Listen or read the following transcript as D. A. Carson speaks on the topic of Giving from 2 Corinthians 8-9
Very often in popular paganism, there is a sort of tit-for-tat arrangement between human beings and the gods. You give them the right sacrifice, you stroke them in the right way, and they give you what you want. In ancient paganism, you had to apply the right god for the right domain. If you were going to give a lecture, then you wanted the god of communication on side so you offered up appropriate sacrifices to Hermes on the Greek side, or Mercury on the Latin side.
If you were going to war, you certainly wanted Zeus on side. If you were going to take a sea voyage, then your sacrifices would be offered to Neptune. These gods were a bit capricious. They were more or less like souped-up human beings with all the loves and the fears and the hates and the lusts and the failings that we reflect, but also with our strengths multiplied to a superior degree. They were a bit unpredictable, but you could get them on side by offering the right sorts of sacrifices. It was a nice kind of tit-for-tat relationship.
Sadly, even within confessing Christianity, the same sort of image of God is sometimes enjoined. God is out there feeling a bit narked because we haven’t offered him the right praise. If we get our praise choruses right, then God is pleased. If we have our devotions, then we escape cancer. If we’re good enough and witness enough, then somehow we become prosperous and get a good job and the mate we want and have nice children.
We’re not so crass quite to put it that way. We’re not quite still in the age of indulgences of the medieval church, and yet deep down we suspect that’s the way it operates. Even in our giving, we may then give out of a kind of guilty tit-for-tat view of God. Not for a moment am I suggesting that the Bible is unconcerned about obedience. Nevertheless, the framework of the relationships between the God of the Bible and his people is rather different.
For a start, the God of the Bible is the God of aseity. That’s not a word we use in English anymore, but we need to bring it back. It was used by the Puritans. He is the God who is supremely of himself, from himself. It comes from the Latin a se. He is the God of aseity. He is so much from himself that he does not need us. When Paul addresses Athenian pagans in the first century in Acts, chapter 17, that’s one of the first points that he makes.
He says God does not need us. In fact, it’s the other way around. We need him. The God of the Old Testament says, “If I were hungry, would I ask you for food? The cattle on a thousand hills are mine.” It’s not as if we do him favors. It’s not as if in eternity past God was pining away saying, “I know I’m missing something. I have these deep psychological needs. Perhaps if I make some image-bearers they will stroke me with their praise choruses so that I will feel complete.”
Do you see? It’s not as if you give something to the God of the Bible; he is the God of aseity. He is from himself. He is of himself. You cannot give to him, and thus you cannot enter into a kind of tit-for-tat relationship. You stroke him and meet his needs, and he strokes you and meets your needs.
Moreover, the God of the Bible is the God of transcendent perfection. It’s not as if he is a souped-up human being with our range of strengths and weaknesses and, therefore, with a whole range of weaknesses that can be appealed to. He is the God who gives, who is already perfect in himself, who has no needs that we can address and meet in order to wrench from him the blessings that we want.
Moreover, so far as giving is concerned, even in the Old Testament under the Mosaic law where there are specified tithes and special offerings and freewill offerings all laid out in scripture, everything is set within a framework of God first and foremost owning everything. He is sovereign over everything.
The gifts that are given are not God’s small part while we keep the rest for ourselves. They are tokens, rather, of the fact that we owe him everything. Interestingly enough, in the New Testament, tithing is specifically enjoined in only one passage. It is in Matthew 23:23. There, Jesus is taking the mickey out of the people who were scrupulous in their tithing all the way down to the herbs that they grew in their garden.
They grew some garden herbs to flavor their meals and they carefully weighed out the tenth and gave it to the proper authorities. “But you have ignored the weightier matters of justice and mercy,” Jesus says. Then he adds, “These you ought to have done and not to have left the others undone.” That’s rather stunning, isn’t it?
Rhetorically speaking, it would be a much more powerful argument if he had simply said, “These you ought to have done and the rest can look after themselves.” That’s not what he says. He still lives under the Mosaic code. They still have the obligation in the days and life of Jesus to observe the Mosaic code. He’s merely saying that under any system of law there is a hierarchy of values. It is far more important to follow what the Bible says in matters of justice and mercy than making sure you tithe your garden herbs.
