“Enthusiasm, Praise, and Zeal!”

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:16-24

In the first 15 verses of this chapter, Paul has been exhorting the church in Corinth to not only be more charitable in their giving to those who are in need, but to consider the reasons that they haven’t been more generous. Last week, we considered the generosity of our Lord Jesus Christ toward us and what our generous nature should look like. Today we continue in this chapter, not to see what we must do, not who we must appear to be, but what our attitude in generous giving should be like.

A woman wrote to one of those advice columns in her local newspaper with the following question:
“Can you tell me how a person who has a hard time walking without pain can dance and enjoy it? I do feel it for the next few days afterward, but as I normally limp around anyway, I just go ahead. When I hear good music, I can't sit still. What's the name for a thing like that?”
And the columnist’s answer was this:
“It's [called] 'a good attitude,' Congratulations”.
- Homiletics OnLine

The proper attitude in life can overcome any and every obstacle that we will ever encounter, any and every issue that might be a cause for limitation, any and every negative thought that could possible cause us to doubt. The wrong attitude, on the other hand, will obstruct us at every turn.

Read 2 Corinthians 8:16-21

Let’s think about the attitudes that are being displayed in this passage.
First, there is thanksgiving for what the Lord has done (v.16). Paul doesn’t start patting Titus on the back for being so loving of the people – he gives God the glory for the care and concern that is being shown. We must always remember that generosity isn’t an attribute that we will ever develop on our own. It is one of the great gifts from Almighty God!
Second, Titus is reportedly on his way to Corinth with “much enthusiasm” (v. 17)! He doesn’t see either the trip or the task as a burden – it’s a joy to serve! It wasn’t because of pride in what he was doing, it wasn’t a sense of accomplishment on his part, and Titus didn’t even see this responsibility as an honor. It was simply a joy for him to be able to serve in this way.
Next, we meet one of the unnamed brothers who was praised for his “service to the gospel” (v. 18). Not for his faith, not for his intelligence, not for his honesty, not for his accomplishments, but for his love in serving in the name of Jesus Christ. Paul doesn’t pat this brother on the back, either, but just offers the thought that he has joined the group in their journey because he is a good and faithful servant!
And last, Paul mentions the offering. He doesn’t praise the churches for their generosity, he doesn’t rejoice in the magnitude of the giving - he simply states that it is given to bring honor to the Lord and to show the church’s enthusiasm to help others.

The attitudes that Paul is describing, without his being overly obvious about it, are those of humility, gratitude and a complete focus on faithfulness to God. And with this approach to our faith expression, with the generous giving of ourselves to the Lord and his Church, with all that we have and all that we are, it becomes a second nature for us and we will soon discover that we will never again be able to do otherwise!

Read 2 Corinthians 8:22-24

We now meet a second unnamed brother who is joining the group. The first was chosen because of his service to the good news of Jesus Christ. This second man was chosen for his great zeal in faith. Not a word about the specifics of their service or enthusiasm – just the inference that it was all about Jesus, and to him the honor and glory!
Unselfish, unbridled, without apology, and in joy!
And what about Titus? What attributes does Paul offer for him? He is simply Paul’s “partner and fellow worker” (v. 23) He gives Titus a status equal to his own – neither is superior and they are working shoulder to shoulder. This time, it is Paul who claims no honor for himself, but shares every good outcome with Titus.
And he describes the three as “representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ”. Think about it – three men, traveling together with the offerings from the Gentile churches to be given to the church in Jerusalem, with no individual agendas but providing accountability for each other. No thoughts of personal honor and privilege – only a joy in being allowed to serve in this way.

And if this weren’t enough, Paul tells the Corinthians to receive them and love them and show them how worthy their church is. Remember that this chapter began with Paul’s chastising them for being less than generous in their offering! And now he implies that he is proud of them! What could have changed?
The truth is that I don’t believe that anything had changed. Paul was disappointed in their lack of compassion for Jerusalem, but that had no impact on his love and admiration for the people of Corinth. He knew that their hearts were right through the evidence of their past generosity, and he was not going to let them fall away now. He would continue in his confidence of their faith, and would challenge them to continue to be eager and enthused in their service to others, to live up to their commitment to help those who were less fortunate. I encourage you to read the next chapter (2 Corinthians 9) on your own this week (I’ll bet you didn’t know that you would be getting homework!!) to see just how certain Paul was of this church and their great zeal and generous nature.

The point of our lesson this week is this: We can make commitments, we can tell great stories of faith, we can have absolute trust in Almighty God, but if we don’t put our words and thoughts into action, what have we gained?? Or more importantly, what has our Lord gained?

A man walked into a pet store and said, “I want to return this talking bird.”
The store owner said, “Well, sir, we guarantee that all our birds can talk, but we can't guarantee when they will talk.”
“No, no”, the man said. “The bird talks all right, but I don't like its attitude. For six days I said to the bird, 'Can you talk?' The bird said nothing. Every morning and every night I stood in front of the cage and said, 'Can you talk?' The bird said nothing again. Finally this morning, I lost my temper and shouted at the bird, 'You stupid bird, can you talk?!' “
“So, what happened?” the owner asked.
“That bird looked at me and said, 'Yeah, I can talk. Can you fly?'”
-R. Scott Colglazier, Finding a Faith That Makes Sense (St. Louis: Chalice Press),76.

The question before us today, then, is this – are we talkers or are we flyers? Are we focused on simply showing up so that others can see us, or are we doing those things that we commit to, whether others know about it or not? Do we seek out the glamorous jobs or the menial ones, and willingly accept any task we are given? Do we grudgingly go about our task of serving the gospel, or do we approach it with great zeal and enthusiasm?

Titus and his two companions, on that vitally important journey to Jerusalem via Corinth, were “flying”. They would be traveling somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 miles, all of it on foot and it would take several months to complete the trip. They were carrying a good amount of cash and could, at any bend in the road, be attacked by robbers. They would be subjected to cold nights and hot days, sun and rain, aching and tired feet. But nothing would cause them to lose their passion for the assignment they had received, and while I don’t know for sure, I can just imagine them walking down the road, singing songs of praise and worship, and sharing their love of the Lord with anyone who happened to be traveling in the same direction that they were. These men were flyers in faith without equal!

No job too small, no task too daunting. They simply trusted in the Lord and praised him for being able to serve in his gospel of hope and life, and they did that with an enthusiasm and zeal that can barely be described.
Can we say the same thing?