero-sum game.

It's never a false dichotomy.

It's always a both-and.

They refuse to choose.

And we see

all throughout the Bible

that God's people

in the Old Covenant,

Israel,

and in the New Testament,

the church,

fulfilled through Jesus,

they're always called

to both ministries.

The ministry of the word,

the ministry of God's grace,

telling people about Jesus,

and at the same time,

the ministry of loving deeds,

of loving service.

Now,

very simple.

Elders,

the apostles

were the first elders,

right?

And first ministers

of the church.

The elders' job

in the church

is to be exemplars

and lead us

in the ministry

of the word

and prayer.

The deacon's job

is to lead us

in the ministry

of tangible deeds

of love,

tangible deeds

of service.

And these two

go together,

they fit together,

they work together perfectly.

You don't become

a Christian

by committing

wonderful acts of love.

You don't become

a Christian

by deaconing.

You don't become

a Christian

by serving the community

or showing works

of mercy.

You don't.

No,

you become a Christian

only.

You become a Christian

only by placing faith

in the great deacon

himself,

Jesus Christ,

who served you

all the way

to the point of death.

That's the only way.

And faith

works itself out

in love.

Transforming faith,

the experience

of the grace

of God in Christ,

transforming faith

does work itself

out in loving deeds.

It shows up

in the loving deeds.

The deacons

are there

to lead us

in loving deeds.

The elders

are there

to lead us

in the ministry

of the word

of the gospel,

focusing on Christ.

Now we see

that these are never,

it's so not a false

dichotomy,

so much so

that all across

even the book of Acts

we see that elders

will do the work

of mercy,

deacons will do

the work of preaching.

So Stephen,

even in this passage,

in the very next passage,

Stephen,

this first,

one of the first deacons,

he preaches

for two whole chapters

after this.

Right?

And think about Paul,

the great elder,

the great apostle,

the great minister.

What does Paul do?

He says in Galatians 2.10,

when I was commissioned

to go and share

the gospel,

the ministry of the word,

in prayer

to the Gentiles,

they told me,

do not neglect the poor.

And he said,

and that was the very thing

I was most eager to do.

You see,

elders,

deacon,

and deacons,

elder.

And that's because

they're exemplars

for all of us.

Each of those offices

lead us

in each of those two things,

but it's the whole work

of the church,

right?

And so we saw,

if you were around last week,

Ephesians chapter 4,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Jesus Christ gave

the apostles,

prophets,

evangelists,

shepherds,

and teachers

to do what?

To equip

the whole church

for the work of ministry.

So who gave us elders?

Who gave us deacons?

Who gave us apostles,

prophets, evangelists?

Jesus did.

And he did that

for what?

So they could lead us

in the whole work

of ministry

that we're all called to do.

It's everybody's ministry.

And that means that

we learn here

that deacons are,

it's not an A team,

B team situation.

Elders are not the A team

and deacons the B team.

You know,

you don't become a deacon

and then graduate

to an elder.

No.

These are two distinct callings

that are clearly

interrelated for life.

So what's an elder?

And I'll move to

the final point.

An elder,

I like how one

early church theologian

wrote about it

in the fourth century.

He said,

an elder is

a spiritual physician.

An elder is

a spiritual doctor.

And not in the sense

that they do this

for status or prestige

or to be called doctor.

You know,

instead,

an elder is a

carer of souls.

So an elder

is not a CEO,

an elder is not a CFO,

a chief financial officer.

An elder is not

a trustee

or a board member,

though sometimes

they have to do

all this sort of stuff

in the life of the church.

An elder is a doctor

of the soul.

I'll use

Harold Sinkbeil,

who's recently

wrote a book

about eldership

and pastoring

and caring

for people's souls

so that the current elders

don't get mad at me

for this,

so I'll quote

somebody else.

Harold Sinkbeil,

he says that

elders are nothing

but errand boys,

errand boys

for Jesus.

I like,

he puts it

in another metaphor,

he says elders

are the sheepdogs

of the church.

What is a sheepdog?

You know,

a sheepdog,

you've got the great shepherd,

Jesus Christ himself,

the great shepherd

of the sheep,

and then you've got

the sheep,

the people,

and then you've got

the sheepdog.

And the sheepdog

is not a master,

you know.

What does the sheepdog do?

The sheepdog has one ear

and one eye

always on the master.

Being commanded,

being told where to go,

being told how to serve.

