Have you ever heard someone tell a good story? On the drive to Atlanta, Pastor Don and I listened to the first season of Serial, a podcast that revisits an old murder case in Baltimore. The evidence is unclear and we were riding an emotional roller coaster the whole time. First we’d be convinced he did it, only to be thrown into doubt one episode later. We went back and forth like this for hours. The story was riveting – and we were hooked.

Jesus was a master storyteller. The Gospels give us many accounts of audiences hanging on his every word. He had a gift for answering questions with stories, leaving his hearers either captivated or confounded when he was finished.

One of his most famous stories is that of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. In this story, a Samaritan comes upon a man along the side of the road who has been beaten and left to die. Stopping to help was a dangerous thing to do, as it would leave the helper vulnerable to attack as well. Even still, the Samaritan stopped to help. He bound up the dying man’s wounds. He transported him into town and paid the expense for this stranger’s care. Jesus concludes the story with a question, “Who loved his neighbor?” The answer is the Samaritan – the one who showed mercy.

This passage isn’t directly about deacons. There are others that are much more specific. For example, you can find some of the first diaconal care in Acts 6:1-7 or you could find a deacon’s qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. But when I think of a deacon, I think of the Good Samaritan because a deacon is an officer of mercy. The Samaritan’s mercy makes the mercy ministry of our deacons concrete.

If you’re here on a Sunday morning, you’ll notice that the deacons are keeping things running. They unlock and lock the building. They’re available if emergencies pop up. But the deacon’s main job isn’t to take care of the building; it’s to serve the people in it. Deacons are about service and the most particular form that service takes is mercy. The deacons spearhead our efforts to serve those in our congregation and in our community. It is a spiritual office, extending the mercy of Christ to those with empty hands and leading all of us to do the same.

Mercy ministry requires discretion. You wouldn’t want someone airing your dirty laundry in public, would you? That means that much of what deacons do happens in private, but I can tell you from serving with them that God has given us some truly wonderful deacons. Our deacons are Aaron Andreson, Steve Hill, Paul Parmiter, and Randy Sawyer. Because deacon is an ordained office, it is only open to men. However, our church also has deacon assistants. Deacon assistants are unordained men and women of godly character and particular gifts who come alongside the deacons in their service. Our deacon assistants are Scott Morgan and Fleming Straughan. These servants make us more like Jesus and I’m so thankful for their work.

If reading the story of the Good Samaritan makes you think of someone in this church, maybe they should be a deacon or deacon assistant? You can find nomination forms here or in the church office.