The Diaconate- Recovering An Historical and Biblical Definition

By Fr. Shnork Kahana Souin

Saturday October 2, 1999

Acts 6:1-8

1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews

among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being

overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be

right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.

3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the

Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them

4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."

5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith

and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas

from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.

6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands

on them.

7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased

rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and

miraculous signs among the people.

 

Surpazan Hayr, dear father deacons and brothers in Christ,

This is the first such retreat that we have had in our diocese, bringing together a majority of the diaconate that serves our Canadian Diocese. For my part, I have been asked of His Eminence to explore the biblical view of the diaconate, and to endeavor to seek that which may have been lost over the centuries with the hope of someday recovering the true ministry to which we were all ordained as deacons. Let us remember, that all of us, whether bishop, priest or deacon, have received firstly the grace of the holy order of the Diaconate.

My hope, today, is to prove to you that understood properly, as we shall soon see, "once a deacon always a deacon."

Let me start by telling you a true story. I will never forget when some years ago HOVNAN Surpazan, during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy by a newly ordained priest, when there were no ordained deacons ministering at the altar, got up from His Throne in the chancel and proceeded to the Bema where taking off his shoes and prostrating deeply before the celebrant, a kahana, and the holy altar, took the poorvar and performed the Greater Entrance , a liturgical function that is the epitome of all diaconal service, symbolizing in spirit and truth all that the deacon is and does. This gesture, by Surpazan Hayr showed once and for all, at least to me, that the spirit of diakonia is in, with and through all the other ministries of the church, whether lay or clerical and furthermore must necessarily remain throughout one's ascension through the hierarchy of the major orders of the church even up to the Catholicos of All-Armenians.

This is not so much of a Bible Study as an overview of a variety of related thoughts on the subject of the Diaconate. I have divided my study into three parts, first, Part 1, "What was Lost"--the understanding of the hierarchical view of Christian ministry, Part 2, "Rediscovery"--the biblical-historical understanding of the diaconate and finally Part 3, "Recovery"--the ministry of the diaconate as prescribed by its very definition.

Part 1, "What was Lost"

We all know that the church is an hierarchical institution. It is this way not as some modern Protestants might suppose, because of the Judeo-Hellenistic culture in which it was born, but by divine providence. In terms of ordained ministry, the hierarchy of the church transcending the influences of human time and space, is "Trinitarian", composed of 3 major orders which, appearing even from apostolic times, serve the church with a unity of purpose continuing God's work of reconciliation . These three offices are firstly, the episcopacy, the source of authority mandated to "oversee" the church , secondly, the presbytery or rank of priesthood, and finally the diaconate, the subject about which I will speak specifically today.

All three of course are given by God to the church as a means of stewardship over his holy chosen people, making Christ's ministry present until His Second Coming. The bishops, as the immediate successors to the 12 apostles are the princes of the church who govern her with wisdom and authority. The priest is known in patristic literature as the "hands" of the episcopos, who, as stewards of the Mysteries of the church, have the commission, by the laying on of hands, to perform sacred rites such as baptism, and the Lord's Supper and also to administrate the bidding and authority of the bishop within a parish in the care of souls.

The diaconate is the last, but by no means the least, of the three major orders in the hierarchy of the church. It is the rank to which each and every one of us here today were first called and ordained.

While we should all be able to admit that we would be hard pressed to prove it in practical terms today, the fullness of Christian mission and ethics can be discovered in the diaconate. The very word deacon in Greek, diakonos means minister, viz. one who "serves" and "ministers" in and for the church. In this respect, then, the deacon, whether male or female, has always been regarded as the "right hand man" for the presbytery (see Phil. 1:1).

St. Ignatius says concerning the diaconate, "And everyone should cooperate in every way with the deacons that serve the ministers of the Mysteries of Jesus Christ, for they are not ministers of food and drink (only), but servants of the church of God" (Smyrnians.) ..."all of you should revere the deacons, as a commandment of Jesus Christ." (Traillians)

While ministry is expected from and exemplified in the diaconate, it has overtime lost some of its lustre and has thus in some cases reduced the deacon to a liturgical functionary, almost entirely divorced from its original institution. This anti-sacramental anti-liturgical, and I would maintain anti-Orthodox minimalism is completely novel and ahistorical and is unfortunately translated throughout the whole life of the modern church having infected the thought and practice of the whole church. I would maintain with some trepidation, begging your indulgence, that this is in some cases the fault also of many deacons who have not taken their sacramental orders seriously nor have they as St. Paul warned, "fanned into flames the gift that is in (them) by the laying on of hands," but have rather neglected "the gift that is in (them)...with the laying on of hands."

Another problem is that in many cases, our tendency and desire, an ethos unfortunately inherited from an earlier generation, has been to perform church rituals and to create a vigorous social life within the parish assuming that this is the fulfillment of God's will and our vocation. When this occurs and all we do is "above all to preserve our ethnic identity and cultural heritage, then we can only admit that we have betrayed both God and our vocation..."

Part 2, "Rediscovery"

Although the term deacon was not used expressly in the above passage, the first deacons can be found in the Bible, in the 6th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles written by St. Luke.. Who were they?

They were 7 in number and were chosen by the church in Jerusalem because the church was growing and "widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food" .. They were chosen not for their ability to sing, nor for their ability to navigate the liturgical life of the church, but because they were "full of the Spirit and wisdom." They received the laying on of hands with the approval of all, by the apostles who were themselves overwhelmed with their ministry of the Word and the celebration of the Lord's Supper .

