Feb 5-11, 2023

Danny Fitelson & "Joey" Alan Le, Ph.D.

Scripture

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Giving is like sowing seed: what you get is linked to what you give. The farmer who sows only a little seed will get only a poor harvest, while the farmer who sows generously will reap a rich harvest (Knowles 599).[1]

9:6 SOWS…REAPS. This is not an assurance that giving leads to financial security. Rather, the practice of giving leads to growth in grace (Coleman 1867).

9:7 NOT RELUCTANTLY OR UNDER COMPULSION. Paul instructs Christians to consider for themselves what they would contribute (Coleman 1867). How have you used your freedom?

9:7 GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER. What might this look like in your everyday life?

9:8 BY ALWAYS HAVING ENOUGH OF EVERYTHING, YOU MAY SHARE ABUNDANTLY. When God supplies us with plenty, we can, in turn, share with others generously. Have you felt the Spirit compel you to give generously? Or have you held back on your generosity because you are waiting for God to bless you first? How do you deal with this tension?

9:9 HE GIVES TO THE POOR; HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER. See Psalm 112:9. Paul may be saying that the reward for sowing seed (giving money) to the poor is that one’s righteousness will stand forever (Keener The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament 2 Co 9:9).

9:6-9 Where have you seen this principle of sowing and reaping play out in a practical way? What motivates you to give? (Coleman 1867)

10 HE WHO SUPPLIES SEED. Where does the seed come from? God himself. How else does this metaphor of seed speak to you?

9:11 YOU WILL BE ENRICHED IN EVERY WAY FOR YOUR GREAT GENEROSITY. Does God enrich us simply to make us rich, or to enable us to channel his generosity to those in need?

9:12 OVERFLOWS WITH MANY THANKSGIVINGS TO GOD. Jewish people believed that God heard the cries of the poor (Deut 15:9-10); Paul’s readers would understand that their aid to the poor brought direct glory to God in praise (Keener IVP 2 Cor 9:12).

9:10-15 What promises are contained in these verses? How have you seen those promises come true?

What are some resources God has provided to you? How have you used those resources to invest in his kingdom? (Coleman 1868)

For the Christian, everything proceeds from God’s generosity, and everything returns to God in thanksgiving. Grace, generosity, and gratitude are not optional extras of Christian living, but are the very heart of it all (Wright 103).

Luke 20:45 – 21:1-4

20:46 “BEWARE OF THE SCRIBES. What attitude is Jesus warning his disciples of?

20:47 THEY DEVOUR WIDOWS’ HOUSES. The temple sported ostentatious wealth, and its officials would probably waste the money of widows (Keener IVP Lk 21:21-24).

21:1-2 RICH PEOPLE … POOR WIDOW. What are the differences between their motives and attitudes toward giving? The connection between these incidents and the condemnation of the scribes is clear. In contrast to piety which parades in public for self-gain, the poor widow gave all she had in love for God (Earle et al. 324).

21:2 TWO SMALL COPPER COINS. These coins are worth almost nothing. To most observers, the widow’s gift seems pitiful and pathetic. To Jesus, it is the greatest and most generous gift of the day—because she has put in all she has (Knowles 495-496).

21:3 THIS POOR WIDOW. This very poor widow is at the bottom of the social scale.

21:3 HAS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL OF THEM. Jesus praises the poor widow above the more affluent elite, even though their gifts were objectively much greater. This is the theology of the Magnificat (1:51–53): the first are last, and the last first. It is the devotion of the heart, and the cost to the giver, that count rather than the amount of money (France 328). How does Jesus’ assessment speak to you?

21:4 ALL SHE HAD TO LIVE ON. This poor woman’s offering is an example of how the scribes “devour widows’ houses”: the excessive demands of the temple treasury that they promote have forced this widow into making herself destitute, and Jesus is shocked at their callous demands and lack of compassion (France 328). Are there institutions or systems today that force the poor to give up even more?