Faithful in the FIre

Last time we asked why we give, and we found the answer in grace: God’s grace poured out, supremely in the Lord Jesus, who became poor to make us rich (8:9). Giving is worship because it flows from grace.

This week we ask two further questions: how do we give, and to what end? Paul answers that grace-given generosity serves the body of Christ, is offered with cheerful integrity, and returns to God as thanksgiving and glory.

Remember the situation: Gentile churches were sending relief to Jewish believers they had never met. The gospel had made them one family, and money became the visible sinew of that invisible union.

Fellowship Means Finishing (8:10-12)

2 Corinthians 8:10–12 ESV

And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

Good intentions began a year earlier; now Paul says, “finish doing it” (8:10–11). Grace is not sentimental; it follows through.

The gift is measured by the willing heart and the actual means, “according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have” (8:12). The Greek behind “your ability” reads literally “out of what you have.” God does not ask for what we do not possess.

This both dignifies the small giver and removes the excuse of the large one. Recall the widow and her two small coins (Mark 12:41–44): the Lord measured her gift not by its size but by her heart.

Call to action — do not let the work stall: Paul told a stalled church to “finish doing it” (8:11). We face our own danger of stalling. With the departure of the Skogens, a great deal of the labor they have quietly carried will fall to the ground unless others pick it up. The work of the body does not leave with them; it waits for new hands.

So the call is to step forward and not to wait for someone else. Ask where the Skogen’s have served, and ask whether the Lord would have you fill that place. Grace finishes what it begins, and the ministry they began among us must be carried on.

Fellowship Means Equality in the Body (8:13-15)

2 Corinthians 8:13–15 ESV

For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

Paul is not asking the Corinthians to be crushed so that others may be eased, “but that as a matter of fairness [isotēs, ἰσότης] your abundance at the present time should supply their need” (8:13–14).

He grounds it in the manna (8:15; Exod. 16:18): “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” God designed His provision to level surplus and lack, and now the church becomes the means by which He distributes daily bread among His people (Acts 2:44–45; 1 John 3:17).

A caution against abuse: this is not a program of forced leveling, nor is it the prosperity error that giving obligates God to repay you in cash. Note carefully — Paul rests this balance on God’s providence. He knows our present abundance and our future need. We give today, expecting nothing tomorrow, yet trusting the God who already holds tomorrow.

Call to action — let abundance supply lack: The principle of 8:13–14 is that “your abundance at the present time should supply their need.” This is not money only; it is time, gifting, and strength. When one family’s labor is withdrawn, a lack opens in the body, and those with an abundance of time or ability are called to fill it. This is how the manna is gathered evenly (8:15): no one has too much, and no one is left with too little.

Fellowship Means Integrity (8:16-24)

2 Corinthians 8:16–24 ESV

But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.

Paul takes great pains over how the money is handled. Titus and two trusted brothers carry the gift (8:16–19), one of them “famous among all the churches” (8:18).

The governing principle is 8:20–21: “we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man.” Financial transparency is a matter of worship and of witness. Handling the church’s money honorably guards Christ’s honor before a watching world.

Illustration: We have all watched ministries shipwreck their testimony over mishandled money, and the world was only too glad to look on.

Fellowship Means Cheerful, Free Giving (9:1-7)

2 Corinthians 9:1–7 ESV

Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Paul sends the brothers ahead so the gift will be ready “as a willing gift, not as an exaction” (9:5). Generosity is to be prepared and free, never squeezed out under pressure in the moment.

He turns to the harvest: “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (9:6). Here is where the prosperity preachers plant their flag, but Paul is not promising a cash return. He is teaching that generosity is seed, not loss.

Illustration — seed corn: A farmer in a lean year is tempted to eat his seed corn. It fills him for a day, but it costs him the harvest. It is the seed sown, not the seed eaten, that feeds him next year. So, it is with what we give.

The heart of it is 9:7: “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” The word for cheerful is hilaros (ἱλαρός), from which we get our English word “hilarious.” God does not merely accept the cheerful giver; He loves him. Giving to be seen glorifies self; giving out of love for God glorifies God.

