This week, Paul talks about the difference between living lives of selfishness of living lives empowered by the Spirit of God (see Romans 8:12-25 CEB). This is a perfect jumping off point to continue our reflection on what it means to be a deacon by looking at the second area of ordination, Service. How do we understand the difference between selfishness and service? And what does it mean to for me, as a deacon, "to embody and lead the community's service in the world"?
Along the way, we will scratch the surface of the origin of the deacon in the life of the ancient church and seek to stretch our understanding of service just a little.
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Over the last year or so, I’ve been challenging myself to use a newer Bible translation. You see, throughout my life and ministry, I occasionally change which Bible version I use for reflection and worship. I find that sometimes a different translation can help us see a text with fresh eyes or understand it in a new way. While I still rely on the NRSV as the primary translation I was introduced to in seminary, I have used or referenced the NIV, the New Jerusalem Bible, the New Living Translation, and, for about a year now, the Common English Bible.
Especially when we read passages we are familiar with, hearing different words than we are used to can help us to really think about what the story is trying to tell us. Since most of us aren’t reading the Bible in ancient Greek or Hebrew, there is always the chance we are misunderstanding something in our translations.
In this letter to the Romans, Paul is trying to help them understand what Jesus means for them even though they are not Jewish. He explains that salvation is offered to all through Jesus.
In the reading for today, Paul is talking about the difference between living life only for ourselves or living lives empowered by the Spirit of God. The reading starts with the reminder that we have an obligation to each other. In the original Greek and in many English translations, he makes a distinction between living according to the flesh and living according to the Spirit. This is likely the phrasing most of us are familiar with. But what does it mean to live according to the flesh? What comes to mind for you when you hear that phrase?
Perhaps if we dig into this idea, we might get close to what Paul was saying. If we think about living according to the desires of our bodies only, perhaps we get close. If we think only about what our bodies ask for, what our fleshly experience wants and desires -- good food, good drink, good feelings. Our flesh alone cares only about itself. It only cares about what is outside of it to the point of determining if something is helpful or dangerous or pleasurable.
For the Romans that Paul was writing to, this would have been pretty obvious. Philosophically, they had the idea, which still exists to a certain degree today, that the body and the spirit are two separate things. At that time, they were considered completely opposite things. The physical form that exists in the world is a poor reflection of the soul, which is perfect. The body, as with all physical things, is finite and eventually decays, while the spirit remains unchanging and eternal.
While we can still recognize the influence today, we don’t usually speak in terms of flesh and spirit in the same way. But when we read the same text and read “selfishness” rather than “according to the flesh,” we more immediately recognize what is meant. In words that are more easy to comprehend for most of us today, we get the same meaning without needing to necessarily understand the philosophical underpinnings of the original language. When we speak of someone being selfish, we all have a sense of what that means, whereas if we were to say someone was living according to the flesh, it might take a little more explanation to get there.
At the same time, I think it really gets us when we hear “selfishness.” When I first read the passage this way, I had an immediate response to the word. I could feel it inside me. Selfishness just feels wrong to me.
Even those who aren’t Christians would likely have the same response to reading these words. Of course I don’t want to be selfish. But as those who follow Jesus, as those who have been born of God’s Spirit, we know living in unselfish ways is more than simply a good way to live; it is the very life that Jesus modeled and called us to follow. We are called not to live for ourselves alone, but as representatives of God’s grace here on earth.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been talking about what it means for me to be a deacon in ministry. Our reading today helps us get to the next area of ministry to which United Methodist deacons are ordained -- Service. According to the Book of Discipline, deacons are ordained “to embody and lead the community’s service in the world for the sake of enacting God’s compassion and justice” (The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2016, ¶305).
Service has been at the heart of the deacon’s ministry since the earliest days of the Christian movement. The word deacon actually comes from a Greek root, διακον- (diakon-). We find it in several places in the Bible as διακονία (diakonia) or διάκονος (diakonos). Based on usage in the bible and other Greek sources, these words are most often translated as servant or service. But they can have other meanings as well.
In Acts 6, we find a story about Greek-speaking members of the early church complaining that their people are being left out by the Hebrew-speaking leaders of the church. So the Twelve asked them to choose leaders of their own who will do the work in their community while the Twelve will continue their own work.
Now in most translations a distinction is made between the type of service the Twelve are doing in the community and the type of service the seven Greek leaders who are chosen are to do. We often read it as the Twelve caring for the "ministry of the Word" while the Greeks will be caring for the distribution of food to those in need. This understanding has led some to point to this passage as the institution of deacons in the life of the church and has colored the ministry of the deacon for nearly two thousand years.
But when we actually look at the passage in Greek, we see something a little bit different. In the Greek, the same exact word is used to describe the ministry of the Twelve and the ministry that the seven Greek leaders will undertake. When speaking of the needs that the Greek leaders will meet, the word is translated as “distribution” or “waiting tables.” But when speaking of the work of the Twelve, the same word is translated as “ministry.” This word is διακονία (diakonia).
