8I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9For 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.
10And 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. 11Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
13Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14At 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, 15as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."
Dig Deeper
The high school that I taught at was basically a charter school rather than a ‘normal’ high school. We were always on a quest to do things that normal schools did so that our school and our students would be perceived as equal rather than some inner-city parody of a real school. When the tragedy of September 11th, 2001 took place, it was the week before our school had scheduled a school-wide coin drive competition fund-raiser. Several of the teachers quickly had the idea of swinging into action. Rather than raising money for school needs, we turned the coin drive into a fund-raiser for families of firefighters that died in the collapse of the twin towers. Our small school that was 1/20th of many of the large high schools in Milwaukee raised more money than most of the high schools did for the same cause. Suddenly we gained a fair amount of recognition for the wild generosity that a bunch of poor inner-city students had shown. Not only had they given out of their poverty to a good cause, it had demonstrated to the rest of the city that we were a legitimate school. We were a school to be appreciated and respected.
In a sense, this was Paul’s motivation in collecting money for the persecuted and impoverished church in Jerusalem. If Paul could gather a collection from the Gentile churches around the world, this would be a clear sign to skeptical Jewish Christians that the Gentiles really had embraced the same gospel and Christianity that they had turned to. They had started taking up this collection but, as tends to happen, things seemingly got in the way. People lose enthusiasm, they don’t carry through on things, and of course the trouble between Paul and the Corinthians had not helped. Paul wants them to, once again, embrace the dream of the great collection project, and finish the task at hand.
This whole business of the collection is not something that Paul passes on to them as a direct command. When Paul says he is not giving a command and is giving his advice or opinion, that does not mean that it’s just something Paul thought was a nice idea, but could be discarded if they (or we) would prefer something else. As in 1 Corinthians 7:6, 25, Paul’s point is that this is not something Christ directly passed on to him as a command for the Church. The collection comes from his own judgment and authority as a Spirit-led apostle of Jesus Christ. Philemon 1:8-9 is an example of Paul leaving the matter solely to their own judgment. This is not the case here, he is directing those under his authority to finish up the collection (as we see he clearly commands them what he wants them to do in verse 11). At the same time, though, Paul uses a gentle hand. He wants to convince them to want to do it, not simply because they are bending to his authority. He offers them reasons and examples for doing what he wants them to do. He wants them not just to know what to do but why they are doing it.
He has already offered them the example of the incredible sacrificial heart of the Macedonians, but now Paul will offer them the ultimate example and motivation for having a heart to give. There is nothing more powerful than the example of Christ. Christ gave up the glory and grandeur of heaven to come to earth as a human being so that we might enter into His life and become spiritually rich (cf. Phil. 2:5-11; Gal. 3:13-14). Christ became a curse under the law so that we could know the riches of the Spirit. Paul wants the Corinthians to follow this example of giving from their wealth so that others might share in the riches of their blessing from God. Verse 9 is one of the most beautiful theological statements in the entire Bible. At first glance that might be surprising that it comes in a passage concerning a collection, but on second look, perhaps that’s fitting. The best theology is not nice, neat statements in well-organized books. It comes in the real world, in real life with all of its messiness, its needs, its disparity.
Incarnational theology (living out the presence of Jesus in us in the lives of others) is never easy to figure out. It takes time, effort, courage, and perseverance. The Corinthians will need all of this to complete this important collection. Paul believes that their willingness to give is far more important than the amount given, so he wants them to give whatever they can. In this way, the poor in Christ can give every bit as much as those who have more wealth. Paul knows that the fact that they began taking the collection was a clear sign of the work of the grace of God in them. Now he wants them to complete that task and show that the grace of God is at work in them once again (apparently somewhere along the line they stopped taking the collection, or slowed to a near stop). The willingness is more important than the accomplishment, but the action and accomplishment is the visible sign of the willingness.
Paul finishes this section with yet another comparison between them and the Exodus generation, thereby identifying them as the second Exodus people, the new people of God. Just as the Israelites had been provided for by God so that each one had enough, so will God provide for his people now. This makes two things clear. The first is that Paul does not want them to give more than they have and thus become impoverished. He is calling them to give from what they have and motivated them to do so by sharing the example of the Macedonians. He is not calling to give more than they are able as the Macedonians wanted to. The collection is about everyone having enough, not "robbing Peter to pay Paul." The second item is made clear by Paul’s allusion to Exodus 16:18. In that passage God provided so that everyone will have enough. Here Paul is calling on the Corinthians Christians to provide so that the Christians in Jerusalem will have enough. The obvious implication is that God is working to provide for His people directly through the Corinthian Church and the Churches in Macedonia. The Church comprised of God’s people is the vehicle through which God loves and provides for His people in the present age.
Devotional Thought
Do you realize that the actions we take in accordance with God’s will are the primary means through which God works in the world. Do you have that sense of responsibility and urgency when serving others? Do you act as though, through your effort, work, and sacrifice you are directly dispensing the grace of God into the lives of others?
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