Sermon Tone Analysis

**8 Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.

9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.

10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

11 In the same way, their wives b are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

12 A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well.

13 Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

*5*     Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father.

Treat younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.

4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help.

6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.

7 Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame.

8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, a 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.

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†*** διάκονος.**~**

*A.*     *General Uses of **διάκονος**.*

1. “The waiter at a meal,” Jn. 2:5, 9.

2. “The servant of a master,” Mt. 22:13: ὀ βασιλεὺς εἰ̂πεν τοι̂ς διακόνοις.

In this sense the Christian is a servant of Christ, Jn. 12:26.

It is part of his task, however, to serve his fellows, Mk. 9:35; 10:43; Mt. 20:26; 23:11.

3.

In the figurative sense, “the servant of a spiritual power,” whether good or evil, 2 C. 11:14 f.: του̂ σατανα̂, τη̂ς δικαιοσύνης; Eph.

3:6 f. and Col. 1:23:1 του̂ εὐαγγελίου; Gl. 2:17: τη̂ς ἁμαρτίας; R. 15:8: περιτομη̂ς; 2 C. 3:6: καινη̂ς διαθήκης.

The action of the servant is to the benefit of the magnitude which he serves.

When it is said in R. 15:8 that Christ is a servant of the circumcision, this simply means, of course, that His work is on behalf of Israel.

More difficult is Gl.

2:17: “If, then, we who are accounted righteous in Christ are found to be sinners, is Christ a servant of sin?

By no means.”

“Servant” here might be rendered “promoter.”

This would give us the following line of argument.

In Jewish eyes everyone who does not keep the Law is a sinner (→ ἁμαρτωλός, I, 322; 325); this applies to all Gentiles, with whom Jews may not hold table fellowship.

Thus, if Christ causes the Jews who follow Him to renounce the provisions of the Law, He is extending the domain of sin which embraces all the Gentiles.—Yet

it is not impossible to keep to the stronger expression “servant of sin.”

If we do, we must interpret the saying in the light of Gl. 2:20.

Christ Himself lives and acts in the man who trusts in Him.

If this man is found a sinner, this applies to the Lord Himself dwelling within him, as though He were enslaved to sin.

The absurdity of the conclusion naturally illustrates the falsity of the presupposition, namely, the Jewish view of sin.2

4. As διακονος του̂ εὐαγγελίου the apostle (→ ἀπόστολος, I, 437) is διάκονος Χριστου̂ (2 C. 11:23) and διάκονος θεου̂ in a very special sense, with all the troubles and sufferings and with all the responsibility of this office (2 C. 6:3 ff.).

In his description of himself from this standpoint, Paul usually prefers the term δου̂λος (R. 1:1 etc.; Tt. 1:1), which expresses far more clearly the fact that he belongs wholly and utterly to Christ or to God.

5. Timothy is a “servant of God” to the degree that with the preaching of the Gospel he confirms and admonishes the faith of the Thessalonians (1 Th. 3:1–3).3

Timothy is also called a true servant of Jesus Christ (1 Tm. 4:6).

Epaphras is σύνδουλος of the apostles and διάκονος του̂ Χριστου̂ (Col.

1:7).

Tychicus is διάκονος ἐν κυρίῳ (Eph.

6:21; Col. 4:7).

6. Heathen authorities can also be called the servants of God in the discharge of their office, since they are appointed by God and have the task of maintaining God’s order in the world (R. 13:1–4).

7. Paul describes himself in Col. 1:25 as a “servant of the Church” (ἐκκλησίας) in virtue of his divinely given commission.

Paul and Apollos are no more than servants of both God and the Church as they use their gifts to bring the latter to faith (1 C. 3:5).

*B.*     *The Deacon as a Church Official.*

1.

A distinction may be made between all these general uses and the employment of the term as the “fixed designation for the bearer of a specific office” as διάκονος in the developing constitution of the Church.

This is found in passages where the Vulgate has the loan-word /diaconus/ instead of the /minister/ used elsewhere (cf.

Phil.

1:1; 1 Tm.

3:8, 12).

Members of the community who are called deacons in virtue of their regular activity are first found in Phil.

1:1, where Paul sends greetings to all the saints in Philippi σὺν ἐπισκόποις καὶ διακόνοις.

Already in this phrase there emerges a decisive point for our understanding of the office, namely, that the deacons are linked with the bishops and mentioned after them.

At the time of this epistle there are thus two co-ordinated offices.

