(A) Introduction. (Read the reference)

This passage is often overlooked and I have not heard many sermons on it. It is certainly not as popular as the content of Paul's epistles to the Philippians, Colossians or Ephesians. Yet it teaches some valuable lessons. In particular it stresses the importance of: enthusiasm, finance, the local church, propriety and faithfulness.

(B) Enthusiasm.

Halford Lucock says, "I was impressed several years ago when I read that Eugene Ormandy dislocated a shoulder while directing the Philadelphia Orchestra. I do not know what they were playing, but he was giving all of himself to it! And I have asked myself sadly, 'Did I ever dislocate anything, even a necktie?'" Taken from the Progress Magazine, December 31, 1992.

Paul certainly valued enthusiasm or zeal. He did so because:

(1) It produces willing volunteers.

Paul wrote: I thank God, who put in the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative.

Titus was a willing volunteer. He was prepared to trek back to Corinth, braving the dangers that such travelling entailed, to supervise the collection for the poor in Jerusalem.

What a joy when a church is full of willing volunteers. When my small church has a chapel tea there are always those who volunteer to make cakes, serve the food, clear up afterwards and do the washing up. That is how it should be. Sadly it is increasingly difficult to find people in nonconformist churches to take responsibility. Some of the jobs that are difficult to fill are: secretaries, treasurers, deacons, Sunday school teachers, youth leaders, woman's meeting leaders, organists. People don't want to be tied down. A regular commitment is seen as something of a drag.

Perhaps we should take a leaf out of the Gurkha's book: In, 'One Crowded Hour', Tim Bowden describes an incident in Borneo in 1964. Nepalese fighters known as Gurkhas were asked if they would be willing to jump from airplanes into combat against the Indonesians. The Gurkhas didn't clearly understand what was involved, but they bravely said they would do it, asking only that the plane fly slowly over a swampy area and no higher than 100 feet. When they were told that the parachutes would not have time to open at that height, the Gurkhas replied, "Oh, you never said anything about parachutes!" That's commitment!!

(2) It results in a willingness to help.

Paul wrote of a brother chosen to accompany Titus to Corinth: What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honour the Lord himself and show our eagerness to help. v19.

All the brethren selected to accompany Paul to Jerusalem with the gift from the churches were eager to help. Enthusiastic Christians are always eager to help.

It is very uplifting to be surrounded by people eager to help. I can remember as a young and, I suppose, popular teacher in a boy's grammar school organising a collection of Heinz' food labels. Heinz had promised to donate money to charity for every 100 labels collected. The boys brought labels in by the sack full. The enthusiasm the boys showed for the project left me feeling almost elated.

I met a very different response trying to get volunteers to help me man a stall at the Christmas Charity Fayre at Debenham High School. I suppose by then I was old and grumpy. No one volunteered and I had to run the stall myself. It left me quite deflated!

It is great in church life when folk are eager to help. I shall never forget the response of my own church after my mother died and I was left to care for my invalid father. For 2 years I did this while I continued with teaching. I was only able to do so because several members of the church volunteered to come in and sit with my father in the afternoons. It wasn't an easy task!

(3) It means we can be entrusted with responsibility.

I was sitting in the doctor's waiting room yesterday when an elderly man came and sat beside me. We whiled away the time by chatting to one another. I told him I was a retired teacher. He asked, "Did you enjoy your work." I replied, "Yes, in the main. I was quite an enthusiastic teacher." He said, "Enthusiasm is the key requirement for success in any job."

If a believer shows his enthusiasm for Christian service he or she can be entrusted with more and more responsibility. In church life the safest appointees are those with proven enthusiasm because such will serve with cheerfulness, zest and thoroughness.

(C) Finance.

The importance Paul attached to giving is shown by:

(1) The quality of the men chosen to administer the gift.

Paul and the churches sent very spiritually minded men to Corinth to supervise the collection. One brother was praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. v18.

