|
|
Charge to Deacons and Congregation |
2 Timothy 1: 1-14
|
© John Ewing Roberts |
 |
|
|
|
INTRODUCTION Because the emphases of the day are on Deacon ordination and installation and the Lord's Supper on World Communion Sunday, I bring this brief charge to the Deacons and congregation in lieu of the sermon series on the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor in Revelation 2-3, a series which will resume next Sunday with the letter to Pergamum. TOUCHING In the final (and rather disappointing) episode of Seinfeld, Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer failed to aid an overweight carjacking victim. Unwilling to touch or be touched, they were charged with "criminal indifference" and sent to prison to contemplate their shallow lives.[1] We have just had a touching experience, the laying on of hands to ordain new deacons. In a few minutes we will have another touching experience when we offer the right hand of fellowship to three new members, Mrs. Lien Gee, Mr. Tom Croxton and Mrs. Agnes Davidson. Earlier in the service Linda Fowler explained to the boys and girls the importance of our hands in helping rather than hurting. We sang Jesus' Hands Were Kind Hands.[2] Our culture does not touch as much as some others where hugging and kissing on both cheeks are normal, healthy greetings. We recoil from the inappropriate touching of sexual abusers. Nevertheless, good touching is a blessing. Studies show that infants who receive regular tactile stimulation grow and develop better than touch-deprived babies. "Babies who are held more both gain weight and master motor skills faster..." And the elderly benefit from touch in the same way.[3] From prison Paul remembered a touching moment when he placed his hands on Timothy in an act of blessing and of setting apart for ministry. Like Timothy, Deacons and indeed all Christians are charged with the ministry of blessing through touching lives, the very opposite of the criminally indifferent shallow lifestyle of the Seinfeld characters. THE TATOR FAMILY In the current issue of Baptist Life, Charles Barnes, the executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware mentions a sermon on the Tator family.[4] 1. Spectator The spectator just sits in the pew, contributes nothing to the life of the congregation or the work of the church. 2. Rotator The rotator comes every few Sundays, and eventually rotates off to another congregation, changing churches as casually as a bored viewer changes tv channels with the remote control. 3. Alternator The alternator (I know, this isn't a true "-tator.") comes some but usually sends the spouse and kids, shrugging off the poor support with the excuse that some of the family in attendance is better than none present. 4. Generator The generator (Yeah, I know - blame Barnes.) comes with all sorts of good ideas from work or school or the media or other churches. But he or she generates these good ideas for other people to do. 5. Gladiator The gladiator likes to fight, usually can drum up some faintly perceived principle or some slight over which to display hurt feelings. The aggression can take many forms - passive aggressive withdrawal without giving the real reason for diminished activity, gossip, backbiting, etc. 6. Agitator The agitator (at last, another true "-tator!") likes to stir things up. That way he or she knows that he or she has some power, if only the power to disrupt. That way, the agitator gets some of the attention needed to feed low self-esteem. 7. Facilitator All of the members of the Tator family so far have been negative. I would like to add a final "-tator," the facilitator, someone who makes things run smoothly, a healer, a reconciler, someone who does what those first deacons did in Acts 6 when the Jewish widows and the Greek widows were going at each other in the Jerusalem church. CONCLUSION To deal with all these members of the Tator family is beyond our intellectual and emotional resources. The negativism of the Tators can wear us down, burn us out and leave us in despair. No deacon, no pastor, no church leader, no Christian can handle our duties if left to our own resources. We simply must rely on the grace gifts of God. The good news is that we can rekindle the gift of God that is with us, the gift represented by the touching experience of the laying on of hands, the gift of "a spirit of power and love and self-control."[5] I close with another text I associate with Paul, a reminder to Timothy to "rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self control." It is a text with a reference to the blood of Jesus which we remember on World Communion Sunday, a text which in the spirit of rekindling the gift calls on us to stir up one another. "Since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promises is faithful; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."[6] [This sermon is for circulation within the Woodbrook congregation and may not be reproduced without permission.] Notes: [1] "Stay in Touch," Homiletics, Leonard I. Sweet and K. Elizabeth Rennie, editors, September-October 1988, Vol. 10, No. 5, p. 48 [2] The Baptist Hymnal, edited by Wesley L. Forbis [Nashville: Convention Press] 1991, Margaret Cooper, "Jesus' Hands Were Kind Hands," No. 477 [3] Homiletics, op. cit., p. 46 [4] Charles Barnes, "Perspectives (as I see it)...countering negativism," Baptist Life, October 1, 1998, p. 7 [5] 2 Timothy 1: 7 [6] Hebrew 10: 21-25 |