For scripture reading this morning, we're going to first turn to Psalm 10. Psalm 10. This is one of the many, many passages in scripture that call for the care of the poor, the needy, the oppressed, and and also remind the people of God of their duty, as well as the reality that one of the great signs of apostasy in the church is when this is not done, but rather the poor are oppressed. Psalm 10. Why standest thou afar off, O Lord, Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor. Let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire and blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhorreth. The wicked through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous. Thy judgments are far above, out of his sight. As for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved For I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud. Under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages. In the secret places doth he murder the innocent. His eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth and wait secretly as a lion in his den. He lieth and wait to catch the poor. He doth catch the poor when he draweth him into his net. He croucheth and humbleth himself that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten. He hideth his face, he will never see it. Arise, O Lord, O God. Lift up thine hand. Forget not the humble. Wherefore doth the wicked condemn God? He has said in his heart, thou will not require it. Thou has seen it. For thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand. The poor committeth himself unto thee. Thou art the helper of the fatherless. Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man. Seek out his wickedness till thou find none. The Lord is king forever and ever. The heathen are perished out of his land. Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble. Thou wilt prepare their heart. Thou wilt cause thine ear to hear. to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. We turn next to 1 Timothy 3, which is our text this morning. 1 Timothy 3, verses 8 through 13. And you will recognize that a good portion of this was quoted in the form for installation. 1 Timothy 3 verse 8, Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved, then let them use the office of a deacon being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. for they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, it is customary at especially the time of installation when we not only install new office bears, but other office bears retire, that we give thanks for their service. That is appropriate, and in fact, we do that now. Publicly, on behalf of the congregation, we give thanks to Jerry Vandercock and Dan Van Buren, and to Chad Van Overloop, as elders, and the deacons Adam Van Dyck and Joel Van Dyck. We thank them for their service. And as we also did already when we read the form and the prayer in the form, we gave thanks to God for providing men for these offices. But it is also good for us to give thanks to God for the office itself. In this regard, even when giving thanks for the office, my guess is that we would give thanks for the ministry of the gospel and for the office of the elders, but perhaps neglect the office of deacon. I know that because I've done that myself. And then it's good for us to be reminded how necessary is the office of a deacon and the great goodness that God gives to the church in that office. In fact, we may say that any church without the office of deacon is no church. It, along with the other two offices, is necessary for even the institution of a church. that we ought to give thanks to God ought to be evident when throughout time and history also this office has been neglected and required reformation. That was the case in the 16th century Protestant Reformation, specifically in the Calvinist side of the Reformation. One of the things we ought to give thanks for is not only Reformation in doctrine, but Reformation in the offices. They were restored, particularly through the instruction and development of John Kelvin. At the time of the Reformation, Rome had effectively eliminated the offices. One of the ways it showed it was a false church. They had combined the office of elder and minister into one office, the priesthood, and then they had reduced the office of deacon simply to some sort of lowly assistant to the priests. Kelvin writes, quote, they mock the church with a false diaconate. They charge them only with ministering at the altar, reading or chanting the gospel, and goodness knows what other trifles. They bring plate and chalice, the pitcher with water, and towel to the altar. It is not really an office for them, but only a step toward the priesthood. That's what he wrote in his Institutes. Not only that, but this reflected the idea of the church. The church didn't serve the people. The reason the office of deacon fell into disrepute was it was the office of service. And the church no longer had become a place of service, but rather the people became the servants of the church. The church had made itself the wealthiest institution on earth and had done so at the expense of the people, many who were poor. Kelvin again, quote, there is nothing of alms or care of the poor. As thieves, they slit men's throats and divide the spoils. So these men, after putting out the light of God's Word, as if slitting the church's throat, suppose that everything dedicated to holy uses was laid out for their booty and spoils. A division has been made, and each has snatched as much as he could for himself. Against those sentiments of the church, and perhaps even the sentiments of our own sinful nature, is the sentiment of the Word of God. Consider with me