1. Macedonia put the tractor into hock to give money
Macedonia, a poor area, has given tremendously to help out the Jerusalem church in its poverty.
"in a great ordeal of affliction" (v2)
"their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality" (v2)
"beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord" (v3)
2. Macedonia gave with great motivation.
Not only did Macedonia give lots of money, but they had an incredible attitude and great perspective in doing it.
"their abundance of joy" (v2)
"they gave of their own accord" (v3)
they begged for the favor of participation of giving (v4)
they "gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God" (v5)
3. This is kind of what you expect out of Macedonia...
Every time Paul talks about Macedonia, it seems to be good. They are a consistent model of maturity for the church, and stand as an
example in giving as they do in so many areas.
2 kids in a family;
Corinth slides through school getting C's and D's;
takes a lot of art classes,
you suspect that they're smoking at lunch
they struggle to do "the right thing"
they've done a few things with their boyfriend that they shouldn't have...
corinth gets 1&2 corinthians
Macedonia
straight a's, all honors classes
spends time tutoring kids with learning disabilities
always ready to help out
teachers talk about "how encouraging" she is.
Macedonia gets Phil. and 1&2 Thessalonians (and don't forget paul's comments to berea)
Do you think it's manipulative to compare Corinth to Macedonia?
1. Show me the money (8:7 - 8:15)
Paul flatly tells Corinth to give generously, while reminding them of Christ's gifts to them and their previous
excitement in giving.
give money (v7)
i mean that as an encouragement (v8)
remember what christ gave you? (v9)
you started this thing, keep it moving. (v10,11)
you've got plenty to give (v12-15)
Paul goes to lengths to show the transparancy in the gift; if that seems weird, remember that there are questions in Corinth
about Paul's integrity with money (see 12:16,17).
Paul? Accused of stealing money?
Just goes to show, no matter how great your character does...someone will accuse you of wrong doing when you get
in their way.
Above reproach...
notice to what extent he goes to be above reproach.
Paul reminds Corinth of the embarrassement should the impoverished Macedonians show up in Corinth (who had previously declared their
generous intentions) and Corinth's gift be unprepared or insignificant.
Diner's club
In 1949, Frank McNamara schedules a business meal at a New York restaurant called Major's Cabin Grill.
Prior to dinner, he changes suits. After dinner, the waiter presents the bill. Frank reaches for his wallet . . .
and realizes that he has left it in his other suit. McNamara finesses the situation, but that night he has a
thought, "Why should people be limited to spending what they are carrying in cash, instead of being able to
spend what they can afford?" In February 1950, McNamara and his partner, Ralph Schneider, return to Major's
Cabin Grill and order dinner. When the bill came, McNamara presents a small, cardboard card - a Diners Club
Card - and signs for the purchase. In the credit card industry, this event is still known as the First Supper.
It's embarrassing to get caught not having the money people expect.
This may have been especially true in wealth conscious Corinth (esp. compared to Macedonia)...
Paul reminds them of what will happen based on the expectations they've set if they don't give.
What's in it for me? (9:6-11)
Generous and cheerful giving means bountiful reaping; but of what? Righteousness for sure (v10), but more as well?
1. Motives matter :
Give cheerfully. You must do as he purposed "not grudgingly or under compulsion" (v7)
i don't thing v7 is saying that you only give what you feel like!
1 Cor 13:3 "if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned,
but do not have love, it profits me nothing"
2. God will "increase the harvest of your righteousness".
who says money can't buy everything? it can buy rightousness...
3. God will will provide 'sufficiency in everything' so that 'you may have an abundance for every good deed'.
it's possible that money is what is being discussed here.
but it's not cash for cash's sake, it's money for the sake of continued good deeds.
not sure how much that actually is...
Everyone wins with giving; God cares for the giver, the righteousness of the giver increases, and the receiver (Jerusalem) is helped by the gift.
1. The receivers will be thankful for your obedience (12-14)
Heck, they'll even pray for you. (v14 - "while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you")
2. God is the real giver. (9:15)
As stated earlier in 8:9 (though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor).
Major areas of question include such exciting topics as:
Who should we give to?
We don't have the same circumstances as Corinth; but there are obviously needs. How do we correctly identify which ones we should give to?
- there are a million needs;how do we pick the right ones?
- do we divy our funds or give all to one place?
- how concerned about 'results' should we be?
- how close of a connection should we have with the target?
- what about grace transforms?
How much should we give?
We are all wealthy with lots of money (in terms of global comparisons); how much of our money is ideal to give? What should our ideal be?
- how do we identify what our excess is? (8:14)
- should we give all of our excess? (8:15)
- paul says that christ became poor for our sake; how poor should we become? (8:9)
- the macedonians gave "according to their ability, and beyond their ability". does this mean we should give beyond our ability? (8:3)
- if we don't feel like giving do we need to? or is paul saying we need to feel like giving? (9:7)
- how 'communist' should we be based on 8:13-15?
What should we expect our giving to bring?
If giving brings about results in the receiver and the giver, what should we set as expectations?
- should we expect more money from our giving? (9:6, 9:8, 9:11)
- what does it mean for our rightousness to increase as a result of our giving?
- what does it mean for our rightousness to increase as a result of our giving?