SF537 - The Ordination of Women (Romans 16 1-2)
SF537
THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN: WOMEN DEACONS
Romans 16:1-2
INTRODUCTION
The effects of the women’s movement are far reaching.
Positive:
Voting rights - better pay - fair treatment.
Negative:
Effect on the family - Emphasis on sameness - has effected the church - Men have used as an excuse to abandon his role.
Women are essential to the life of the church
(Galatians 3:28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
This is not a question of worth or importance; it is a question of roles and authority.
1A. THE PATTERN FOR SERVICE
1B. Defined...
Pheobe: The Servant (Romans 16:1)
diakonos, from an obs. diako (to run on errands; comp. G1377); an attendant, i.e. (gen.) a waiter (at table or in other menial duties); spec. a Chr. teacher and pastor (techn. a deacon or deaconess):‑‑deacon, minister, servant.
Here it is masculine and is used to relate the idea of service.
Appears 29 times; 80% refers to service; 20% refers to an office.
2B. Demonstrated (Acts 6:1-7)
All were men, chosen to care for the needs of widows.
They were chosen and set aside by the local church
The ordination consisted of the laying on of hands by the elders.
These men fulfilled two primary roles:
Administration/benevolence
Evangelism (Acts 6:8-7:53)
They were given both the privilege and responsibility to lead God’s people and to exercise spiritual authority.
2A. THE PLACES OF SERVICE
1B. Support Ministry
(Mark 15:41) In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
(Romans 16:2) I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me.
2B. Preaching/Teaching Ministry
(1 Corinthians 11:5) And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head‑‑it is just as though her head were shaved.
(Titus 2:3‑5) Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. {4} Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, {5} to be self‑controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
3B. Evangelism Ministry
(Acts 21:8‑9) Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. {9} He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
3A. THE PROHIBITION OF SCRIPTURE
1B. Women are not to Speak in Tongues
1 Corinthians 14:34-35
Context here deals with speaking in tongues and disrupting worship
Women can speak but they must be subject to the authority of the church and their husbands.
2B. Women are not to Have Authority over Men - 1 Timothy 2:12-15
Context = church leadership; deacons and pastors
Chapter 3 begins with the qualifications for men to be pastors and deacons.
Three reasons given...
1C. The priority of the home (13)
The home was first...
God created Eve to assist Adam - he needed a home!
Your first priority is to be your home!
2C. The pattern for the home (14)
It is a question of roles not ruling
Submission is God’s pattern
3C. The preserving power of the home (15)
“Saved” = preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.
No higher calling than that of being a mother!
When women speak they are to reflect a quiet spirit!
APPLICATION
Suzanne Wesley ‑ boy, if we could bring her back from the dead and talk to Suzanne Wesley and say, "Mrs. Wesley, I want to ask you a question. You were a gifted woman." She was multilingual. She could speak more languages than any of us can even name the languages. She was a better theologian than her poor preacher husband, a scholar of the first order. Her husband was poor because they had 18 children. And you could say, "Suzanne Wesley, you should be teaching in a seminary. You should be pastor of a church.
You should be the next Billy Graham, if we could bring you back to this world. You are so gifted in everything you do, Suzanne. We need you to come back. You messed around there with rearing those children and being a wife to that ... that sort of one‑horse preacher you were married to. Suzanne, you ought to do it different if you had another life to live." Do you know what Suzanne Wesley would say? I'd say, "I just want to talk about two of my boys I produced. John and Charles. They've turned a continent to God and to Jesus Christ." She said, "I loved them, I nurtured them, I counseled them, I taught them. I built my life into them! And now their ancestors have turned a world toward Christ as they lifted up the Lord crucified."
A high calling, ladies. A holy calling. It doesn't mean you can't have other vocation responsibilities. It doesn't mean you can't do ninety‑nine percent of what needs to be done in the church ‑ and ninety‑nine percent of what gets done in the church comes through women, incidentally. But it does mean as a matter of function, as a matter of office in a New Testament sense, I think Paul has clearly spelled out this balance for us. And I think it's a holy word. I believe it's a clear word. And I think it's a word that we can live in and live with as a New Testament church.