The Indescribable Gift

Paul is running out of words. He has written about money, harvests, seeds and thank-you prayers. And then he simply stops and says: thanks be to God for his gift. A gift so great there are no words for it.

Corinth was a rich, busy port city in Greece, full of merchants and sailors. Paul had started a church there. Meanwhile, far away in Jerusalem, many of the first believers were poor, and hard times had made things worse. So for years Paul had been organising a collection among the Gentile churches, to send help to the believers in Jerusalem. The churches of Macedonia, though very poor themselves, had begged to be allowed to give, and had given more than anyone expected. Now Paul writes to the Corinthians. A year ago you were eager to give, he says. Please finish what you started.

But Paul does not twist their arm. He does not command them. Instead he reminds them of something. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. Think about what that means. The Son of God, who shared the glory of heaven, came down and was born to a poor family, laid in a manger, raised in a village. He gave up riches you cannot imagine. Why? For your sakes, Paul says, so that you might become rich in everything that really matters.

Then Paul uses a farmer's picture. Whoever sows a few seeds will reap a small harvest. Whoever sows generously will reap generously. So let each person give as they have decided in their heart, not reluctantly, not because they feel forced. For God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make every kind of grace overflow to you, so that you will always have enough, and plenty left over for every good work. God gives seed to the sower and bread for food. He will supply and multiply your seed, and grow a harvest of goodness.

And here is what Paul loves most. When the gift arrives in Jerusalem, it will not only meet the needs of God's people. It will overflow in many thanksgivings to God. The poor believers will thank God for the Corinthians, and pray for them, and long to see them. Strangers become family. Gifts become prayers. And as Paul thinks of all this, giving and grace and thanksgiving all flowing together, he remembers where it all began, and he bursts out: thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. The gift too great for words is Jesus himself.

The book of Acts mentions a great famine in the days of the emperor Claudius, when believers in Antioch sent relief to Judea. The Jewish historian Josephus describes a severe famine in Judea in those same years, and tells how Queen Helena of Adiabene, a convert to Judaism, bought grain from Egypt and figs from Cyprus to feed the hungry in Jerusalem.

The Indescribable Gift. You'll find it in Second Corinthians chapter eight, verse nine, and chapter nine, verses six to fifteen. At Christmas we give gifts, and Paul reminds us why: because God gave first. So here is a question to carry with you. Who could you give to cheerfully this Christmas, someone who cannot give anything back?