The Favor of Participation

There’s one more chapter of 1
Corinthians, and we are there this morning. 1 Corinthians chapter
16, if God’s people would take their Bibles and turn there. After so lengthy a discussion,
and on so deep and engaging a subject in chapter 15 as resurrection,
Paul’s transition to chapter 16 is nothing other than abrupt. From the lofty heights of heaven
itself and the stirring contemplations of eternal glory, Paul reels
in the Corinthians rapidly back to earth and to earthly concerns,
concerns of the most basic nature, poverty and famine. Like any large metropolitan city,
Jerusalem was a draw for people. And where there are great quantities
of people, the presence and reality of poverty abounds. Jerusalem
was partly dependent upon, but in good measure stretched by,
the constant flow of visitors into their city. Many of her
residents had become dependent on what amounted to welfare.
Part of the problem with Jerusalem is there was very little in the
way of industry or commerce that enabled her to have a vibrant
economy. It was just a constant flux of
need followed by greater need. The hardships were ever-present. The needy were ever-present.
Jesus said as much when he said, you always have the poor with
you. And to that, there was the almost
constant persecution of the Jews by the Romans, the confiscation
of their property and goods, taxation, and no matter the social
program or the generosity of even the newfound Christian church,
the reality of poverty overwhelmed the city of Jerusalem. Early
in Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles, you will recall that Paul returned
again at one point to Jerusalem to counsel with the leaders of
the church about his new converts from the Gentile world. Sometime
later, Paul, in recounting the results of that meeting to the
Galatians, said this. He summarized, they only asked
us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. That overview would prove to
be almost prophetic, because Paul would eventually recognize
the poverty of Jerusalem itself. In the beginning of Paul’s wide-ranging
ministry efforts, he learned of a significant ministry opportunity
back at home. To make a bad situation worse,
a great portion of the region of Judea, at which Jerusalem
was the center, was in the midst of a drought and severe famine.
Almost an entire nation found itself in desperate need. And
the Christian converts in Jerusalem were particularly harmed by these
circumstances. And so Paul saw this need as
a special opportunity. It was a matter of perspective.
Paul thought that if the Gentile churches were to sympathize,
truly sympathize, in a practical way with the Jerusalem Christians
and their plight, then the legitimacy and the genuineness of those
churches would be recognized by their Jewish Christian brothers. This is the way that Paul would
later explain this situation to the same church here in Corinth. Speaking of the Jerusalem believers’
reception of this proposed monetary gift, he says in 2 Corinthians
9.13, they, that is the believers in Jerusalem, will glorify God
for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for
the liberality of your contribution to them. Paul saw this as an
opportunity. And so, he went on to present
the need to his Gentile churches, proposing a gift to aid the Jerusalem
Christians. Evidently, Paul first presented
his idea to Galatia, to the Galatian churches, but that was soon followed
by a similar appeal to the Macedonian churches, Philippi, Thessalonica,
Berea, And then he floats the idea to Corinth at some point
in time, and eventually even to the church in Rome. The Macedonian
churches that I just mentioned, Thessalonica, Philippi, Berea,
They responded in an enthusiastic and generous manner, so much
so that Paul turns around and sets forth their example to the
Corinthians in order to motivate them. Would you just flip over
momentarily, if you’ve already turned to 1 Corinthians, keep
your finger there. I just want to read a few verses in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Listen to Paul’s articulation
of the Macedonians example, beginning there in verse 1. Now brethren,
we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been
given in the churches of Macedonia. that in a great ordeal of affliction,
their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the
wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according
to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own
accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation
in the support of the saints. and this, not as we expected,
but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the
will of God. Back please to 1 Corinthians. Paul tells the Corinthians all
of that in order to spur them on to complete what they had
purposed to do. The Corinthians, quite frankly,
needed to be encouraged to get outside of themselves in order
to be able to see the needs and the burdens of others. You see,
the Corinthians initially responded in a praiseworthy manner to this
request for a monetary gift They expressed great care and concern
and suggested grandiose plans. And they seemed to have sincere
intentions. In our modern church, we often
speak of these as faith promise events, right? Where you take
a card and you speak ahead of time of what you could possibly
give in the year to come. You promise to do so. Well, the
enthusiasm and the intentions of the Corinthians were great.