And then the sheepdog

has his other eye

and his other ear

always on the sheep,

protecting the sheep,

nourishing the sheep,

caring for the sheep,

making sure the sheep

don't get captured

by the wolves,

right?

So elders,

they never come

for status,

no.

They mustn't

come for status,

they must come

as sheepdogs,

errand boys

for Jesus Christ,

the first servants.

What's a deacon?

A deacon

is not a position

of status.

There is no money,

there is no glamour.

I can tell you

at St. Columbus

there is no money,

there is no glamour,

there is only service

to be had

in this ministry.

And that means

that deacons

are not mere

building managers,

they're not finance team,

they're not a finance team,

they're not a board

who makes sure

that our liability

insurance

is covered fully,

and it is,

by the way.

We checked that

this week.

deacons,

I'll read to you

one book,

it said,

deacons are men

who desire to serve,

who embrace the faith,

who live the Christian life

in an exemplary way,

especially

in being a model

for tangible,

concrete,

Christian love.

They're the first

to show up in crisis,

they're the first

to serve.

That's a deacon.

Lastly,

finally,

the people themselves.

Now,

in Acts chapter 6,

Acts 6:3

verse 3,

there's a brief list

of qualifications

for what it takes

to be a deacon here,

and this also,

I think,

applies to elders as well.

So it says,

pick brothers

from among you,

seven men

of good reputation,

full of the Spirit

and wisdom.

So we learn there

that these men

must have a good reputation,

they must be full

of the Holy Spirit

and of wisdom.

And then we read

from 1 Timothy 3 as well,

and if you just

cast your eyes

across 1 Timothy 3

and see some

of these qualifications,

okay?

And I won't go through

them in detail,

don't worry,

but just what does he say?

He says,

they must be above reproach,

the husband of one wife,

sober-minded,

that means not given

to extreme behavior,

self-controlled,

respectable,

hospitable,

opening their homes

to people,

opening their homes

to strangers,

able to teach,

not drunk,

not a drunkard,

not constantly drinking,

not violent,

literally not getting

in fights,

not quarrelsome,

not a lover of money,

gentle,

meek,

a manager of their

own household.

You can go through

these lists,

deacons not double-tongued,

not,

as the King James put it,

interested in sordid gain,

right?

Interested in loving money

too much.

Now,

you could read

a list like that,

full of the Holy Spirit,

wise,

above reproach.

The very last

qualification listed

in 1 Timothy 3

about deacons,

blameless,

and say,

where are these people?

Who are these people?

And,

that's so important

to ask,

that's so critical

and necessary to ask.

Let me give you,

let me just highlight

three qualifications

to look for.

Number one,

we're told here,

1 Timothy 3,

1 Timothy 3:8–10

verses 8 to 10,

and Acts 6.

We see in Acts 6,

the apostles say,

we will not neglect

the ministry of the word.

And then,

1 Timothy 3,

8 to 10,

a deacon must hold

to the mystery of faith,

of the faith,

with a clear conscience.

What's that saying?

That's saying that

the first thing to ask

is in elders and deacons,

and your own heart

as a Christian,

if you're a Christian today,

do I hold

to the mystery of faith?

What is that?

What is that?

He's talking there

about the doctrines

of the Bible.

Very simple.

He's saying,

are these men

that we're choosing,

are you holding fast

to the doctrines

that the Bible teaches?

The gospel itself

and the answers

to questions like,

who is God?

Who am I?

What is wrong with me?

Is this world redeemable?

How has Christ done it?

How can I be saved?

What is to happen

at the end of the world?

These are the doctrines

of the faith, right?

And so,

in the Bible,

sometimes there is two uses

to the word faith.

There is the faith

that we believe by,

so your personal faith.

When you rest in Christ,

that's faith.

You believe in more

than your eye can see right now.

Then there is the language

of the faith,

the mystery of the faith.

What is the faith?

It's not your personal faith.

It's the objective faith

that can be written down on paper

and said,

this is what the Bible teaches.

So the first thing we learn

is that an elder and a deacon

and all of us are called

to open the Bible

and say,

what does the Bible teach?

Orthodoxy,

we call it.

Right teaching.

That's a necessary step

in choosing any leader.

That has to be there.

But secondly,

it says they must,

and I'll just focus on this

because this encompasses

that whole list,

that elders and deacons

must be beyond reproach

or blameless.

That's the word that's used.

