2 Corinthians 9:1-7

“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. 

James 2:14-19

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear.”

— ‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬-‭19‬‬ 

So many lessons to learn from this passage (and yes it extends to the end of the chapter), both in wisdom, faith, and hermeneutics and grammar. Someday I’ll have a separate post on the functions of the article, but that really is the key here. That “the” in v. 14 has been translated by the NET as “that kind of faith.” Seems odd at first, but it’s their way of interpreting an article that points back to something previously mentioned. 

If we saw a truck drive by making a crazy sound, or a certain person in the park, or we were talking about a famous event, we could use the English article in a similar way. We wouldn’t describe the whole item or concept every time. We would just say, “the truck” or “the boy,” (or more likely, “that truck/that man/that incident”). The article can function this way in Greek.

As much as I argue for staying in one book and gleaning its themes primarily, there’s nothing to be scared of when it comes to the big “James vs. Paul” showdown. Comparing Romans 3 and James 2 can be spooky at first, but that’s only because we strip verses of their context and don’t let authors say what they want to.

James is talking to a people hurting in famine. Impoverished. Far from home (Diaspora). He’s talked a bunch to the “poor/wealthy” divide in the church already in ch 2, and now he asks how any believing individual cannot help those in need? 

Genuine faith demonstrates itself in works. Empty words mean nothing. “I’ll pray for you.” “I hope you find some clothes and food.” God bless you and your family.” That doesn’t show faith. 

The question, “Can that faith save him?” is also written in a way to expect a negative answer. No, he has the wrong kind of faith. 

Are we to judge one another’s salvation? No, probably not a good idea. Is this the metric that lets me know someone’s eternal status? Again, I’m probably not going to judge. That’s not James’s point. His conclusion is simply that believers should help other believers in need. 

If not, our so-called faith is a lot like the demons. We believe God exists and even know Jesus pretty well. But we are not willing to share His love with others.

The neat thing is that Paul has nearly identical themes in his letters. “We owe no one anything but love.” Gal 5

Doing good things can never earn God’s favor, free us from sin or death, or gain life. But once we have received His life and love, it should be impossible not to share it with others. When we receive goodness and grace, we extend it. Otherwise, pretty much every NT author should conclude it’s possible we haven’t received anything.

Malachi 3:7-15

““From the days of your ancestors you have ignored my commandments and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord who rules over all. “But you say, ‘How should we return?’ Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me – this whole nation is guilty. “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. Then I will stop the plague from ruining your crops, and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” says the Lord who rules over all. “All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in a delightful land,” says the Lord who rules over all. “You have criticized me sharply,” says the Lord, “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’ You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!’””

— ‭‭Malachi‬ ‭3‬:‭7‬-‭15‬‬

This may be one of my favorite minor prophets, but this may be one of my least favorite passages. V 10 is simply a classic “out of context” text that preachers/teachers either love to abuse or avoid like the plague. If we taught through the entire book of Malachi, including the historical and socio-economic/religious context of the Jews at this time, all of this would make a bit more sense. I don’t have time for that here, but let’s just say “Exile” will always play a huge role in passages like this. Sometime go back and reread the opening verses of the book. People are even asking YHWH, “When did you love us?” This relationship is scarred.

The book contains multiple examples of the Jews practicing fake religion, whether the priests or the people. It’s all just motions in hopes of avoiding another exile or worse, but hearts are far from YHWH. Again, lack of trust. The current passage begins with God’s defending His character and the covenant. “I was always faithful to My Word.” Obedience = blessing, disobedience = exile/curse. It’s been that way for thousands of years to this point. They may never learn. It’s almost time for a new covenant written on their hearts.

God wants them to return to Him, and one example of their heart condition is in their giving. Enter v. 10. 

Do I believe in “storehouse tithing” as in what I give should be given to the church? Somewhat, yes, because depending on circumstances, there are bills to pay, we can debate salaries, and ministries can often be more effective when funds are gathered together. As an associate pastor, we had people bicker about how money was being used, even though they were not giving to the church financially (they served and supported ministries in other ways). Still seemed counterintuitive.

Do I believe the church is the storehouse in Malachi 3? No. Historically, Solomon had rooms built into the temple for storing extra gifts (1 King 6:5), and later Hezekiah had the “storehouse” built (2 Chron 31:11) after his great revival and there was an influx of gifts from the people. Nehemiah also records a time (10:37-39) when the people gave wine, grain, and money to the Levites to fill the temple storerooms once they returned from exile. These always seem to be extra gifts. They are in the temple. And since I always make a clear distinction between temple and church building, it’s difficult to make this parallel so literal.

