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 is also genuine.
2nd
Corinthians 8:1-8
Paul continues his letter to the Corinthians by entering
into one of the reasons he wrote to them: to encourage them to contribute
financially to the Christians in Jerusalem. He does this by presenting the
example of the churches in Macedonia who gave generously toward the same cause.
It is not his intent to shame or cajole the Corinthians into generosity (v8)
but to spur them on to faith by the example of fellow believers.
In approaching this portion (and later, chapter 9) of
Scripture, we are led to examine our own generosity and indeed our motivations
for it. We live in a time in which there is both a strong bent towards charity
(even among non-believers) but also with a heavy dose of cynicism. Our exposure
to opportunities for generosity has increased hundredfold with 24 news cycles,
social media, and travel. The scope of needs is, in fact, nearly infinite. At
the same time, perhaps due to the proliferation of needs, we have become
increasingly skeptical of where our money and time go. While it is wise and
prudent to vet where we give our charity, we have also taken our skeptism to
unhealthy levels. While charity to non-profit organizations has risen, often
local churches are still scraping for funds. It seems that even believers have
slaked on their support of the local church. We still feel the need to give but
our mistrust and cynicism often leads us away from generosity and closer to
greed, procrastination, and bitterness. Into this context we come to Paul’s
teachings.
Generosity is
demonstrated not only in wealth, but in poverty
Beyond anything else we might take away from this portion of
Scripture, the example of the Macedonian church might prove to be the most
critical. In his attempt to encourage the Corinthians, Paul shares a few facts
about the Christians in Macedonia:
-
They were being tested by affliction
-
They had an abundance of joy
-
They were extremely poor
-
They gave abundantly
The traits that he lists serve as a sort of duality, with
each couplet being somewhat contradictory.
1.
They were being tested by affliction. We know
from early church history that the fellowship of Christians grew in part from
persecution and trade coupled with the evangelistic fervor given at Pentecost.
The new Jewish Christians were persecuted by the traditional Jewish religious
establishment and thus sought refuge away from Jerusalem. They took Jesus’
command to “Go and make disciples” literally and planted new churches in the
cities they came to reside in, cities along Roman trade routes. In these
cities, many of whom had synagogues, they met with varying degrees of
persecution from first he Jewish authorities and later the Roman government. The
early Christians, even away from Jerusalem, met with a level of oppression we
might cringe at today.
2.
They had an abundance of joy. This might seem in
contrast to the level of affliction they were enduring but it is completely
indicative of the type of results that Scripture says we should expect in the
lives of the redeemed. James tells us to “consider
it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” The
Macedonian believers seem to have been living out this encouragement to the
“T”. Most of us would shamefully admit (if we were honest) that suffering and
affliction, let alone persecution, tend not to bring about joy but rather
despondency, bitterness, and fear. Rather than being stamped down or “crushed”
by persecution, the Spirit of God led these believers to joyful praise. It can
lead us today too.
3.
They were extremely poor. Paul states twice the
poverty of the Macedonian believers. In the early days of the Church it was not
altogether uncommon for the believers to be generally less wealthy but Paul’s
assertion of the lack of wealth of the Macedonian believers largely is
emphasized to highlight…
4.
They gave abundantly. Being afflicted and poor
should have been two strikes against the generosity of the Macedonian
Christians but instead they responded with generosity and not just a
respectable amount of generosity either, for Paul later states in the next
verse: “for they gave according to their
means, as I can testify, and beyond their means.”
All of this should give us pause and turn our gaze inwards.
The charity of the Macedonian Christians flies in the face of every wisdom that
we encounter on a daily basis. Common wisdom indicates that one is able to give
to charity when one’s own needs are met financially. Oh, we might not state
this outright but peer over our shoulder while we budget our finances or listen
in as we contemplate our bank accounts to hear a different story. It seems few
of us ever consider ourselves “rich” and instead class ourselves as having
“nearly enough.” We live out a “nearly enough” existence, constantly aspiring
to gain just a bit more or maligning the injustice done to us by not having
“enough”. Too often, the generosity that flows from us (if any at all) comes
from ritual, guilt, or duty.
For the Macedonian Christians it was different. Instead of
bringing about bitterness or despair, their affliction has produced joy.
