A Deacon's Reward

“Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews, because their widows were 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 Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:1-7)

I just left the funeral service for Alice Henderson Arnett, age 95, and a longtime member of our church. The service honored her commitment to Christ and served as a tremendous model for every man who aspires to the office of deacon. Rodney Sprayberry, as her deacon, modeled the true meaning and purpose for deacon ministry in the life of the church.

Let me give you a little textual background on the early church in Acts. The early church, with thousands of new believers from all over, attempted a form of communal living and, actually, it succeeded for a short while. Then carnality entered the church. Jerusalem had a large minority of “Hellenistic,” or Greek-speaking Jews who, though they spoke no Hebrew because they lived abroad for centuries, returned to Jerusalem because it was their holy city.

They had a background of Greek culture, while the Hebrews in Jerusalem closely followed the Mosaic Law. Naturally, a misunderstanding developed. Both of these groups were Jews. Since the wealthy of the Christian community had sold their goods to provide for the poor, some of the Grecian Jews felt their poor and widows were being neglected in favor of the more traditional Hebrew-speaking Jews.

When they came to the apostles with the problem, the result was the calling of a congregational meeting. They saw that the corporate witness of the church was at stake. The apostles wanted to devote themselves to their ministry: prayer and the ministry of the Word. They knew their priority was praying, preaching, teaching, and the studying of the Word.

Now, let me say that this text is crying out to me today. This text is convicting me today. Today’s pastor is expected to be more like a corporate CEO than a man devoted to prayer and the preaching/teaching ministry of the Word. My calling is “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). My calling is to mature the saints to do the work of the ministry.

The solution to this problem lay in the calling out of godly men in the church to serve, literally “waiting on tables.” These men, evidently the first deacons, were to have the characteristics that every born-again man should possess:

Integrity - “men of good reputation” These men had to be men of honest report. Their honesty was to be unquestionable. Servants must set an example of godliness for their people to follow. And they must be qualified spiritually regardless of their position in the world or their human ability.

So the issue here is integrity. The dictionary defines integrity as “the state of being complete, unified.” When I have integrity, my words and my deeds match up. I am who I am; no matter where I am or who I am with. Some argue today that image is everything. Integrity is everything. Image is what people think we are. Integrity is what we really are.

Intimacy - "full of the Spirit" - G. Campbell Morgan says, "A man full of the Spirit is one who is living a normal Christian life." It is the life lived in intimacy with the Savior. The men selected in this chapter as godly men lived in dependence upon God's Spirit and not their own strength.

To be a godly man is to be fully yielded to the Spirit's control in every area of life. Stephen and Barnabas are prime examples of intimacy with the Spirit of God. Is it obvious to the congregation we serve that we are men filled with the Holy Spirit?

Insight - “full of wisdom” - They were to be spiritual men who possess biblical and theological knowledge, and the practical wisdom to apply biblical truth to the situations of everyday life. That was very important.

I Chronicles 12: 32 describes some wise leaders of Israel as “men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do.” How do you become a wise man? Psalm 19: 7-11 tells you what the Bible can do for you if only you will read it, meditate on it, and obey it. God’s Word is the basic book.

Influence - Notice the influence of godly men in the life of the early church (v. 7):

“The Word of God spread”

“The number of disciples increased”

“A great number of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith”

Now back to Alice Arnett’s funeral service. Rodney Sprayberry understood the meaning of “widow ministry.” He lovingly cared for her, going to see her often. He would take his family along and together they would minister to Alice. He stepped into her life in such a way that, upon her passing, the family wanted Rodney to speak at her service. Rodney modeled the impact a deacon can have on a widow by the way he demonstrated faithfulness to his calling as a servant.

There have been many times when I have been proud of the ministry our church provided for people. I have never been as proud of a deacon as I was yesterday as Rodney verified the impact of authentic deacon ministry. The meaning of Acts 6 was clearly seen in the honor Alice’s family bestowed upon Rodney. It was also clearly seen in the humble manner with which Rodney loved and cared for his widow. He serves as an example for every deacon who wants to fulfill his calling as a “head table waiter.” Way to go Rodney! May others take notice!

Until Next Week,

Derek

PRAISE

We had about 1200 at our fall festival and discovered several prospects. Pray for the follow-up on these families. Our volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure a successful festival. The ladies from the Wade Freedom House came early and stayed late. They were (are) such a blessing.

We will have deacon ordination November 22 at 6:00 PM as a part of our joint worship with both our campuses. We will also honor our new members following the ordination with cake and punch for everyone in the fellowship hall. You will not want to miss this service. We will be ordaining Tim Royster, Brandon Pisacrita, and Gary Peden.