In fact, as we look for other uses of the word in the New Testament, we find that it is variously translated as service, ministry, or even an emissary or ambassador. (For those who may be interested, John N. Collins has written extensive scholarship on the topic. See Diakonia: Re-Interpreting the Ancient Sources and Deacons and the Church: Making Connections between Old and New.) We have seen the two uses in the same section of Acts. Paul uses it to refer to his own ministry. And he uses it later in this very letter to the Romans to introduce a woman, Phoebe, that he is sending to them as his representative.
In whatever way it is translated, two things become clear. First, diakonia is the work of all of us in the church. It is our mission, our ministry. It is a significant piece of how the early church leaders understood the work they were undertaking.
And second, diakonia is about the service we perform on behalf of someone else. The Twelve saw themselves as servants of God in the community. The Seven who are appointed in Acts 6 were to do the same for the Greek-speaking community in Jerusalem. Paul saw himself as one sent personally by Jesus to the Greek-speaking world. Phoebe was sent as a representative of Paul and, through him, as a representative of Christ as well.
It is all a form of service, but not necessarily service in the ways we often think of it. While some have translated diakonia as something like a waiter, serving those seated at the table, the wide usage in the New Testament suggests something much deeper. It is service as ministry. It is service as representatives of God’s grace. It is service as example. It is service as children of God.
And while I may carry the title of deacon, marking me as one specifically ordained to this form of ministry, it is a service that we are all called to as followers of Christ. The quote above from the Book of Discipline makes this clear. Those of us who are deacons are called “to embody and lead the community’s service in the world.” We are ordained and appointed to a lifetime of servant leadership. “It is the deacons, in both person and function, whose distinctive ministry is to embody, articulate, and lead the whole people of God in its servant ministry” (BoD, ¶ 328).
I am called to a ministry of service, but I am also called to lead the church in its servant ministry. I am here to help us make connections between our gathered life together in this place and the ministry each of us performs for others in the world outside these walls. I am here to help us make connections between what we do together in worship and the service we do on behalf of God at other times.
What does it mean for us to serve others? What does servant ministry look like? Perhaps, more pointedly, what does service to others look like in times like this where we are dealing with disease and chaos and isolation?
Especially in times such as this, there are people with needs in our community and world. Places like Bridging the Gap and One Roof here in Coweta County are struggling to meet the needs of all of those in our community that have been affected financially by the present crisis. Hospitals and other care facilities are inundated with needs, some related to the virus that has spread around the world and some due to the typical day-to-day medical needs of our community. But given the present medical crisis, certain necessities are in short supply. Beyond these community needs, there may be other more personal needs we are aware of. Where are the places we can be of service to one another right here, right now?
At the end of the day, that is what it truly means to be church. It is another way of showing our love for one another. This is what we find in the Gospel of John when Jesus tells his followers that they will be known as his followers by their love for others. It is not just the showing up on Sunday morning; it is in how we love and serve others the rest of the week.
Turning back to our reading from Paul, the passage from Romans that we started with makes it clear why we do this, especially in times like this. As Paul talks about “the present suffering” and the groaning of all creation, it is hard not to hear that in light of our current circumstances. When all we focus on is the fear and the pain, it is as if we are not yet children of God.
Instead, Paul makes it clear that we have hope. Because we know God and we know that God remains faithful, we can live in hope, even when it is hard to see. In fact, Paul says, “If we see what we hope for, that isn’t hope. Who hopes for what they already see? But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24-25, CEB).
In a time when things seem uncertain and the future can look bleak, it is easy to focus only on our own needs. It feels natural to worry about ourselves and those closest to us. We want to protect ourselves and our family. And we feel more need for the reassurance of familiar things.
This is where Paul points us to hope. This is why his words are so important. Even when we cannot see clearly, we must have hope. Or, to use a quote from the best movie franchise in the world (Star Wars, in case you didn't know), “if you only believe in the sun when you can see it, you will never make it through the night.”
Without hope, we have nothing left to give to others. When we live in fear, we can tend towards selfishness. Yes, it is hard to have hope in chaotic times. Yes, there is a certain amount of fear in not knowing what is to come. But at the same time, we have the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We have the example of Christ. We have the love and support of one another. We have hope. And because we have hope, we do have something to offer the rest of the world.
When I think about our call as church to serve, there is a song that comes to mind for me every time. Originally written by Richard Gillard in New Zealand in the 1970s, “The Servant Song” speaks of what it means to be a servant. It touches on the same sense of obligation that the reading from Romans we read today opens with, our obligation to serve one another rather than living lives of selfishness. It speaks of many of the ways we support and serve one another, even in ways we may not always consider as service. And it speaks to the importance of not only providing service to others but also of accepting help from others.
So I invite you to listen to this song today. As the song plays, take time to reflect on the reading from Romans and what it means to be a servant of God’s grace in a world in need of hope.