“For it is not necessary for me to write you about this service to the saints, because I know your eagerness to help. I keep boasting to the Macedonians about this eagerness of yours, that Achaia has been ready to give since last year, and your zeal to participate has stirred up most of them. But I am sending these brothers so that our boasting about you may not be empty in this case, so that you may be ready just as I kept telling them. For if any of the Macedonians should come with me and find that you are not ready to give, we would be humiliated (not to mention you) by this confidence we had in you. Therefore I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you in advance and to arrange ahead of time the generous contribution you had promised, so this may be ready as a generous gift and not as something you feel forced to do. My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver.”
— 2 Corinthians 9:1-7
There’s a lot of context needed for this passage, and we don’t get all the details in this passage. I believe chapter 8 and 10 are even important for this topic, bringing in all that Paul wishes to say.
Need to research more on Paul’s travels through Macedonia. I know he wished to go to there and was redirected in Acts. Did he ever end up there or no? (In our records)
The story apparently goes that the Corinthians had promised to support the saints in Jerusalem (these people were notoriously in trouble throughout the NT. Famine, persecution started here, etc). Also worthy of note is that 2 Corinthians could more appropriately be named 4 Corinthians, because there are two letters mentioned that we don’t have. (Also an argument that not everything an apostle wrote made it into the canon).
Paul brags to the Macedonians that the Corinthians had promised generous gifts. The time has now come for collection. Paul is coming with some others to collect, and he is encouraging them to fulfill their promises. If they do not give as they promised, that would be embarrassing.
Why would these brothers be able to collect it as a generous gift and not out of obligation? Perhaps because they would feel forced if Paul were there.
We would need to zoom out to see the broader context of 2 Corinthians, realizing that the church has been infiltrated by opponents to Paul, and most of 2 Corinthians is his defense of his apostleship. He says he didn’t come in strength but in weakness. They are attacking him mercilessly, trying to dissuade the Corinthian church from listening to him. There’s not a lot of doctrine (ch 5) or instruction in the book.
The point of this section is a farming principle. Reaping and sowing abundantly vs. reaping and sowing sparingly. So many sermons on this passage, and I don’t think any are necessary wrong, but some miss the overall picture. This shouldn’t be used to guilt or shame people into giving. This is actually a specific situation, even missional in nature. The real conclusion is that God loves cheerful (NOT hilarious) givers.
What’s the standard? As he decided in his heart. Basically—be faithful to what you promised beforehand. Keep your word.
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