2nd Corinthians Week 13: Bold Humbleness

  There are a lot of key moments in our nations history that I believe are great. The signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Declaration, and Reagan’s Tare Down this wall speech.

But there’s one moment in our nation’s history that is truly a small moment, with gigantic ramifications. After the British were defeated at Yorktown, and the U.S. military waited for the Treaty of Paris to be signed, a Colonel Lewis Nicola, wrote to General Washington, about how they could secure the fragile victory they had won. Nicola wrote, “…. the same abilities which have lead us, through difficulties apparently insurmountable by human power, to victory and glory, those qualities that have merited and obtained the universal esteem and veneration of an army, would be most likely to conduct & direct us in the smoother paths of peace …. Some people have so connected the ideas of tyranny & monarchy as to find it very difficult to separate them, it may therefore be requisite to give the head of such a constitution as I propose, some title apparently more moderate, but if all other things were once adjusted I believe strong arguments might be produced for admitting the title of king, which I conceive would be attended with some material advantages.” In other words, Nicola believed that, using the army, Washington could become king. Thereby securing the fledgling nation.

Washington replied with, “Be assured Sir, no occurrence in the course of the War, has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the Army as you have expressed, and I must view with abhorrence, and reprehend with severity …. I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to an address which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my Country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable.”

Nicola, and most likely a slew of others, desired that Washington take hold the new independence from Britain by taking control as a king. But Washington rejected this idea, and the key reason is because, as he states, “If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself ….” George Washington had a humble view of himself, and a great view of what our country could become, and he was bold enough in both private, and in public, to denounce such a move on his part. Because of this, Washington did become our first president because the representatives and people trusted him, and after two terms he stepped down. 

It’s this idea of bold humbleness that brings us back to our summer series where we’re entering the last section of Paul’s letter, as we pick it back up in 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1. And as we open up to 2nd Corinthians 10, let’s look back at the two previous sections.

In the first section of the letter, Paul is letting the Corinthians know that he has to confront the bad situation that occurred in his last visit, because he desires the restoration of the Corinthians. Paul wrote a third lost letter that proceeds the one we’re reading. In that letter, Paul calls the Corinthian Church out for their sinful actions, and as we learn from this letter, the purpose was to get the Corinthians to repent. At hearing from Titus, who delivered that third lost letter, the Corinthians responded to it with repentance. Paul then writes the letter we’re reading, from a place of joy. This whole letter is one of joy and encouragement.

This joy and encouragement leads into the second section where Paul is trying to get the Corinthians to move forward in their faith. Paul does this by getting their eyes off power, wealth, and status, and onto Jesus. He wants them to realize that they can easily fall to sin, and so must stay vigilant by seeking to love God and love each other. Paul ends the last section with a focus on being prepared to give the gift they had promised, but to do so cheerful and heartfelt way that honors God. 

With these two sections done, Paul now turns his attention to the problem of false teachers that was one of the causes of the bad interaction at Corinth and that led to the third lost letter.

Let’s read chapter 10 together.

“1 I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2 I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

“7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. 8 For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9 I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10 For they say, ‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.’ 11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

“13 But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, 16 so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. 17 ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’ 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”

Just so you know, one thing you’re going to notice in the next section is that Paul is going to use sarcasm in what he writes. This is so that he can point out the absurdity of the situation. 

But here we see that Paul is trying to be meek, he is trying to be gentle, no matter if it’s in his face-to-face, or in his letters. And if we read Paul’s letters from that point of view, with that intention, they can get harsh, but the heart behind them is for restoration. This is what Paul explained at the beginning of this letter. 

So he gets a little sarcastic here, when he writes, “I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away. (v.1)” He writes this because this is the accusation. That Paul writes a big game, but when he’s in person, he’s a coward. But Paul isn’t trying to be bold in either case, he’s trying to love and correct the churches that God has allowed him to shepherd. 

The underlining idea that Paul is battling against here, is a Roman idea of strength. The Roman idea is, if you’re bold in a harsh way with people then you wield power. But the Christian message is the opposite. Boldness is standing firm in conviction, while humbleness is how the believer wield’s the authority of Christ. 

Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 20, “25 But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (v.25-28)’”

Humbleness by being bold in wielding Jesus’ authority, is not the same as being bold in harshness. The first one leads to restoration of relationships, the second leads to destruction. Boldness with harshness is waging war by the flesh. When our intent is to beat down the opponent, then we are not following Jesus. This is the exact opposite of what Jesus desires, because we want vengeance, we want to get people back, but Jesus calls us to love our enemies, and pray for the ones who hate us (Matthew 5:44-46). 

