The collection for the church in Jerusalem
8
The Macedonian example
1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace of God that has been bestowed upon the congregations of Macedonia, 2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their extreme poverty produced their extravagant, sincere generosity. 3 Because according to their ability, I bear witness, even beyond that ability, of their own accord, 4 they begged us with much entreaty to receive the gift, the sharing in the ministry to the saints 5 —and more than we had hoped, they first gave themselves to the Lord* Is obeying the commands of Christ the exclusive privilege of the rich? How about the first believers, there in Jerusalem, were they rich or poor? It would appear that the vast majority were poor; so much so that the few well-to-do were selling their property to feed the rest. (That is what gave rise to the case of Ananias and Sapphira [Acts 4:32-5:11].) They evidently did not want to leave Jerusalem, in spite of the Lord's words recorded in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8. So God Himself sent the persecutions to disperse them. And they scattered, preaching as they went, poor though they were.
Here in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 we find an account that is very much to the point. Those Macedonian believers were very poor (“extreme poverty”). Furthermore, they were experiencing a “severe test of affliction”. Even so, they insisted on giving. From verse 4 it almost seems that Paul felt a bit embarrassed about asking them to give—they needed help themselves! But they insisted; they wanted to give. And they gave more than they properly could (“beyond their ability”). But how was that possible? They had the mentality of the Kingdom—in verse 5 we read that “first they gave themselves to the Lord”. And they must have understood the secret of God's economy, as described in 2 Corinthians 9:8. (and due to God's will, to us).
6 So we urged Titus that as he had made a beginning so he should also bring to completion in you this grace as well; 7 that as you excel in everything—in faith, in word, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—that you excel in this grace too.
Christ's example
8 I am not giving a command, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for our† Although some 60% of the Greek manuscripts, and most versions, have ‘your’ (thereby agreeing with the complement), I take it that the best line of transmission has “our”, that is more inclusive. sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. 10 So here is my advice in this (since already a year ago you began to give and to plan, this is to your advantage): 11 now you must really finish the doing—not only of the enthusiastic planning but also of the completing—out of what you have 12 (because when the intention is presented, it is acceptable according to what one may have, not what he does not have). 13 Now this is not to distress you so as to relieve others, 14 but by way of balance—at this juncture your surplus alleviates their lack, so that later their surplus may alleviate your lack—yes, that there be balance;‡ Note that I have replaced the usual ‘equality’ with ‘balance’. God is not egalitarian; He likes diversity—no two snowflakes are identical, no two drops of water, no two leaves or blades of grass, and much less two human beings. God hates laziness, so we should never do anything to encourage it (2 Thessalonians 3:10). 15 as it is written: “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.”§ See Exodus 16:18. Maybe there was some sharing involved in that picture.
When handling money, avoid criticism
16 Now thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you in the heart of Titus; 17 because he not only welcomed my appeal but being very diligent he went to you of his own accord.* Evidently Titus was bearing this letter, and it was he who delivered it to them. 18 But we have sent together with him the brother whose praise in the Gospel is throughout all the congregations; 19 and not only that—he was actually chosen by the congregations as our traveling companion with this gift, that is being administered by us with a view to the glory of the Lord Himself, and to our own goodwill, 20 avoiding any criticism about how we are handling this abundance; 21 giving thought to blamelessness, not only before the Lord but also before men.† As we say in Brazil, ‘all care is little’ when handling God's money. Carelessness, not to mention dishonesty, reflects negatively on the Gospel. The Macedonian Christians took the matter seriously. 22 Further, we have sent with them our brother whom we have often proved to be diligent in many things, but now much more so, because of our‡ There is no possessive pronoun in the Text to show whose confidence, so it could be ‘his’, but in the context it seems to me to be more likely to be ‘our’. great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker toward you; as for our brothers, they are envoys of the congregations, a glory of Christ.§ An interesting concept—Paul affirms that Christ was proud of those men. Now that is a compliment that I would really like to hear: “he is a glory of Christ”. 24 Therefore show the proof of your love (and of our boasting about you) to them as representatives of the congregations.

*8:5 Is obeying the commands of Christ the exclusive privilege of the rich? How about the first believers, there in Jerusalem, were they rich or poor? It would appear that the vast majority were poor; so much so that the few well-to-do were selling their property to feed the rest. (That is what gave rise to the case of Ananias and Sapphira [Acts 4:32-5:11].) They evidently did not want to leave Jerusalem, in spite of the Lord's words recorded in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8. So God Himself sent the persecutions to disperse them. And they scattered, preaching as they went, poor though they were. Here in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 we find an account that is very much to the point. Those Macedonian believers were very poor (“extreme poverty”). Furthermore, they were experiencing a “severe test of affliction”. Even so, they insisted on giving. From verse 4 it almost seems that Paul felt a bit embarrassed about asking them to give—they needed help themselves! But they insisted; they wanted to give. And they gave more than they properly could (“beyond their ability”). But how was that possible? They had the mentality of the Kingdom—in verse 5 we read that “first they gave themselves to the Lord”. And they must have understood the secret of God's economy, as described in 2 Corinthians 9:8.

†8:9 Although some 60% of the Greek manuscripts, and most versions, have ‘your’ (thereby agreeing with the complement), I take it that the best line of transmission has “our”, that is more inclusive.

‡8:14 Note that I have replaced the usual ‘equality’ with ‘balance’. God is not egalitarian; He likes diversity—no two snowflakes are identical, no two drops of water, no two leaves or blades of grass, and much less two human beings. God hates laziness, so we should never do anything to encourage it (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

§8:15 See Exodus 16:18. Maybe there was some sharing involved in that picture.

*8:17 Evidently Titus was bearing this letter, and it was he who delivered it to them.

†8:21 As we say in Brazil, ‘all care is little’ when handling God's money. Carelessness, not to mention dishonesty, reflects negatively on the Gospel. The Macedonian Christians took the matter seriously.

‡8:22 There is no possessive pronoun in the Text to show whose confidence, so it could be ‘his’, but in the context it seems to me to be more likely to be ‘our’.

§8:23 An interesting concept—Paul affirms that Christ was proud of those men. Now that is a compliment that I would really like to hear: “he is a glory of Christ”.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD