2 Corinthians 8:1-24
Welcome! Today we will continue our study of 2 Corinthians, focusing in on Chapter 8. Both Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 deal with the topic of giving. I have a lot of ground to cover today, so let me get right to the passage.
And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. – 2 Corinthians 8:1-4
So Paul begins this section of 2 Corinthians by telling the Corinthians about the generosity of the Macedonian churches. Now, Macedonia was the name for the northern part of Greece. Corinth was in the southern part of Greece. So Macedonia was not terribly far away from Corinth; the Corinthians knew all about them. You may not know much about them, so let me provide some background.
Macedonia had been captured by Rome two hundred years prior to this time, and had been a Roman territory for the past two centuries. That is a long time, when you stop to think that America’s existence as an independent nation is not much longer than this. Now, what had 200 years under Rome done to Macedonia? Well, basically, it had done the same thing that long periods under Rome did everywhere else: it reduced the land to severe poverty. During this time, the Romans subjected them to heavy, oppressive taxation, and they simply took over industries that were of use to them, such as the mining industry and the shipbuilding industry. They would employ locals to do the work, but pay them wages barely above slavery; all of the profit of these industries now went directly to Rome.
Also, during this time there had been long stretches of civil war, and we in the South know what even a brief civil war can do to a region. These wars, by the way, involved various Caesars and some other folks you may have heard of, people like Brutus and Cassius. The poverty of Macedonia became so profound that the Romans at one point did something unthinkable: they eliminated all tax collections for a time. I guess even the Romans eventually figured out that you cannot, as the saying goes, squeeze blood from a turnip.
Now, in terms of the churches we know of, those mentioned in the New Testament, there were three churches in Macedonia: the church at Philippi (the recipient of the letter we call Philippians), the church at Thessalonica (the recipient of the two letters we call 1st and 2nd Thessalonians), and the church at Berea (which is mentioned, along with the others, in Acts). In Acts, and in Philippians, and in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, and in side references in other letters, these churches were never called rich. And they weren’t. They were poor. They were impoverished.
Notice that these verses talk not only about their poverty, but about their trials, Mega-trials, quite literally. The word for trial, here, is dokime, means a test, and the word is used to describe how one puts metal into a super-hot furnace to test it. So a good translation would be trial-by-fire. And we can find plenty of evidence of trials in the Macedonian churches.
I Thessalonians 1:6: “In spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.”
I Thessalonians 2:14-16: “You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches [those in Judea] suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved.”
I Thessalonians 3:2-4: “We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we [this means Paul as well as them] were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.”
2 Thessalonians 1:4: “Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.”
Philippians 1:29: “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.”
The Greek in our passage for most severe trial has one more word, thlipsis. This word is most often used to describe the crushing of grapes used for making wine. This was what their affliction was like – they were being crushed, broken.
And so, these severely impoverished, severely persecuted churches were doing what? They were giving. Not just giving, not even giving generously, but giving beyond their means, beyond their ability. What does it mean to give beyond your ability? It means to give so much that it lowers your standard of living. I cannot even imagine what this meant for the people in these Macedonian churches. How do you lower your standard of living when you are already extremely, profoundly, poor? But this is what they did.
Now, what were they giving to? What was this money for? Was it to support Paul? No. This money was being collected for the church in Jerusalem. How do we know this? Well, there is plenty of evidence in this passage, as you will see, as we go on, but we also see the context in I Corinthians 16:
Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. – I Corinthians 16:1-4
So Paul had asked the Corinthian church back in this first letter to begin a weekly collection of an offering for the Jerusalem church. Now, in 2 Corinthians, Paul is continuing to talk about this collection. You can see that Paul was asking all the churches he was visiting to contribute to the Jerusalem church – just in these passages we see the Corinthians, the Galatians, and the Macedonian churches involved.
Now before I get into the why, why this collection was being made for the Jerusalem church, let me point out that in all certainty this was not the only giving that these churches were doing. Without a doubt, they were also giving locally, within their own churches. These local collections were for two purposes: (1) providing for those within their churches who could not provide for themselves, especially widows and orphans, and (2) in some cases, providing for elders and evangelists and others whose ministry demands took up so much time that they had no time to provide for themselves or their families. Now purpose #2 was not always done; for example, even the Apostle Paul on multiple occasions made it clear that he preferred to work himself and provide for himself as a tentmaker.