This is what Paul is showing the people. Now they might take his letters as harsh, but that’s not Paul’s intention. But we usually do take correction harshly, because who likes to be corrected? No one! So when taking correction, we must have a humbleness about us, so that correction doesn’t lead us to sin where we reject the correction and end up in a worse place. 

So if the Corinthians were to stop and think, they would see that Paul is consistent in how he treats them. It’s not that he is bold in his letters and meek in person. Paul is meek in both cases, because he is trying not to be harsh in letter or in person.

Instead of being this harsh boldness, Paul seeks to live under Christ’s authority in all things. So every argument, every opinion is brought before Christ. Paul states that he, “take[s] every thought captive to obey Christ… (v.5)” And when it says “punish every disobedience” it means to bring justice to the disobedient. In other words, not letting disobedience be swept under the rug. Ever been around a parent who just let’s their kid do whatever they want, and they never bring about discipline? Paul is stating that he doesn’t just let things go, and because of that he is accused of things he’s not.

No, instead, Paul is trying to build up the Corinthians through humble correction. He calls out their disobedience so that restoration can happen and so they can live under the freedom of Jesus.

It’s starting in verse 12, where Paul seeks to distance himself from the false teachers that he’ll address more in chapter 11. Here Paul simply talks about comparisons and boasting. It’s easy for people to compare themselves against others. We compare jobs, bank accounts, houses, cars, degrees, families. And through that comparison we puff ourselves up. But that’s not the way of the Christian. We don’t compare ourselves against others, we compare ourselves against God, and we find ourselves lacking, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)” 

And as Paul shows, we only work within the realm that God has appointed us. Paul writes it this way, “But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. (v.13)” Paul isn’t talking about all the great things he is, which he’ll sarcastically do next week to show it’s ridiculousness. No, instead he sticks to his lane. Paul was the missionary who founded the Corinthian Church by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. He taught them, and struggled with them as they came to Christ. Christ has given Paul the authority to speak into this Church as recognized by the Corinthians’ own desire that he does address things. The Church itself has recognized Paul’s authority because they sought his authority, to which he responded by writing 1st Corinthians.

Yet here is the big kicker. Those who are exercising wrong authority that shows itself as harsh boldness, boast about themselves. Yet those who exercise correct authority that shows itself in humbles boldness, boast about Jesus. 

This idea is entrenched in Jesus’ teaching of the Wedding Feast in Luke 14, “7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, “Give your place to this person,” and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher.” Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (v.7-11)”

Paul is not seeking his own elevation, but the elevation that comes from serving Christ faithfully.

And it’s that elevation that God is seeking. It’s easy to try to elevate ourselves. To make ourselves seem bigger and badder than we are. But that quickly gets tiresome and people tend to not like to be around people like that. Instead, Christians are to seek the exaltation of Christ  which comes through humbleness. Now let’s be honest, this tends to not be what we want. It can be seen as weak. It can be seen as rolling over. But what people miss is that we are called to humble boldness. Humbleness doesn’t seek to elevate itself, while boldness stands firm on the Word of God. We can have humbleness that is weak, which means it doesn’t stand for anything and let’s people bulldoze us.  But we as Christians are called to humble boldness that stands against the evils of this world. This is shown in Jesus’ words to Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:53)” True power is the ability to know you can do something, but understand the purpose of the situation and to hold back that power so to bring about the best outcome. 

It’s the commanding officer telling his troops, “Steady,” as they hold their rifle sights on the enemy, so that they wait for the perfect shot to take. 

God is calling us to humble boldness that seeks the restoration of people. 

My challenge for you this week is to go before the Lord and ask in what areas am I bold with harshness, and in what areas am I bold in humility? There’s really four ways here: we’re bold but weak, meaning we’re bold behind someone’s back; we’re bold and harsh, meaning we’re abrasive with people; there’s humble weak, we’re we become a doormat; and there’s humble bold, where we stand on the word of God with restoration purpose.

Washington showed himself to be humble bold in his letter to Nicola.

Take this week as an opportunity to look at how you interact with people, online, in the store, on the phone, or how you deal with friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors. Asking the question, “Am I harsh with them because I want to be in control, which means I’m actually out of control, or am I seeking their restoration, being steadfast in my devotion to Christ and yet humble in loving them?”

