”For the [ones] beautifully deaconizing a beautiful standing are obtaining for themselves and much confidence in the faith in Christ Jesus.”
-You know the ones. You know those of whom Paul is speaking here. Or perhaps you don’t know them. Because they thrive in the background, behind the curtains and in the shadows of the dirty and unwanted necessaries. Not wont for the limelight, these ones. Faithful. Dependable. Utterly count-on-able. When you need something done, one of these bad boys will git-er-done. They may have already done it, in fact. Ah, but if you are a leader, if you find yourself regularly in charge of things in the assembly, you know very well who they are, these beauties. They have blessed you time and time again, doing what needs to be done, and they very likely didn’t even need to be asked to do it. Not in it for personal gain, not in it for titles or recognition, not at all thinking about what they can get out of it, but they in fact are gaining something beautiful, something wonderful. In their beautiful service, they are gaining both the growing assurance of the reality of the Christ-life in them, their eternal salvation in Christ (as they walk in the very footsteps of Jesus), and they are moving ever closer to that tremendous day when they will hear from His own lips, those precious words: “Well done.”
-In the Greek, it’s only one word, actually. eu. That’s it (Matthew 25.21, 23). It’s the prefix which means good, or well (we know it from the words eu-phemism and eu-thanasia). There’s a strengthened form in Luke 19.17 - euge. Good indeed, well indeed. We wouldn’t simply say, “Well”, however. In contemporary English we would say something more like, “Nice”. As in, “Nice job, nicely done.” And we might strengthen it by saying, “Very nice!” And that is what our Lord Himself will say to those who have served beautifully in the assembly. Remember His words? Well done, good and faithful....what? Servant. The word there is slave, or bondservant. At the end of the day we are talking about these beautiful servants. Slaves of Jesus who show their character by faithfully and fervently serving their Lord and their fellow believers with good will and no thought of what’s in it for them. Which again is precisely what Jesus came to do - to serve. And which He still comes to do today through those whose hearts are completely His. And for these, there actually is the prospect of a reward, straight from the Lord Himself (Ephesians 6.8, Colossians 3.24). No doubt - even though they are not looking for it - we ought also to recognize and affirm those beautiful deacons who give so much and ask for so little in return.
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