NOTES for Co2 9:1-15

We always think that before we can give, we must first receive something. The apostle Paul reverses this logic: it is given only to the one who gives. In this he follows Christ perfectly: in the Gospel of John, Jesus says very similar things. Do you want eternal life? Give up the life you have. Do you want the Father's reward? Begin by serving.

The Christian charity is well known in the world. However, not only Christian: such a practice is familiar to the Jews and to the Muslims also. But there is between the Christian charity and the charity of the Jews or the Muslims an essential difference: unlike the Jewish or Islamic charity, the Christian charity is a purely voluntary thing. Certainly not the slightest, it is understandable by the fact that Christianity, as it is sometimes called, is "a religion of love", and love supports no constraint, no "obligation". But the problem is not apparently all the same only in the relations of mutual love binding Christians between themselves. The problem probably is that Christianity is not at all a religion, but just a life in the Kingdom. Life, which is not regulated by any rules and rituals, but the commandments given by God. And the commandments in the long run should become not an external regulation, even if they are voluntarily accepted, but rather this spiritual rod, which will organize the whole life of man from the inside, and not from the outside. With such a life, of course one can’t speak about any compulsory charity, because to regulate the charity would mean, in fact, regulating the help to the neighbor, and life in the Kingdom not only doesn’t need such regulations: they are simply impossible inside it. It is not accidentally that the apostle quotes the psalm about "the giver with pleasure", who "God loves". Indeed, joy for the good, done for the neighbor, is only possible in the Kingdom and by the laws of the Kingdom, by the laws of the not transformed world the genuine joy is possible only when you are being helped. Of course, the helper, even in the not transformed world can receive from his help a famous moral satisfaction, but not for the good he did to the neighbor, but the secondary circumstances accompanying such an action (the feeling of gratitude deeply expressed by the person swamped with benefactions of the help, the approval of the society, even the pleasure caused by the feeling of the fulfillment of the religious duty). But if the helper of the next neighbor feels in addition to that a real joy, then he has been touched by the breath of the Kingdom. And Paul, understanding very well that, calls to the charity not as a tiring religious duty, but as the demonstration of the relations of the Kingdom. Relations, without which there is no Christianity.

Paul uses arguments traditional for Judaism, rooted in the equally traditional understanding of poverty, first of all as a spiritual condition and not as a material position. At first glance it may appear that this is an exchange of material values for certain spiritual ones, even for salvation.

At times the Savior Himself said something that at first glance sounded similar, when, for example, He told the rich young man who came to Him to give away his earthly wealth and receive another, heavenly wealth in return. But in reality this is not so simple. This is not a simple exchange of one wealth for another; it is rather a refusal to recognize as one's own what belongs to oneself. And this is not only about the relative nature of property rights as such, which cannot be discussed in relation to the Kingdom. It is about a person's attitude toward what he considers his own.

What do we put into the idea of 'one's own'? Do we call that something belonging to us by right, deserved, earned, lawfully acquired? Or are we speaking of something given to us for use, perhaps even lifelong use, but only for use? Regarding property we all understand perfectly well, if we take the trouble to think even a little, that it is given to us for use, if only because when we leave this world we will not take it with us. As for such things as knowledge, talents, or abilities, the situation with them is often less evident, at least at first glance, because much or all of what is listed appears to belong to us inseparably; with knowledge, for example, many are convinced that they achieved everything themselves.

But a person who has become poor in the spiritual sense understands that this too does not belong to him. At least until he has become his true self, and one can become the true self only in the presence of God, which certainly does not depend on the person at all. Truly a person possesses only himself, while the rest is given to him only for a time, and it cannot in any way replace the main thing, what God alone can give.

In such a situation, owning or possessing anything is no more than an illusion. When a person parts with this illusion, he stops looking at his riches, whatever they consist of, as his own. They are given to a person for use, and they can easily be handed on to others if that will be better for all. Shared. Donated. In a word, parted with in one way or another: given away completely, if material goods are in view, or made the possession of others to the same degree as one possesses it oneself, if knowledge, talents, or abilities are in view.

Every church community, insofar as it lives as people are meant to live in the Church with a capital C, must be just as ready to share everything it has with those in need. Not because it 'must' or is 'required,' but because the breath of God, the breath of the Kingdom, will otherwise not be able to breathe freely in that community. Just as it cannot breathe freely in the heart of a person who is not ready to share. This is what Paul reminds the recipients of his letter.

What is God's regard towards the human wealth? It would seem according to the Old Testament, that everything is clear: God blesses the wealth of people, desirable to Him. That is the rich are desirable to God. However Jesus, turns rather to the side of poor people (" a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven."), this is especially visible in several parables. But here Apostle Paul speaks again about wealth as being a gift of God. What’s it? Maybe it is necessary to understand these words in a figurative, spiritual sense? But no, Paul speaks exactly about material things, and we should not spiritualize this sentence at once.

Let's analyze. The prophets of the Old Testament already rebuked rich people in Israel for their unmercifulness. And Jesus opposes not against wealth itself, but against the way people behave towards it and how they use it. Apostle Paul continues on the same line: wealth, granted by God, always has a purpose - good works, and The Gospel invites us especially to such works.