13 Cheerful Giver: How to Sow for a Lasting Harvest (2 Corinthians 8-9)

Krisan Marotta: Welcome to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. I'm Krisan Marotta, and this is my podcast about what the Bible means and how we know. Today is the 13th talk in our series on 2 Corinthians, and we will be studying 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. What does it mean to give generously and why does it matter? When Paul asks for money for the Jerusalem collection, he's doing more than asking the Corinthians to donate money. He's inviting them to express their faith and unite with their spiritual family. This message will help you see giving in a whole new light. Thanks for making time for Wednesday in the Word. I'm glad you're here. Today we're going to launch into chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians. Last week, in the last podcast, we went through the background on those chapters. Chapters 8 and 9 deal with what's commonly referred to as the Jerusalem Collection. Paul spends a lot of time in his ministry collecting money from the largely Gentile churches that he founded and then sending that money to Jerusalem for the relief of the suffering Jewish believers in the region of Judea. And I argued last week that this collection was about more than just helping the poor. Paul was asked by leaders like Peter, James, and John to make this collection, and he committed himself to raising money for it. He did that for many years. I argued they wanted to help foster a relationship between the Gentile churches, led by Paul primarily, and the Jewish believers in the church in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was like the matriarch of the family or the family head of the Christian faith. The other eleven apostles started their ministry from Jerusalem, but Paul ministered very far away from Jerusalem. He hardly spent any time in Jerusalem at all. Many Jewish believers feared him or had doubts about his apostleship, and at the same time, many of Paul's Gentile converts had no relationship with the Jewish believers in Judea. This gave Paul's collection of money for the Jewish poor greater significance than just charity relief. When members of the Gentile churches in Asia Minor agreed to send money to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem, it meant a great deal. Each side was acknowledging that they were members of the same spiritual family. In fact, the Jews were a crucial part of their spiritual heritage. As Paul explains to the Romans, if the Gentiles have shared in the spiritual things that came from Jews and Jerusalem, then Gentiles have an obligation to minister to the Jewish believers with material things. So we concluded at the end of the last podcast that to contribute to the Jewish collection was both an act of mercy and charity, and it was an act of religious conviction. It acknowledged that the Christian faith was at its heart Jewish. Now, what's going on in chapters eight and nine of Second Corinthians? Well, in 1 Corinthians, Paul had written that he was going to come and collect money from the Corinthians. But as we know, Paul's relationship with the Corinthians turned sour. He made an emergency trip there and what we call the sorrowful visit, and it went so badly that Paul had to leave early before dealing with this issue of the collection. Now, as Paul is writing 2 Corinthians, he still has not dealt with the money collected for Jerusalem. So that's what's going on in chapters eight and nine. I'm going to read you the entire section and then we're going to pull out the main ideas. So I'm not going to go through this one verse by verse. We're just going to look at the ideas and the themes instead. So here we go. Second Corinthians starting in eight one and I'm going to go through the end of chapter nine. We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part, for they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints, and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also. I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you, by his poverty might become rich. And in this manner I give my judgment. This benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness and desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. But thanks be to God who put it into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you, for he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel, and not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself and to show our good will. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man. And with him we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit, and as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches the glory of Christ. So give proof before the churches of your love and are boasting about you to these men. Now it is superfluous for me to write you about the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Akaiah has been ready since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready as I said you would be. Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated, to say nothing of you for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. The point is this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work, as it is written, He is distributed freely, He has given to the poor, His righteousness endures forever. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but it is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others. While they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon us, thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. That was a long haul there. Let me see if I can pull out the main ideas and make some sense of it. First, let's see what we can learn about the situation into which Paul is writing from what he said here in these chapters. We already saw that Paul would view this collection as a spiritual issue. Donating to the Jews in Jerusalem is more than an act of mercy, it's also an act of commitment to the gospel. And now we learn that the Corinthians were initially very enthusiastic about this. This is 8, 10, and 11. And in this matter I give my judgment. This benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work, but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness and desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. And then again in 9 1 and 2 he says, Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry of the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you, to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. And then