Here at Clemson Community Church, we currently have a situation in which all three of our elders work full-time jobs and, thus, do not receive any kind of salary from the church. And I think I can speak for all three of us when I say that we rejoice that we are able to do this. We do not want to be unnecessary burdens on anyone, and we are able to share the load of ministry so that it does not overwhelm any of us. And one reason for this is because of the overall maturity of the saints, that is, of you. You all also share in the work of ministry; you build one another up, you counsel one another, the older and more spiritually mature of you impart what the Lord has taught you to others, and this is all good; it is all very good.
This is how the church is supposed to function – this is why God gives gifts to every believer. And all I can say to this is to exhort you to keep on doing it, and I would especially exhort those of you who are struggling or younger in the Lord to take advantage of the incredible wisdom and maturity of the saints that are here. Don’t be shy. And don’t try to “get by” alone. None of us who have aspired to any measure of growth or maturity in the Lord could have done this alone. To be more blunt, God won’t let you do it alone, so give up trying, if that is what you are doing.
But the other thing I want to briefly say here is that, although the three of us do not receive a salary from the church, we don’t think it is sin, or wrong, for a church to support its pastors or others in the ministry. We have at times supported people in this way in the past, and we might do so again in the future, if the ratio of work to pastors was such that we became unable to adequately provide for the needs of the saints.
But back to our passage, the question at hand is why was Paul going around collecting funds from these churches for the church in Jerusalem? The answer is not explicitly here either, but I will tell you – it is because the poverty and needs in Jerusalem were even greater than that in Macedonia. We can see hints of why this was so even from the beginnings of the church in Acts. After Pentacost, the church in Jerusalem exploded into existence and continued to explode in growth as miracle after miracle happened. Before long there were thousands and thousands of believers in Jerusalem. Then there was persecution, and many scattered. Who do you think was most likely to scatter? Those who could, those who had somewhere to go. Recall that many of the first believers were Jews who were simply visiting Jerusalem for the Jewish holidays. Those who had businesses or work back at home eventually went there. But there were many who had nothing, and because the Jerusalem church was quick to give to those who had nothing (also described in the first chapters of Acts), they stayed there.
I have no doubt that the Jerusalem church built a reputation as a place that showed compassion, that fed the starving, that helped the downtrodden, and became known for this throughout the Roman world. Why? Because these people were filled with the love of Christ, and they loved people with the love of Christ. Being the first church, and the largest, they became place of hope, a place of mercy, in the midst of a cruel Roman world that laughed at hope and viewed mercy with scorn. And because the Jerusalem church itself experienced so much persecution, they were far beyond their ability to provide for all who came to them. Paul knew this, and so on this present missionary journey, he took to collecting funds from all the sister churches (every church was a sister church) for this great need.
Now, I have gone in great detail on the background here so that we can really appreciate and understand the situation. I have many more verses to go through, today, and need to start progressing, but let me make one last point from these first four verses. What do you see between the phrase most severe trial and extreme poverty? You see their overflowing joy. I need to point this out, because I don’t want you thinking that Paul was strong-arming them or guilting them into giving. Paul wasn’t taxing them. This wasn’t a compulsory tithe. In fact, there were no tithes in the early church. The tithe (and really I should say tithes, because there was more than one) was a giving of one-tenth of your gains to the Temple, and it was solely a part of the Old Testament system. It provided for the priests and Levites and their work. The New Testament church did not set up their own tithing system; they didn’t build their own Temple; they didn’t have their own Levites and priests. Giving was voluntary, but it was generous. It was beyond generous; people not only gave of their increases, but of their assets; as I said, people reduced their standards of living, and you certainly see that here.
So no, they did not give under compulsion, but with overflowing joy. Where did that joy come from? The Holy Spirit? Yes, that is true; all good and godly behavior of a believer is ultimately from the Holy Spirit. But there are two, more personal, questions I would ask you to ask yourselves. The first is, “Why am I not more like that?” And the second is, “How can I become more like that?” If you are taking notes, I would encourage you to write these questions down: “Why am I not more like the Macedonians?” “How can I become more like the Macedonians?” Are any of you a little uncomfortable with the second question – be honest to yourself. If the second question makes you uncomfortable, then you have a big clue to the answer of the first question. Usually we are not a certain way because, deep down, we don’t want to be that way.