Instead of bringing about stinginess or even wise frugality, their poverty has
produced generosity. Only a life completely surrendered to the Lord is capable
of producing such fruit. No amount of half-measures will do. We may (and
should) seek to give from a position of generosity, but the only way we can
give from a position both joy and generosity is by being filled by the Holy
Spirit.
Our generosity should
be born of God’s will, not compulsion
Paul goes out of his way to show that the generosity of the
Macedonians was not due to any compulsion to himself. Verse 4 shows that they
“begged” Paul to give. Verse 5 shows that Paul didn’t expect the outpouring of
generosity. When he appeals to the Corinthians, Paul states his theme even
clearer: “I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of
others that your love is genuine.”
Our generosity should be born of God’s will rather than any
religious compulsion. The Old Testament prophets and psalmists make it very
clear that ritual and sacrifice are not merely what God desires.
“For you will not
delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt
offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite
heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Instead, the Lord desires generosity born out of genuine
compassion and godly desire.
“Jesus looked up and
saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow
put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow
has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their
abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
It would seem that there is no place for rote formality in
our generosity. If that is so, how are we to practice it?
We should seek out
opportunities to practice generosity
The last lesson (at least for this essay) that the
Macedonian church teaches us is that we should seek out opportunities to
practice generosity.
“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,”
Though the radical generosity that is to typify the life of
the Christian is only attainable through the power of the Holy Spirit, we who
submit ourselves (over and over) to Him should seek out opportunities to
nurture the gift we receive. We can make no claim on the generosity that flows
from us and we should never reduce the overflowing of the Spirit into some
ritualistic offering. We need to be constantly in prayer as we contemplate
giving. As we slip our “offering” in the collection’s plates we should be
searching our own hearts. Do we give out of compulsion? Out of habit? Ritual?
Are our actions born out of the joy and generosity or from some sense of obligation?
I don’t mean to imply that habits or challenging ourselves
to give is wrong. Indeed, both of these are needed. We practice wisdom when we
create healthy habits of giving. If the only time we spend with our families
and friends was when we “felt” like it, we would not be very good friends
indeed. Due to our still-sinful hearts, we often must enact positive behaviors
to nurture the fruits of the Sprit. The trick is however that we must never let
those habits grow hollow or outlast their usefulness. They are tools only in
our expression of legitimate love for God.
In the same way, we should, as the Macedonians showed, seek
out opportunities to challenge ourselves to give. We are still often tempted to
act with a worldly way of thinking. This old nature is selfish, conceited, and
only concerned with self. Just as we were crucified with Jesus on the cross, we
must seek to daily crucify our old selves and put on our new selves. Giving can
be a tool to do accomplish this. If we were left to ourselves, we would never
overflow with the generosity necessary to rightly honor the Lord through
giving, we would never readily sacrifice of ourselves for the benefit of other
or the worship of God. We know too well the ebb and flow of emotion (even
religious emotion) and know that if we waited only for those moments of supreme
religious affection to practice generosity, we would not be living the lives of
radical generosity that Jesus intended His followers to lead. Generosity
requires sacrifice. There are times that we MUST challenge ourselves to give
beyond what we feel capable or driven to give. As in any form of discipline,
only through repeated and oftentimes arduous sacrifice do can we experience the
fruit of victory. Though we are given the fruits of the Spirit by the Lord and
the Lord alone apart from ourselves, we must act upon them, exercise them if
you will (to change metaphors) to experience the full life of the Spirit that
Christ intends.
What Can We Practice?
1. Never let hardship or poverty create
bitterness or stinginess.
2. Ask for the fruits of the Spirit,
specifically, in this context, joy and generosity.
3. Never let yourself reduce giving to mere
ritual.
a. Fight against this in any way that you can.
Pray as you put your check in the offering plate. Fight as much against
calloused giving as you do against selfish hoarding.
4. Seek out opportunities to give.
a. Be engaged with our community (Church
community and physical community) and look for situations that you could
practice your faith through giving.
b. Challenge yourself by giving beyond your
means, giving beyond what seems ‘reasonable’ to you.
5. Always view any giving as an act of worship
to God.
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