one more in 9 5, he says, So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. Okay, so we see two important things in these verses. At first the Corinthians were on board with this collection, and they were on board fairly early. They wanted to participate from the beginning, they were among the first churches to start raising money, and the other churches in the Greek regions were inspired by their zeal. Paul told them that Corinth was eager to participate, and that encouraged the other churches to participate as well. But we also see in these verses that the Corinthians didn't follow through. It's likely they didn't follow through because of their problems with Paul. Some in Corinth, as we've seen, are very much set against Paul, others are not. It's a divided and contentious area in the church, and it's likely that those troubles dampened their enthusiasm for this gift. Later in 2 Corinthians, we see that Paul's critics are suspicious of Paul because he didn't take any financial support from them. And his enemies are suggesting that Paul had ulterior motives for not taking financial support from him. They think he just pretended not to take money, but he's secretly maybe siphoning off a piece of this collection money for himself. And that could be another reason that they're dragging their heels about finishing the job. We can see that Paul takes great pains to show them that he's dealing with the money with integrity. He tells them in 18 through 23 that a third party, along with Titus, watched over the money, and this third party was a believer who was famous for preaching the gospel. And Paul explains the situation carefully. He tells us Paul is administering this collection for the glory of the Lord. He wants to make sure everyone is above board. And so two believers of very high reputation are working with him along with Titus. That means four men are overseeing the money. And these men have been appointed by other churches to travel with Paul to Jerusalem. Probably they came from the Macedonian churches because Paul is in Macedonia as he writes this letter. And Paul and Titus have already collected money from Macedonia. And so these two men from the Macedonian church are designated to accompany Paul on the trip. He doesn't name them. There's lots of speculation about who they are. Paul only tells us that they are of good reputation, and he and Titus did not choose them. They were chosen by people from the Macedonian churches. And it seems they're traveling with Paul, probably partly for protection because they're carrying this large sum of money, and partly to establish that no one on the trip is indulging in any monkey business with the money. They are with him the whole way and they can testify that they collected X amount of money in Macedonia and that that same amount arrived in Jerusalem. And Paul tells us this is a precaution so that no one should discredit him in administering this generous gift. He's concerned not only that God thinks he's acting honorably, he's concerned that other people think he's acting honorably, and he doesn't want to give even the appearance of impropriety. So the situation seems to be this: contributing to the Jerusalem collection is an act of mercy. It's also an act of religious conviction. It's a way for Gentile believers to acknowledge their debt to the Jewish church and Jewish believers. The Corinthians were initially enthusiastic. They were among the first to start raising money, and they inspired other churches with their enthusiasm. But now for various reasons, probably mostly their strained relationship with Paul, they have not followed through. And it seems likely that Paul's enemies have raised doubts as to whether he's trustworthy, and Paul is going to great lengths to demonstrate that he is a trustworthy steward of this money. Next, we want to look at the various arguments that Paul makes to convince them that they ought to follow through with their pledge. And we want to figure out what sort of reasoning is he using to convince them, and in terms of application, the reasons he gives for giving, that's the part we're most interested in. And let's start by noting that Paul insists that he is not commanding them to give money. He says in eight eight, I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. And then in eight ten, he says, And in this matter I give my judgment. This benefits you who ergo started, not only to do this work, but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness and desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. So there he makes it very clear, I'm not commanding that you to give this money, I'm just giving my judgment, and I'm sure you're going to do the right thing. Well, that raises the question, is there really any difference between the commands of an apostle and the opinion of an apostle in a situation like this? And I think there is, because Paul is not saying, I don't care whether you agree with me or not, just give me the money. That would be a command. That would be pulling rank on them. And he is not doing that. Instead, he's trying to convince them to see the situation the way he sees it. And he's trying to convince them to see the situation the way they saw it earlier. So he's giving them his opinion because it is to their advantage to hear it. He reminds them they wanted to participate. They started to collect the money. They were among the first churches to do this. Other churches followed their example, and it is for their benefit that they followed through on their earlier promise. So he's seeking to persuade them, and I think persuasion is very different from commanding, demanding, or manipulating. Now it is true Paul's opinion carries a great deal of weight, and he wants it to carry weight. He's not commanding them, but he does care about which way they choose. He's not saying, oh, just go ahead and do whatever you want, I'll stay out of it. He has an opinion about what the right thing to do is, and he is urging them to do that right thing. Now, Paul implies that one of the problems holding them back is their attitude toward money, that is, they want to keep it. He implies this, let's look at 9.5. