2nd Corinthians Chapter 9
Thursday August 7, 2008
2nd
Corinthians Chapter 9:1-15 The Collection for Jerusalem
Paul
has already written of the plan to send Titus and the two brothers to Corinth
representing the churches of Macedonia. The previously noted reason had to do
with securing a certain comfort level among the Corinthians that Paul was
handling this large collection with all due propriety. But Paul has another
motive for sending the two Macedonian brothers. This has to do with the
cultural sense of personal honor and shame in public as well as family matters.
We might think of it as "losing face," being humiliated by our own
actions or by those of another. The news has carried stories of so-called honor
killings occasioned by one member of the family dishonoring the family name by
some act which violates the cultural/religious norms of a society or sub group
of the society. The deeply set fear of incurring shame is matched by the almost
obsessive desire to gain honor in the eyes of others. Paul's Semitic as well as
his Greco-Roman heritage would have instilled within him this way of measuring
his own as well as others' actions. This might shed some light on why he finds
it necessary to defend his apostleship and compare his work with that of others
so often.
Regarding
the "ministry to the saints," Paul has boasted to the Macedonians
about the Corinthians' readiness to participate in this ministry. In fact, he
writes, they have been ready for nearly a year and he has used that information
to stir the same eagerness among the Macedonians. He has told them that Corinth
is ready to finish their promised collection and will have completed it when
the representatives arrive. Paul has stage managed the event. The brothers will
go ahead of Paul to see if everything is in readiness as promised for Paul's
arrival. This will be the test of the Corinthians' reliability in this matter.
Will they have kept their promise or not? Now it becomes a matter of honor or
shame. Paul is direct in his writing. If he arrives in Corinth with "some
Macedonians" and discovers the community is not ready, Paul and others who
may have believed in Corinth's trustworthiness will be humiliated - shamed. Not
only will they feel shame but the Corinthians will have brought shame on
themselves for not having kept their promise of a "bountiful gift" as
a ministry to the saints.
Paul
is interested in the manner in which this gift has been given. If the community
has followed his original instructions to "put aside [each Sunday] and
save whatever extra [they] earn" he will consider this as a voluntary
gift, not one coerced or understood as a necessary burden. His understanding of
why Christians give is rooted in the spirit of thankfulness and in God's
faithful generosity. Giving is not a "duty" which is a matter of
reason but thanksgiving as a matter of the heart. He goes on to write in words
that may sound like the modern heresy of "prosperity preaching" which
takes literally Malachi 3:10, an often misused text in church financial
campaigns. Paul is framing his understanding of motive in spiritual terms. The
proverb "The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly" and its
counterpart are related to the attitude of giving. Do we give out of a feeling
of compulsion - we just have to give something (a vestige of honor and shame)?
Are we reluctant to give not knowing what the "return on investment"
might be? Of course he says we "each give as we have made up our
mind," but cheerfulness in our giving is the best attitude of all.
In
the economy of grace, God out gives us all we need with the expectation that
all we need will be shared with those in need. The grace which abides in our
gift is multiplied within us by God such that we are never without an enriching
abundance of grace. Using Jesus' parable metaphor of seed, sower and harvest,
Paul draws a connection between giving and a harvest of [their] benevolence.
The act of giving begets giving as an act of grace begets grace. It also
produces thanksgiving to God not only from those who have received but also
from those who have given and hope to make a difference in the life of the
other. Such is the case in this ministry to the saints. Those who gave did make
a difference and were thankful. Those who received found a respite in their
poverty and they were thankful. All in all, Paul says, the generosity of the
churches in general and of Corinth in particular redound to the glory of God.
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