Introduction
What did you put in the offering plate this morning? Do you think God is pleased? And what about ministry? Did you do any ministry this past week that God would have been pleased with? Our passage will help us think these questions through.
Text
Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.
Paul is responding to an inquiry from the church. A famine, prophesied by the prophet Agabus (Acts 11:28), had struck the Judean territory, leaving many in the Jerusalem church impoverished. As a consequence, Paul encouraged his churches to contribute towards their relief. Evidently, he had already approached the Corinth church about it and they had practical questions regarding collecting and sending the money.
First, about collection: On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.
The saints are to make regular contributions: on the first day of every week. They are not to wait until Paul arrives to take up a collection. Instead, they are to take up weekly offerings, which they then store up until Paul comes. By avoiding until the last moment to give, time and effort is saved, and undoubtedly more money is collected. (By the way, the reference to collecting on the first day of the week indicates that the church was already gathering on Sunday for worship.
Second, each person is to give “as he may prosper.” It may be that one person receives a lot of money one week. He then should give accordingly. It may be that he receives little. If so, then he is not expected to give as much. Unlike the world which measures the worth of contributions according to total dollars, the kingdom of our Lord measures contributions according to one’s means. Thus, as Jesus noted, a poor woman’s mite is counted as more valuable than the high dollar amounts of the rich who give out of their excess.
Now, what about sending the money? 3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.
Here is the plan. The Corinthians are to select representatives whom they deem trustworthy to take the money to Jerusalem. They will not go alone. They will join Paul if he determines to go as well, which was his plan. He later tells the church in Rome, after collecting the money, that he would deliver it to Jerusalem. But there will also be other travelers, representatives chosen by the other churches. Luke names some of them in Acts 20:4.
Why these representatives? Security for one reason: they will be carrying a sizable amount of coins. Another reason is accountability. Corruption existed in money matters in the ancient church as it does today. There were preachers and evangelists dipping in the coin bags, as there are today. And then, probably the main reason, these representatives served as personal ambassadors for their churches to encourage their sister churches in Jerusalem.
That covers what Paul has to say about money. In the next verses he discusses ministry, his own and others. First, about himself:
5 I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
Paul’s ministry is an itinerant one. He is a traveling minister, whose main objective is to plant churches in areas that have never received the gospel. His journey, however, in Macedonia (northern Greece) will be to visit churches he had already planted, such as in Philippi and Thessalonika. He hopes, then, to return south to Corinth for the winter.
Verse 8 lets us know that Paul is writing his letter from Ephesus. He mentions a “wide door for effective work.” Acts 19 tells us about that work. He spoke daily in a lecture hall, so that “all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks (19:10). Not only did he preach but performed miracles of healing and driving out demons. But more to the point, his ministry was making a noticeable impact in the way of life of the territory. Listen to this report in verses 18-20: “Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.”
Perhaps even more telling is that a silversmith successfully let a riot opposing Paul because his ministry was converting enough people to put a dent in the idol-making industry of Ephesus. People were actually changing their ways in response to their new found faith!
But the riot also proved Paul’s comments that he had many adversaries. If not for the intervention of friends, Paul probably would have been killed by the mob protesting his ministry. This was typical of his ministry. In most town and communities where he started churches, he was physically persecuted. How many men do you think we could encourage to start churches if they knew their lives would be threatened?
Then there is the ministry of Timothy:
10 When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. 11 So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
Timothy was one of a number of young men who traveled with Paul as assistant ministers and highly regarded by Paul. Twenty-six times he is mentioned in the New Testament, and two books are letters that Paul wrote to him, giving him counsel as he ministered at Ephesus. Paul would send Timothy and other men to churches that he had established to check on them and, as necessary, to minister for awhile, serving as his representatives.
This is the second such mission that Paul has sent Timothy to Corinth, and he anticipates possible friction. Don’t forget the tensions between Paul and the Corinth Church that appear throughout the letter. Those tensions are seen in a remark Paul makes about an earlier trip that Timothy made to the church.
I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. 18 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. 21 What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? (4:14-21)
Timothy has to represent Paul to a church that is bucking against Paul’s authority and “remind them” of Paul’s teachings. No wonder Paul says, “let no one despise him.” Imagine being a young man given the mission to check on and correct a rebellious church.
Then, there is Apollos:
12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.
Why would Paul urge Apollos to go to Corinth? Apollos is his rival! The Corinthians love Apollos. He is such a better preacher than Paul. He’s young, dynamic; he is a greater debater. He is someone to be proud of.
Why would Paul want him in Corinth? If I were Paul, I would urge him to visit India, China, anywhere far in the opposite direction! What this reveals is that, as he indicated by in chapter 4, he and Apollos are not rivals, but partners in the gospel. It reveals further his confidence in Apollos’ wisdom and friendship. We are not told why Apollos declines to visit, but it may very well be that he does not want to be the cause of further unrest in the church.