The original raison d'괲e therefore of an ordained diaconate, as an arm of the apostolic office, was at least threefold, namely;

1)the administration of the social ministry of the church through the collection of alms and stewardship of church funds,

2)pastoral, visiting the sick and ministering to those in prison ,

3)liturgical, aiding the bishop in the proper conduct of the faithful at the Eucharist.

The function of the deacon was not confined to these three as we see in Stephen's defense of the faith and Philip's work of evangelism. It is here where the historical and original diaconal vocation can and must be the model through which a reformation in the work of the diaconate, and subsequently all humanitarian work might take place.

We must first understand the sacramental gift given in the cheirotonia, literally the "laying on of hands" through which the 7 were ordained to the public ministry of the diaconate. This ceremony has been used since the Old Testamental times and then

continued into the Christian era except now also as a means to impart the charis (grace) of ministry sealed by the Holy Spirit and to "formally associate deacons with the bishop as a "deputy with the authority to discharge special duties."

It is important to note that the chosen men were already said to be "filled with the Holy Spirit." It would be wise that we should all, as members of the body of Christ, be more vigilant in our selection of formal ministers in God's church. Before giving approval and

stating "arjhani e" about a candidate, he ought to be tested and to be examined in

order to see if he is in the faith and if his life and work reveal the power and fruit of the Holy Spirit, equipped to serve the church in and out of liturgy..

Because of the demands placed on the deacon, he must be of good reputation, worthy of respect, sincere, the husband of but one wife, competent and beyond reproach, not susceptible to weakness in delicate matters where conscience is concerned. He must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith .

The example of the virtuous deacon is St. Stephen, the patron saint of all deacons, "a man full of God's grace and power, (who) did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people" , whose feast is celebrated universally on December 26th and specifically on December 25th. in the Armenian Church.

Part 3, "Recovery"

Having said all this, however, let us finally turn to the very practical ramifications of ministry and service, the biblical concept of diakonia in the life of the modern church, with the goal of recovering that which was lost. Let us see what it is that we ought to expect of ourselves and our deacons, magnifying and dignifying that which God intended for us by His sacred call to serve His church publicly.

Since the ministry is one of service it is dependent upon our posture and our behavior. As such, it is necessarily concerned with ethics and morality. The paradigm to follow is that which Christ teaches in both the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel chapters. 5-7 and in the Sermon on the Plain found in chapter 6 of St. Luke's Gospel. Both sermons focus on the ministry of LOVE made manifest in the very fact that God gave His own Son as the sacrificial love offering through which the condemnation is removed and we are saved.

Both sermons demonstrate how one might reflect the love of Christ in the world by reaching out as Jesus did, by meeting the needs of those around us, to embrace people self-sacrificially with love and compassion. This virtuous conduct is possible only through a life of fasting, prayer and alms-giving . Fasting mortifies the flesh and brings about a hunger for spiritual learning and yearning where we are open to perceive the kingdom of heaven on earth within the liturgical Eucharistic celebration. This will bring more meaning to our liturgical worship and a greater piety for those who are in the assembly. With our minds and hearts tuned into the presence of Christ, we will praise God in one accord and with one voice.

Without sacrifice and self denial our service is self gratifying and is not of the church nor of the Spirit of Christ. It is ritualistic at best and is removed from the knowledge and perception of the reality of Christ's presence. Service without love is hypocrisy and is judged to be for self glorification. True faith is emersed in Cross bearing, in sacrifice in love of others and above all, in the love of God.

The sacrifice of fasting leads to a hunger for Christ's life and love, greater spiritual perception and a heightened sense of moral and social conscience, leading to acts of charity and alms-giving, the very ministry to which the deacon was first called. An openness to God's call will inspire our vocation to minister, to visit and to pray for the sick, to teach the faith, giving guidance to the young, to get more involved in the stewardship of the church outside of the liturgical setting, becoming leaders in the church's social responsibilities, administering food drives, participating in Bible Studies and leading missions of evangelism and mercy here at home, in Armenia and if we have real vision and the mind of Christ, outside the boundaries of ethnic identification. Yes, the deacon must be the conscience of the church, a living example to the rest of the community.

All this is possible if each of us reflect on our own ministry and repent from that which is lacking, turning away from that which is NOT "of the Church" and turning in stead to the light of the knowledge of God so that we might become all that we were invited to and set apart to be from the day of our ordination to this very sacred vocation and ministry of the diaconate.

Today, we have learned about the Divine Liturgy itself, heard an exposition of the meaning and significance of the hymnody within the Liturgy, even exploring the inner Mystery of Christ's very presence in the Eucharist, the celebration in which each of you minister on a weekly basis. Hopefully this will help each of you to remember that this community of persons, the church, is the realm of the holy where we participate fully in what it is that we are all invited to receive in the Eucharist which is the very life-giving body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that He gave us for the Life of the World, the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life.

What we ought to hope to rediscover and to recover should be a fuller and more faithful ministry of diakonia, as understood according to an Orthodox ethos shaped by a clearer view of its historical setting in the apostolic church. This job, is ours, so that hand in hand we may rediscover and recover the true ministry of service in the sacramental order of the diaconate to the building up of the Kingdom of Christ and to His Glory together with His Father and All Holy Spirit now and always and unto the ages of ages, Amen.

Thank you for your attention.

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