They Gave Themselves First to the Lord (2 Corinthians 8:1-7)
Today’s Word
[The Grace Given to the Macedonian Churches] (NIV)
8:1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.
8:2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
8:3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own,
8:4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.
8:5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.
8:6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part.
8:7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
Background
Chapter 7 ended on a note of joy. Titus had come back with news from Corinth, and Paul, seeing broken trust restored, could finally say, “I am glad I can have complete confidence in you” (The Trust That Was Not Put to Shame, 2 Corinthians 7:13-16). As chapter 8 opens, Paul changes the subject. Now that the relationship is mended, it is time to finish something that had been left undone: a collection for the poor believers in Jerusalem.
This collection was close to Paul’s heart. When he first met with the leaders of the Jerusalem church to confirm the direction of his ministry, they asked him for only one thing: “that we should continue to remember the poor,” and Paul adds that this was “the very thing I had been eager to do all along” (Galatians 2:10). The Jerusalem church seems to have been in real hardship at the time. As Paul traveled among the Gentile churches, he gathered gifts for them. In 1 Corinthians he had even given practical instructions: on the first day of every week, set aside a sum in keeping with your income (1 Corinthians 16:1-3).
Corinth had been among the first to start. A few verses later Paul reminds them, “Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so” (8:10). But when the relationship between Paul and the church soured, the collection seems to have stalled too. If some in Corinth suspected Paul’s motives, they were hardly going to be enthusiastic about money he was collecting. So in verse 6 Paul says he has asked Titus to help them bring to completion what they had begun. A good work had been started and then left unfinished.
Before he says anything directly about Corinth, Paul tells them a story about other churches: the churches of Macedonia. Macedonia was the region in northern Greece where congregations had been planted in Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea. And Paul was writing this letter from Macedonia itself (7:5). What he describes is not a rumor from far away. He has seen it with his own eyes.
The Macedonian churches had been born in hardship. The Thessalonians “welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:6). In Philippi, Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison. Materially, too, these believers did not have much. Paul calls their situation “extreme poverty.” Corinth, on the other hand, was a busy commercial city sitting between two harbors, far better off than its northern neighbors. Holding up a poor church as an example to a wealthier one must have made the Corinthians a little uncomfortable.
Notice how Paul begins, though. He does not start by praising the Macedonians for their effort. He says he wants them to know about “the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.” Before he talks about what they did, he talks about what God gave them. For Paul, generosity does not begin with human resolve. It is God’s grace overflowing through people. The word “grace” appears again and again in chapters 8 and 9: verses 1, 4, 6, 7 and 9 all use the same Greek word. When the NIV speaks of “this act of grace” in verse 6 and “this grace of giving” in verse 7, the original simply says “this grace.”
In verse 7 Paul turns to the Corinthians themselves. They were a church rich in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in earnestness. From 1 Corinthians we know they were especially proud of their eloquence, their knowledge and their spiritual gifts. Paul does not deny any of that. He simply adds one more item to the list: excel in this grace too. In verse 8 he makes clear he is not giving an order, and in verse 9 he shows the root of everything he has been saying: “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor.”
For an overview of the whole letter, see the Introduction to 2 Corinthians.
Key Words Made Simple
- Grace: Greek charis. God’s undeserved favor, freely given. In chapter 8 Paul also uses this word for the act of giving itself. When grace received flows on to someone else, that too is grace.
- Trial: Greek dokimē. Literally “a test that proves something genuine.” The hardships the Macedonians faced became the proving ground of their faith.
- Extreme poverty: Literally “poverty down to the depths.” Not a little short, but scraping the bottom.
- Overflowing: Greek perisseuō. Like water spilling over the rim of a cup. The same word describes their joy in verse 2 and the “excelling” in verse 7.
- Generosity: Greek haplotēs. Its root meaning is “simplicity” or “single-heartedness.” It describes giving that does not calculate, giving with an undivided heart.