The delegates who administered the gift of money were not dull, uninspiring, 'men in suits'. They were not grey accountants (With apologies to any dynamic, outgoing accountants with a zest for life!). The two men who accompanied Titus to Corinth were in the forefront of promoting the gospel and burdened for souls.

Warren Wiersbe writes in, 'Be encouraged,' Local church nomination committees put the good "soul winners" on the evangelism committee or on the missions committee, which is fine; but some of them also ought to be on the finance committee or the board of trustees. Why? To keep the priorities straight. I have seen committees approve large sums for buildings and equipment who would not release funds for a soul-winning ministry.

A discouraged young pastor sought my counsel one day. "My finance committee is running scared," he said. "The economic situation has made them so tight fisted, they won't spend any money - and we have a big surplus in the bank!" I had never met his committee, but I knew one thing about them: they needed a burden for souls.

(2) The assertion that it was a token of love.

Paul urged the Corinthians: Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you so that the church can see it. v24.

We can show our love for the Lord by how much money we give to his work.

Well-to-do husbands who love their wives will make them extravagant gifts. I have a friend who bought his wife a new car for her 50th birthday. Another one financed a new kitchen to please his wife. Two more of my friends gave several thousands of pounds of their retirement lump sum to their children.

We have to ask ourselves: Would we spend as much on Jesus as we do on our nearest and dearest? If not, what does this say about our love for him?

(3) His certainty that it honoured God.

Paul indicates this in his commendation of the brother chosen to accompany Titus to Corinth: What is more he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering which we adminster in order to honour the Lord himself. v19.

Warren Wiersbe writes: There is no such thing in the church as "secular and sacred," "business and ministry." All that we do is "sacred business" and ministry for the Lord.

This means that church business meetings are sacred business and just as God honouring as the prayer meeting. Yet many Christians deliberately choose to have nothing to do with the business meeting. Other Christians behave in business meetings in a way that they would never adopt in "worship meetings." Belligerent, unloving behaviour is as inappropriate in a business meeting as a prayer meeting.

Paul and others administered the offering of the churches to the honour of the Lord himself. Business should be conducted in a God honouring way.

(D) The local church.

The passage tells us three ways the LOCAL church was important:

(1) In the authority it exercised.

The two men to accompany Titus to Corinth to supervise the collection of money for the church in Jerusalem were appointed by the churches.

What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us. v19. As for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honour to Christ. v23.

We do not know for certain who these two men were. It couldn't be anyone from the Macedonian churches who were due to journey to Corinth with Paul later. We have a clue in Acts20v4 where the men who went with Paul to Jerusalem with the money collected are listed. They were: Sopater from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. Berea and Thessalonica are in Macedonia. So if Paul sent one from Derbe and one from Asia with Titus it could have been Timothy and either Tychicus or Trophimus. I favour Timothy as the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. He must have been widely know because he went with Paul on his journeys through Phrygia, Galatia, Mysia, Troas, Philippi, Veria, and Corinth. Perhaps the other brother was Tychicus. In Ephesians 6:21 Paul calls Tychicus a "dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord" (NIV), while in Colossians, he says he is "a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord." In both of these letters, Paul indicates that he is sending Tychicus to the Christians to whom he is writing, in order to encourage them.

Whoever the men were who travelled with Titus to Corinth they were chosen for the task by the local churches and not by Paul.

Today the local church has considerable authority in all Baptist denominations and groups. In my own Association of Grace Baptist Churches the local church recommends men for the ministry, itinerant preachers, missionaries, representatives on committees and so on.

(2) In the example it set

Paul writes: For I knew your eagerness to help, and I have boasted 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. Ch9v2.

It is good when the enthusiastic example of one church stirs others into action. There is no doubt that this happens as evidenced by the spread of mothers and toddlers groups, holiday clubs, Camps, men's breakfasts, quiz nights, the Alpha Course and Christianity explored.

(3) In the support it gave.