God is calling us to a bold humbleness, so let us be a people who live boldly, and humbly.

2nd Corinthians Week 12: The Treasure of the Faithful

  Does the name Jacob Waltz ring a bell? It might if you are an Arizonan history buff. Waltz was a German immigrant back in the late 1800s who is most commonly referred to as the “Dutchman.” He is the miner who supposedly found a treasure trove of gold in the Superstition Mountains southeast of Phoenix. The story goes that Waltz found an infamous Apache gold stash in the mountains, but was ambushed by the Apaches. He was able to escape, and survives long enough to tell a man named Dr. Walker about it and draw a map to the mine’s location for a woman named Julia. The mine, in it’s description, has never been found, though people have said they believe they have found it. However, the search continues, with about 9,000 people a year trying their luck to find the Dutchman’s mine. 

My Dad told me a story of how his friend and him went to the Superstition Mountains when they were younger. My Dad is a history buff and loves southwestern history so he wanted to find this piece of it. When they arrived to try their luck, they met a ranger in the area; he asked them what they were up to and they told him about their excursion. The ranger let them know that there were people in the hills that were also looking and would shoot them to make sure they wouldn’t get the gold. That ended my Dad’s desire to look for the mine. 

There are tales all over the world, of lost hordes of treasure, and mines that contain vast amounts of gold. And treasure seekers abound in looking for them. Some to be a part of the history, some just for the gold. It excites both the young and the old to adventure. 

And it’s this idea of treasure that brings us back to our summer series in 2nd Corinthians, where we’ll be picking it back up in chapter 9, starting in verse 6. And as we open up to 2nd Corinthians 9:6, let’s look at the how we got here.

Just looking at the two last weeks, we have been looking at Paul’s work on trying to move the Corinthians forward in their faith. In the last two weeks we’ve seen him use a monetary collection that was being taken up by several Gentile churches to help out believers in Jerusalem, as a means to move the Corinthians forward in their faith. Paul uses the idea of giving to help the Corinthians realize that giving of resources isn’t about the gift, but rather has both a theological and a character aspect to it. 

The theological aspect of giving, is rooted in God’s love for us, through the work of Jesus’ incarnation. Giving begins with what has been give to us in salvation. If we don’t start there, then we end up giving out of a religious mindset of rules and regulations and not out of desire to love God and love people.

The second aspect of giving, is to have faithful character, where giving becomes an extension of that character in physical means. If giving is done out of a theological desire to love God and love people, because we have been loved by God, then we are seeking to be faithful to God with the resources he has given us. When we give out of a desire to be faithful, then God is pleased, even with the smallest of gifts. In the end, it isn’t the greatness of the gift that matters but rather a life yielded to God.

With these two aspects in mind, we can then read Paul’s cheerful giver passage, where he tells us about the purpose of giving.  Let’s read together.

“6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 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. 9 As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’

“10 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. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 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, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”

When the theological and the faithful character of a person is established, then we move into a place of the actual giving of resources. In the case that Paul is using as his example, it is a monetary collection, but this could easily be talked about in terms of things like time and physicality. 

Notice, though that the amount isn’t the focus, rather it’s the gift that’s important, which has been the theme this entire time. Paul uses agricultural language here in the reaping and sowing to help us with this concept. Like a farmer who only plants a little, only a little will be harvested. You can’t plant a backyard garden of corn and expect 50 acres to be harvested. So it is with our giving. Therefore, we need to take that into account. If I want to see  more blessings of God, than my giving needs to match that.

Now, we need to put a pause on that, because this is where people get off track. When talking about sowing and reaping, planting and harvesting where giving is concerned, false teachers will often go off the rails and tell people, “You need to give more money to me, so that God will give more money to you.” That’s not what is being said. Remember it’s not the money that’s important, it’s the theological gift of God, producing faithfulness in his people. Let’s be clear, more giving of money does not equal God giving us more money.

Notice what Paul says in verse 7, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” If it was about money, then yes, it would be a more equals more equation, but its not. It’s a relationship based giving. We are called to spend time with God and come to a conclusion of cheerful giving. 

It might look like this: I sit before the Lord seeking what he would have me give, our example is monetarily. My bills and obligations are strewn about, and I ask, “Lord I want to give as you have given to me, this is what I think I can give, what I’m comfortable in giving, but I want it to be yours, guide and direct me.”

