Completing the Collection for the Saints, 1-15
8:1 Now we make known to you, brothers and sisters, the grace of God given to the churches of Macedonia, 8:2 that during a severe ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in the wealth of their generosity. 8:3 For I testify, they gave according to their means and beyond their means. They did so voluntarily, 8:4 begging us with great earnestness for the blessing and fellowship of helping the saints. 8:5 And they did this not just as we had hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us by the will of God. 8:6 Thus we urged Titus that, just as he had previously begun this work, so also he should complete this act of kindness for you. 8:7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, and in all eagerness and in the love from us that is in you—make sure that you excel in this act of kindness too. 8:8 I am not saying this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love by comparison with the eagerness of others. 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich. 8:10 So here is my opinion on this matter: It is to your advantage, since you made a good start last year both in your giving and your desire to give, 8:11 to finish what you started, so that just as you wanted to do it eagerly, you can also complete it according to your means. 8:12 For if the eagerness is present, the gift itself is acceptable according to whatever one has, not according to what he does not have. 8:13 For I do not say this so there would be relief for others and suffering for you, but as a matter of equality. 8:14 At the present time, your abundance will meet their need, so that one day their abundance may also meet your need, and thus there may be equality, 8:15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”
Paul devotes two chapters to the subject of giving. ‘Paul is writing to thank them for what they have already done, but also to make clear to them that it is not enough! Two chapters is not too much to secure the required balance. For giving is a powerful indicator of spiritual life. Is our giving regular? Is it free and spontaneous? Is it proportionate to the way God has blessed us? Is it a significant proportion of our income? Is it somethat that is prayed over? Or do we view it as a sort of tax, a deplorable necessity, or an unmentionable subject?’ (Green)
Four principles of giving emerge in this chapter:
- Your willingness to give cheerfully is more important that the amount you give.
- You should strive to fulfill your financial commitments.
- If you give to others in need they will in turn help you when you are in need.
- You should give as a response to Christ not for anything you can get out of it. How you give reflects on your devotion to Christ. Those who give seem to receive from others as well. (Selected)
v2 ‘The Macedonian churches that Paul was using as an example had experienced severe difficulties, and yet they had given generously. They had not simply gone through “affliction;” they had experienced a “great trial of affliction.” (2 Cor 8:2) They were in deep poverty, which means “rock-bottom destitution.” The word describes a beggar who has absolutely nothing and has no hope of getting anything. Their difficult situation may have been caused in part by their Christian faith, for they may have lost their jobs or been excluded from the trade guilds because they refused to have anything to do with idolatry. But their circumstances did not hinder them from giving. In fact, they gave joyfully and liberally! No computer could analyze this amazing formula: great affliction and deep poverty plus grace = abundant joy and abounding liberality! It reminds us of the paradox in Paul’s ministry: “as poor, yet making many rich.” (2 Cor 6:10) It also reminds us of the generous offerings that were taken at the building of the tabernacle (Ex 35:5-6) and the temple. (1 Chron 29:6-9) When you have experienced the grace of God in your life, you will not use difficult circumstances as an excuse for not giving…Grace giving means giving in spite of circumstances.’ (Wiersbe)
They urgently pleaded (paraklesis) with us for the privilege of sharing (koinonia) in this service (diakonia) to the saints –
Evans, (Revival Comes to Wales)
The grace – ‘When Paul speaks of the grace of God, or as here the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, what he means is not an attitude or a gracious disposition but God’s love expressed in concrete saving action on behalf of mankind. (And similarly it is a concrete expression of love that Paul expects from his readers.)’ (Kruse)
He was rich – These were pre-existent riches. See Jn 17:5. ‘Jesus was, in his essential being, all that God was. In this way Jesus ‘was rich’, eternally so.’ (Barnett)
He became poor – Jesus was born, and lived, in lowly circumstances, although not in abject poverty. Paul is thinking here not of economic poverty. He is thinking, rather, of the way in which he ‘humbled himself’ in his birth, life and death, Phil 2:6.
‘The crucial significance of the cradle at Bethlehem lies in its place in the sequence of steps down that led the Son of God to the cross of Calvary, and we do not understand it till we see it in this context. The key text in the New Testament for interpreting the Incarnation is not, therefore, the bare statement in Jn 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,” but rather the more comprehensive statement of 2 Cor 8:9 “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Here is stated not the fact of the Incarnation only, but also its meaning; the taking of manhood by the Son is set before us in a way which shows us how we should ever view it-not simply as a marvel of nature, but rather as a wonder of grace.’ (Packer, Knowing God)
Poor – What did it mean for the Son of God to empty himself and become poor? ‘It meant a laying aside of glory (the real kenosis); a voluntary restraint of power; an acceptance of hardship, isolation, ill-treatment, malice and misunderstanding; finally, a death that involved such agony-spiritual even more than physical-that his mind nearly broke under the prospect of it.’ (Packer, Knowing God). See Phil 2:7n
This voluntary self-impoverishment of Jesus was the theological ground on which the apostle based his appeal to the Christians of Greece to contribute to the relief of the Christians of Judea.