Entire tithe? First question is, “Which tithe is this?” Never learned until about college of the three tithes commanded in the OT law. We generally only hear about the first or “the Lord’s tithe.” This consisted of the 10% of the harvest that went to support the priests and Levites since they were given no inheritance of land (Numbers 18:21).

But Israel was required to travel to Jerusalem multiple times each year for three festivals. They stored up a “tithe” from their remaining 90% to be able to travel and celebrate God’s provision (Deut. 14:22-27).

The third tithe was taken for the poor every third year (Deut 14:28-29). Some debate if this is distinct from the second tithe, but their purposes do seem to distinguish this money (and time of collection). Anyone discussing tithing at least needs to be honest about how much Israel was giving and how often. 10% to priests and Levites because they had no income or housing. 10% for festivals and travel. 10% every 3 years (so 3% annually to poor). Would we be willing to adopt that approach? Can’t just focus on one. Goes back to the other post on 10 commandments…have to remember this is a covenant. We can’t accept the parts we like and assume the other parts wouldn’t apply.

I would assume the “tithe” in Malachi is focused on the first tithe, but we see the phrase “tithes and offerings” throughout the OT. 

I know this is the only place God says to test Him. I still wouldn’t try it. Seems rather specific to this situation. As in, that’s not my motivation to give to the ministries of a local church or to those in need. How do I know it’s specific? Rest of the passage. Windows of heaven goes back to the flood. They still see windows in the sky where rain is. This is ancient cosmology (or maybe they are just talking about the sky as the further ancients did). Either way, God is promising rain to come after the drought. 

Nations will see God’s blessing, and Israel will be called blessed by others. This could be seen as another prosperity theology text, but not if we remember the covenant. 

So what do we say about giving from this chapter? I don’t see anything wrong with a tithe. I think it’s a good start. But it’s not part of our covenant. We’re called to generous giving (2 Corinthians 8-9). We should support the local church for various reasons given above, but there are many ministries in need, people we meet with real hurts who lack resources. We should have a heart of generosity, and I desperately need to work on this

There’s no shame in giving less than 10%. There’s no double honor for giving more. But when we recognize how much we have received, we will give. How much and to whom is still a wisdom question. It’s true I’ve never heard anyone complain about giving more.

In vv. 13-15, Israel is still complaining, saying, “It is vain to serve God. Those who do evil are the blessed ones. They prosper.” And God just got done promising blessing to Israel. Why? Because they don’t believe God. They don’t trust Him. They don’t believe that He is good, and that the discipline they endured was out of love. They don’t believe that He loves them. And as a result, they give half-hearted worship. Their priests are terrible at leading, and the people are terrible at serving. They are not faithful to their wives. They lie, and they oppress the poor. And now, they look at their possessions and don’t consider God worth His tithe and offering.

The issue here is not tithing but apostasy. They have abandoned God and considered themselves more important than keeping His law, yet it stems from forgetting His love for them.

The same is generally true for us, in that our generosity depends on what we have internalized about God’s love. Do you believe God loves you and that He’s blessed you? Then you will give back. Do you question His faithfulness and think, Eh, this is kind of a harsh requirement for being a Christian, but I guess I can spare some change this week. Then you won’t give. And you won’t see how God uses generosity to work in the lives of believers. 

It all depends on what you believe about Him and how He sees you.

James 1:17-18

 “All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”

— ‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬-‭18‬‬

Not sure if v. 16 goes with what comes before or what comes after. Could be a transition thought.

I don’t see at first read how these thoughts go with the idea of a person struggling with sin/temptation and being accountable for his own fall (i.e., don’t blame God). Could be a strong paragraph break but need to read more on James.

NET makes good point that the very act of giving as well what is given comes from God. He is good. He is generous. Next phrase may give some of us pause. “No turning or change.” That’s one of the biggest accusations against God in Bible. Shift from OT to NT or even between passages. Could be that how we experience God changes. 

Lights is a planets/stars term. Bodies move and create shadows of darkness/light as they turn. God does not turn. He remains steady/constant. Perhaps one of the most important traits of good fathers: consistency. 

And He is sovereign. Gave life to early believers (and by extension us) so we can offer more life to the rest of creation. His plan is always to create and continue giving gifts. 

Our plan is sometimes to self destruct. Maybe that’s the connection with preceding thoughts.