For some, that might look like 1%, some might be 10%, others, 20%. To the window we talked about last week, it was 100%. We’re not talking about set numbers, we’re talking about a relational number. The reason why we talk about 10%, is because it’s an Old Testament number, that groups, like Crown Financial Ministries, have found, is a good place to start, because it helps us better regulate the rest of our finances. Starting with 10% off the top is a first fruit way of giving, which proceeds the law in the case of Cain and Abel. But for our purposes as believers, we need to press into God for what that looks like for us. Remember it’s not about the amount, 10% or something else, it’s about the faithful character of the believer from a theological place. The cheerfulness of the gift is more important than the monetary amount.

But Paul, starting in verse 8, wants to make sure our eyes on the proper person. Remember all this stems from Jesus’ gift. So Paul points us to God’s grace when we give. If we’re concerned with the amount, every 1/8 of a penny is going to be hard to give up to God. But if we realize that God is seeking our cheerful giving, and at the same he desires to work through that giving with his grace yo bring about blessing, then every penny is God’s and we begin to see our finances in light of his work. 

So Paul quotes from Psalm 112:9, and talks about God’s giving. In theological terms, we talk about giving of God’s common grace, meaning that God gives grace to everything in some manner. If a person gets up this morning, doesn’t matter who they are, there is an element of grace. If you can take a breath, and then another one, there is an element of grace. This is the great distribution of God’s grace, and is found in it’s greatest version in the grace offering of salvation to a person. 

Finally, Paul moves into God’s specific care for us. In verses 10-12, we see Paul’s mirroring of Jesus’ words from Matthew 6:25-33, where Jesus states, “25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

For us, giving out of our limited resources can be nerve wrecking. It takes time for us to slowly give and see that God is faithful. Yet we can’t think of terms of 1-to-1 return, or even interest on our return. Paul seeks to squash that mentality with phrases like, “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way… For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.”

Our return may never be monetary. Instead, it might be a teen hearing the Gospel. It might be, an alcoholic breaking free. It might be a visit in a hospital, or a widow with a new AC. Our giving might never put an 1/8 of a penny back into our pockets, but it will advance the kingdom of God and our brothers and sisters being taking care of.

And it’s the kingdom of God, that Paul brings this section back around to. The final words of Paul in this second section, where he is trying to move the Corinthians forward in there faith and is focused on their confession of the Gospel, Paul’s final line is both a prayer for God’s grace upon them, and exclamation of worship for what God has already done.

God is calling us, not to amounts of giving, but with the results of giving in mind. My gift, no matter how big or how small, when given out of a cheerful desire to respond to God’s gift of salvation, is used to advance the work of the Gospel; that people would come to know Jesus, and that they would have eternal life. That 2/8 of a penny the poor widow gave, is talked about as a mighty gift that echoes down through almost 2,000 years of Christian ministry. Why? Because she gave faithfully to God and he took that to bless others. 

So instead of looking at our giving as, “what must I give in my religious duty,” we must look at it as, “God who will come to know you through this gift?”

God gives salvation, we faithfully respond to that gift, by viewing our gifts in the light of another’s salvation. That is why we ask the question every so often here, “How much money is one soul coming to know Jesus worth?” The answer is, there is no amount. If all that we do here brings one person to the Lord, then every 1/8 of a penny was worth it. And yet, in the 40 years of this ministry, countless lives of been impacted, countless people of heard the Gospel, and countless souls from this small gathering believers will stand before the Lord of glory ready to enter into eternal life.

My challenge then for you this week, is to take the little half sheet paper in your bulletin that is divided into Monetary, Time, Physical, and write down all your expenses in the Monetary section, and the things that take of time, like TV and Phones and put them into the Time section, and all the activities that you do and list them in the Physical section. Then go before the Lord this week and and speak to him about what is being used for his kingdom and what isn’t. What is there because you like it, but doesn’t need to be. What can be excluded so you can give more to God’s work, and what needs to be held on to.

And if you’re thinking I mean, what more can I give to the church, you’ve missed the train. We’re talking abut kingdom work here. I’m not interested in trying to get anyone to give, here, but rather die to where God intends people to give. That money might need to go to a missionary God is calling you to, or another ministry that’s not this one. Your time, might be spent in God’s word more. Your physical might be in serving at a soup kitchen. It’s not about this small church ministry, it’s about the greater kingdom work that is before all of us.

