2 Corinthians 8:10-15
10 I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it.
11 But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the willingness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability.
12 For if the willingness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.
13 For this is not for the relief of others and for your hardship, but by way of equality—
14 at this present time your abundance will serve as assistance for their need, so that their abundance also may serve as assistance for your need, so that there may be equality;
15 as it is written: “The one who had gathered much did not have too much, and the one who had gathered little did not have too little.”
Paul’s Opinion about the Offering
If the willingness is there
In today’s passage as well, Paul continues his appeal concerning the offering for the believers in Jerusalem. Paul emphasizes two points. (1) The Corinthian believers had begun collecting the offering the previous year. They had begun before the other churches. Therefore, Paul says that they should now bring this work to a worthy completion. (2) As seen in the example of the Macedonian believers, even the poorest person can give. It is not that a person cannot give because he has nothing; rather, he should give according to what he has. Are you the kind of person who focuses on what you do not have and complains? Or are you the kind of person who is thankful for what you have and seeks to make use of it?
Expected objections
One of the reasons this collection effort had stalled in the Corinthian church seems to have been the following complaint: “Paul is trying to make us suffer so that the believers in Jerusalem can be at ease. That is outrageous.” Paul responds to this complaint. (1) This is not about making one group suffer while allowing another group to be at ease. Rather, it is about bringing about equality. (2) If the Corinthian believers now supply what the believers in Jerusalem lack, their abundance will in turn supply what the Corinthian believers lack. The abundance possessed by the Jerusalem believers was probably not material but spiritual. Paul writes in Romans 15:27, “For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to do them a service also in material things” (Rom. 15:27). (3) Finally, Paul quotes the miracle of the manna and writes, “The one who had gathered much did not have too much, and the one who had gathered little did not have too little” (ref. Exod. 16:13-36). The manna would spoil by the next day, so even those who gathered much could not keep it until the following day. This was, so to speak, equality achieved by God’s compulsion. However, equality in the New Testament time is not achieved by compulsion, but through voluntary action. Blessed are those who willingly and joyfully do what benefits everyone.
Today's prayer
Heavenly Father, make me one who gives voluntarily and joyfully, not under compulsion. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.