The comparatively rich Gentile churches sent help to the poor Christians in Jerusalem. Strong churches whether in personnel, talents or finance should support the weak. This does happen but nowhere near as much as it should. See comment in previous exposition.

(E) Propriety.

Paul was very concerned that the probity of those involved in the collection for the Jerusalem Church should be beyond reproach. He wrote: We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer the liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men. v20and21.

Paul demonstrated the importance of propriety by:

(1) Sending three observers to supervise the collection in Corinth.
(2) Sending representatives chosen by the churches and not himself.
(3) Sending men of outstanding quality.
(4) Ensuring that seven representatives from the churches accompanied the money collected to Jerusalem.

When we give we need to know that our money will not be embezzled, wasted on administration costs or used unwisely. I agree with Warren Wiersbe who wrote: Personally, I would not support a missionary or Christian worker who was not identified in some way with a reputable committee or board, or a reputable organization. Nor would I give support to any ministry that did not have its books audited and the report available to the donors. I am not saying all "freelance" Christian workers are irresponsible; but I would have more confidence in their ministries if they were attached to a board or an organization that supervised their financial support.

I will not give to causes that advertise themselves on the Internet or to individuals who contact me by email asking for money. It is best to give to reputable charities like TEAR FUND, AsiaLink, the Red Cross, Christian Aid, SIM and the like.

Every church should keep the accounts in good order. Paul was anxious that no whiff of scandal should accompany the collection for the poor in Jerusalem. Nothing will destroy the reputation of the church quicker than evidence of graft.

Burke Marketing Research asked executives in 100 of the nation's 1000 largest companies what qualities in employees irritated bosses the most. At the top of the list was dishonesty. Mrac Silbert, whose temporary employee firm commissioned the study, says, "If a company believes that an employee lacks integrity, all positive qualities - ranging from skill and experience to productivity and intelligence - become meaningless."

If the world of business places such store upon honesty then the church had better make very sure integrity is its watchword.

(F) Faithfulness.

Paul urged the Corinthians to keep their promise. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you promised. 9v5.

When a promise isn't kept:

(1) It is a big disappointment to the person to whom it was made.

Paul made this clear: For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we ....... would be ashamed of having been so confident. Paul would feel very, very let down if the Corinthians had not collected the money that they promised.

I can remember to this day an incident that happened 55 years ago which undermined my confidence in human nature. See story of the Football Match.

(2) It is embarrassing to the person who made it.

Paul realised this as well: For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we - not to say anything about you - would be ashamed ..... .

People who don't keep their promises know that they haven't kept them. So they are embarrassed when they are reminded of this by the person they made them to. Shame affects relationships.

My poor old father fell against the wall of his bedroom one morning and managed to stove in an electric wall socket. I played cricket with an electrician and asked him if he could fix it. "No problem, JR," said Dennis. Seven years later the socket had not been seen to. Every year in my speech at the Annual Cricket Club Dinner I made a reference to my still damaged wall socket to Dennis' embarrassment. He never did get round to fix it!!

There are plenty of shame-faced Christians in our churches because they fail to keep their promises.

(3) It does not help to keep the promise under pressure.

Dennis knew he would not redeem himself by coming to mend my wall plug after keeping me waiting five years - so he never came at all!

If a person only keeps a promise under pressure merit is lost because the person to whom it was made knows that it has only been kept grudgingly and reluctantly.

This is what prompted Paul to write: So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift and not as one grudgingly given. 9v4and5.

William Barclay wrote in his excellent commentary on Corinthians: There is an old Latin proverb which says, "He gives twice who gives quickly." That is always true. The finest gifts are given not when they are demanded, but before they are asked for.

I like the action of Shobi, Makir and Barzillai who when David was forced to flee his palace at the onset of Absalom's rebellion brought bedding, and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat, barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cow's milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, "The people have become hungry and tired and thirsty in the desert." 2Sam17v27and28.

What a tremendous encouragement and boost to morale the generosity of these three men must have been to David and his supporters in their darkest hour. They were generous and faithful friends.