But I really need to continue with our passage. Starting in verse 5:
And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. – 2 Corinthians 8:5-7
They gave themselves first to the Lord – they lived for Christ. And in the topic of giving, I love this picture, the picture of giving … yourself. Not a percentage of your earnings, or even some of your assets, but yourself. Giving themselves voluntarily, joyfully, to their Savior; as Paul puts it when he describes himself, becoming a bondslave for Christ. And in this mindset, not seeing yourself as your own, but as another’s, and really thinking this way, they then gave voluntarily, sacrificially, joyfully, to the suffering church in Jerusalem. Note that Paul didn’t expect this – perhaps he told them of the need but didn’t ask it of them, knowing their extreme circumstances. Regardless, what they gave blew Paul away. When someone gives themselves first to the Lord, this is what happens – the love of Christ overwhelms everything, even your love of self, and the whisperings of the Spirit become clear, and the desire to obey becomes unimpeded. And so, with this powerful, humbling example of giving, Paul exhorts the Corinthians to do likewise, to excel in this grace of giving.
It may be a paradox, I think, to be exhorted to excel in grace. Grace, charis, is a gift from God. If it is a gift from God, how can we muster ourselves up to do it? I’m not going to unravel this mystery for you; I kind of like it this way. All I will say is to look back to verse 5 – they gave themselves first to the Lord.
I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. – 2 Corinthians 8:8-9
As in almost everything, our ultimate example is Jesus. Quite literally, and quite totally, He gave Himself, all that there was to give. To even enter this world as a baby, He gave up more than we can even imagine. But for God to subject Himself to humiliation, and torture, and death, by His creatures, so as to fulfill the will of His Father and to save us, He was the ultimate example of giving to the point of poverty. Out of the entire Bible, if I had to pick one verse to be the verse to consider for the topic of giving, I would choose verse 9 here. What can we say? If He gave all for us, how can we hold back from Him? The comparison of the Macedonians to us may challenge us, but the example of Christ should undo us. We need to remember that when we give, we give to Christ. “Whatever you do to the least of these…” And how poor were we? Infinitely – we had a one-way ticket to an eternity in hell separated from God. And how rich are we? Infinitely – we have a one-way nonrefundable ticket to an eternity in heaven wonderful beyond our wildest dreams in the intimate company of our loving Creator and Savior. And again – how rich was He? Unimaginably, in perfect communion with God the Father and God the Spirit from before the creation of the universe. And then, how poor was He? From all that to a helpless baby and then ultimately to the point of hanging on a cross, experiencing the full wrath of God for all the sins of all mankind. This is giving!
As you take this in, let me pose the second of my two questions again. “How can I become more like the Macedonians?” If this question bothered you or scared you before, how about now? Thinking about Christ, the depth of His love for you, what He has done for you, are you more willing to live for Him? Are you more willing to die for Him? Are you more willing to give for Him?
Again, this is the secret of the Macedonians – they gave themselves first to the Lord. And this can be our secret as well.
Continuing with our passage:
And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. – 2 Corinthians 8:10-12
I find there something profound when Paul says, “Finish the work.” On a practical level, I can understand why Paul is saying this – all through 2 Corinthians we have seen evidence that the Corinthians had lost their trust and faith in Paul; and when this happened, I am sure that their weekly giving, setting aside money for the Jerusalem church fell off as well. Paul, after working to restore this relationship in this letter, is asking them to finish the collections. And Paul makes it clear he is not talking about a specific amount, but about the heart.
Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little." – 2 Corinthians 8:13-15
That first phrase means that this is not so that others (the church in Jerusalem) would have it better than they would. He is reminding them that they are really severely hard-pressed. And he explains that at if, at some point in the future, it is the Corinthians who are most hard-pressed, Paul would collect an offering from the others, including the Jerusalem church, to help them out. In this way, there is equality, or fairness. The Greek word is isotes, which could also be translated as equilibrium. It helps me with this word to think of a pendulum, swinging left, then right, then left, and so on. It doesn’t only swing left and stay there. There is no preferential treatment going on to any particular church. One reason Paul may be writing this is so as to answer any criticisms that Paul is playing favorites, only helping out the Jerusalem church (which is mostly Jewish, like Paul).
Paul’s quote there refers to manna, the “what is it” that God provided the Israelites in the desert. Each family gathered an amount appropriate to the number of people in their tent. But did everyone gather exactly what they each needed? No. Some gathered more than others, but then they distributed it out so that everyone in the tent had what they needed to eat. Paul is saying something similar here – it is as if the entire church is one tent, and those who gather more should help those who don’t have enough to eat. But let me be crystal clear – Paul is not advocating communism! He is not saying everyone should have the same amount of wealth; even Jesus said the poor would always be among you. What we are talking about here is eating – the basic necessities of life. Paul’s collection for the Jerusalem church was not so they could have cable TV, or high-speed internet. It was so they wouldn’t starve.