Call to action — serve cheerfully, not grudgingly: “God loves a cheerful giver” is as true of the giving of time as of the giving of money. To be pressed into service by guilt, and then to serve resentfully, is to miss the worship. Better to decide in your heart what you can gladly take up, and to do that with joy, than to shoulder everything grudgingly and grow bitter.

Fellowship Means God Supplies the Giver (9:8-11)

2 Corinthians 9:8–11 ESV

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

Again, the promise: God “is able to make all grace abound to you” (9:8). He “supplies seed to the sower and bread for food” and will “supply and multiply your seed for sowing” (9:10; echoing Isa. 55:10).

Paul cites Psalm 112:9 (9:9): “He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” The generous believer mirrors the very character of God.

So, we are conduits, not reservoirs. We are enriched “to be generous in every way, which … will produce thanksgiving to God” (9:11). Even our giving is dependence: God supplies the seed; we simply sow it.

Illustration — George Müller: Müller cared for thousands of orphans in Bristol without ever asking a soul for money. He prayed, and God provided, sometimes food arriving at the very hour it was needed. His life was one long sermon on 9:8 and 9:10.

Fellowship Ends in Worship (9:12-15) — the climax

2 Corinthians 9:12–15 ESV

For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Paul now calls the collection a “service” (leitourgia, λειτουργία), a word drawn from priestly, temple worship (9:12). The offering is not mere charity; it is liturgy. It has a horizontal effect (needs met) and a vertical result (thanksgiving to God).

By this proof the recipients “will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ” (9:13). Giving vindicates the gospel we profess; our deeds confirm our creed.

And the distant saints will pray for and long for the givers “because of the surpassing grace of God upon you” (9:14). Grace given comes back as grace returned, and the whole body is knit together in love.

The section ends as its theme began: in worship. The Westminster Shorter Catechism reminds us that our chief end is “to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Meeting the needs of the saints is the means; the glory of God in a chorus of thanksgiving is the end. “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (9:15).

Call to action — minister to those the Lord adds: As this service overflows in thanksgiving (9:12) and the body is knit together (9:14), we must be ready for those the Lord will add to us. New members will come, and they will need to be welcomed, taught, discipled, and loved.

Open your homes in hospitality (Rom. 12:13; 1 Pet. 4:9). Take a newcomer under your wing in discipleship. Some of you can give the gift of learning the new tools and technology, so that a new generation is served well. Give yourself to the ministry of welcome, that those who join us may be bound into the fellowship and give thanks to God with us.

And undergird all of it with prayer — for the pastor who is leaving and the pastor who will come, for the Skogen’s as they go, and for every new soul the Lord adds to us.

Conclusion

Giving is worship for the body of Christ. It flows from grace, it serves the saints, it is offered with cheerful integrity, and it returns to God as thanksgiving and glory.

So, as those who belong to one body, let us give ourselves to one another in this season: here are the ways God is calling us to serve in the days ahead:

pick up the work the Skogen’s have carried, so the ministry does not stall;

let our abundance of time and gifting supply the body’s lack;

serve cheerfully, as we have decided in our hearts, and not grudgingly;

welcome, teach, and disciple those the Lord adds to us;

learn the new tools so that a new generation is served well;

and undergird all of it with prayer — for the pastor who leaves, the pastor who comes, the Skogen’s, and every new soul God brings.

Across these two messages, the Lord has set one calling before us in two hands: the giving of our money and the giving of our time, both of them worship, both of them for the body of Christ. Grace has given us much; grace now calls us to give — our resources to support the work and those who lead it, and ourselves to serve those already here and to welcome those yet to come.

When times grow tight, the church is often the first line in the budget to be cut. A pastor once observed that when a member of his church loses a job, he feels it too. But if giving is worship, then to withhold it in the hard season is to withhold worship in the very season we most need to lean on God.

When I lost my job once and was homeless, I did not have money to donate, so I gave of my time. I was at my pastor’s house helping him every day. That is where I learned much about God and more about ministry. But most of all I learned about depending on God for everything, and He always provided for my needs, not necessarily for my wants.

God is no man’s debtor. Give freely, give cheerfully, and give as those who belong to one body and one Lord — and watch your giving turn into a chorus of thanksgiving to God.