“Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia. On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once. When I come, I will write letters of recommendation for the messengers you choose to deliver your gift to Jerusalem. And if it seems appropriate for me to go along, they can travel with me.”
1 Corinthians 16:1-4 NLT
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul has covered a lot of ground, much of it apparently in response to a letter the Corinthians had written to him. As we turn the page into the last chapter, Paul addresses their practical question about how to collect money “for God’s people in Jerusalem”. What he suggested has become the norm in Christian churches. “On the first day of each week,” money was to be collected from the congregation and used as the Holy Spirit leads. For us pilgrims, the week starts on a Sunday, with corporate and public worship meetings held in churches, community centres, schools, wherever a room is available. Such gatherings even take place in people’s homes, if the numbers are small. But an important part of worship is taking a collection, in which every person present gives money for the work of the church. Of course, in today’s internet age, many give online by scanning a QR code or similar, or through the banking system with standing orders, but the same principle remains.
Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians in about 55 AD, during the period before the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. In the middle of all the political unrest, the Christians in Jerusalem were going through a terrible time of persecution and were desperately in need of help with their poverty. As we read in Acts 12, the Apostle James was martyred, and Herod Agrippa went on to imprison Peter, intending to put him on trial. Christians were not at all popular with the Jews in those days, and the Judean Christians were not the only believers suffering persecution. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul acknowledged how much they, too, were suffering. 1 Thessalonians 2:14, “And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God’s churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews”. By contributing from their resources, the believers in Corinth were able to help other believers who were in need, but there was a spin-off benefit that was important. The Corinthians were mostly Gentiles not of Jewish ancestry, and it provided for them the opportunity to heal any rifts that had developed between Jews and Gentiles. It also established the principle of unity between Christian churches, wherever they were, and regardless of the ethnicity of their congregants.
Today, we collect money from our congregations and use it for God’s work as well as for practical requirements, such as the upkeep of the church building or renting alternative space. Then we have the church leaders to provide for. Some churches struggle to do even that because of their numbers, but others have a surplus and can budget to use it to support evangelical work, missionaries, food banks, and other philanthropic work as God leads. Paul suggested that the believers “should each put aside a portion of the money [they] have earned”. How much that should be is often debated, with some proposing ten per cent of earnings, others suggesting different amounts. But whatever decision is reached, it should be between the believer and God, who sees what is going on inside a person and in their bank accounts.
A Christian is a believer who obeys the Lord, who follows Him and His teachings, and who is a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Such a life is very different from that of unbelievers, and there will be sacrifices accordingly. We pilgrims devote our time and resources to God, because we love Him and want to please Him in all that we do. There is a principle of sowing and reaping that applies in God’s economy, and the agricultural analogy covers many aspects of a believer’s life. Money, time, our behaviour, hospitality, and so on. The principle means that if we sow sparingly in any of these areas, then the harvest that we reap, will be equally sparse. Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows“. Jesus Himself taught, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you”.
In these verses today, Paul wasn’t suggesting that the Corinthians believers were a bit stingey with their money. Rather, Paul was suggesting a way to budget their giving so there wasn’t a problem with collecting it all at once. Good practical advice and one that has followed him into the twenty-first century.
Dear Father God. Thank You for the resources You have given us, and for helping us to use them wisely. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 