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. They promise to send this generous gift to Jerusalem, but their willingness to give the gift has been affected by their own covetousness. They want to keep the money and to persuade them to generosity. Paul gives them examples of self-sacrifice. He gives the examples of the Macedonians, which we'll talk about in a minute, and he gives them the supreme example of self-sacrifice, and that is Christ's sacrifice on our behalf. This is eight and nine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you, by his poverty, might become rich. Now by rights the entire world belongs to Christ, and yet he sacrificed everything, including his own life, so that his people might gain everything. And the foundation of our faith sits on the fact that this man, this the Messiah, was willing to give up what he had so that people, sinners like us, might live and prosper. Now Paul also clarifies they're not being asked to impoverish themselves. In eight twelve through fourteen, he says, For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that is a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. So he clarifies no one's asking you to give more than you can afford. No one's asking for you to give such that you are now burdened with poverty or burdened financially. And the context implies that's kind of the sort of thing they're thinking. They're thinking, well, you just you just want to impoverish us. Now remember, this is not a random act of charity, this is a contribution to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem. It is meant to foster the unity of the Jewish and Gentile churches. It's not intended to be a tribute or a tax. The Jerusalem church is not demanding that everyone prove their devotion by sacrificing their wealth to give it to them. Rather, at the time, there was a great need among the poor Jewish believers in Judea, and there was great abundance among the Gentile churches. The Corinthians are being asked to respond to that need. Those who are well off are being asked to help those who are not. Now, I want to talk about this concept of equality a bit more later on. We can take that idea and run with it in all kinds of wrong directions. But for now, my point is that Paul was trying to assure them that this gift that they once eagerly wanted to give was not more than they can afford. The idea is not to impoverish them. The idea was that they could afford to help those who could not help themselves, and generous giving is an aspect of the Christian faith. That brings us to another aspect of Paul's argument. In several places, Paul appeals to what the other churches are doing and what the other churches will think about the Corinthians if they don't give. Well, is Paul being manipulative? What's going on with that? Isn't isn't that the classic kind of guilt manipulation that we see so commonly in the church today? Well, let's look at what he actually says and then we'll talk about that. So he points out look, the Macedonians are giving generously. Let's look at that. He says in 8.1 through 8.5, We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints, and this not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. So Paul writes to the Corinthians and he says, Hey, look what the grace of God has done in Macedonia. God did this great thing. Paul reminds the Corinthians of the afflictions and the poverty of the Macedonians. And from my research, from what I can tell, the Macedonians as a whole, generally speaking, were poorer than the Corinthians. And yet Paul tells them the Macedonians have overflowed with generosity. They begged Paul for the favor of participating, and they voluntarily gave more than they could afford. And Paul makes it clear that the generosity of the Macedonians was rooted in their attitude toward God. As Paul says, they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us, meaning Paul by the will of God. So it seems that the Macedonians understood the spiritual significance of their giving to this collection. They understood it was more than an act of mercy and compassion to those in need. It was also an expression of the unity of the church. It was a way of acknowledging that God gave the gospel through the Jews, and they give themselves to God, and then they give themselves to Paul as the carrier of the gift. So their willingness to give started with their commitment to God, and they trusted Paul as God's messenger to carry the money. Now in 8.8, Paul tells us why he's using the Macedonians as an example. He's very upfront. He says in 8.8, I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. So Paul is testing the sincerity of the Corinthians by telling them of the sincerity of the Macedonians. The Macedonians have given generously, their love of God and the people of God is obvious and on display. So, hey Corinthians, examine yourselves. How does your sincerity match theirs? And then Paul gets a little more bold in using the Macedonians as leverage in his arguments. This is starting in 824. So give proof before the churches of your love and are boasting about you to these men. Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry of the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boasted about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaiah has been ready since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready as I said you would be. Well, that's pretty bold. He says, Look, I've been boasting to the Macedonians that you Corinthians started all this. You wanted to participate, and I've been telling them how eager you are to give, and it made them want to give. But think about it, when I finally arrive in Corinth, I'm going to be traveling with some Macedonians. How's it going to look when we get there if you're not ready for the collection? They've been ready for a year, and you've had even longer than that to get ready. So if I show up and you're not ready, I'm going to be ashamed, and you're going to be ashamed too, because they're expecting heroes of the faith. You would be ashamed for the Macedonians to find out that you've gone back on your word, and it would make us both look bad. Okay, so what are we to do with that? Can we defend Paul against the charge that he is being manipulative in an inappropriate way? Well, I think so. Remember, Paul is anxious that the Corinthians choose voluntarily to carry out their plans. As he said in 9.7, each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Using shame in this way becomes manipulative when someone uses public opinion as a weapon to force someone to do something they otherwise wouldn't do. So let me give you an analogy. Suppose you're sitting in church one Sunday, and at this point you have already given to your church what you intend to give for the year. But in some overzealous plea for a big giving drive, the pastor threatens to publicly shame anyone who