Church historian Bryan Litfin has written a very interesting novel that helpfully depicts what life was like for Christians in Rome. In The Conqueror, the first volume of Litfin’s “Constantine’s Empire” trilogy, a Christian girl named Flavia is speaking to a young pagan named Rex about the difference between pagan worship and Christian worship. Rex has just been to the temple of Hercules where he has made an offering and a sacrifice. He is asking Flavia here about the role of sacrifice in Christian worship services. Listen to this exchange, but note her reference to deacons near the end.
Lord, help me explain your truth rightly, Flavia prayed as she considered her friend’s honest question. “The Jews used to do it at the temple,” she said, “but it’s not like that anymore in the Christian religion. We do make a sacrifice, but it’s only bread and wine, not animals. We consider Christ’s body and blood a sufficient sacrifice already. So it’s a remembrance that we offer in church—a sacrifice that looks back to what the Savior did. My bishop says the Eucharist makes Christ present in our midst. He is truly there with us, to nourish us. We like to say we feed on him. Not literally, of course, but spiritually. The Spirit of God is in that consecrated bread and wine. Grace comes to us in this holy meal.”
“So there’s no need to buy anything? I had to buy the lamb and pay a bunch of fees. ‘Votive offerings,’ they call it. When you bring a request, or when your vow is fulfilled, you have to give something valuable.”
“I know how it works. The standard prayer made to your gods is, ‘I give so that you might give.’ But our scriptures say, ‘God demonstrates his love to us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ See the difference? The giving goes the other way in Christianity: from God to us. You don’t have to bribe him first.”
“Then how do your priests pay for everything if you don’t have to buy your way in?”
“Oh, Christians definitely pay money! But it’s not a required fee. It’s a freewill offering. We come up and leave it on the table, and the deacons use it to buy food and clothes for the poor. One of the main purposes of our meetings is to gather money to be distributed to the needy. That is the essence of love.”
“Love?” Rex waved his hand. “Love is just a feeling. It isn’t something real.”
“Yes, it is. Love becomes real when the feeling becomes an action.”
Litfin, Bryan. The Conqueror (Constantine’s Empire Book #1) (Constantine’s Empire) (pp. 213-214). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Yes, this is a novel, but the reference to Christian worship and the role of the early deacons is anything but fictional! Litfin is a careful and good historian, which is why I offer this example here. “The deacons use it to buy food and clothes for the poor.” Indeed, any good study of early Christian history will show that caring for the poor and those in need was a vital part of being a deacon. In fact, we need look no further than Acts 6 and the serving of the food to widows to see this.
Deacon, serve well at The Table of the Poor. The church has a long and rich history of deacons doing precisely that!
