Paul continues on with the theme of giving generously to the offering being taken to Jerusalem, and he assures the contributors that God rewards generous givers. Today we look at the principle of reaping what we sow, but in a positive way, just as a farmer reaps a harvest according to how much seed he sowed in the ground.
"There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the Lord's people. For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action." (2 Corinthians 9:1-2) Corinth was the capital of the region known as Achaia, which is why he refers to them as "you in Achaia". Paul says to them, "When the subject of the offering first came up, you became very excited about the opportunity to help the Lord's people in Judea. I was so impressed by this that when I arrived in Macedonia I spoke of your willingness to give. This is why so many of them became excited by the idea, even though they are very poor."
"But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be." (2 Corinthians 9:3) In yesterday's passage we learned that Paul was sending Titus and two unnamed brothers to Corinth to make sure the collection was being prepared.
Paul's concern doesn't seem to be so much that the Corinthians have changed their minds, but that they won't have the funds in order when the collection time comes. It's one thing to say we intend to give; it's another to have the money set aside for that purpose. He doesn't want there to have to be a hasty and disorderly gathering of funds when the men arrive in Corinth to receive the offering. If the citizens have not already been setting aside this money, they may feel inconvenienced when suddenly called upon to contribute. It may come at a bad time for some of them, financially speaking, and they will feel very unhappy about it.. This is why it's best if they have been setting aside money a little bit at a time over the year that they've had to prepare their offering. "For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we---not to say anything about you---would be ashamed of having been so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given." (2 Corinthians 9:4-5)
Imagine your church proposed taking up an offering to send to an area of the country that desperately needs aid, and imagine you offered to donate $100 to the cause. Suppose you are given a year to save up the $100, but you keep putting it off. Wouldn't it feel more difficult to hand over a $100 bill when the time comes than to set aside about $8.33 per month during the year you had to prepare? That is Paul's point to the church at Corinth. They apparently pledged a certain amount of money---an amount Paul considers very generous---and they've had a year to set so much aside each month in order to reach their goal. If Paul comes to collect the offering on his way to Jerusalem and it is not ready, people are going to feel pretty unhappy about having to reach into their pockets and pull out the full amount at one time. He says that will make them feel grudging about it, not joyful about it. He wants them to be able to feel good about their contribution.
Why should they feel good about it? Because God generously rewards those who give willingly. The one who gives willingly will reap abundantly. "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:6-7) For an example of what Paul means, let's picture two farmers who live side by side. One farmer goes out into his field to sow wheat and only sows a few kernels. When harvest time comes, he's not going to reap a very good crop. The other farmer goes out and scatters seed quite heavily. He's going to reap an abundant crop. Anyone can see what a sensible principle this is, and Paul is telling his readers that God's economy works the same way.
Something I want to point out here is that we don't reap on the same day that we sow. Our reward from the Lord will come later, not on the day we sow, just as crops don't come up on the day we sow. We mustn't become discouraged if we've been giving generously but don't feel like things in our own lives are working out especially well right now. Our harvest is coming. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)
Another thing I need to point out is that neither the Lord nor Paul is asking anyone to put their own families in dire straits by giving to others while allowing their own families to do without. What they are asking is for Christians to give generously out of what they have left over after taking care of their own family's needs. Most of us have an excess of something, whether it's money or time or food or clothing. If we don't have any money left over after paying our own bills, we might have time that we could volunteer. If we don't have time to volunteer, we might have extra clothes in our closets that we don't like anymore or that don't fit anymore, so we could donate those. Or we may have more food in the pantry than we can use, and we could donate canned goods to food drives. No one is asking us to let our families do without while we give to others. But what we are being asked to do is to minister to others in the ways that we can.
The Lord has really brought home to me the principle of sowing and reaping lately. There have been times when my household was better off financially than it is right now. During those times I was able to give to others to help out with their veterinarian bills. I'm not saying this in order to say anything good about myself; it's just that there have been friends and acquaintances that I felt compelled (by the urging of the Lord) to help out when they were struggling to provide for their animals. On the surface this might not look like the type of giving Paul is talking about today, but helping the animals of my friends and acquaintances gave these people a sense of relief and joy. It helped to restore their faith in the goodness of others. It helped to give them a better impression of Christians overall. I didn't give because I was looking for a harvest, but I want to tell you that lately the harvest has been coming in. As some of you know, my husband was laid off work at the end of August because the company he worked for was bought out and the work was moved to the main facility in another state. This didn't come at a good time since my little senior dog is experiencing health difficulties and high vet bills. But some of our friends, out of the goodness of their hearts, have voluntarily donated to my pup's vet bills. I didn't ask for help; they just felt moved to help. The other day there was $400 in my pup's account at the vet, and I have been buying her medicines and supplies out of that account. What if I had not been obedient when the Lord moved me to help out my friends by helping their animals? Would I be reaping a harvest at this time? I think not. So if the Lord is telling you to volunteer time or money or resources for your friends and family or for your church or for your community---do what He says. He will make sure that your harvest comes in at just the right time.
So do we reap what we sow? My experience tells me that we do. Do we reap later than we sow? Of course we do, just as the farmer reaps later than he sows. So don't feel discouraged if you've been donating time or money or resources to good causes but feel like things are going wrong in your own life. A harvest is coming. You can count on it.
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