The Collection for God’s People
1 Corinthians 16:1-4 Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
Paul had a grand idea! No doubt it was initiated by the prompting of God, but a grand idea, none-the-less. For almost 25 years he had worked among the Gentiles as an apostle of Jesus Christ. His unique apostleship had placed him at the heart of God’s plan of uniting the whole world under the authority of Jesus. He had put his blood, sweat and tears into this goal. He had suffered greatly and endured much persecution, but through his efforts, he had witnessed the gospel spread throughout Galatia, Asia Minor, Macedonia and Achaia.
However, there remained a schism in the church between Jewish and Gentile Christians. This division existed due to numerous factors— cultural practices, socio-economic status, understanding of the place of the Torah, and hard feelings regarding all of the above.
At or around the 25 year mark in his ministry Paul was preparing to shift gears in his ministry and preach the gospel in Spain, but he had one last thing to do. This was his grand idea to mend the schism between the more affluent Gentile churches of his ministry and the much poorer Jewish churches of Judea and Jerusalem: a monetary collection for the poor.
Paul uses cultic language in Romans 15:16 calling it the “offering of the Gentiles” making the collection an act of worship. This is reinforced by his usage of ἐπιτελέω in 2 Corinthians 8:1–12, often translated simply as “to carry out,” but is used in cultic contexts for the fulfillment of religious obligations. Paul believed the Gentiles should be grateful for the grace of God and his blessings in Jesus which originated from within the Jewish people (Romans 15:27). Paul was willing to die to make this a reality (Romans 15:31-32).
Similarly, Paul believed that the collection would not only relieve the needs of the poor Jerusalem saints, but it would also mend much of the suspicion and ill will that might have been held by these Christians resulting in thanksgiving to God for them and their offering (2 Corinthians 9:12-14).
1 Corinthians 16:1-4 consists of instructions on how this contribution was to be taken. Unlike, the acute needs of the church in the early chapters of Acts, this offering would require time to be collected.
Each member was to put aside a portion of the money they earned ever day (proportionate with their income) until the next Sunday, when the church met, and give it to the church to save up (church treasury?) until Paul returned to collect the entire sum. This model continues to be used today. Paul has to revisit this with the Corinthians in his second letter.
I’ll say more in my lesson. — Joey
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