For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. Matthew 15:26-27
“So why did Paul take up the collection for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem? No single answer suffices. Surely the entire OT with its message that God wants His people to be concerned about the poor, forms the solid basis for his goal to collect money for those in the mother church who were struggling financially.
Furthermore, Paul felt so passionate about this project that he sought to motivate the Corinthians to participate by emphasizing that giving money was an essential part of their worship before God. But at the very core of his being, Paul saw the collection as his personal project whereby he was hoping to heal the growing rift in the church between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians.
If through a much-needed monetary gift to the church in Jerusalem the Jewish believers would be convinced that the Gentile believers in Paul’s churches saw them as brothers and sisters in Christ, he hoped that the former would reciprocate in their thinking that the Gentile Christians are equally and fully within the body of Christ.”
Verlyn D. Verbrugge & Keith R. Krell in Paul & Money: A Biblical Analysis of the Apostle’s Teachings and Practices (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015) 146.
Perhaps what I love most about this set of comments from the late, Verlyn D. Verbrugge, is this: Christian generosity projects may have multiple motivations but when done right, they always unify people and glorify God. As you move toward Lent which begins this Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, consider how your generous sharing with the poor this Lent could have that purpose. Pray into that and follow the leading of the Spirit.