Notes on 2 Corinthians 9

1 For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:
2 For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.
3 Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready:
4 Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.
5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.

The issue here is motivation. Paul shouldn't have to make this kind of reminder to the Corinthians; they should do what they had pledged to do out of love, but he appeals here, once more, the pride that motivates so much of what they do. If they're not ready when he returns, they will be embarrassed in front of the Macedonian Christians, which will hurt their pride. He also appeals to their pride by indicating that they already know what he is telling them, about ministering to the needs of the Christians in Jerusalem. That's not to say he's lying, that they didn't, in fact, know, but to remind them, gently, that they were the ones who first recognized the need, and sought to meet it. He suspected they weren't prepared for the task, which itself was reason to motivate them to action.

There is a deeper issue as well. Love, in its most basic form, is active concern for others. It goes beyond just recognizing a need, and on to actually meeting it. Compassion isn't just a feeling; if it doesn't achieve results, it means nothing. Some people act out of guilt, because they feel condemned if they don't. That's not love either; doing the right things for the wrong reasons may help the people involved, but it doesn't build up the ones giving the help. Good deeds by themselves don't merit God's favor, or earn entrance to Heaven. Jesus made that abundantly clear in Matthew 7 that simply doing things in his name does not bring a reward for those he does not know as his own (Matthew 7:21-23). Even though the Corinthians might make a gift as a matter of seeking the approval of others, this was not what Paul intended. "Bounty" as used here means a blessing, as opposed to to something fraudulent or motivated by greed, referred to as "covetousness". That refers both to the giving of the gift, and the receiving of it. If a gift is given in the right spirit, but abused by the one receiving it, as sometimes happens, the guilt is not that of the giver.

6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.
10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)
11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
12 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;
13 Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;
14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.
15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

There is an old saying to the effect that you get out of something what you put into it. In the economy of the Kingdom, this is not strictly true, as we often are blessed all out of proportion to what we give. It is true, though, in the sense that what comes back to us is related, not to the quantity of what we give, but the spirit in which we give. If we give out of compulsion or guilt, we are sowing sparingly, and the reward we receive will be small, no matter the amount involved. The widow who put her mite into the treasury at the temple gave all that she had, without reservation or hesitation, and she won the Lord's unqualified approval; there can be no greater reward (Mark 12:43-44). As Paul said, her righteousness, in that simple act of giving, remains with us forever; we still talk about her deed.

God blesses us with material abundance for a reason: so that we can share with others. One of the saddest things to see is a Christian who grows wealthy, sometimes by preaching the Gospel, who then wants to hold onto everything rather than ministering to those in need. While there is nothing inherently wrong with wealth, it is disturbing to see successful preachers driving, or being driven in, expensive cars and wearing designer suits. Some even flaunt their wealth as a sign of how righteous they are, an attitude specifically condemned in Paul's letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:5). Blessings are meant to be shared, but they are also intended to result in thanksgiving. We should take nothing for granted, but we so often do. Like ungrateful children, we blithely go about the business of living in comfort and contentment, not realizing that life itself is a precious gift from God. Everything we have, including the ability to make a living, comes from God. There is no such thing as a "self-made man", the American credo notwithstanding. Every talent and ability we have comes from God, whether we are saved or unsaved. We admire people like Bill Gates who go from having nothing to being the world's wealthiest man, but the brilliant mind Gates possesses didn't come because of his efforts; God gave it to him. Further, all the vast amounts he is giving to charity through his and his wife's foundation earn him no rewards in God's eyes if he gives them apart from Christ.

When we are the beneficiaries of the giving of others, though we can and should be grateful to them, our real praise and thanksgiving should be to God, who used them to supply our need. They were able to give only because God blessed them with abundance, resources that exceeded their own need. We return the blessing by thanksgiving, but also by praying in turn for the giver. The capacity to give, along with the gift, is by God's grace, his unearned favor. His unspeakable gift to us, the one we can never find words to express in gratitude, is Jesus Christ himself. Every other good thing we have from God begins and ends with our Lord Jesus; as the Lord told Nicodemus in John 3:16, God loved so much that He gave. He didn't give just anything, he gave the very best he was able to give -- his only Son, and through him, the gift of eternal life for all of us who believe in him. Our giving in Christian love and charity should always look back to God's unspeakable gift to us.

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