I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. Romans 15:24-29
“Why then did Paul conceive and initiate this freewill offering project, this koinōnia? Clearly he saw great significance in it, as may be seen partly from the disproportionate amount of space which he devoted to it in his letters, partly from the passionate zeal with which he promoted it, and partly from his astonishing decision to add nearly 2,000 miles to his journey, in order to present the offering himself. Instead of sailing directly west from Corinth to Rome to Spain, he has made up his mind to travel first in entirely the wrong direction, that is go to Rome via Jerusalem!
The significance of the offering (the solidarity of God’s people in Christ) was primarily neither geographical (from Greece to Judea), nor social (from the rich to the poor), nor even ethnic (from Gentiles to Jews), but both religious (from liberated radicals to traditional conservatives, that is, from the strong to the weak), and especially theological (from beneficiaries to benefactors). In other words, the so-called ‘gift’ was in reality a ‘debt’…when we Gentiles are thinking of the great blessings of salvation, we are hugely in debt to the Jews and always will be. Paul sees the offering from the Gentile churches as a humble, material, symbolic demonstration of this indebtedness.”
John R. W. Stott (1921-2011) in The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World (Downers Grove: IVP, 1994) 386-387.
By the time you are reading this, Jenni and I will have arrived in Malaga, Spain, for the European Generosity Consultation and Compass Europartners conference. Jenni is eager to share her Spanish stewardship curriculum, and as ECFA International Liaison, I pray that my plenary address and workshop will motivate attendees to rally together to adopt standards for financial transparency in Europe in order to enhance trust and inspire more generous participation in God’s work.
While we don’t have record whether or not the Apostle Paul made it to Spain, evidence exists here in Malaga of a Roman presence at the time of Paul. We hope to visit the Roman theatre and other ruins on Sunday. We are amazed to think that the Apostle Paul spent about five years of his life (AD 53-58) to travel throughout the ancient Mediterranean world to facilitate this “freewill offering project” in order to deliver material blessings to those that shared spiritual blessings with them.
Is there someone in your life that has blessed you with a spiritual blessing who may be in need of a material blessing today? Ask God to guide you regarding what to share with them.