Now I want to consider the final verses together. Starting from verse 16:
I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. – 2 Corinthians 8:16-18
What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift.For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men. – 2 Corinthians 8:19-21
In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ. Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it. – 2 Corinthians 8:22-24
Paul is getting into the nitty-gritty of how the offering will be taken and delivered now. I just want to briefly point out a few points here that show that there is great integrity in how this is being done. Understand that this had to be a lot of money. The Corinthian church had been collecting weekly for over a year, and presumably the other churches had been doing likewise.
The key thing I notice is that there is a plurality, a team, of leaders involved here. Paul is not a one-man show, unaccountable to anyone. There is Titus, and others, working together. If you are wondering who the unnamed brothers are, sorry, I don’t know. But they knew. How? Because Titus was there, bringing this very letter, 2 Corinthians, and these other men were standing right next to him.
This plurality demonstrates integrity and safety. It is wise. It is prudent. Here at Clemson Community Church, we do something similar with the offerings you entrust us with – when we collect the gifts from the box on the table, the cash and checks are counted in plurality, and the two who count it sign their names on a form we have that gives the totals. We don’t do this because we don’t trust each other, but because, as Paul says here, we want to avoid any criticism … for we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.
In closing, let me just say that this whole topic of giving goes beyond money. Our time, our service, even the degree to which we open up to one another and allow others to minister to us – all these things are things we hold back on when our hearts aren’t right. We have been given two incredible examples – the example of the Macedonian churches and the incomparable example of Christ Himself – to understand what giving for the Christian is all about. If you’ve never done it before, I would encourage you to, in prayer, give yourself to the Lord. Technically, we’re His already, as is all of our stuff, but there is something special that happens when we tell Him and mean it, when we let go of our grasp on our stuff, on our desires, on our futures, even on who we are. Give yourself voluntarily and joyfully and totally to the Lord, and you will experience the incredible grace of giving.
Welcome! Today we will continue our study of 2 Corinthians, focusing in on Chapter 8. Both Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 deal with the topic of giving. I have a lot of ground to cover today, so let me get right to the passage.And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. – 2 Corinthians 8:1-4
So Paul begins this section of 2 Corinthians by telling the Corinthians about the generosity of the Macedonian churches. Now, Macedonia was the name for the northern part of Greece. Corinth was in the southern part of Greece. So Macedonia was not terribly far away from Corinth; the Corinthians knew all about them. You may not know much about them, so let me provide some background.
Macedonia had been captured by Rome two hundred years prior to this time, and had been a Roman territory for the past two centuries. That is a long time, when you stop to think that America’s existence as an independent nation is not much longer than this. Now, what had 200 years under Rome done to Macedonia? Well, basically, it had done the same thing that long periods under Rome did everywhere else: it reduced the land to severe poverty. During this time, the Romans subjected them to heavy, oppressive taxation, and they simply took over industries that were of use to them, such as the mining industry and the shipbuilding industry. They would employ locals to do the work, but pay them wages barely above slavery; all of the profit of these industries now went directly to Rome.
Also, during this time there had been long stretches of civil war, and we in the South know what even a brief civil war can do to a region. These wars, by the way, involved various Caesars and some other folks you may have heard of, people like Brutus and Cassius. The poverty of Macedonia became so profound that the Romans at one point did something unthinkable: they eliminated all tax collections for a time. I guess even the Romans eventually figured out that you cannot, as the saying goes, squeeze blood from a turnip.
Now, in terms of the churches we know of, those mentioned in the New Testament, there were three churches in Macedonia: the church at Philippi (the recipient of the letter we call Philippians), the church at Thessalonica (the recipient of the two letters we call 1st and 2nd Thessalonians), and the church at Berea (which is mentioned, along with the others, in Acts). In Acts, and in Philippians, and in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, and in side references in other letters, these churches were never called rich. And they weren’t. They were poor. They were impoverished.
Notice that these verses talk not only about their poverty, but about their trials, Mega-trials, quite literally. The word for trial, here, is dokime, means a test, and the word is used to describe how one puts metal into a super-hot furnace to test it. So a good translation would be trial-by-fire. And we can find plenty of evidence of trials in the Macedonian churches.