Paul even commends their initial response to the Roman Christians. When Paul later writes to the
church in Rome, he says that Macedonia and Achaia have been
pleased to make a contribution to the poor among the saints
at Jerusalem. They had good intent, and Paul
even gives them full credit We know the churches of Macedonia,
Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, but the only church we even know
that existed in Achaia was Corinth. Paul took the Corinthians’ promise
at face value, and so far they’ve done nothing. We know, looking back into history,
that Paul did eventually gather and deliver a monetary gift to
the Christians in Jerusalem. But for now, as of this moment,
Paul has work to do. He is yet to convince these churches,
all of them, and he needs yet to secure their participation
in this relief effort. Let’s consider Paul’s final chapter
to the Corinthians in its entirety, and as is our habit, when we
start a new chapter, we’ll take it in full. 1 Corinthians chapter
16. Now concerning the collection
for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do
you also. On the first day of every week,
each one of you is to put aside and save as he may prosper so
that no collections be made when I come. When I arrive, whomever
you may approve, I will send with them letters to carry your
gift to Jerusalem, and if it is fitting for me to go also,
they will come with me. But I will come to you after
I go through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia, and
perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so
that you may send me on my way wherever I may go. For I do not
wish to see you now just in passing, for I hope to remain with you
for some time, if the Lord permits. But I will remain in Ephesus
until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective service has opened
to me, and there are many adversaries. Now, if Timothy comes, see that
he is with you without cause to be afraid, for he is doing
the Lord’s work. as I also am, so let no one despise
him, but send him on his way in peace so that he may come
to me, for I expect him with the brethren. But concerning
Apollos, our brother, I encouraged him greatly to come to you with
the brethren, and it was not at all his desire to come now,
but he will come when he has opportunity. Be on the alert. stand firm in the faith, act
like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in
love. Now, I urge you, brethren, you
know the household of Stephanas, that they were the first fruits
of Achaia and that they have devoted themselves for ministry
to the saints, that you also be in subjection to such men
and to everyone who helps in the work and labors. I rejoice
over the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus,
because they have supplied what is lacking on your part, but
they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore, acknowledge
such men. The churches of Asia greet you,
Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord with the
church that is in their house. All the brethren greet you, greet
one another with a holy kiss, The greeting is in my own hand,
Paul. If anyone does not love the Lord,
he is to be accursed. Maranatha. The grace of the Lord
Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ
Jesus. Amen. We get a sentiment there,
a sense of Paul’s deep affection for these believers. And so nothing
that he says is out of a spirit of harshness, Back, if you would, to those
initial verses, the first four. So Paul interjects here, suddenly,
now concerning the collection for the saints. And if that phrase,
now concerning, sounds familiar to you, it should. Paul has used
this phrase repeatedly throughout this epistle to introduce questions
or subjects that the Corinthians had asked of him. Remember, I
even proposed that perhaps he even had a list of their questions
from which he was working as he wrote this letter. We saw
it numerous times throughout this epistle, 1 Corinthians 7,
1, just remember. Now concerning the things about
which you wrote, and they asked evidently questions pertaining
to marriage. 1 Corinthians 8, 1. Now concerning
things sacrificed idols, and based on their questions, Paul
enters into a lengthy dialogue. 1 Corinthians 12, 1. Now concerning spiritual gifts,
and they evidently had many questions pertaining to spiritual gifts. This subject is no different.
Perhaps while Paul was there in Corinth ministering to them,
or perhaps in another note or even a letter that we no longer
possess, or perhaps even by way of a verbal message passed along
through someone else, the subject of an offering for the church
in Jerusalem had already been discussed. The Corinthians were
curious. They were uncertain about what
this offering was, a collection for the poor in Jerusalem, and
perhaps even what their role was, and they sought more information
from Paul. And this opportunity, Paul tells
them in so many words, was no ordinary relief effort. One historian
noted that Paul uses no fewer than seven astounding terms to
refer to this gift. Just listen. In 1 Corinthians
16.1, in the passage in front of us, he refers to it as logeia,
the collection, that it was to be a collective effort. In 1
Corinthians 16.3, same passage, He refers to it with the term
charis, grace, favor. 2 Corinthians 8.4, koinonia,
fellowship is what we know of that word, participation. 2 Corinthians
8.4, number four, diakonia. He refers to this gift, this
offering, as a ministry of service. 2 Corinthians 8.20, adroites,
generosity. overflowing, enthusiastic, plentiful. Number six, 2 Corinthians 9,
5, eulogia, bountiful, not unlike the previous word, but a different
word entirely. 2 Corinthians 9-12 gives us number
seven, laeturgia, a service which is a religious service. This
was a religious effort to participate in this gift to these fellow
believers. And a practice so marvelously
described by these seven terms must also be set forth in understandable
terms. so that this practice may be
emulated by other believers and other churches. And that’s what
Paul does in these four verses. Paul gives us the favor of participation. That’s what he referred to it
in 2 Corinthians 8. Here he begins to give us principles
for meeting a financial need. And this is exactly the way we’ve
done things in the past. I think it was just about a year
ago, maybe a little more. We brought before the saints
a need. Ruslan was there serving in Ukraine. Andrei, we didn’t even know where
he was. We brought the situation before the saints, and we just
laid it before you and took up a special offering. That’s essentially
what Paul’s doing. This is not the regular Sunday
morning giving, but this is a special offering given on an occasion. But there are principles that
we can derive for our regular giving. What Paul presents before
us is the church’s response to economic or monetary distress. And he says that, first of all,
this response is to be a common expectation. This wasn’t something
that Paul was only asking of the Corinthians. Look at the
first verse, verse one, now concerning the collection for the saints.