this morning the text that we have read out of 1 Timothy 3 under the title, The Office of Deacon. We'll notice its necessity, secondly, its qualifications, and thirdly, its blessing. Protestant Reformation was faithful to Holy Scripture, when in that Reformation, it immediately restored the office of deacon to its rightful place. Because the Scriptures make absolutely clear that the office of deacon is necessary in the instituted church. And nowhere is that more clear than in 1 Timothy 3. We did not read the rest of the chapter, but if you would, you would find out that that chapter begins with an apostle setting forth the qualifications for the other two offices, that of the minister of the Word and of the elders. And no sooner does he complete setting forth the qualifications of those offices than he gives those of the deacons. And then, immediately after that, he writes that these things are told to the church that they may know how to behave in the church as the pillar and ground of the truth. That is, the apostle is saying, these offices are what makes a church a church. Without them, You have no church. And that's not simply one office or two, but all three. the necessity of the office of deacon is derived from the fact that it was instituted by Christ, as we read in the form in Acts 6. Even as we recognize there are two sacraments in the church, and these two sacraments must be administered in the church, it's actually one of the marks of a true church. So also the church recognizes the importance or necessity of the offices as instituted by Christ. And that's especially striking with the diaconate because it was not directly instituted by Christ. We heard about the origin of the offices in the form, how in Acts 6 the Grecian widows were being neglected neglected by the apostles and other office bearers in their labors because there was just too much work. And therefore, with the consultation of the apostles, men were nominated and then chosen to that office. And the church has always recognized that in doing so, doing that especially through the apostles, Christ himself had instituted that office. The result is the diakonid is established as a permanent office in the church, not just in Jerusalem where it was first done, but in all subsequent churches And that's evident from the passages that were quoted in the form. For example, Romans 12, where the diaconate is referred to as those that give. He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. I'll recognize that's a reference not to individual members, but like the other references in Romans 12, refers to an office. Also quoted was 1 Corinthians 12, 28, where the office is called helps. God hath set some in the church, prophets, teachers, miracles, gifts of healing, and helps. So it's an office, a permanent office in the church. This is important because it establishes another principle, which is that in that office, the deacons are given divine authority and power in the place of Christ, that they officially represent Christ in their work. And their work comes not from themselves or even the church, but from Christ. They have divine authority and power. This is why, when the church rebelliously decides to open up the office of deacon to women, contrary to the Word of God, Soon, all the offices are opened to that gender. If you ask why that is, the answer is because they all wield similar authority and power. And if you're going to grant it to one office, it needs to be granted to women in all the offices. This is why, if one would read 1 Timothy 3, one will quickly discover that the deacons have many of the very same qualifications as do the elders and the minister. Likewise, the passage reads, likewise what? Likewise, like the elders and the deacons, or the elders of the minister, the deacons must be blameless. They must be the husband of one wife. They must not be given to wine, not greedy, the filthy lucre. Those aren't unique to the deacons. all the offices, qualifications of those offices. They also, likewise, must rule their children and houses well. Why? Because it shows that they can handle, therefore, the authority and power that's given them in their office. So much as it's true that it's reflected in Reformed church polity in our own church order. For example, the church order allows deacons under special circumstances to function as elders. That's not the norm, but it is allowed in special circumstances. For example, in a church that is small, then the deacons may function for a time as elders. The church order calls for the deacons as well as the elders to issue the call to ministers and give them the authority with the other office bearers to depose from office. Not only that, but the form itself makes clear that the deacons function with their own authority in their own particular sphere. And wise elders are aware of that. Officially, elders have oversight of all the offices. The four made clear they have oversight of the office of the minister. They also have oversight of the office of deacon. But that oversight is not that where they impinge or usurp the authority that God has given to the deacons in their own right because they have their own office. Exactly because the diaconate is an official office, there is, therefore, official work to do. The deacons do not do work that they think they should do or that we give them to do as such. They may not take on work that even we decide perhaps they could do, but Christ gives them their work. And there is no response to that call of Christ except, yes, Lord. The basic work of the deacons may be summarized by one single word. Even as the office of the minister may be summarized by one single word, which is teach. teach