I Thessalonians 1:6: “In spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.”
I Thessalonians 2:14-16: “You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches [those in Judea] suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved.”
I Thessalonians 3:2-4: “We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we [this means Paul as well as them] were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.”
2 Thessalonians 1:4: “Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.”
Philippians 1:29: “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.”
The Greek in our passage for most severe trial has one more word, thlipsis. This word is most often used to describe the crushing of grapes used for making wine. This was what their affliction was like – they were being crushed, broken.
And so, these severely impoverished, severely persecuted churches were doing what? They were giving. Not just giving, not even giving generously, but giving beyond their means, beyond their ability. What does it mean to give beyond your ability? It means to give so much that it lowers your standard of living. I cannot even imagine what this meant for the people in these Macedonian churches. How do you lower your standard of living when you are already extremely, profoundly, poor? But this is what they did.
Now, what were they giving to? What was this money for? Was it to support Paul? No. This money was being collected for the church in Jerusalem. How do we know this? Well, there is plenty of evidence in this passage, as you will see, as we go on, but we also see the context in I Corinthians 16:
Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. – I Corinthians 16:1-4
So Paul had asked the Corinthian church back in this first letter to begin a weekly collection of an offering for the Jerusalem church. Now, in 2 Corinthians, Paul is continuing to talk about this collection. You can see that Paul was asking all the churches he was visiting to contribute to the Jerusalem church – just in these passages we see the Corinthians, the Galatians, and the Macedonian churches involved.
Now before I get into the why, why this collection was being made for the Jerusalem church, let me point out that in all certainty this was not the only giving that these churches were doing. Without a doubt, they were also giving locally, within their own churches. These local collections were for two purposes: (1) providing for those within their churches who could not provide for themselves, especially widows and orphans, and (2) in some cases, providing for elders and evangelists and others whose ministry demands took up so much time that they had no time to provide for themselves or their families. Now purpose #2 was not always done; for example, even the Apostle Paul on multiple occasions made it clear that he preferred to work himself and provide for himself as a tentmaker.
Here at Clemson Community Church, we currently have a situation in which all three of our elders work full-time jobs and, thus, do not receive any kind of salary from the church. And I think I can speak for all three of us when I say that we rejoice that we are able to do this. We do not want to be unnecessary burdens on anyone, and we are able to share the load of ministry so that it does not overwhelm any of us. And one reason for this is because of the overall maturity of the saints, that is, of you. You all also share in the work of ministry; you build one another up, you counsel one another, the older and more spiritually mature of you impart what the Lord has taught you to others, and this is all good; it is all very good.
This is how the church is supposed to function – this is why God gives gifts to every believer. And all I can say to this is to exhort you to keep on doing it, and I would especially exhort those of you who are struggling or younger in the Lord to take advantage of the incredible wisdom and maturity of the saints that are here. Don’t be shy. And don’t try to “get by” alone. None of us who have aspired to any measure of growth or maturity in the Lord could have done this alone. To be more blunt, God won’t let you do it alone, so give up trying, if that is what you are doing.
But the other thing I want to briefly say here is that, although the three of us do not receive a salary from the church, we don’t think it is sin, or wrong, for a church to support its pastors or others in the ministry. We have at times supported people in this way in the past, and we might do so again in the future, if the ratio of work to pastors was such that we became unable to adequately provide for the needs of the saints.
But back to our passage, the question at hand is why was Paul going around collecting funds from these churches for the church in Jerusalem? The answer is not explicitly here either, but I will tell you – it is because the poverty and needs in Jerusalem were even greater than that in Macedonia. We can see hints of why this was so even from the beginnings of the church in Acts. After Pentacost, the church in Jerusalem exploded into existence and continued to explode in growth as miracle after miracle happened. Before long there were thousands and thousands of believers in Jerusalem. Then there was persecution, and many scattered. Who do you think was most likely to scatter? Those who could, those who had somewhere to go. Recall that many of the first believers were Jews who were simply visiting Jerusalem for the Jewish holidays. Those who had businesses or work back at home eventually went there. But there were many who had nothing, and because the Jerusalem church was quick to give to those who had nothing (also described in the first chapters of Acts), they stayed there.