This side of the cross and resurrection, this side of the new covenant, there is no passage that specifically enjoins tithing, putting aside a tenth. Not, I suspect, because Paul does not expect us to be generous. I don’t think it would ever cross his mind that we would want to do less, but because the entire structure of the appeal is very different. The New Testament this side of the resurrection of Christ is much more typically represented by one of the verses we just read in 2 Corinthians 9.
“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give. Not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Now here in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, we find a microcosm of New Testament emphases about giving. The situation is narrow and specific, but the principles are profound and universal. The situation is what is often called, simply, the collection.
A lot of the churches under Paul’s influence were enjoined by Paul and others to bring together some resources to send to poor Christians back in Jerusalem. There they were facing not only a lot more severe persecution along with the confiscation of their goods but also famine at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, so they were hard up.
The churches under Paul’s aegis were, therefore, enjoined to collect resources to help Christians in Jerusalem. That’s the specific location for this collection. We can follow Paul’s principal emphases under three headings. What I propose to do is run through this very quickly. Not much more than a kind of priming of the pump to give you some headings for these two chapters, which then you can reread perhaps this afternoon at your leisure and think about them in terms of how they bear on you.
1. The Macedonian model.
Chapter 8, verses 1–9. In this model we find …
A. Generosity out of extreme poverty.
Paul begins to make allusion to the churches in Macedonia, the Corinthian churches in the South. People in the South tended to view those up in the North as hillbillies. Most countries have some region where people are viewed as second-class, a little slower, not the sharpest tool in the box, a little thick.
In Canada, it’s the Newfoundlanders. That’s where I come from. In the United States, the Ozarks are not normally considered the very center of intellectual brilliance. I will leave it to you to judge where it is in England. For the Achaeans, the Macedonians were not the best example, but Paul brings them up.
Up there, they had suffered persecution. Paul had been run out of town on a rail in Philippi. The churches had faced difficult times, but those were also the churches that had sought out what they should do in this matter of giving and receiving, and they were already known for their generosity.
Meanwhile, Paul had used some examples from the Corinthians, according to chapter 9, to encourage the Macedonians. In the case of the Macedonians, there was generosity out of extreme poverty. There have been a number of searches done in North America, I can’t imagine it’s very different here, where there have been tests to see what groups give most generously as the proportion of their income in various confessional groups.
Amongst Christians, which groups give the most? Those who are under the poverty line or in the next bracket up or are on the highest level of income? Test after test after test has shown that, proportionally, people give more out of poverty. Isn’t that shocking? Perhaps the foremost demographer in the world of Christian movements is David Barrett.
He says that at the moment there are about 168,000 Christian martyrs a year. About half of them every year are coming out of the Sudan. In the Sudan, Christians are regularly raped and sold into slavery, starved to death, shot down. It’s partly a Muslim-Christian thing, and it’s partly concern for the oil fields that are being developed in the South. It’s awful, but you should see the church in the Sudan. It’s spectacularly generous. They are eagerly sending missionaries into the Central African Republic, and they have nothing.
B. Generosity out of genuine discipleship.
Verse 5: “They did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord, and then to us in keeping with God’s will.” In other words, they did not slink into this pagan tit-for-tat relationship. “Well, maybe if I give a certain amount to the God that Paul preaches, I’ll get some blessing from this God as well.” No, no, no. They saw that he was the God of creation, the God of redemption. They gave themselves utterly to him.
Their giving was out of the framework of their principled discipleship to God Almighty, disclosed in Christ Jesus. In principle, they had given themselves to the apostle who had taught them wisely and well. So as a result, verse 6: “We urge Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part.” That is, the example of the Macedonians thus becomes an encouragement for the Achaeans, the Corinthians.
C. Generosity out of balanced graces.
This church in Corinth has a lot going for it. “Just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” There are some churches that become known as Bible preaching centers.
Some churches become known for their corporate praise. Some churches become known for their patterns of careful discipleship, for sending people into missions. Whatever the gift and strength in your church is, make sure that giving is included amongst it. That’s what this text says. “You have so many graces, you Corinthians,” he says. “That’s good. See that you also excel in this grace of giving.”
D. Generosity out of the example of Christ.
Verses 8 and 9: “I am not commanding you …” That is, Paul is not simply laying down a new hierarchy of rules, somewhat like the Old Testament pattern. “… but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For 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.”
When you stand beside the cross, thoughtfully, it is hard to be selfish. He was the one who emptied himself and took upon himself the odium and shame of our rebellion and sin. Not because he was trying to enter into some sort of tit-for-tat relationship with us, but out of love and in supreme self-emptying, he who made us became one of us and then died for us that we might be reconciled to God.