As I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. We can learn a lot when we study
the Bible simply by asking the question, now why did the author
say this? What was his point or purpose
in saying this? And our first point provides
a perfect example of this habit. It’s the first point that we
derive from this passage. Paul opens this discussion very
frankly, bringing up a topic, as I said, he had probably already
discussed with this church. When he begins in verse one,
now concerning the collection of the saints, he doesn’t take
the time to explain this collection or even which particular saints
are in view. It’s a collection for the saints
of Jerusalem, but he doesn’t say that here. It seems that
the Corinthians already knew about this collection and for
whom it was being gathered, but somewhat abruptly, Paul drops
in this little phrase, as I directed the Galatians. And as it is,
Paul may have also discussed this detail previously, but if
that’s the case, why say it again? Look, I already talked to the
Galatians about this. I already told the Galatians.
I’ve instructed the Galatians. I think what What we can derive
from this is that Paul had a very good purpose for reminding them
that he’d already directed the Galatians in this matter. Paul’s
point seems to be that the Corinthians were not alone in this effort.
Paul isn’t awkwardly singling them out, trying to fleece them.
He isn’t asking them to do anything that he wasn’t asking of other
predominantly Gentile churches. He had already made requests
of one of them, the Galatian churches, and he will soon make
that same request of the church in Rome. We know that at some
point, he very profitably engaged with the Macedonian churches
about this collection. So not only was Paul not singling
out the Corinthians, fleecing them, asking money from them
that he didn’t ask of others. No, quite the opposite. He was offering to the Corinthians
the opportunity to join in with their sister churches on a project
of great significance. We know that this was Paul’s
mindset, because when he writes his second letter to the Corinthians,
he mentions these sister churches in regards to this project, and
as it turns out, they were actually begging Paul for the opportunity
to join the effort. The Macedonian churches were
pleading with Paul, begging him, he says, for the opportunity
to join in. Listen to this. Speaking of the
Macedonian churches, Paul wrote in 3 and 4, they gave of their
own accord, begging us with much urging. They were pestering Paul
for the opportunity, the favor, he says, of participation in
the support of the saints. Note this little phrase, the
favor of participation. These Macedonian churches saw
this collection for Jerusalem as what I’ve termed a privileged
partnership. That’s the way we think of our
missionaries. We have a privilege to stand with them. We have a
privilege to support them. We have a privilege to read their
newsletters. We have a privilege to pray for
them. It’s an honor. So Paul wasn’t asking anything
out of the ordinary from the Corinthians, nothing excessive,
nothing over the top. Rather, he was giving them a
special privilege of joining in this blessing of giving. He had directed the churches
of Galatia. The Corinthians were no different. Paul sets forth
the second principle, beginning in verse 2. The church’s response
to monetary distress is to be not only of common expectation,
it is an act of worship. Look at verse two, on the first
day of the week. Paul not only informs the Corinthians
that this privilege is expected also of them, but he also seeks
to provide some particular instruction on the matter. As he indicates,
he likely had communicated these same procedures and protocols
to the Galatians as well. That’s what he says. And specifically
in verse two, he says, on the first day of every week. When
Paul speaks of the first day, he has a very important day in
mind. Paul calls it here literally
the first of the Sabbath. In doing so, he is not confusing
his Jewish heritage here with the practice of the Christian
church. The phrase is a Hebraism. It was used to refer to the first
day with regard to the Sabbath, or Sunday, the first day of the
week. There are a number of other passages
that lend themselves to this understanding. Acts 20 verse
7 uses the same exact phrase. On the first day of the week,
when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking
to them, intending to leave the next day. It was the first day,
it was Sunday, and they were gathered. It’s translated the
same way as it is here in 1 Corinthians. This phrase is translated this
way by our modern translations, the NAS and the ESV, over and
over again. Just listen to a few. Matthew
28, one. Now, after the Sabbath, as it
began to dawn toward the first day of the week, the first of
the Sabbath. Mark 16, two, very early on the
first day of the week, they came to the tomb on the first of the
Sabbath. John 20, verse 19. When it was
evening on that day, the first day of the week, the doors were
shut, the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. It was the
first of the Sabbath. It was Sunday. You see, Christ
himself was raised from the grave on that first resurrection Sunday,
and thus Sunday, not Saturday, not the Jewish Sabbath, Sunday
became the day of worship for the early church, the first of
the Sabbath. And since 1 Corinthians was such
an early epistle, this is one of the first indications we have
that the early church met for worship on Sunday, no longer
on Saturday. But note what Paul says here.
