Untitled Sermon (2)

Acts 6:1–7 ESV

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:

Introduction

In the Name of Jesus, dear Susan, Steven and Robert.

DEACON. In the Greek, diakinov, which means servant/ service. From our text today we see that this is a Biblical office. The Apostles— the Pastors of the Early Church literally had their hands full. Word and Sacrament ministry was a full-time calling. The Holy Spirit had come on Pentecost and people were coming alive in faith in Christ Jesus. Theirs was a full-time ministry of preaching, teaching, absolving, and administering the sacraments to God’s people. That was, and still is, their awesome responsibility.

The Early Church

Moses had a similar situation. In , his father-in-law, Jethro, saw all that his son-in-law was doing for the Lord, caring for the flock of Israel. He said to Moses,

Exodus 18:17–27 ESV

Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.” So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.

Exodus 18:17-

A similar situation was brewing in the early church. The needs of the people exceeded the ability of the Apostles to effectively minister to them.

There were widows in the Church whose earthly needs were being “overlooked”. They were not getting visited; they were not getting their ration of food from the church delivered, and this was the cause of consternation and complaining.

The Church was largely Jewish at that time, and there seemed to be a bit of a rift between the Greek Jews and the Hebrew Jews. It says that “a complaint arose.” It is always a sin to complain, one of those sins that we are all guilty of committing more times than we care to admit. Complaining ultimately can lead to party spirit and division of people, something always forbidden by the Lord in His Church, with horrific judgment toward those who do it.

Nonetheless, this drew the attention of the Apostles and the church to a situation that absolutely needed to be addressed. The Apostles could not possibly live up to all of the expectations of the Church, nor could they do everything. They needed help. So, following what Jethro said to Moses, and directed by the Holy Spirit, they were moved to select seven men who could do the work that they were not able to do .

They selected these seven men: 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.

They prayed over them, and laid hands upon them. They consecrated the first deacons. All Greeks. The ones who complained wound up with the job! Let that be a lesson to you!

These seven are appointed to assist the Apostles. They are not “wanna-be” pastors. Their calling is different. They do not function in Word and Sacrament Ministry. Theirs is a ministry of WORD and SERVICE. They function under the authority of the Pastoral office, and they are accountable to the Pastor. They extend the Church’s ministry in a way that a pastor alone could not. So, they still serve the same function today as they did in the Early Church. The text calls it “waiting on tables”, but that does not imply or infer that their tasks are menial. We see deacon Stephen preach a sermon, after which he is stoned to death. Our text tells us that because of this joint work of the Apostles and the Deacons,

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.

We follow in their train

Today, we follow in this same ecclesiastical tradition. It is our intent to greatly expand the ministry here at Christ Lutheran Church. You have been duly trained and certified for service in the Church. For two years you studied exegetical, systematic, historical, and practical theology by some of the greatest teachers of the Church in our area. You continue on your way toward commissioning in our Atlantic District. But you are full deacons today, for it is an office within a congregation.

Like every church today, our congregation has experienced a decline in membership. In our case it is largely due to aging and death. It is easy to look back on the successes and growth of the past as the Lord has blessed us mightily. But God does not call us to look back; He calls us to look forward. The pessimist sees the loss and wants to quit. We see the loss as a challenge to be met.

When Israel fought Goliath, they said, “He’s so big, how can we win.” David looked at Goliath and said, “He’s so big, how can I miss?”

The Lord still empowers us, still blesses us.

He calls us to do two things and to do them well. The first is to “Feed my Lambs”. The second is to “make disciples of all nations.”

Feeding the Lambs is what we do here at Church: Preaching, teaching, baptizing, absolving, communing all in the Name of and for the sake of our Faith in Christ Jesus. One cannot claim the Christian faith and not regularly worship. He is deceived who believes this. We need to gather together around Word and Sacrament each Lord’s Day and each Festival Day. We need to come to Bible studies led by teachers of the Church, because just reading your Bible or your Portals of Prayer is not enough to sustain you in this world.

Making disciples of all nations is the call to take the light given us by Jesus in Word and Sacrament Ministry out into the darkness of the world. The world is dying. People in the world are dying. And I speak not just of physical death. Past LCMS President Jerry Kieschnick puts it best: “Time is short and hell is hot.” So we have a mission to reach the world for Jesus. And the clock is ticking.

Daunting tasks. But not impossible. I remind you that it was a band of 12 disciples who, with the power of the Holy Spirit, are responsible for you believing all of these millennia later. They had twelve, we have six- Pastor and 5 deacons. So we can continue in this tradition. No one can do it alone.

God places the responsibilities for both of these things upon the Congregation. But He gives us the gifts of Pastor and Deacons to “equip” the members of our congregation to serve. To help you grow in faith through their service. To make you comfortable in sharing Jesus outside of these four walls. To equip you to be God’s servant. Through the work of ministry, dear congregation, you are empowered to always be prepared to give a defense for the hope that is in you.”

We, at Christ Lutheran, have been granted a wonderful opportunity to spread the Lord’s Kingdom in our community. We must understand this and start to live this out. God gives us the Office of Deacon to assist directly in this way.

Each deacon will be assigned to an area of ministry: Assisting the Pastor, Christian Education, Worship, Social ministry and outreach, and parish administration. The deacons will enhance, not replace, our existing Congregational Structure and Board, moving us beyond the status quo.

So now, in observing Apostolic Tradition, Biblical example, understanding our congregational needs, and loving our Lord and neighbors, we now move to the altar to consecrate you as Deacons of Christ Lutheran Church and install you into the service of the Lord and His people in this place.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.