Lessons
Consider how the biblical principle of giving reveals the value that God imparts to us. Here is what I mean. Let’s say you are a child whose only income is an allowance and maybe getting extra money for chores. This past week, your grand total of income was $1.00. You decide to give 50 cents in the offering plate. As far as God is concerned, your offering is more valuable than the offering of some people who may have given $500. If God had a university, the buildings on campus would more likely be named for obscure persons who gave what amounted to a pittance, than for wealthy contributors. This is not intended to disregard the wealthy, who can be just as godly and generous of heart. It merely means that everyone is placed on the same playing field when it comes to the value of their financial contributions. The wealthy and the poor are credited according to their hearts.
Another insight about giving that comes from this passage is the value of regular, proportionate giving. “Just give” is the Bible’s campaign slogan. Don’t rely on emotional appeals to part you from your money. On the other hand, don’t act compulsively, giving or pledging large amounts beyond your ability to pay. Establish prayerfully, what you are able to give, and then do it regularly and consistently. As often as you receive your pay, set aside a consistent percentage and give it on a regular basis.
And then, be prepared to give as special needs arise. In this case, one part of the world-wide church was suffering. When the need arose, churches not suffering pooled their money together to help out. Even then, the money was raised through the disciplined giving of many people over a reasonable amount of time. No one was called upon to impoverish themselves, though their giving would have been sacrificial. We do the same through several means: the benevolence/missions portion of our church budget takes our regular donations and portions them out to various needs and ministries beyond our church. The Service and Mercy offering allows us to give periodically to help individuals both inside and outside our church when tough times arise. The monthly missions giving projects provide another avenue of giving to special causes. By giving regularly and proportionally to our income, we collectively give substantially to the work of God’s kingdom. And as individuals, we please our heavenly Father who delights in our generosity, regardless of the amount we are able to give.
Consider what our passage has to say about ministry. There are a lot a Christians who wish they could be in fulltime ministry. After all, what could be more pleasurable than spending all one’s work hours serving God’s kingdom? Perhaps they Bible studies or conduct youth activities or visit the sick. O…if only they were not encumbered with jobs that restrict their time! Some do make the plunge and become pastors and ministry directors. And they are startled to find a shocking revelation – ministry can be tough! Ministry can entail hardship. And worse of all, the people being ministered to do not always receive it well. But whether ministry is “full-time” or “part-time,” no one should engage in it only for perceived pat-on-the-backs. You’ve heard the comment (maybe you’ve made the comment), “I didn’t get involved in this ministry to take on this kind of grief.” Well, no one gets into a ministry to take on grief; nevertheless, grief may be expected regardless of how rewarding the ministry is.
Jesus prepared his disciples for their evangelistic work, telling them to expect persecution because, as the world hated him, so it will hate them. The world is not begging us for the gospel; it is not pleading with us to minister in Christ’s name. It will take from us what it finds advantageous and at best will tolerate what is dearest to us – the gospel of Christ. More likely it will try to take advantage of us or outright try to defeat us.
That is not news to us. What throws us for a loop is finding antagonism with the church body. It is resistance within the body of Christ that is most demoralizing. As our passage shows, such problems have existed from the beginning of the church. The greatest apostle, the most successful of all missionaries, the leading theologian of the church found that the most consistent trait in his ministry was receiving grief, both inside and outside his churches. Did he conclude that ministry was not for him? No, just the opposite; he took hardship as “part of the job.”
It must be said that suffering actually was in Paul’s job description, which was given by Christ. Here it is as dictated to Ananias: “Go (speak to Paul), for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:16-17). We are not all called to suffer as did Paul, but we are all called to endure some measure of hardship for the sake of Christ. Suffering is one means by which we glorify our Lord who suffered for our sake.
Understand too that there will always be some conflict in ministry because sin remains present. More than once I have heard the remark “a Christian ought not to…” and then a particular sin such as gossip, complaining, or pride is mentioned. Well, until the day we are completely sanctified, we will commit every sort of sin that nonChristians commit. Certainly Christians ought to behave better; working in a church or other Christian organization ought to be more pleasurable than in a secular environment, but the reality of sin means that every situation will have its share of trouble. Working in a Christian environment can sometimes be worse than a secular for the very reason that Christians are less tolerant of sin in each other. Whereas we will excuse annoying behavior in unbelievers, we believe it to be our duty to call attention to one another’s lack of good graces. Quite frankly, it can be more pleasant to work in a secular environment where one’s fellow workers do not expect us to have all the spiritual virtues nailed down.
We do ministry for two reasons – to honor our Lord and to love our neighbor. Paul did not give up on the Corinth Church. God called him to his work and until God relinquished him from his task, he would keep on. He did not give up on the church because he loved these stubborn, immature believers. As Paul wrote, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (13:7).
It all comes down to this. Our attitude towards money and ministry should reflect that of our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel tells us that though he was rich, he became poor for our sake. Though he was wealthy beyond all measure, he gave up everything to serve us. The gospel tells us that though we did not choose him, he chose us to be his disciples and friends; though his own people did not recognize him and rejected him, though his own disciples deserted him, he for love died to save them. This is the love of Jesus Christ for us. This is the love that made him generous, that made him persevere in ministry. This is the love that he has given to us that we might give to others. This is the love by which we are to love and serve our Lord.