Now,

does this mean

that all of these character qualities

that we read about here

in 1 Timothy 3 and Acts 6,

when we read the word blameless,

that's a summary word.

We're looking for men without sin,

that they've gotten past it,

you know,

they've beat it finally.

And if it was saying that

after 2,000 years of church history,

we would still be looking forward

to the first ordination

of elders and deacons,

okay,

this is not saying

that we are looking for perfect people,

that we are looking for men without sin.

No,

not at all.

Instead,

if you could summarize

the whole list

and the concept of above reproach

or blameless

in modern language,

it would be something like this.

Not engaged

in two different lifestyles.

Where on the one hand,

they're saying,

I'm an Orthodox Christian,

I'm a follower of Christ,

I'm walking the walk

in this community,

but then living

a completely different way

outside of it.

Not living differently privately,

not hypocritical.

That's the concept

of above reproach.

They're not living

two different lives.

In other words,

you could say it like this,

they are the biggest repenters

in the room.

They're the first to repent.

They're daily confessing their sin.

They're daily looking to Christ

once more for gospel grace.

They're daily coming

and saying,

I need thee,

oh,

I need thee.

Every hour,

I need thee.

That's what it means

to be above reproach.

Not hypocritical,

but truly behind closed doors,

Christian,

walking with Christ,

in Christ,

towards Christ,

all the time.

Lastly,

thirdly,

Acts 6-3 summarizes it

so well,

I think,

full of the Holy Spirit.

What does that mean?

Full of the Holy Spirit.

It means so many things.

We can't,

I can't,

you wouldn't allow me

to talk about it

too much right now,

but one thing

that means this

is that we're looking

for leaders

who are not interested

in serving

because they want

to be good people.

They're not interested

in serving

because they want

to earn their way

to heaven.

They're not interested

in serving

because they want

to be known

for status and reputation

of being a great servant.

Or they're not interested

in serving

because they want

to be known

as an elder

in the community.

No,

none of that.

Full of the Holy Spirit

means we're looking

for people

who have been transformed

by the grace

of Jesus Christ,

that the Holy Spirit

has encountered them.

They've had an encounter

with God

and they'll never

be the same

because of it.

That's what it means

to be full

of the Holy Spirit.

Think about Paul,

Paul who gives us

some of these lists

of qualifications.

Paul says,

I am the worst

of sinners,

but by the grace

of God

I am what I am.

Full of Holy Spirit,

elders and deacons,

men,

do you know,

men,

leaders in this room,

do you know that you,

have you had an experience

of grace that you're

daily being transformed

by saying,

I am the worst.

I have the biggest need

of God's grace

in my life.

That's the leaders

we need.

That,

the Holy Spirit

at work in your heart

that you can say

that every day.

Think about Peter.

He gives a list

of qualifications

for elder

in his letter.

Peter,

Peter,

he's the one

who committed treason

against Jesus Christ

and he was restored

by the grace

of the gospel

by the Holy Spirit

and encounter

with God the Holy Spirit.

Elders and deacons

are not perfect people.

They are men

that are willing

to say alongside Paul,

I'm the first person

to express my need

of grace.

Close with this.

What we're looking for

is Christians.

Christians,

because elders and deacons

are just examples

and the calling

that we've read,

the list of qualifications

here in large measure

with some add-ons,

with some takeaways,

this is what we all

want for ourselves.

people in need

of grace growing

and that's why

God has given

the church,

apostles,

elders,

prophets,

evangelists,

pastors and shepherds

and deacons

to equip the saints

for the work of ministry.

The work of ministry

is grow in Christ

and serve people's needs

and it's all

of our calling.

So what we're looking

for here in this

is leadership

where we know

these people

do not have

functional saviors

other than Christ.

They're not

lovers of money.

They're not

so interested

in career

that they've been

taken away

from the work

of the ministry.

Non-functional saviors.

In other words,

they point us

away from themselves

and to Jesus,

the great deacon

and the great shepherd.

We have a letter

written by a man

named Clement of Alexandria.

Sorry,

a lot of early church today.

We have a letter

from a man named

Clement of Alexandria

in the early 2nd century.

He became a Christian

underneath the Apostle John.

So the Apostle John

who wrote the Gospel of John,

he wrote the book

of Revelation

and he discipled

this young man

named Clement

and Clement

became a leader

in the church.

Clement tells a story

about the Apostle John,

one of the early elders

of the church.