or preach. They're both the same. And the Scriptures make clear the office of elders may be summarized in one word, which is government or rule. Teach Rule deacons may be summarized as one word also, which is serve, serve. Notice how broad is that word. But it is the actual word deacon. The word deacon simply means servant or slave. That is, in the church, which we know is a church of service, we are all called servants. We are all called slaves. We all know the minister's calling is to serve. Any man that wants to be a minister that doesn't know how to serve shouldn't be in the office. And elders serve. But it ever occurred to you that there's one office that all by itself encapsulates that idea. The diakonik, they're servants. They represent all of us as servants. They represent Christ, the great servant. They represent the minister as servant, the elders as servant. Must always remember that. Don't think, first of all, about giving money to the poor. That's what we first think about. No, we first think about the fact that this is the office of service. Is there service that needs to be done in the church? Is there some need that needs to be supplied? No matter what it is, the first office you ought to think about is the diakonet. Now, that service certainly comes to fruition as manifest mainly as dealing with the poor. There are in that regards really two points that are made in the form and in the Scriptures. First of all, that service is the collection of money and goods for the poor. This is a part of the work of the diaconate that is often overlooked and neglected. It's often overlooked and neglected because it's largely carried out by the deacons passing out plates in the church. And we put into those plates what we give of our free will. But the idea of Scripture and the form is actually that this is more active. Notice they took over the work of the apostles at whose feet were brought the price of the things that were sold. Certainly they do that. But notice it's more active than that. We read in the form that they also preserve with greatest fidelity and diligence the alms. And then notice they do their utmost endeavor, utmost endeavor that many good means be procured, procured. The idea of procure is to purchase, to get by some sort of transaction. for the relief of the poor. In other words, if perhaps the collection plates were empty, or maybe they're even full, but there is not enough for the poor, then the deacons are called to go out and get it, to procure it, to go find it. The word procure is a word that's used often with an army. An army goes into a country and there are half a million men. plus animals and everything else that goes with an army that goes into a country in an invasion. And goods need to be procured. There is a whole series of people behind the scenes that are working to make sure there's ammunition and food and everything else that an army needs. They procure it. That's the idea, first of all, of the service of the deacons. Second, that service of the deacons is then to distribute the material goods and money to the rightful objects, which are the needy, and to do that with compassion. The form really sets forth three things with this and in this regard. First of all, that which I quoted earlier, that they use discretion and prudence, or wisdom, to bestow alms only on objects of charity. That is, not everyone who asks for need, who says they have need, are actually needy. Truly needy. And the Bible speaks of that. For example, in one place it talks about those who are truly widows. That is, those who have no husband who are truly destitute. Secondly, this is an important one because it has to do with attitude, to distribute with cheerfulness and simplicity, with compassion and hearty affection. We can best put that in the negative. That is, they don't simply drop off money and mail checks. This isn't simply an accounting transaction. But they bring it. And they don't do so grudgingly or even with all sorts of conditions attached. but they bring it and they give it with a gentle spirit of Christ, with true pity and love in their hearts. And it's not something that simply exists. The idea is that those who receive it can see and know the cheerfulness and the simplicity of it, the compassion of it, and the hearty affection of the giving. And lastly, the form talks about not only administering relief to the poor with external gifts, but with comfortable words of scripture, a reflection of the fact that money does no one any good. There's no grace and mercy in money as such. Grace and mercy comes through the truth. Having said that, I would like to point out also that clearly in Reformed Church government that this work extends way beyond simply giving money to the poor. That in Reformed conception of the diaconate, the giving of alms and charity simply is an example, a great example because it's the most common need, but the work goes beyond that. It includes visiting the sick and providing care in the church. Let me demonstrate that. The question and answer, one of them, that's given by church visitors is this when it comes to the deacons. Do they realize their calling? Do they realize it? That is, do they know it and do they carry out their calling in the care and comfort of the poor and oppressed? that points out that their work is to care. Care is to provide for needs with one's hands. That's more than writing a check. And comfort includes care in the form of words or the heart. We mentioned that earlier. But notice when it adds oppressed, that question isn't saying the same thing. It's not repeating itself. The oppressed refers to anybody who's under duress for any reason with regard to their earthly physical