So there is generosity here, supremely, out of the example of Christ. It is those who are most aware of the wonder of the forgiveness of their own sins. It is those who are most aware of the glory still to come, secured by Christ, who are most likely to give generously. Because all of it is given out of a stance that is anchored in eternity and is suffused with sheer gratitude to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. There’s the Macedonian example. Next we’ll look at …
2. The Pauline methods.
Verses 10–24. Here we see to …
A. Plan ahead.
Verses 10 and 11. Don’t wait until the emissaries get there and you think, “Oh yes, I guess we better collect something.” No, no, no. Paul says, plan ahead. Much praying is not done because we do not plan to pray. You do not drift into disciplined prayer.
Much giving is not done because we do not plan to give. You don’t become principally generous by the occasional emotional response. Plan to give. If you wait until you have looked after not only the necessities, but how to ratchet yourself up to the next level of socioeconomic attainment and then see what you have left over in order to give, you will never give very much.
B. Work on your heart.
Verse 12: “For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.” You see, at the end of the day, it’s not percentages. It’s not even what you have pledged in your own mind. You may take a pledge, and then you get fired.
Is God going to zap you because you can no longer do what you had hoped to do? Of course not! What does the text say? If the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has. If you are living right on the poverty line, learn some generosity within the framework of your limited income. God is not out to slash you. Yet, at the same time, what God is after is your heart. So work on your heart.
C. Think equality.
Verses 13–15. It’s not that Paul is trying to rob one church and look after another church. No, he wants some kind of equality. “At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality.” Now this is not the Marxist view of equality.
At one level, the Marxist slogan is rather impressive. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” In Marxist theory, what you had first was revolutionary man (that was Marx’s expression) who had overturned the current social order and imposed a communist vision. Then, in due course, out of this structure would emerge the new man, which was also Marx’s expression, which he swiped from Paul.
The trouble is that in all the experiments, it was pretty easy to produce revolutionary people. It was far more difficult to produce new people. It doesn’t change the heart. The social dynamics don’t deal with human greed, but in the church of Jesus Christ, where men and women have genuinely been transformed by the Spirit of God, there must be some sort of concern for helping the underdog. There must be.
In our generation, where our communications allow us to be exposed to needs all over the world, it is easy to burn out. A few shots are fired, and you’ll see them all tonight at 10:00 on the news. As a result, we are constantly being asked to be compassionate about some other corner of the world about which we know too little, and we eventually harden ourselves against the incessant demands.
You can’t meet them all. I know that, but that is why we must choose significant somethings. If we cannot do everything, we jolly well have to do significant somethings. For our concern is to represent something of the unity of the church of Jesus Christ worldwide by how we interact with one another worldwide.
D. Be seen to be clean.
Verses 16–24. The burden of this long section is this: Paul wants not only Titus to help carry the money, but also this person whom he describes as “the brother who was praised by all the churches” (possibly a reference to Luke), and another one who has been appointed by the churches. The four of them, Paul plus these three, will carry the money to Jerusalem. Why? Why is he so scrupulous? Verse 21: “For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.” Be seen to be clean.
Whenever there is a lot of currency around, it is very important to be seen to be clean. In the early days of Billy Graham, the late 40s and early 50s, it was common in North America for itinerant preachers and evangelists to handle the money themselves that was brought in from these meetings. The vast majority of them in those days were people of probity, but there was a picture in the Hurst newspapers of Graham driving away from one of these meetings with a bag of money in the front seat beside him.
He saw the picture, realized the damage that could do, and was the first of the big name evangelists to incorporate a board under non-profit laws. Then he would be paid only a stated salary that would be publicly ascertainable, and others would look after all the funds. Why? Because he wanted to be seen to be clean. He did not want the gospel compromised.
So also, Paul, when he’s transporting this considerable sum, he doesn’t want to take it himself. He wants four people there, including representatives of the churches that are giving, because he wants God to be honored in all of this and greed never to reign, and at no point suspicion to be introduced about the quality of Christian leadership or its integrity. Lastly …
3. Corinthian motives.
Chapter 9. Here I have time only to run through the emphases Paul makes but not to enlarge upon them.
A. Be a model to others.
Verses 1–5. Just as the Macedonians have been something of a model to the Corinthians, now the Corinthians should be a model to the Macedonians and to other people as well. Christians do serve as models to other Christians, whether we like it or not. Let it be good models.