- Entirely on their own: Greek authairetos. Self-chosen, freely willed, without anyone pushing.
- Urgently pleaded: Paul uses two strong words together, deomai and paraklēsis. They practically begged. They were not asked to give; they asked to be allowed to give.
- Sharing: Greek koinōnia. Fellowship, partnership, having something in common. It is the same word used for the fellowship of believers.
- Service: Greek diakonia. Meeting the needs of others. Our word “deacon” comes from it.
- Excel: Greek perisseuō again. The overflowing of the Macedonians and the abundance of the Corinthians are tied together by one word.
Expressions Worth Noting
- “The grace that God has given the Macedonian churches” (8:1)
- Paul does not present the Macedonians’ giving as their own achievement. He calls it God’s grace given to them.
- Even a generous heart is a gift from God.
- “In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy” (8:2)
- Suffering and joy sit in the same sentence. Their joy did not come from good circumstances.
- Joy springs not from our situation but from our relationship with God.
- “Beyond their ability. Entirely on their own” (8:3)
- The Macedonians gave more than they could afford, and no one made them do it.
- Paul never mentions how much they gave. What caught his attention was not the amount but the heart behind it.
- “Pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing” (8:4)
- They saw giving not as a burden but as a privilege. Paul may well have hesitated to ask such poor churches, but they insisted on being included.
- When we begin to see service as an opportunity rather than an obligation, giving becomes joy.
- “They gave themselves first of all to the Lord” (8:5)
- This is the heart of the passage. What they gave first was not money but themselves.
- For people who have already given themselves to God, sharing what they own becomes the natural fruit of that surrender.
- “See that you also excel in this grace of giving” (8:7)
- Paul affirms the Corinthians’ faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness and love. Then he adds one more item to the list.
- Spiritual richness is not only about how much we know. It includes knowing how to let the grace we have received flow on.
What the Passage Says
- Giving that begins with grace (8:1). Paul introduces the Macedonians’ generosity as “the grace that God has given.” Giving starts not with our resolve but with what God has already given us.
- Joy overflowing in trial and poverty (8:2). The Macedonian believers were in severe trial and deep poverty, yet their joy overflowed, and that joy spilled out in single-hearted generosity.
- Freely, and beyond their means (8:3-4). They gave as much as they could and more. No one compelled them; in fact, they begged to be included. To them, serving was a privilege.
- First, themselves (8:5). They went beyond what Paul had hoped. Before anything else they gave themselves to the Lord, and then, by God’s will, they gave themselves to Paul’s work as well.
- An invitation to finish what was begun (8:6-7). Paul encourages the Corinthians to complete, with Titus’s help, the work they started a year earlier. Just as they excel in faith, speech, knowledge and earnestness, he invites them to excel in this grace too.
Standing Before This Word Today
Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. It seems fitting to read this passage on a day set aside to count what we have received. Gratitude begins with counting our blessings, but it grows deeper when it does not stop there. The story of the Macedonian churches shows how far gratitude can flow.
The first thing that catches me in this passage is the shape of verse 2. Trial and joy, poverty and generosity, all side by side in one sentence. We would expect a different order. When things get better, we rejoice. When we have some margin, we share. That feels natural. But the Macedonians did not wait for things to get better. In poverty that had hit bottom, their joy overflowed, and their joy overflowed into giving. The passage quietly asks us: Am I waiting until I have enough before I begin to give?
The truth is, “enough” rarely arrives. When income rises, needs tend to rise with it. Once I save a little more, once this is sorted out, then I’ll be generous. But “then” keeps moving further away. Jesus once watched a poor widow drop two small coins into the temple treasury and said she had “put more into the treasury than all the others” (Mark 12:43). God weighs a gift given from within what we have more heavily than one trimmed off our surplus. That does not mean we should recklessly give away everything; a few verses later Paul says to give “according to your means” (8:11). It means the key that opens the door to generosity is not our bank balance but our heart.