But all of us needs to go before the Lord and have his desire become our own, that we may become cheerful in giving from all areas of our lives. If we get to that point, then we will see the work of God all around us, and we will rejoice ever greater on that day when we stand before the throne and our treasure of people saved will be shown to us.

Let us be a people who seek that treasure in heaven, rather than the treasures of earth. Amen.

2nd Corinthians Week 11: Character of Faithfulness

  When asked about who are the best presidents in U.S. history, people usually respond with, Geroge Washington, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, Theodore Rosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson. Where I couldn’t disagree with some of those, one of my favorites is Calvin Coolidge. Collage was the 30th president, and he served one term in the 1920s, which ended about four months before the 1929 market crash. 

Now it’s because of the market crash that a lot of people sneer at Coolidge, thinking it was his fault. I don’t buy that, because, back in 2002, it was a member of the Federal Reserve that came out and took responsibility for the ’29 crash. 

Coolidge’s tenure as president was actually one of the most prosperous times in American history. It was also one of the few modern times that the federal budget was actually balanced, and the debt had shrunk from almost 24 billion, to just over 17 billion. The reason for this was because Coolidge believed that the president shouldn’t do anything to increase the burden on people, and that the federal government should keep itself as much out of American’s way, so that it may prosper. So he didn’t sign a lot of laws, yet worked all the time. 

At the end of his first term, he decided to step down, even though he was extremely popular. The reason he did this is because, he didn’t believe that a man should wield so much power as the president did. It’s ironic then that two presidents later, FDR, would be elected three times.

What makes Coolidge one of my favorite presidents, is he had a character that we would all love to see in a leader. He didn’t have a lot to say, but when he said something, it was meaningful. He didn’t horde political power, or try to impose his position on people to gain wealth, instead he viewed his role as one of caretaker and a true civil servant. 

Right now in our political world, one of the things that both sides attack the other’s candidate on, is their character. And both sides do have at least some ground to stand on in that case. And the reason why they attack character, is because it’s one thing that we all know a leader should have good character, and if they even have a small deficiency in that area, it is amplified because of the power they could yield as president. Coolidge is one of the few presidents who’s character was so important to the man, that he would rather give up his power to persevere his character, than to mar it by holding onto the presidency. 

It’s the idea of character that brings us back to our summer series in the book of 2nd Corinthians, where we’ll be picking it back up in the middle of chapter 8, starting with verse 16. And as we open up to 2nd Corinthians 8:16, let’s look at where we were to get us to this point.

In the first two-thirds of the second section of this letter to the Corinthians, we saw that, as believers, we are called to please God, knowing we’re breakable, handling God’s word correctly, possessing all things in Jesus without obstacles, unrestricted through repentance. All this was written that the Corinthians and every disciple of Jesus, would learn to move forward in their relationship with Christ. 

To put this first two-thirds into perspective, when Jesus was asked what the greatest command was in Mark 12, he responded with, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (v.30)” This is what Paul is talking about in the first two-thirds of this second section. This is how we love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength. 

But to Jesus’ response, he also added, “The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (v.31a)’” It’s this second command, or love, that we began to see Paul deal with last week. He did this using the example of a collection that the Corinthians were taking up on behalf of the Jerusalem Church. Paul uses giving, to help us understand how to love both God and each other. 

Yet, we can’t just think that the act of giving is what God desires. No, instead we have to understand the purpose behind giving. If we don’t understand the underlying issues, then giving becomes religious work, that then becomes meaningless ritual that God rejects. So last week we began seeing how there are three parts to giving. What we covered last week, was the theological aspect of giving, which is rooted in God’s love for us, through the work of Jesus’ incarnation. When we understand the height from which Jesus descend to us, then we can understand the reasons for the response of giving. 

When we understand that it’s because of what Jesus gave to bring us into a right relationship with him, then we can move on to the next aspect, which is the character of a person who gives.

Let’s read how Paul presents this idea, as we open up to 2nd Corinthians 8:16.

8:16-24

“16 But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. 17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. 18 With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. 19 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. 20 We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, 21 for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man. 22 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. 23 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. 24 So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.

9:1-5

“Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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.” 