B. Be an encouragement to leaders.
Verses 4 and 5a. That’s a broader principle in the New Testament. In Hebrews, chapter 13, the Christians are told to make the work of the leaders in the church enjoyable and fruitful, because then they are more fruitful in serving the church as well. It’s a horrible situation when the church starts adopting the attitude, “Lord, you keep them humble and we’ll keep them poor.”
No, no, no. It should be a situation in which the leaders love the people whom they serve and think constantly about how to serve them better, how to lead them in Christ, how to fill their minds with thoughts of God and with Christian discipleship and living with eternity’s values in view. The Christians, for their part, ought to be thinking about how to make the task of their leaders happier, easier, and more fruitful. In the area of giving, that too is one of the domains where those responsibilities exist.
C. Be expansive in heart.
Verse 5b. Paul thought it necessary to urge the brothers to get on with this. Then he says, “Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given.” You know the kind of gift I mean. Where you give and then smirk and tell people quietly that you’ve done so and how much. You don’t get brownie points in heaven because you’re seeking all your brownie points down here. Or you resent this constant appeal for help for other Christians. “Just let me get on with my life. Here’s my weekly pound. Now leave me alone.” No, no, no.
D. Be one who gives out of generosity, out of grace, out of gratitude.
Verses 6–11. God is no one’s debtor. He bestows all kinds of heart gifts on people who give. In verse 7, God himself, we’re told, loves a cheerful giver. Verse 11: “You then will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion.” Be one who gives out of generosity, out of grace, out of gratitude.
E. Be focused on God’s praise.
Verses 11–13: “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.”
You see, people who really do want the God of the Universe, our Maker and Redeemer, to receive the praise that is his due, want to give in such a way that Christians respond all over the world thinking, “Thank God for those Christians who have helped here. Thank God for their example. Thank God for his grace working so powerfully in their lives.”
That’s the way they want to live, so those are the priorities they adopt. That is where their heart pulsates. Thus part of our motive in giving is precisely that God be praised. Not that we be praised, but God be praised, for we are stewards of the grace of God.
F. Be aware of the interdependence within the body of Christ.
Verse 14: “In their prayers for you …” That is, the prayers of those who have received the help that you sent. “… their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.” They will respond. Even if they can’t respond with gifts, they will respond with prayers for you and gratitude to God. Maybe the time will come, back in chapter 8, when they, in fact, will be giving something to you.
History is long. Churches rise and fall. In many ways, it was the Jerusalem church that provided the first help of sending out missionaries, those who articulated the gospel to those in the pagan world. Is there not some sort of gratitude owed back to Jerusalem? There is a kind of interdependence in the Christian church.
Let me tell you, there are all kinds of things we can learn from the church in China or that we can learn from the church in the southern Sudan. In many parts of the world, Christians are praying for us, more regularly, more fruitfully, and more passionately than we are praying for them. There is a kind of interdependence in the body of Christ, and its provision of what is needed is part of that genuine body interdependence. Above all …
G. Never forget that God is the ultimate giver.
Verse 15: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” That is why, in the Christian way, giving is never a matter of a tit-for-tat relationship with the Almighty. You can never out-give God. He has given his own dear Son. There’s a profound sense in which the last thing God wants you to do is give money, even generously, if you withhold your heart. Defy him to his face. Disown his Son. Walk in your own way.
What he wants is you, for he made you. He owns you by creation. He secures men and women by redemption. All of our response to him is first and foremost out of the overflow of recognizing his indescribable gift. We give out of gratitude. We serve out of gratitude. We pray out of gratitude. We walk by faith out of gratitude. We are always debtors to God. “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
This is Gift Day. What are you to do, write a big check? It’s inadequate. First and foremost, this is always a call to bow to the Lord Christ in repentance in faith. To live with eternity’s values in view. Out of that framework, sort out the finances. For on Gift Day, although we may make gifts, we first of all thank God for his indescribable gift. Let us pray.
Forgive us, almighty God, when in our eyes you are so demeaned and disfigured that we act as if we can bribe you, when all is yours by right. Work in our hearts, therefore, by your Spirit to respond with faith and adoration and gratitude and obedience because of the indescribable gift of the Lord Jesus himself, who though he was rich yet for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. Out of that framework, merciful God, lead us in fresh paths of discipleship and obedience and cheerful generosity. For Jesus’ sake, amen.