The second thing that stays with me is verse 4. The Macedonians urgently pleaded with Paul. They were not begged to give; they begged to give. Paul likely knew how little they had and meant to leave them out of the collection. But they would not be left out. For them this was not a burden but a privilege, a chance to share in grace. How do we see the places where we serve? Are they chores we do reluctantly when someone asks, or are they places we are grateful to have a part in? The same task can feel completely different depending on whether we see it as a weight or an opportunity.
It is worth noticing, too, that the word Paul uses for “sharing” in verse 4 is koinōnia, the same word we use for the fellowship of believers. The Macedonians had probably never met the believers in Jerusalem. They spoke a different language, lived in a different culture, and came from a different background. There was an old wall between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Yet these believers treated the poverty of strangers as their own concern. In Romans Paul says that since the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to them to share their material blessings (Romans 15:27). Giving was not simply money moving from one place to another. It was fellowship, a way of confirming that people far apart belong to one body. How far does our own generosity reach? Does it stop at the people we know, the people who are like us?
Then we come to the center of the passage, verse 5: “They gave themselves first of all to the Lord.” Paul says the Macedonians exceeded his expectations, and it was not because of the size of their gift. Before they gave money, they gave themselves. Here is the secret of generosity. If I keep hold of myself and only try to carve off some of my possessions for God, giving will always feel heavy and costly. I will calculate how much is required, and I will keep thinking about it afterward. But for someone who has first given themselves to God, the question changes. It is no longer “How much of mine should I give to God?” It becomes “How much of God’s am I entrusted to manage?”
This order applies to the whole of our faith. We give God our time, our abilities, our money. But there is something to be given before all of that, and it is ourselves. When the confession “I belong to the Lord” comes first, everything else we offer stops being a duty we squeeze out and becomes the natural fruit of that confession. When the order is reversed, giving easily turns into a transaction: I gave this much, so I expect this much in return. The joy of the Macedonians came from getting the order right.
Finally, consider the invitation in verse 7. Paul tells the Corinthians they are rich in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in earnestness. It is a compliment, and also a gentle challenge. You know so much, you speak so well, you are so eager. But have you stalled when it comes to passing on the grace you have received? The more familiar we are with Scripture and the language of faith, the more honestly we need to stand before that question. Grace is not given to be stored up. It is given to flow on.
And it helps to remember where Paul is taking all of this. In the very next breath he writes, “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (8:9). The generosity of the Macedonians reflected the generosity of Christ. We are able to give because we have first been made rich by his poverty. Of all the things we count on Thanksgiving, this grace is the greatest.
Standing before this word today, we might pray: Lord, let me not wait until I have enough, but give with joy from what I have now. Help me see the places where I serve not as burdens but as grace. Above all, let me first give myself to you. Let the grace I have received not settle and stand still in me, but flow on to others.
Living It Out
- Write down what you have received. On this Thanksgiving Day, list five specific things God has given you over the past year. This helps gratitude become a memory rather than a vague feeling.
- Let go of “when I have enough.” Is there an act of generosity you have been putting off until things get easier? It does not need to be large. Choose one small way to share this week from what you have right now, and do it.
- See service as an opportunity. If you are asked to help with something this week, try changing the words in your head from “Do I have to do this again?” to “I get to be part of this.” Notice how the temperature of your heart changes toward the same task.
- Pray to give yourself first. Before you think about what to give, begin your day by saying, “Lord, today I am yours.” Then, from that place, consider how you will spend your time and resources.
- Finish what you started. Like the Corinthians, is there a good work you began with a willing heart but then let stall? Decide on one first step to pick it back up.
Questions to Sit With
- Am I treating generosity as something to do “once I have enough”?
- Have I seen someone keep their joy in the middle of hardship? Where do I think that joy came from?
- Do I experience the places where I serve as a burden or as a privilege?
- What would it look like, concretely, to give myself to the Lord before I give anything else?
- Compared with my faith, knowledge and zeal, in what grace am I not yet rich?
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