He stipulates that on the first day of every week, they are to
put aside and save. It’s a beautiful image. We’ll
get to the meaning of that in a moment, but I want us to recognize
that every week this was to be the practice. There’s a reason
for that, and the reason is worship. The practice of giving, whether
to the church, or to missionary efforts, or to benevolence, or
as here, to some special project of need, it is to be a regular
recurring practice every week, Paul says. Because it holds us
close to the very reason that we are gathered. We’re gathered
to worship for all that God has done. When we’re gathered for
worship on the Lord’s Day, we give consideration to the regular,
sustained consideration of God in our giving. In our giving
of our financial means, whatever they are, we are reminded of
God’s grace, we are reminded of God’s sovereignty, we are
reminded of God’s providence, God’s mercy, and so much more. And there should be, for the
believer, an appropriate response to all of that, as we’ll see
in a moment. In this particular case, the
response was one of generosity and kindness. Every week, Paul
says, there is to be a regularity to this practice. Sacrificial
giving is to be a regular, weekly, active worship. But Paul gives
us a third principle here in this passage. Not only a common
expectation and an active worship, but a church’s response is to
be a corporate effort. Now let’s go back to that little
phrase, each one of you. Paul issues forth this very specific
directive regarding this practice of responding to a financial
need Not only is it supposed to be practiced every week, but
it’s supposed to be practiced by every believer. Each one of
you, as Paul says in verse two. You’ve heard it said, if everyone’s
responsible, no one’s responsible. Had Paul just said to the Corinthian
church, hey, Corinthian church, you should give. Had he said it that way, no one
would really be held responsible. But that’s not what he says.
He singles out every person in the church. He calls out every
believer, and he calls them to a duty, and in doing so, he calls
out every believer, rich or poor, to participate, give something. And we’ll talk more about the
amount in a moment. This affords every single person
in the church the dignity of participating in full in whatever
ministry project is being presented. In the final amount, it is as
if each believer gave it all. It’s their church. It’s collective. It’s a corporate effort. Now, I’ve seen, you’ve probably
seen these things too, these crass building programs. I remember going to one big mega
church. It was a, you know, the thing
that you were supposed to do, go see this place. And every believer got a brick
with the dollar amount of what they’d given. And the brick was
paved into the sidewalk. And so you get a brick or a plaque,
or you get your name together with the dollar amount of your
gift, presented somewhere for all to see, and that is just
wrong on so many levels. Paul would never have countenanced
such an insensitive practice as that. What he’s coaching them
to do here is for everyone to give what they can, and present
it as a gift from the church as a whole. What Paul proposes here is not
some self-glorifying grandstanding of such giving, but a full participation
and a genuine fellowship in it. Everyone gives. And in the end,
everyone is seen as participating in that gift. It’s a beautiful
thing. Paul gives a fourth principle. Not only is the church’s response
to be a common expectation and active worship, a corporate effort,
fourth, it is intentionally devoted. This is not happenstance, this
is not somebody picking your pocket. Look at the passage once
again. Each one of you is to put aside
and save as he may prosper so that no collection be made when
I come. This is an interesting principle. Listen to how Paul coaches this
practice. Each one of you is to put aside
and save. Each person’s gift was to be
from the heart between him and his God or her God. There was no boasting in this. There was to be no shame, just
a private consideration before the Lord as to what he or she
would contribute. And they were to put it aside
and save it. Quite literally, Paul says, beside
himself. They were to keep it close. It
was to be from the heart. they were to save it themselves,
whether it be in a shoebox or a jar or a box or an envelope
or a piggy bank, whatever the case may be. My sense of this little phrase
is that the individual is to gather and save a sum of money
in order to participate when the collection was taken on that
first day of the week. So that all week long, The believers
are working and gathering and saving so that on Sunday they
may have a portion to contribute to the greater whole. There are
several reasons why Paul would not want to take up the collection
when he arrived. First and probably foremost,
if people wait until the last minute, the tendency is to respond
emotionally. They see this groundswell, and
they usually end up giving wildly out of balance with their means.