In verse 16-24 of chapter 8, Paul informs the Corinthians that he is sending three people to prepare the collection. Two of these men are unnamed and because of that we don’t know who they are. One of these unnamed men is a greater preacher, and the other is someone that Paul has tested and found in right standing. The third and named person is Titus. Remember a few verses before this, Titus wasn’t to sure of the Corinthians’ response to Paul’s third lost letter. Yet at the Corinthians’ repentance, Titus came away with a new love for the people. So now, it’s Titus that is eagerly wanting to be the one that returns for this work. 

Through the descriptions of these three men, Paul is showing their character. These are people who have been tested by the work of the Gospel, and who have proven themselves of good character and faith. 

It’s then that Paul turns his attention to the Corinthians. He boasts about them and their zeal and readiness for this collection. This is one area they take pride in themselves because they are a wealthy bunch. However, Paul includes a subtle warning in verse 3 of chapter 9, “…so that you may be ready…,” and in verse 4, “…we would be humiliated…” Though the Corinthians have the money, they need to actual fulfill their commitment. This is their testing, this is their call to action. 

See in the first part, Paul is talking about the character of those who have been tested, now Paul’s talking to the Corinthians telling them, this is your character being tested. Are they going to be known for good character, in their faithfulness and in their pursuit of God, or not.

It’s the faithfulness, the character of a believer who fulfills the call of God, that is important. The gift helps, the giving helps, doing good is good, but that doesn’t matter as much as the character of the person who is faithful to Jesus.

When talking about giving, the story of the widow’s mite is usually brought up, and for good reason. The story is found  in Luke 21:1-4. The Gospel reads, “Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 And he said, 'Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’” There’s more to this story and it’s placement within the greater context of Luke’s Gospel than we have time for right now, so we’re only going to focus on these four verses, with just mentioning what came before them.

So Jesus is in the temple and as he is finishing up a teaching on being aware of how the scribes are devouring the property of widows in Israel, a widow walks up to give her offering to the Lord. Now Jesus might have seen this woman in line and that’s what sparked his initial warning about the scribes, but it’s her action that elevates her to be an example of character and faithfulness.

The widow was obviously poor, that means that her appearance, clothes, body posture, face, all showed that she didn’t have any wealth. She might not have been clean and she might have smelled. However that is, she was noticeable poor. Then she takes out to copper coins, which to us would equal about 2/8 of one modern penny in her hand, an 1/8 each. She then proceeds to place the two coins in the offering box. The implication of this is, that the scribes took everything from this woman, yet in her character, she is faithful to God because she knows God is faithful to her. 

It’s here the Jesus shames every wealthy person around him. The widow, in her faithful character, is greater, because she gives out of what she doesn’t, while all the rest give out of what they have. The amount is shown to mean something because, the character is what’s important. The wealthy who were giving that day, were not giving from a character of faithfulness, they were giving out of a religious duty. The widow was giving, not out of religious duty, but out of a desire to be faithful to God. And it cost her, her last penny. 

Counting the cost is a huge theme in the Gospel of Luke, this widow counted the cost and faithfully gave. 

And this is the point, God desires the character of the person to be given over to him first, rather than an amount of possessions. This is why when the rich younger ruler comes to Jesus, the Lord tells him to give everything away and follow, yet the man turns away from Jesus, because his character was one of self-centeredness. The amount wasn’t the point to Jesus, it was the following that mattered, but to the young man, the amount was the point, and it was too much. The widow in fact did give everything to God, to the point where she had nothing left.

This is what God is calling from us. He is calling us to faithful character. Giving is just an extension of that character in physical means. This is why Jesus said this Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” God wants our heart, giving shows what the character of that heart is. Is it with Jesus, or with the money? 

This is why at this church we try to avoid asking for money. We try to avoid making that the reason for all that we do. We error on the side of not asking rather than on the side of asking, because we want you to grow in your walk, that the character of your heart would align more with Jesus all the time, and that giving would then be an extension of that. Which is where Paul is trying to get the Corinthians to go. It is the finally step that comes out of character that we’ll talk about next week.

So my challenge for this week is this, to memorize Matthew 6:21 like this, “For where my treasure is, there my heart will be also.” Inserting yourself into the text, as if Jesus were saying it directly to you. And then say the verse anytime you deal with money this week.

Once you say the verse, I want to then challenge you to follow it up with, “Jesus, make my heart be with you.”

Let us be a people who’s heart’s are with Jesus, that our character is faithfully with him, and that no matter what he calls us to give, both physically and spiritually, we would be ready to give to our last. Amen.