In verse 2 Paul links “the abundance of their joy” and “the depth of their poverty.” This seems to be a very unusual combination. How could the Macedonians be in the depths of poverty and yet have abundance of joy? Nevertheless, the Macedonians had both poverty and joy.
With the Macedonians the abundance of their joy and the depth of their poverty “abounded unto the riches of their liberality.” The Greek word rendered liberality is also used for singleness and simplicity (see 1:12 and Rom. 12:8). Liberality is generosity in giving. Though the Macedonians were very poor, they were generous. They had the riches of liberality.
In order to be generous, we need to be single and simple. A complicated person cannot be generous. Those who are single and simple will have the riches of liberality. When they hear about a need among the saints, they will immediately decide to give something. However, those who are complicated may consider the matter and then decide to give much less than they originally intended. This is not singleness, simplicity, generosity, or liberality. We all should be generous and liberal in our giving. For this, we need to be single and simple.
When I was young I wondered why the Lord Jesus allowed Judas to be responsible for the purse. He knew that Judas was a thief, but still let him be in charge of the money. I thought that the Lord should have let John or Peter take care of the purse. But the Lord Jesus, being generous and liberal, not a lover of money, let Judas keep the purse. The Lord certainly was simple, single, generous, and liberal.
In 8:3 and 4 Paul goes on to say, “Because according to their power, I testify, and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord, with much entreaty beseeching of us the grace and the fellowship of the ministry to the saints.” Although the Macedonians were poor and in affliction, they gave generously of their own accord, that is, voluntarily. They did this through the grace of God, through the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit indwelling them. This Christ is the grace of God working within the believers and motivating them to overcome the hold of material possessions, in particular, to overcome mammon. The Macedonians were in deep poverty, but the grace moving within them enabled them to overcome mammon and material possessions and to use them for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
We need grace to overcome the usurpation of material possessions. To give continually by grace is more difficult than to put all our possessions together and have everything in common. In 1 Corinthians 16 Paul tells us to set aside a certain amount on the first day of every week. This continual giving takes grace, for it is contrary to our fallen, human nature. If we would give continually, not just once for all, we need divine grace to motivate us from within. To have a ministry that overcomes mammon and material possessions and uses them for God’s purpose requires grace.
Verse 4 says, “With much entreaty beseeching of us the grace and the fellowship of the ministry to the saints.” The Greek word for grace, charis, means grace, gift, and favor. Here the meaning is favor (Vincent). The Macedonian believers besought of the apostles the favor that they might participate, have fellowship, in the ministry to the needy saints. Instead of the apostles asking the saints to have a share in this matter, the Macedonian believers begged the apostles for such a share. They considered it a favor, a grace, that the apostles would allow them such a share.
The Macedonians wanted to give a supply of material things to the Jewish believers. However, in themselves they were not able to do this. Both materially and spiritually they needed the apostles. Therefore, they begged the apostles to let them share in this grace, to give them this grace that they might participate in such a spiritual ministry. Although this ministry was related to material things, Paul made it a spiritual ministry.
Actually, Paul was not a fund raiser. He was one who took a ministry of material things and made it a spiritual matter full of life, the Spirit, and building up. In order to participate in a ministry of material things in a way that was full of life, the Macedonians needed the apostle’s grace, the apostle’s favor. Without this, the ministry of the Macedonians to the needy saints would have been only a material one. It could not have been a spiritual ministry full of life for the building up of the Body of Christ.
According to their feeling, the Macedonians regarded it as a grace to participate in the ministry to the needy saints. That participation was also a fellowship in the Body of Christ. This was the reason they begged the apostle to give them the grace to participate in it.
Under the ministry of the apostles, the giving of material supply became a spiritual matter full of life and edification. This is altogether different from today’s fund raising, which is without life, without spirit, and without the building up of the Body of Christ. In order for our material giving to become a spiritual ministry of life and building, we need grace from God and also from the apostles.
Verse 5 says, “And not according as we hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.” This verse indicates that the Lord wants the believers themselves much more than what they have. The Macedonians were given not only to the Lord, but also to the apostles to be one with the apostles in accomplishing their ministry. This was through the will of God. It was through the will of God, through the sovereign divine agent, that the believers gave themselves first to the Lord and to the apostles.