NOTES for Co2 8:1-15
1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; |
2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. |
3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; |
4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. |
5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. |
6 Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. |
7 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. |
8 I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. |
9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. |
10 And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. |
11 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. |
12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. |
13 For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: |
14 But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: |
15 As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack. |
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In his letters Paul often turns to the theme of mutual help among Christian churches. And in his letter to the Christians of Corinth he mentions the help he received from the churches of Macedonia during his ministry in that province (vv. 1-6). It is clear that he is speaking not only about donations, but also about the participation of the Macedonian Christians in all of Paul's affairs that involved supporting his missionary work in Macedonia. And the apostle, of course, does not emphasize by chance that his Macedonian brothers gave themselves to God and to him himself as God's minister (v. 5). For him, it seems, precisely this attitude toward ministry is the true attitude of the inhabitants of the Kingdom.
From the point of view of our world, not yet transformed, one can invest everything one has, including oneself, only in an absolutely reliable undertaking with a guaranteed return, the kind that does not exist in a fallen world. And if a person decides to devote himself to something without reserve, he is clearly acting no longer according to the laws of this world, but according to the laws of the Kingdom. Yet if in other matters a certain half-heartedness in self-giving may sometimes be possible, following the principle "do not put all your eggs in one basket," in the matter of witness to Christ and to the Kingdom it is impossible and unacceptable. Here it is all or nothing.
And yet, in a way that at first glance seems paradoxical, complete self-giving does not in this case mean that the one who gives himself loses everything. The readiness to give everything turns into its opposite side: it proves not to be as burdensome as it might have seemed. When everyone is ready to give everything he has, it turns out that in material terms no one demands "everything" from him. On the contrary, in this respect a certain balance is eventually established, in which no one lacks anything, though clearly no one lives in luxury either (vv. 11-15). But the issue is not merely a fair distribution of material goods. For the apostle, it seems, such mutual help among the churches is nothing other than a projection of the relationships of the Kingdom into the material sphere. After all, only in the Kingdom, when you give everything, do you receive immeasurably more than you gave. And the fact that the laws of the Kingdom can determine people's relationships in our world, which is being transformed but is not yet fully transformed, was visible proof that the Kingdom truly had, in the Savior's words, "drawn near" - drawn so near that it can already shape people's relationships in our world, if only people themselves want it.
Readings for 13 June 2025
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