body and needs. In fact, it's the exact same idea in word that was used in Psalm 10 and many other places in Scripture. It includes the fatherless. It includes those persecuted by the poor. It includes those who are sick. Anyone who is vulnerable as to their bodily, earthly needs. The church order, Article 25, in addition to distributing alms to the poor, it adds, and to visit and comfort the distressed. Again, the church order is not repeating itself. It's adding to the notion of providing alms to the poor. It's saying this is in addition to that. Article 26, the very next church order article, says that they shall make it possible for the poor to make use of institutions of mercy. And you ought to see, Munsevin and Dellon, quite a discussion there on that line about whether the deacons should be running the institutions of mercy, which was done in the past. They all knew that that meant hospitals, psychiatric wards, and many of the other institutions we call hospitals today, retirement homes. or whether they simply facilitated that. But there was no argument that that included care for the health of the sick. Let me read this from Munsvin-Vindeland on Article 25. Why does the church order specify that deacons shall, quote, visit and comfort the distressed? In other words, why is that added? because our deacons represent Christ in the dispensation of his mercy. They are therefore far more than committees for relief work. They must relieve want and distress, but not in a mere functional way as the county or state would do, but with a heart of sympathy and love. and they must give with the sympathy and love of Christ himself. This requires interest and a personal warm touch which only a personal visit can convey. Moreover, sometimes the distressed may not need money or food or clothing nearly as much as assistance in some other form, such as sick care or words of comfort from Holy Writ. Our form for the installation of elders and deacons very appropriately states that one of the tasks of our deacons is to relieve the distressed, with kindly deeds and words of consolation and cheer. This phase of the deacon's work is very important and very beautiful, but to a large extent, this all-important work of Christ as merciful high priest is forgotten and neglected." I don't know when they wrote that. but not much has changed. I would echo our fathers there about the great neglect of this work in the Protestant Reformed churches. There are a lot of criticisms that we can make of the offices of minister and elder, but we ought not forget the office of deacon. While it is well known that ministers are busy and elders are busy with even far more work than they can handle, diaconates are generally not that busy. And perhaps one of the reasons is because they are neglecting work that belongs to them. Let me give our churches and our deacons here just three small suggestions. Number one, regularly visit the sick and the shut-ins, along with the elders and the minister. Perhaps even to the point where in the Protestant Reformed churches, they're viewed as the first to call, or as those who actively take the lead. Secondly, how about educating the members? especially the young people or the post-high and the newly married with regard to finances. I don't know how many times I have had young people and young couples come to me and tell me that they lack basic education, even after coming out of our schools, with regard to finances, how to get insurance, how to pay taxes, How to buy a house? All things which, if done incorrectly, can leave someone poor and destitute, and thus the deacon's help. Maybe be proactive. Thirdly, assist in the physical care of the elderly and single-parent homes. For example, there are women whose husbands have abused them or abandoned them. There are children who have had, are orphans from the point of view that their parents have abandoned them, or one is gone. Look for needs other than simply money. This office makes clear a biblical principle. That biblical principle is the grace and mercy of Christ. I find it shocking that we, who are the church that claims to be faithful to the sovereign, particular grace and mercy of God, seem to neglect that very doctrine in our practice, especially through the diaconate. Do we not realize the poor and the sick and the needy are earthly pictures of us, and those alms and that care pictures of the salvation of Christ given to us in pure grace? Did you ever notice? The emphasis of the Bible on that. How it describes oppression of the poor and the vulnerable as a characteristic sin of the wicked, including the wicked in the church. The wicked that Psalm 10 talks about aren't those in Philistia and Moab, but in Israel. And that it brings down the heavy wrath of God. That's why the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is in the Bible. I mentioned Sodom and Gomorrah. You'll immediately think of homosexuality. But that wasn't their essential sin. Do you want to know what it was? You can find it in Ezekiel 16. The great iniquity of Sodom was that she strengthened, not the hand of the poor and needy. And why was that? Because they were all busy spending their money on themselves. Read the prophets when it comes to Israel and Judah being chastised. It wasn't just that they had forsaken God doctrinally, but their rejoicing was to devour the poor secretly. A generation had arose, we read, whose teeth are as swords. and their jaw teeth as knives to devour the poor and needy from off the earth. And do you want to know what the Bible calls the worst sin that could be committed in a family? It's to not provide for someone in your own house. Two chapters later, after we read, we read, If any provide