NOTES for Co2 8:16-24
16 But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you. |
17 For indeed he accepted the exhortation; but being more forward, of his own accord he went unto you. |
18 And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches; |
19 And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of your ready mind: |
20 Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us: |
21 Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. |
22 And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, upon the great confidence which I have in you. |
23 Whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you: or our brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ. |
24 Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf. |
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Speaking about mutual help among the churches and about the collection of donations, Paul pays special attention to the care and scrupulousness that are never excessive in matters connected with money (vv. 18-21). It was especially important to the apostle, it seems, to bear witness to his integrity not only before God, but also before people. Of course, he also had in mind ordinary human honesty in everything connected with his own material responsibility, both before those whose money had been entrusted to him and his companions and before those to whom he was to deliver it. In the end, what was at stake in this case was nothing less than observance of the eighth commandment, because if anything collected for the churches' aid had been lost through Paul's fault, it would have been equivalent to theft.
But the matter is probably not only the observance of the Torah. It is also the trust without which there are no relationships of the Kingdom. For Paul, it seems, the mutual help that exists among Christian communities is nothing other than a projection of the relationships uniting the inhabitants of the Kingdom onto the material relationships that exist among them in our world, which is being transformed but is not yet fully transformed. And these material relationships, like all others, can become either a witness or an anti-witness depending on what they are like. The apostle undoubtedly wants them to become the same kind of witness to the Kingdom as his preaching itself.
Such witness proved far more important than it may seem at first glance, because it made it possible to be convinced in practice that even in our world, still untransformed and therefore lying in evil, one can not only speak about inner experience connected with the Kingdom, but also live according to its laws, building relationships with other people accordingly. And such witness was truly priceless, because it visibly demonstrated to everyone that the Kingdom really had, in the Savior's words, "drawn near" - drawn so near that even in a world not yet transformed, nothing already prevents those seeking the Kingdom from living according to its laws, if only they themselves want to.
Readings for 14 June 2025
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