Generosity Encouraged
1And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5And 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. 6So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7But 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.
Dig Deeper
We have a farmer’s market in the city in which we currently live that is open every Saturday morning through the streets of the downtown area. The market is filled with booths selling both fresh food and vegetables as well as many that sell prepared food. When you walk through that area of the food booths, there are many different choices to stop and have a bite to eat. It can be a difficult choice and each booth tries to do something that sets it apart from the others. Some try many different things to do that. We have some friends that run a booth, though, and they stand out from the others with a simple technique. They serve incredible tasting food at a cheap price. It is those two things that give their booth an identity and make it stand out from all of the others.
One question that often pops into the mind of Christians is “what sets us apart from everyone else?” The answer to that seems clear, but can get muddled over time as we begin to come in contact with different types of people. One of the areas that has really muddied the situation for many Christians comes in the form of good works. How can Christians see themselves as different from the rest of the world when there are so many people who are not Christians who do incredible acts of service and charity? Isn’t that supposed to be the realm of Christians? If other people excel in those things then how can we feel set apart by God in anyway?
Paul now feels that he has his relationship with the Corinthians established enough that he turns his attention toward his great collection project. He really wants them to participate in this great act of charity and support of the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem for many reasons. What he will make clear though, is that acts of kindness and service aren’t the point of being a Christian, the point is doing those acts in accordance with God’s will. This is what sets the people of God apart. It’s not just the good works and beneficial things that Christians do. It is that we do what we in accordance with God’s will and in an effort to expand the kingdom of God on earth.
Paul is ready to take up this potentially touchy subject, yet he knows that he is still somewhat on eggshells. He must tread these waters carefully, which is evidenced by the fact that in the whole of this chapter and the next, Paul never actually uses any of the Greek words for “money.” He presses on, however, because he wants them to take part in his great plan to show the Jewish Christian world that the Gentiles are genuinely their Christian brothers and sisters, that they belong at the table of Christians fellowship. He desperately wants to complete this great act of unity that will show to the world that God has chosen to work through Gentiles just as he had through Jews. Paul knows that, at every level, this is a tricky project. Would the Gentiles be willing to contribute to this project? So far they had been more than willing. That wasn’t the only potential obstacle, though. Could Paul collect this money and make it safely back to Jerusalem? Once there, would the Jews even accept money from Gentiles (see Romans 16:31)? These questions and more continued to swirl in the back ground as Paul writes this section.
It is God’s grace that Paul doesn’t want them to miss out on. He’s not just referring to the unmerited favor and blessing of God. When Paul refers to God’s grace here, he is referring to the grace that God gives people so that they can abound in good works (cf. 1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 9:8). God had allowed the Macedonian churches, like Philippi and Thessalonica, to give beyond their means despite their great poverty and suffering from persecution. The churches in Macedonia pleaded with Paul repeatedly to let them give to the level that they did (it’s not that they would have had to urge him to allow them to give at all, but to give to the sacrificial level that they did). They gave so sacrificially that Paul was close to (if he actually didn’t) asking them to stop as Moses had to restrain the Israelites from giving to the Tabernacle (Exod. 36:5-7). Paul wants Corinth to see the incredible grace that had flowed from God through the Macedonian churches. They had done so all on their own, and this is what Paul wants them to be able to experience. Note that just because Paul is urging them to do so, does not take away from the possibility of doing it on their own. It doesn’t necessarily have to be their own idea, it needs to be of their own free will. They gave not only money, but they gave themselves. They understood the true order of things. They gave themselves first to God, and then to his rightful ambassadors.
Paul then answers the question of what sets apart Christian good works from the world’s. If the Christian life is about loving and serving others, what does it mean when non-Christians do it to amazing levels? Paul says they gave themselves in keeping with God’s will. That’s the answer. The great expression of God’s grace in our lives is not how much we serve or give to others, but that we do it in response to His cause. My children could do housework around the house all day long, and that would be good, but it doesn’t really demonstrate much if they don’t do the specific things that I asked them to do. They show themselves to be my obedient children by doing the things I have asked of them. When we work in accordance with God’s will and direction in our lives as it leads us to do good works, that is what shows us to be His obedient children. Simply doing good works apart from God’s will and purpose is not really the point. It is obedience to God’s will that he desires.
This is why Paul urged Titus to go and finish the collection. From a worldly point of view, it might be easy to wonder why Paul would bring up an issue like a collection with so much tension having recently passed between them. That’s exactly why Paul wants them to experience this. Allowing God to work His grace so strongly through the life of a believer is a powerful transforming force. Paul knows that one of the best things for them was to allow God’s grace to flow mightily in their lives. He doesn’t want them to give like the Macedonian churches did but doing it out of a worldly motivation of envy or one-upmanship. He wants them to look at the grace that has flowed through Macedonia and to desire that for themselves. Anyone can be persuaded into giving money out of guilt, but that is not what Paul wants. He is trying to explain to them that giving is not about forcing yourself or trying to outdo the next guy (giving from those motivations would be to miss out on the grace that Paul is talking about). Paul wishes for them to desire to excel in the grace that comes through giving. This is probably a good-natured poke at their desire to have all of the gifts (as Paul discussed at length in 1 Corinthians). They wanted to have the fullness of all of the other gifts of the Spirit, so why don’t they turn that desire into a positive things and desire the grace of giving. When they do that they will see what the overwhelming grace of God can do in the lives and works of ordinary people.
Devotional Thought
Paul did not want the Corinthian church to miss out on the incredible power of God’s grace flowing through their lives. In order to experience, the key was to do good works that were in line with God’s will in their lives. What good works is calling you to do right now? How have you responded? When was the last time you asked God to reveal to you the works of service and giving that He has in store for you?
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