not for his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. You see, the poor and needy represent the deep shame of our depravity in sin. There's shame in being poor. The poor is hated even by his own neighbor. But the rich hath many friends." By the way, it's one way you can tell the difference between rich and poor. the needy and oppressed, and the oppressor. As the one has lots of friends, the other usually has very few friends. And it's the same reality, which is why the poor often don't want to accept help. There's shame in it. It represents our own depravity. The poor represent the deep need and ability of the sinner to extract himself from his sin. He needs help. I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh on me. Thou art my help, Thou art my deliverer. Psalm 40, verse 17. That's what the diaconate represents. He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also. Psalm 72, verse 12. It represents the sovereignty of mercy of God in our salvation. I don't have time this morning to go through all the texts. But it's the Lord that maketh poor and rich, we read. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. And I wonder sometime if why there is this propensity for us to always pick the wrong side and add oppression to those that are being oppressed while letting the oppressor go off scot-free is reflected in this very thing. There's a correlation here. And what we must never forget is the fondness that God has for the poor. Hearken. My beloved brethren, we read, hath not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith? Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men, not many mighty, not many noble are called. The poor and the needy are called. With regard to the qualifications, if you read those qualifications, you're going to discover that they come in three kinds. There are those that are shared with the elders. He must be blameless in his conduct before the church and the world. That's what it says. Then he must be grave. The word there is honorable. The idea is that these must be men who are of good character and good reputation in the church. We read of the original deacons that they were chosen were men of good rapport. Also, those shared with the elders, is that he's not greedy of filthy lucre. That is, not eager for gain. We may add with that anything that lucre represents. Pleasure, earthly goods and property and possessions. Whether he's rich or not should have nothing to do with the office. The question is, is he greedy for it? Is he tempted by money? not given or turned toward much wine. Why is that there? The idea is that of self-control. You always notice that wine is, when a man struggles with wine, that means he has no self-control, not only just over that, but there'll be other things in his life. A deacon must have self-control, control over his life, over his will, over his emotions in order to do the work of a deacon. And he must be the husband as with the elders of one wife ruling their children in houses well. Why? Again, because their work involves ruling in the church of God and giving advice to others. But those are shared. There's those that are also added simply to the deacon. And this is interesting also. The deacon must not be double-tongued, that is, forked-tongued. And we all know that a forked tongue refers to a snake. It refers to a serpent. In other words, somebody who lies, who says one thing when he's facing this way, says something else when he's facing that way. May say something to the rich and something else to the poor. Say something one way in his home and say something another way in the church. That is, he doesn't have deceit and guile in his speech. Again, you might say, why that? That seems more appropriate for an elder until you realize who it is that's easy to talk evil about. It's always the poor and the needy, the oppressed. They don't have friends who will speak up for them. They have rather few friends. Someone has to speak for them and speak for them the same at all times. Can't speak good about them to their face and then evil behind their back to others. We read they must be proved. That is, they're not novices to the faith. They're men whom the church knows, is familiar with, knows their conduct and manner of living, so it can make these judgments with regard to these qualifications. And especially proven with regard to holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. Any notion that the deacons ought not have the same spirituality and faith as the elders ought to be dismissed among us. In fact, according to the scriptures, you should be able to pluck a deacon and place him in the elder's office, almost as necessary. Because the mystery of the faith refers to the gospel of Jesus Christ and all its loveliness and all of its truth and all of its doctrines. It's a man who's a believer, who knows the truth, who has studied in the Scriptures. And notice especially how necessary is that for him to carry out his work with mercy and grace. It's the heart of the Gospel. But then there's a whole third set of qualifications concerning his wife. And I'll point out that the word wife there, when it says, even so must their wives, you'll notice must their is added. It literally reads, even so wives. And some look at that word and say, that's the word for woman. And we have here a biblical implication that women can serve in the office. That's not true here, because the same word is used in the next verse to refer to those who are married to the deacons. No, it refers to the deacons' wives. And you may look at those qualifications. We're not going to look at them individually. But as a whole, you say, why are they there? Because the Bible knows