Barnett (BST) suggests that we may see this verse as a Christmas text, with two applications:
‘First, we need gladly to receive the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts, thankful for his sacrificial saving work on our behalf. Secondly, in all matters related to giving and gifts we ought to imitate his generosity.’
‘Christ renounced the divine fullness of power in which he dwelt with the Father, abandoned the heavenly glory which was his as the Son of God. He chose the poverty of human existence so that through his poverty he could impart the eternal riches of redemption to the poverty of all for whose sake he became poor.’ (Shelkle, quoted by Garland, NAC)
So that you through his poverty might become rich – ‘Christ was made poor that we through His poverty might be rich. He took the form of a servant that we might regain liberty. He descended that we might be exalted. He was tempted that we might overcome. He was despised that He might fill us with glory. He died that we might be saved. He ascended, to draw to Himself those lying prostrate on the ground through sin’s stumblingblock.’ (Gregory of Nazianus)
Garland (NAC) draws out the following practical lessons from the examples of the Macedonians and Christ:
1. True giving requires giving of oneself, not just giving money. The gospel is not about what we can get from God but what God has given to us so that we can give of ourselves to others.
2. One can give out of extreme poverty, and one can give out of measureless riches. Those who are disinclined to be generous when they are poor are not likely to become suddenly generous when they are rich.
3. Giving is related to the grace of God experienced in Christ. The recipients are not required to have done anything to merit the gift except to be in need. The givers are made generous because of God’s grace working on them, in them, and through them.
If the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable – ‘If God be our Father, he will take all we do in good part. Those duties which we ourselves censure he will crown. When a child of God looks over his best duties, he sees so much sin cleaving to them that he is confounded. ‘Lord,’ he says, ‘there is more sulphur than incense in my prayers.’ But for your comfort, if God be your Father, he will crown those duties which you yourselves censure. He sees there is sincerity in the hearts of his children, and this gold, though light, shall have grains of allowance. Though there may be many defects in the services of his children, he will not cast away their offering. ‘The Lord healed the people.’ 2 Chron 30:20. The tribes of Israel, being straitened in time, wanted some legal purifications; yet because their hearts were right God healed them and pardoned them. He accepts of the good will. 2 Cor 8:12. A father takes a letter from his son kindly, though there are blots or bad English in it. What blotting are there in our holy things! Yet our Father in heaven accepts them. ‘It is my child,’ God says, ‘and he will do better; I will look upon him, through Christ, with a merciful eye.” (Thomas Watson, The Lord’s Prayer)
Applying Paul’s teaching about ‘equality’ (fairness; justice) to the world situation today, John Stott summarises:-
- God has provided enough for everyone’s need (adequate resources in sun and rain, earth, air and water);
- any great disparity between affluence and want, wealth and poverty, is unacceptable to him;
- when a situation of serious disparity arises, it ought to be corrected by an adjustment, in order to secure ‘equality’ or ‘justice’;
- the Christian motive for desiring such ‘justice’ is ‘grace’, loving generosity, as in the case of Jesus who, though rich, became poor, so that through his poverty we might become rich;
- we are to follow his example in this, and so prove the genuineness of our love.
Issues Facing Christians Today (4th ed.) p181f.
The Mission of Titus, 16-24
8:16 But thanks be to God who put in the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you, 8:17 because he not only accepted our request, but since he was very eager, he is coming to you of his own accord. 8:18 And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his work in spreading the gospel. 8:19 In addition, this brother has also been chosen by the churches as our traveling companion as we administer this generous gift to the glory of the Lord himself and to show our readiness to help. 8:20 We did this as a precaution so that no one should blame us in regard to this generous gift we are administering. 8:21 For we are concerned about what is right not only before the Lord but also before men. 8:22 And we are sending with them our brother whom we have tested many times and found eager in many matters, but who now is much more eager than ever because of the great confidence he has in you. 8:23 If there is any question about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; if there is any question about our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ. 8:24 Therefore show them openly before the churches the proof of your love and of our pride in you.
The brother who is praised by all the churches – Luther and Calvin maintained that this was a reference to Barnabas.
v23 Representatives – Gk. apostolos.