Paul wasn’t desirous of emotional reactions. In his follow-up address
on this matter, 2 Corinthians 9, Paul explains the proper attitude
for giving. Listen to this. Each one, must
do just as He has purposed in His heart.” That’s not an emotional
trigger. Each one must do just as He has
purposed in His heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion. And we’ve all done that too,
right? We’ve all felt our arm being twisted. We’ve all given
and then walked away saying, what did I do? There went my
boat payment. Not grudgingly. not under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.” This is where we get that phrase,
a hilarious. We’re supposed to do it with
a joyful heart. If you can’t give it with a joyful
heart, then your amount is all wrong. Paul didn’t want something
that was done mindlessly in haste, emotionally driven, but rather
he wanted that believers would thoughtfully arrive at a portion
that was prayerfully earmarked as a gift. They wanted to do
this. Paul didn’t want an atmosphere
of last-minute urgency for others or for himself. So neither would
Paul have wanted to show up and linger while people went home
and pondered what they might give. Paul had urgent ministry
needs to attend to, and he didn’t want to be delayed. Paul gives
a fifth admonition. In this favor of participation,
where Paul is giving the principles for meeting a financial need,
the church’s response is to be a common expectation. an active
worship, a corporate effort, intentionally devoted, and number
five, it is to be varied by ability. And there is relief. There is opportunity. Look at the phrase once again,
each one of you is to put aside and save as he may prosper. That’s a completely different
mindset for giving, isn’t it? In order to capture the main
thought of the sentence, we pass by this one little detail in
verse two. In that little phrase, as he
may prosper, that word prosper was used to wish someone an easy
journey or to bless someone with a gift so as to send them off
well. You see, Paul mentions this idea
of prospering because There could be a really serious question
posed at this point. Paul, I see the need, I understand. I want to participate. I am led
of the Lord to participate. How much should I give? And here
Paul tells them exactly how much to give. This is amazing. Look, if you would, please, right
there in the middle of verse two, each one of you is to put
aside and save as he may prosper. You see, had Paul instructed
equal giving? That every single person is to
put in, say, $20. There may have been several in
their midst that didn’t have $20 to contribute. And on the opposite end of the
spectrum, there might be several in their midst with pocketfuls
of hundreds. Wealthy, beyond measure. You
see, we get caught up a lot of times into the idea of tithing,
giving our 10%. And true it is, the principle
is taught throughout the Old Testament, But there’s no New Testament
mandate for giving a 10% gift. A tenth of what some people have
is a drop in the bucket. They wouldn’t even feel it. Whereas
a tenth for others would make for exceedingly great hardship. Paul says that’s not what this
is about. It’s about participating. Give as you’re able. The bottom
line is that there’s to be neither a prescribed dollar amount or
a percentage that is demanded. Paul obliterates this idea with
one four-word phrase, as he may prosper. Has the Lord blessed
you? Give accordingly. Has this been
a lean month? Has this been a financially disastrous
year? Are you bankrupt, indigent, poor? Give what you can. Remember the
account of the widow’s mite, two little coins, was seen as
more than all of the wealthy who emptied their change. Paul gives us a sixth bit of
counsel, and this one is encompassed in verses three and four. The
church’s response to this monetary distress is to be a common expectation,
an act of worship, a corporate effort, intentionally devoted,
varied by ability, and sixth, and finally, carefully stewarded.
Carefully stewarded. Look at verses three and four.