that husband and wife are one, really one. And how the wife behaves, and how she talks, and how she conducts herself in the congregation reflects upon the work of the deacon. It can ruin the work of the deacon. So, there's qualifications for her. She must be grave, that is, as honorable as her husband. She's not a slanderer. That word there is really interesting because it's literally the word she-devil. She must not be a she-devil, that is, double-tongued like a female devil. She also must be sober, not prone to much wine, but rely on prayer with her husband, faithful in all things, like her husband. Now let's look at the blessing. We need to look at that because it could be we simply say, well, that's what God's Word says, and that should be enough. But as is often the case, the Bible brings us to the blessing so that we apply ourselves to the Word of God. Notice they lay up for themselves a good degree. Literally, it's they preserve for themselves. That indicates it's not something that the deacon earns. He earns like a wage from his work, but it's something already given to him through that work and that he must keep now as precious. Deacons will testify to that. So well, there's a minister too. How rewarding is the work itself. God often sends deacons away with more than they brought. They might bring money, a substantial amount of money, but what they themselves bring away is far greater riches. And degree, that word degree refers to a step going up to a building, a threshold. The idea is they have an honorable standing in the house of God. They have a place there. It may only be a step in the entrance, but they have a place. Amazing thing. That's an incentive to them to engage in the work. It's interesting. It's different than the one given the elder. The elder incentive was that the work is a good work. Why is that emphasized? Because the danger is that an elder wants the office of elder for its honor, because it's held in high esteem. So the Bible comes along and says, remember the work. You need to desire the office for the work. Now, when it comes to the deacons, it doesn't mention the work, but it mentions that it's an honorable place. That's emphasized because the danger is someone may not want the office because it's a lot of work. because they think it's less honorable. It's lowly, it's slavey work. The Bible comes along and says, no, no, no, no, you've got to realize it's just as honorable as the work of the elders, just as important. And where that's forgotten, the results in the church have been disastrous. It is striking. Read church history. Read Old Testament history. And you will discover one of the offices often to go first is the diaconate, first practically and then in reality. When God condemns what was going on in Israel and Judah in times of apostasy, the condemnation of God came not just simply upon the judges, the elders, who are allowing people to take people's houses, the orphans and oppressed, who actually signed decrees that gave little children off into slavery to pay debts, but the office of the priest. That's the diaconate. They had stopped being merciful to the people of God and showing that mercy. The blessing is, we read, that they received great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. Literally, they're given openness to speak about the faith that they have through Jesus Christ. The idea is this. They received this faith. and they are given now opportunity to express it. What better place to express your own love for the grace and mercy of God than an office that brings the grace and mercy of God? That's what it's referring to. And it gives this also. The idea is that a deacon is given confidence and boldness to go forth bringing the mercies of Christ exactly because he knows them himself. And that's given as an incentive again because it's not very glamorous work. It's servants' work. It's slaves' work. It's not easy work. It's work that may go unnoticed and unrewarded even on earth. But the deacon, who's a believer in Jesus Christ, will not hold back. will not let the work be taken away. We'll seize it and go forward and carry it. And then, of course, there's blessing for the church. If we are beloved to criticize ourself, and I think such criticism is warranted, but I'll let you judge. But if there's a criticism to be laid at our feet, that there's not much love, not much mercy, and not much grace, I would respond, first of all, by saying, in many cases, that's not true. The deacons are busy, and they are doing work. Nevertheless, is there something to it? And if there is something to it, why do we so often lay it at the feet of the minister, or perhaps the elders, or perhaps the people ourselves? And yes, such criticism can be valid there too. But should we not first of all look at our diaconate? Maybe perhaps our diaconate is a reflection of that in ourselves. That we think grace and mercy is a matter of dumping some money in the collection plate and letting the deacons drop it off. Maybe that's what grace and mercy has become among us. So then also pity and compassion too. Christ comes to us and says, where's your pity? Where's your compassion? And not just in the church, but in this world. You notice that too? Deacons are called not to just bring money to people in the church, but be liberal to all men. And then, secondly, are there ways in the diaconate that we can express the grace and mercy of Christ? And if we think there are, I would say to you, is there any limits to that in God? Do not His grace and mercy flow down like rivers and fountains? Well, that's reflected in the diaconate, truly such a church. blessed. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father which