I have no doubt that the Jerusalem church built a reputation as a place that showed compassion, that fed the starving, that helped the downtrodden, and became known for this throughout the Roman world. Why? Because these people were filled with the love of Christ, and they loved people with the love of Christ. Being the first church, and the largest, they became place of hope, a place of mercy, in the midst of a cruel Roman world that laughed at hope and viewed mercy with scorn. And because the Jerusalem church itself experienced so much persecution, they were far beyond their ability to provide for all who came to them. Paul knew this, and so on this present missionary journey, he took to collecting funds from all the sister churches (every church was a sister church) for this great need.
Now, I have gone in great detail on the background here so that we can really appreciate and understand the situation. I have many more verses to go through, today, and need to start progressing, but let me make one last point from these first four verses. What do you see between the phrase most severe trial and extreme poverty? You see their overflowing joy. I need to point this out, because I don’t want you thinking that Paul was strong-arming them or guilting them into giving. Paul wasn’t taxing them. This wasn’t a compulsory tithe. In fact, there were no tithes in the early church. The tithe (and really I should say tithes, because there was more than one) was a giving of one-tenth of your gains to the Temple, and it was solely a part of the Old Testament system. It provided for the priests and Levites and their work. The New Testament church did not set up their own tithing system; they didn’t build their own Temple; they didn’t have their own Levites and priests. Giving was voluntary, but it was generous. It was beyond generous; people not only gave of their increases, but of their assets; as I said, people reduced their standards of living, and you certainly see that here.
So no, they did not give under compulsion, but with overflowing joy. Where did that joy come from? The Holy Spirit? Yes, that is true; all good and godly behavior of a believer is ultimately from the Holy Spirit. But there are two, more personal, questions I would ask you to ask yourselves. The first is, “Why am I not more like that?” And the second is, “How can I become more like that?” If you are taking notes, I would encourage you to write these questions down: “Why am I not more like the Macedonians?” “How can I become more like the Macedonians?” Are any of you a little uncomfortable with the second question – be honest to yourself. If the second question makes you uncomfortable, then you have a big clue to the answer of the first question. Usually we are not a certain way because, deep down, we don’t want to be that way.
But I really need to continue with our passage. Starting in verse 5:
And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. – 2 Corinthians 8:5-7
They gave themselves first to the Lord – they lived for Christ. And in the topic of giving, I love this picture, the picture of giving … yourself. Not a percentage of your earnings, or even some of your assets, but yourself. Giving themselves voluntarily, joyfully, to their Savior; as Paul puts it when he describes himself, becoming a bondslave for Christ. And in this mindset, not seeing yourself as your own, but as another’s, and really thinking this way, they then gave voluntarily, sacrificially, joyfully, to the suffering church in Jerusalem. Note that Paul didn’t expect this – perhaps he told them of the need but didn’t ask it of them, knowing their extreme circumstances. Regardless, what they gave blew Paul away. When someone gives themselves first to the Lord, this is what happens – the love of Christ overwhelms everything, even your love of self, and the whisperings of the Spirit become clear, and the desire to obey becomes unimpeded. And so, with this powerful, humbling example of giving, Paul exhorts the Corinthians to do likewise, to excel in this grace of giving.
It may be a paradox, I think, to be exhorted to excel in grace. Grace, charis, is a gift from God. If it is a gift from God, how can we muster ourselves up to do it? I’m not going to unravel this mystery for you; I kind of like it this way. All I will say is to look back to verse 5 – they gave themselves first to the Lord.
I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. – 2 Corinthians 8:8-9
As in almost everything, our ultimate example is Jesus. Quite literally, and quite totally, He gave Himself, all that there was to give. To even enter this world as a baby, He gave up more than we can even imagine. But for God to subject Himself to humiliation, and torture, and death, by His creatures, so as to fulfill the will of His Father and to save us, He was the ultimate example of giving to the point of poverty. Out of the entire Bible, if I had to pick one verse to be the verse to consider for the topic of giving, I would choose verse 9 here. What can we say? If He gave all for us, how can we hold back from Him? The comparison of the Macedonians to us may challenge us, but the example of Christ should undo us. We need to remember that when we give, we give to Christ. “Whatever you do to the least of these…” And how poor were we? Infinitely – we had a one-way ticket to an eternity in hell separated from God. And how rich are we? Infinitely – we have a one-way nonrefundable ticket to an eternity in heaven wonderful beyond our wildest dreams in the intimate company of our loving Creator and Savior. And again – how rich was He? Unimaginably, in perfect communion with God the Father and God the Spirit from before the creation of the universe. And then, how poor was He? From all that to a helpless baby and then ultimately to the point of hanging on a cross, experiencing the full wrath of God for all the sins of all mankind. This is giving!