We cannot gather with any certainty from this reference what constituted the special work of these officers.

It is highly improbable that the reference is to two different aspects of the work of the same men,4 since this is supported neither by the context nor by 1 Tm.

3:1 ff., 8 ff.

Nor can there be any doubt that the description of office has here become a definite designation.5

Nevertheless, we are not told what the offices involved.

Attempts have been made to deduce this from the contents of the epistle.

It has often been argued that special thanks are due to the bishops and deacons for the affectionate gift which was sent to Paul in prison and which they collected.6

This seems to be a very likely reason for the particular mention of ἐπίσκοποι and διάκονοι in this epistle.

E. Lohmeyer sets this in the light of the main purpose of the epistle, namely, to strengthen the Philippians in a time of persecution, in which their leaders were in prison.

As he sees it, this gives us the main reason for the special greeting to them.7

There is no proof for this conjecture.

The task of the διάκονοι can in fact be deduced only from the actual name of their office and from their later function.

That the diaconate stands in the closest relationship to the episcopate is confirmed by 1 Tm.

3:1 ff.

Here an account is first given of the way in which a bishop must conduct himself (vv.

1–7), and this is followed by a list of the requirements for a deacon (vv.

8–13).

Like the bishops, deacons must be blameless and temperate, having only one wife and ruling their houses well.

While the bishops must satisfy many other demands, including an aptitude for teaching, deacons are not to be doubletongued or avaricious—qualities necessary in those who have access to many homes and are entrusted with the administration of funds.

Yet inward qualities are also demanded of good deacons.

They are to hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

That the primary task of deacons was one of administration and practical service may be deduced a. from the use of the term for table waiters and more generally for servants; b. from the qualities demanded of them; c. from their relationship to the bishop; and d. from what we read elsewhere in the NT concerning the gift and task of διακονία.

Appeal is frequently made to Ac. 6 in explanation of the rise of the diaconate, though the term διάκονος is not actually used.

On this view, the deacons undertake practical service as distinct from the ministry of the Word.

It is to be noted, however, that the Seven are set alongside the Twelve as representatives of the Hellenists, and that they take their place with the evangelists and apostles in disputing, preaching and baptising.

This fact shows (→ 85) that the origin of the diaconate is not to be found in Ac. 6.

It is possible, however, that ideas gained from the existing diaconate influenced the author when he gave its present form to his rather puzzling source concerning the relationship of the Seven to the Twelve.

If this is so, Ac. 6 may be regarded as indirect evidence concerning the diaconate.

If we ask concerning the origin of the diaconate, we must start with its relationship to the episcopate.

It is mentioned with this in the earliest sources, and was never separated from it.

The διάκονος is not merely the servant of the church, but also of the bishop.

Two problems arise: a. how two integrated offices came into existence; and b. how the Greek words ἐπίσκοπος and διάκονος came to be used to describe these offices.

a.

There were two offices in the Jewish synagogues.

Conduct of worship was entrusted to the ראֹשׁ הַכְּנֵסֶת, the ἀρχισυνάγωγος, who was accompanied by the חַזַּנ הַכְּנֵסֶת, always translated ὑπηρέτης and never διάκονος in Greek.

If any model is to be sought for the Christian offices of bishop and deacon, this is where we shall find it.

It must be remembered, however, that the activity of the ἀρχισυνάγωγος and the ὑπηρέτης is restricted to worship.

The direction of the synagogue is in the hands of the elders.

There are also collectors of alms (גַּבָּאֵי צְדָקָה) who for their part have no connexion with the conduct of worship.8

Thus we have in the Jewish community many points of initiation for the Christian offices of bishop and deacon, but neither here nor in paganism are there any exact models which are simply copied.

The creative power of the early Church was strong enough to fashion its own offices for the conduct of congregational life and divine worship.

b.

The same is true of the terms adopted.

These arose in the world of Gentile Christianity, though Jewish Christianity contributed the term πρεσβύτερος.9

Yet in pre-Christian Greek we never find the words ἐπίσκοπος and διάκονος used in the Christian sense, whether individually or in the distinctive Christian relationship.

Early Christianity took over words which were predominantly secular in their current usage and which had not yet been given any sharply defined sense.

It linked these words with offices which were being fashioned in the community, and thus gave them a new sense which was so firmly welded with the activity thereby denoted that in all languages they have been adopted as loan-words to describe Christian office-bearers.10