John had founded,

planted the church

in Smyrna.

We read about that

in the book of Revelation.

Smyrna.

And John

had shared the Gospel

with a young man

who was an orphan.

And the young man

came to Christ

and started following Jesus.

And John

had to be taken away

from pastoring the church

to another town

for a long, long time.

So John left.

And Clement writes

that he turned

to the minister

that they had chosen,

the elder

that they had chosen

in Smyrna

to replace John

and said this,

In earnestness,

I commit this youth

to you

in the presence

of all here

and in the presence

of Christ.

Now what they did

was they took this young man

in front of the church.

It'd be like me

calling one of you

saying come up front

right now

and saying

I commit you

to Simon

in the presence

of all

to be discipled

for the rest

of your days.

Don't let this man go,

this young boy

that's come to faith

from a rough background

come and disciple him.

John leaves.

He comes back

years later

and when he comes

back to Smyrna

he asks,

Clement records,

where is the young man?

And we learn

that the young man,

the pastor says,

left the church

and he is now

living in a cave

outside of the city

with a gang

of the text says

bandits.

Classic word,

bandits.

And John says,

Clement records,

you are a fine guard

of that brother's soul.

Sarcasm.

In the next breath

John said,

bring me a horse

and a guide,

lead me

to where he is.

And so they take

John out of the city

to the caves

and John comes across

a member of this gang

and as soon as he's there

he says,

take me to your captain.

And the men are shocked,

this old man

coming to this group.

And he shows up

and there

the captain

is the young man

that he had discipled

and brought to Christ.

And Clement says

that as soon as

the young man

saw the apostle John,

he ran

in fear

and shame

and guilt

as soon as he saw him

and this is what John said,

my son,

why do you flee from me,

your father in the faith,

old,

unarmed?

See my compassion for you,

my son.

Fear not.

You still have hope.

I will pray for Christ's forgiveness

for you.

If needs be,

I will take your death

as the Lord died for me.

For you,

my son,

I will surrender my life.

Stop and believe

Christ has sent me

to you today.

Now,

there's a story

of forgiveness

and mercy

available to anyone

no matter what.

And there's a story

of a great elder.

Right?

That's a great elder.

The sheepdog.

He won't let him go.

He's chasing after him.

How did John become like that?

He looked at the true deacon.

He looked at the true shepherd,

the true deacon,

Jesus Christ,

in John 13,

on the night

that he was betrayed,

facing the horror

of the cross,

about to be murdered

for our sin.

What did he do?

He got down on his knees

in the most demeaning act

you could do

in the first century

and he washed

the dirty,

stinky feet

of the men

who were about

to betray him.

He was about to go

to the cross for them.

They were going

to betray him

and he washed their feet

and he said,

I serve you.

I serve.

I came,

what did he say?

I came

not to be served

but to serve,

to give my life away

as a ransom for many.

Do you know

what that word

to serve is

when he says that?

It's the word deacon.

I came to deacon for you.

John became like that

because he looked

at the ultimate deacon.

He looked at the true elder,

the great shepherd

of the sheep.

In John chapter 20,

John 20 · chapter mention

when this same one

who died for your sins

rose again,

for your justification,

he was there

in the garden

and Mary Magdalene

comes to him

and she doesn't recognize him

and she says,

is this the gardener?

And what did he do?

He said her name,

Mary.

And she would have been there

in John chapter 10

John 10 · chapter mention

that we opened

our call to worship with

when he said,

my sheep hear my voice

and when I call their name,

they come to me.

And all he does

is he says,

Mary.

And the blindness,

gone.

She, it says,

we're told in the text,

she clung to him,

she embraced him,

she wrapped her hands

around him

and would not let go.

And he said,

you've got to let me go.

I've got to go

and send the spirit

to the church.

Right?

She wouldn't let go of him.

Now look,

how did John become

an elder like that?

We need leaders

who help us all

cling to Jesus

and not let go

and say,

I won't let go.

That's the leaders we need.

Let us pray.

Father,

we pray for these shepherds,

these deacons,

and we ask that you would

teach us all as Christians

to cling to Jesus

and to see the true deacon,

the one who washed our feet

at the cross,

the true elder and shepherd,

the one who would run

to the uttermost far country

and give his life away

for the sheep, Lord.

Teach us the grace

that that is

and then how to love

like that as well.

We pray for that

in Christ's name.

Amen.