does not give more. And he threatens you with the disapproval of others to coerce you to give more than you intended to give, and maybe more than you could afford. I would say that's wrong. That's being manipulative in an inappropriate way. In that situation, he's using shame, the shame of public opinion as a lever or a weapon against you to make you look bad if you don't do what he wants. But that's not what Paul is doing. The Corinthians eagerly agreed to give this gift. They set the amount, they thought it was appropriate. They understand the gift is an expression of compassion and their gratitude for the Jewish roots of the gospel. It's also an expression of their trust in Paul's leadership and his judgment in organizing this gift. In that situation, Paul says it would be shameful for you to break your word. And why aren't they carrying through? Well, if I'm reading the letter right, it's because they have an inappropriate and unjust resentment of Paul, and they are letting their own covetous fears keep them from being generous. So Paul's looking at this and saying, this is a heart issue. Your choices have spiritual significance. Your choice not to give reveals this break of trust in Paul and a lack of trust in God and the gospel. Paul is a spiritual father to them. He's not forcing them to give money, he's reminding them the serious issues here that are at stake. If a person's behavior would truly be shameful, then there's nothing wrong in calling a person to recognize that. And I think that's what Paul means when he says, I'm doing this for your sake. You don't really want to break this promise. You're about to make a mistake that shows where you're at spiritually, and I don't want you to make it because I don't want you to be at that bad spiritual place. I want you to come back to a good spiritual place. They need to come back to the place of accepting Paul, of understanding his ministry, of embracing the gospel he taught them, and in trusting God. Willingness and eagerness to give this gift would be an indication that they do embrace the gospel. Their lack of willingness to give the gift is an indication that they have gone off course. Now, there's one last argument, and that is this idea that if we sow big, we will reap big. And you can imagine over the decades of studying 2 Corinthians, people have done all kinds of things with this. So let's look at it. What is the promise here? Is Paul saying, if you give a dollar, God will give you back a hundred dollars or something like that? And that has been claimed from this passage. So this is 2 Corinthians 9. We're going to start in verse 6 and go all the way to 15. The point is this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, He has distributed freely, He has given to the poor, His righteousness endures forever. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others. While they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you, thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. Now you have probably heard preachers who use this language to try to convince people to give them money. He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully, so if you sow bountifully by giving me money, then God will cause you to reap bountifully by giving you even more money. You've probably heard a message like that. I've we've all heard them. If you're generous to my ministry, then God's going to be generous to you. Well, I don't think that's what Paul's saying. And let's walk through what he says. First, let's think about the metaphor. If you want a big harvest, you have to sow a lot of seed. That's just common sense. If you only plant three seeds, you only will harvest a few plants. If you want a big harvest, then you have to sow bountifully. You need to sow a lot of seed if you expect to have a big result come from it. But notice that Paul never says the harvest is money. He never says the harvest is financial gain. What sort of harvest are we talking about here? When we think about the situation he's writing to, we can figure it out and he gives us some clues. What sort of harvest would you expect from generously giving to suffering believers? Well, Paul actually tells them in the context what he means. First, he says God is the one who makes it possible for the Corinthians to have abundance so that they can give generously to others, and then he tells us the result. Let's look at that starting in 9.8. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, he is distributed freely, he is given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. He who supplies the need of the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way, to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. So God gives the Corinthians this gracious gift of financial abundance, and he gives them this gift in part to make it possible for them to share that gift with others. The topic on the table is how God has generously and graciously given to them so that they may generously and graciously give to others. And Paul specifically talks about the result. He tells us the kind of harvest he expects from this sowing. Look at 9 10. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. So God supplies two things. And he increases the harvest of your righteousness. That is, when you act graciously and generously by giving of your resources, God is going to increase the harvest that results, and that harvest is your holiness. I think that's what he means in this context. God is going to increase your holiness. He goes on in 9 11. So he gets very specific. God will enrich the Corinthians so they can be liberal in their generosity. The particular area where God's spirit is changing them is to make them more compassionate and generous. That is, God gave to you Corinthians so that you might show generosity to the saints in Jerusalem and thereby become more generous and compassionate people, and generosity to Jerusalem will produce thanksgiving to God. The believers in Jerusalem will thank God for the believers in Corinth, and the believers in the church in Corinth will thank God for their abundance. And that's the harvest that's going to result from giving their money. They will become better people and there will be glory to God. He says this again in 912, for the ministry of the service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. So this harvest is meeting the needs of the poor in Jerusalem, so that they have been raised up from their poverty. That's the first harvest, you might say. But the second harvest is there is this overflowing