When I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send with them
letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem. And if it is fitting
for me to go also, they will go with me.” Verses 3 and 4 communicate
one final principle, that this gift will assuredly meet its
destination. I’m going to see to it that it
gets there. It will be carefully stewarded,
that is, securely delivered to its intended recipients. It’s just astounding how much
carelessness, how much just downright fraud there is with donated funds. It just seems that we regularly
hear of some individual in charge of some nonprofit somewhere who
absconded with some great amount of money. that or, as I said, just plain
carelessness that squanders great quantity of an organization’s
funds. Both the tendency and the temptation
were no less common in Paul’s day. And this is one of the many
areas where Paul had to take extra precautions not to even
come close to impropriety. Paul was constantly under the
criticism of his detractors. So he dare not take unnecessary
chances with an area that is always brought with dishonesty.
Paul knew that he had to take every precaution to avoid false
accusations. And for this particular operation,
the fund for Jerusalem, being as important as it is, there
appears to have been some very significant safeguards in place.
Each church, Paul says, it seems, was allowed to select an emissary
to accompany the delivery of this sizable collection. So not
only is there that measure of protection that others are with
him for accountability’s sake, but Paul makes it clear that
he would not be even involved in selecting such individuals.
Whomever you approve, Paul says. In his second letter to the Corinthians,
discussing this same project, the gift to the Jerusalem Church,
Paul says in 820, 2 Corinthians 820, that they were taking precautions
so that no one will discredit us in our administration of this
generous gift. It was a hands-off approach for
Paul. The whole mindset was one of
caution and precaution. In addition, at least the plan
in place at that moment, was to have Paul send a letter explaining
the gift. And it was kind of funny, through
studying this passage the last few weeks, one commentator actually
suggested that this letter was a letter of commendation. Please accept these funds on
our behalf. But think about it for a moment.
If someone comes to you and you’re in desperate financial condition,
and they come to you with a large bag of money, you’re not gonna
stand there with your arms folded until you can decide whether
or not they are trustworthy to give you this bag of money. Paul
says, I will send them, that is, the bearers of this gift
with letters. the most likely purpose of the
letter would have been to explain the purpose of the gift. We love
you as Gentile believers. Please accept this gift. Paul was not about to show up
either with a gift for which so many had selflessly contributed
in order to give an impression that the gift was from him. No way. Remember, part of the
reason of this gift was to endear the largely Gentile church to
the church in Jerusalem, largely Jewish converts. Paul does leave
the door open here to joining them on their journey to Jerusalem
when he says, if it is fitting for me to go also, And history
tells us that Paul did, in fact, accompany this large group to
deliver this collected offering. We know because Dr. Luke’s fastidious historical
account in the book of Acts, this monetary collection was
indeed gathered and delivered in Acts 19.21. Luke records,
now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to
go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and
Achaia. After I have been there, I must
also see Rome. That verse captures Paul’s intent
to travel not only to Jerusalem, but also the final sweep through
his participating churches to collect this offering. In Acts
20, verse 4, we find Paul traveling with a contingency of delegates. Listen to this. A contingency
of delegates from most of the participating churches. Acts
24, he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus
and Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonians, and Gaius of
Derbe and Timothy and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. The fact
that there is no mention here of a delegate from Corinth, that
has always troubled commentators. Did the Corinthians fail to participate? Was this church just stingy? Or perhaps did they respond independently,
sending a gift to Jerusalem on their own? I prefer to think
the best of this church and to conceive that they so greatly
respected and yielded to Paul that they entrusted their gift
without sending an accompanying. They entrusted their gift in
the care of the other representatives and said, look, bless the church
of Jerusalem. In that same chapter, Acts chapter
20, in his passionate speech to the Ephesian elders, we find
Paul progressing eastward toward Jerusalem in faith. Acts 20, 22, and now behold,
bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing
what will happen to me there. Luke records that Paul did make
it to Jerusalem. And we’re left to assume that
the gift was presented to the church by the representatives
of the Gentile churches. Paul certainly didn’t want to
take credit for that gift on his own, but he did want to call
attention to the Spirit’s work among the Gentiles. Listen to
how joyfully and delicately he speaks of these things in Acts
21. After we arrived in Jerusalem,
the brethren received us gladly And the following day, Paul went
with us to James and all the elders were present. After he
had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things
which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they
began glorifying God. One of the purposes of this gift
was feeding Jewish Christians. And that would have been very
short-lived. The money would have run out. The ability to
purchase food would have ended. The money would have just lasted
just so long in securing provisions. But the other purpose of that
gift, that of endearing Gentile churches to these Jewish believers,
that would have established an eternal relationship and friendship
with them. Paul says there’s an importance in what we give and
how we give and that we give. It’s the glory of God. Let’s
humble ourselves before Him.