In His Second Letter to the ecclesia at Corinth, the apostle Paul urges generous support be given to the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem (II Cor 8 & 9) Two chapters are devoted to persuading them of the merits of this gesture of goodwill.
The brethren had earlier agreed to contribute (II Cor 8 6,10,11), but apparently had not adequately followed through on the arrangements Perhaps attention to ecclesial concerns mentioned in I Corinthians — divisions, immorality, lawsuits, etc — had distracted them Most of us can relate to a failure to readily respond to an important matter Yet when the missed opportunity is brought to our attention, the right course should then be taken
Building a fund with regular collections
The earlier instructions were, “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come” (I Cor 16 2) Paul added “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity for God loveth a cheerful giver” (II Cor 9 7)
Weekly contributions gradually add up to respectable amounts Even the banks urge us to make regular deposits Should we neglect the less fortunate by not doing so? How much better it would be to set aside a regular contribution for the needy saints (Matt 6 19,20) Peter gives similar advice within the context of showing hospitality “Use hospitality one to another without grudging As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (I Pet 4 9,10) By heeding Peter and Paul’s advice, other brethren near and far can help us share the bounty we have received from God.
How a problem developed in Jerusalem
From a small core of 120 believers (Acts 1 15), the ecclesia at Jerusalem grew swiftly Thousands of Jews converted in response to the apostle’s preaching The resulting community shared their resources and cooperated, although difficulties arose as it grew even larger (Acts 2 44,45,4 32-35, 6 1,7) Persecutions by Jewish authorities, including Saul (Paul), made life onerous for the saints, causing many to be scattered to other areas and eroding the resource base for those remaining in Jerusalem.
A famine in the days of Claudius Caesar provided the incentive to send relief to the brethren m Judea and Jerusalem Now Paul (Saul) became actively involved guiding a campaign to ease the want of those he had once persecuted.
A challenge to be tactful
Paul was now faced with a challenge How could he tactfully remind the believers m Corinth of their previous commitment and not anger them with his strong urging? Two chapters on the topic represents a significant portion of this epistle Would some over-sensitive brethren take offense at Paul’s “overemphasis” on money?
There was another challenge as well, to avoid monotony in basically saying the same thing over and over for two chapters To this end, Paul uses a wide variety of words which, upon closer inspection, are carefully chosen to encourage a positive response from the Corinthian ecclesia
Brief word studies
Logia “Collection,” “gathering” is used in I Corinthians 16 1,2 regarding this collection The Greek is logia which ancient Greek inscriptions use in reference to collections for a god or temple This idea carries through in scripture giving to believers is giving to the Lord (Matt 25 40).
Charis “Liberality,” mg “gift” (I Cor 16 3), is from charis which is often rendered “grace” in the New Testament In II Corinthians 8 and 9 the KJV has “grace,” “thanks” or “gift” for charis Obviously, Paul no longer wanted the collection equated with mere money Rather, he suggested our contributions parallel, in a small way, the grace we receive from God and Christ in abundance Those who had elsewhere contributed had experienced God’s grace m many ways The brethren of Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea), although themselves in great poverty, had given liberally to the Jerusalem ecclesia (II Cor 8 1-2) The loving example of Jesus had motivated them to that end and their giving resulted in joy In saying “God loveth a cheerful giver,” it may be the cheerfulness of the giver can be a result as well as a cause of a generous gift.
Koinonia “Distribution” (KJV), “contributions” (RSV) is translated from konionia This Greek word is more commonly translated “fellowship” (12x) or “communion” (4x) Not surprisingly, the first New Testament use of koinonia goes back to the day of Pentecost at Jerusalem That day, 3,000 heeded Peter’s call to repent and be baptized “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship (Gk komonia) “(Acts 2 42,44)
In I Corinthians, this word is used twice in one verse “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (I Cor 10 16) With minds focused on this verse, could anyone permit others in the body of Christ to lose hope because of want? Paul’s deliberate association of komonia with the collection would underline the necessity of doing it
Other uses of this word remind us of positive and negative elements of our struggle “The right hand of fellowship” (Gal 2 9), “fellowship of his sufferings” (Phil 3 10) and, “But to do good and to communicate forget not for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Heb 13 16) Jesus sacrificed so we can share in his fellowship Are we not willing to sacrifice for our brethren?
Old Testament precedent
Finally Paul brings to his exhortation an Old Testament example (Ex 16 18) God, says Paul, has provided enough manna to go around We who have gathered more should share it with those who have less After all, none of it will keep until tomorrow.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One