As you take this in, let me pose the second of my two questions again. “How can I become more like the Macedonians?” If this question bothered you or scared you before, how about now? Thinking about Christ, the depth of His love for you, what He has done for you, are you more willing to live for Him? Are you more willing to die for Him? Are you more willing to give for Him?
Again, this is the secret of the Macedonians – they gave themselves first to the Lord. And this can be our secret as well.
Continuing with our passage:
And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. – 2 Corinthians 8:10-12
I find there something profound when Paul says, “Finish the work.” On a practical level, I can understand why Paul is saying this – all through 2 Corinthians we have seen evidence that the Corinthians had lost their trust and faith in Paul; and when this happened, I am sure that their weekly giving, setting aside money for the Jerusalem church fell off as well. Paul, after working to restore this relationship in this letter, is asking them to finish the collections. And Paul makes it clear he is not talking about a specific amount, but about the heart.
Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little." – 2 Corinthians 8:13-15
That first phrase means that this is not so that others (the church in Jerusalem) would have it better than they would. He is reminding them that they are really severely hard-pressed. And he explains that at if, at some point in the future, it is the Corinthians who are most hard-pressed, Paul would collect an offering from the others, including the Jerusalem church, to help them out. In this way, there is equality, or fairness. The Greek word is isotes, which could also be translated as equilibrium. It helps me with this word to think of a pendulum, swinging left, then right, then left, and so on. It doesn’t only swing left and stay there. There is no preferential treatment going on to any particular church. One reason Paul may be writing this is so as to answer any criticisms that Paul is playing favorites, only helping out the Jerusalem church (which is mostly Jewish, like Paul).
Paul’s quote there refers to manna, the “what is it” that God provided the Israelites in the desert. Each family gathered an amount appropriate to the number of people in their tent. But did everyone gather exactly what they each needed? No. Some gathered more than others, but then they distributed it out so that everyone in the tent had what they needed to eat. Paul is saying something similar here – it is as if the entire church is one tent, and those who gather more should help those who don’t have enough to eat. But let me be crystal clear – Paul is not advocating communism! He is not saying everyone should have the same amount of wealth; even Jesus said the poor would always be among you. What we are talking about here is eating – the basic necessities of life. Paul’s collection for the Jerusalem church was not so they could have cable TV, or high-speed internet. It was so they wouldn’t starve.
Now I want to consider the final verses together. Starting from verse 16:
I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. – 2 Corinthians 8:16-18
What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift.For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men. – 2 Corinthians 8:19-21
In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ. Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it. – 2 Corinthians 8:22-24
Paul is getting into the nitty-gritty of how the offering will be taken and delivered now. I just want to briefly point out a few points here that show that there is great integrity in how this is being done. Understand that this had to be a lot of money. The Corinthian church had been collecting weekly for over a year, and presumably the other churches had been doing likewise.
The key thing I notice is that there is a plurality, a team, of leaders involved here. Paul is not a one-man show, unaccountable to anyone. There is Titus, and others, working together. If you are wondering who the unnamed brothers are, sorry, I don’t know. But they knew. How? Because Titus was there, bringing this very letter, 2 Corinthians, and these other men were standing right next to him.
This plurality demonstrates integrity and safety. It is wise. It is prudent. Here at Clemson Community Church, we do something similar with the offerings you entrust us with – when we collect the gifts from the box on the table, the cash and checks are counted in plurality, and the two who count it sign their names on a form we have that gives the totals. We don’t do this because we don’t trust each other, but because, as Paul says here, we want to avoid any criticism … for we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.
In closing, let me just say that this whole topic of giving goes beyond money. Our time, our service, even the degree to which we open up to one another and allow others to minister to us – all these things are things we hold back on when our hearts aren’t right. We have been given two incredible examples – the example of the Macedonian churches and the incomparable example of Christ Himself – to understand what giving for the Christian is all about. If you’ve never done it before, I would encourage you to, in prayer, give yourself to the Lord. Technically, we’re His already, as is all of our stuff, but there is something special that happens when we tell Him and mean it, when we let go of our grasp on our stuff, on our desires, on our futures, even on who we are. Give yourself voluntarily and joyfully and totally to the Lord, and you will experience the incredible grace of giving.
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