result that these people in Jerusalem are now thanking God for what has been done. And then he continues in 13 and 14, by their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. So when the Corinthians minister to the poor in Judea, they prove to these Jewish believers that their confession of Christ is real. Their generosity shows they have embraced the gospel. It shows they see these Jewish believers as part of their family of faith. The Jewish believers will then glorify God that He has worked such genuine faith in the Corinthians and they will glorify God for this generosity. This is the harvest. This is the result that Paul is talking about. If the Corinthians follow through with their gift, all these things will result. The Jewish believers will have their needs met, they will thank God for meeting those needs through the Corinthians, they will thank God for the Corinthians and will pray for them because they see the reality of the grace of God at work in them, and the Corinthians will have demonstrated that their faith is real and they trust God. And so Paul concludes, thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. Well, I think in this context, he's made it clear that he has something specific in mind. It is an inexpressible, multifaceted gift. The grace of God is working to make the Corinthians willing to give. The grace of God is working to give them the means to give so that they can be generous. The grace of God is working to meet the needs of the poor and suffering in Jerusalem, and the grace of God is working to forge a bond between the Gentile and Jewish believers based on the reality of their common faith. So I would argue Paul never says if you give a dollar, God will give you ten dollars or multiply it. He is not arguing that. So you often end up losing money by following the law because many times the Sabbath ends up being a good day to do business, but they're not allowed to do it. And money has always been one of those things that pushes us to ask ourselves, who am I really trusting in? Am I trusting in my bank account or am I trusting in the God behind that bank account? So it isn't really a surprise that the Corinthians were struggling with giving and with money as a group. I expect most everyone listening has struggled with money and will struggle with money in one way or other. It is one of the things God uses to test us to see if we in fact are trusting him or trusting in our wealth. Now that brings us back to Paul's discussion of equality. Paul's point was a simple one. The collection was not intended to bankrupt the Corinthians in order to enrich Jerusalem. It was intended to alleviate the poverty of the Jewish believers by means of the abundance of the Gentile churches like Corinth. However, Paul's talk of equality has been used to justify any number of religious and political agendas. It seems people have been preoccupied with the goal of financial equality between people from the beginning. And this idea of financial equality can be used to justify greed, theft, coveting, and all manner of selfish behavior. This idea of equality can be used to justify Robinhood, steal from the rich, give to the poor. It can be used to justify communism and the abolition of private property. Now I know that lots of people listening to this podcast have very different political perspectives, but I think we can all agree that it is right and appropriate for those who have more to help those who have less. But we are not in agreement, for example, about the role government has in bringing that about. Now, I'm not going to get into the politics of that discussion. That's not my purpose. What does seem clear to me from what Paul is saying is God gives generously to some people for his own reasons. There will never be financial equality in this world. There will always be rich and there will always be poor. Now, our faith calls us to give generously at times. It seems to me that the Jerusalem Collection arose from the fundamental motivation of any follower of God, and that is we are to love our neighbors. In the case of the Jerusalem Collection, they were loving their neighbor by helping relieve their poverty, but they were loving God by submitting to the truth. And we ought to take to heart Paul's idea that this is not compulsory, this is a voluntary gift. And I think speaking broadly, that what should motivate us in our generosity is loving the purposes of God, loving the promises of God, and loving the gospel of God. And we should think about our own situation, our own means, and our own willingness to give and do what we think is best and wise and loving in our situation. It is not up to us to decide how other people should use their wealth. It is not up to us to judge them for using their wealth. That is between them and God. So as we think about the opportunities in our own lives, we want to use our money in such a way that we love God and we love our neighbor. I know that's not very specific, but I still think it's the best guide and it's the best way to think about the resources we've been given. Finally, one more thought. Remember, Paul wanted their giving to be voluntary. He was trying to persuade them to do the right thing. He wouldn't command the Corinthians to give. Instead, he urged them to voluntarily embrace the generosity they had been eager to express before. And the issue was more than just the practical outcome of helping the poor in Jerusalem. He wanted them to see the larger issue, the issue of whether they were going to live as people of faith, the issue of choosing to use their money in a way that reflected the love of God and the love of their neighbor. Thank you for listening to Wednesday in the Word, the podcast that explains not only what a passage means, but also shows you how to figure it out. The blog version of this podcast is on wednesdayintheword.com slash 2 Corinthians 1.3. You can hear all previous episodes in this series on my website, wednesdayintheword.com, and find many other series there. There is no charge, no spam, and no ad. If you've been blessed by this podcast, before you go, please follow it, rate it, and leave it a positive review on your favorite podcast platform. Most importantly, tell a friend what you learned and where you learned it. Our theme music is graciously provided by my friend and favorite musician, Reggie Coates. You can find Reggie's wonderful music on heartfeltmusic.org. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Krisan Marotta, and I'll see you next week at Wednesday in the Word.