2 Corinthians 9:1-11
The Myth of Participation
October 12, 2025
Last week: “The Myth of Privacy”
This week: The Myth of Participation
“The Myth of Participation” says: “I want to give, but I just don’t have enough money to do that right now, but as soon as I have more money, then I will start giving.”
2 Cor. 8:12 – “For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.”
2 Cor. 9:1-2 – “Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them.”
2 Cor. 9:3-4 – “But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident.”
2 Cor. 9:5 – “So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.”
“Exaction,” Gk. πλεονεξία (pleonexia), “an advantage which one possesses over another”
1. The greater the generosity, the greater the impact.
2 Cor. 9:6 – “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
2. God loves cheerful giving.
2 Cor. 9:7 – “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
“Cheerful,” Gk. ἱλαρός (hilaros), Eng. “hilarious”
Deut. 15:10 – “You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.”
Deut. 15:9 – “Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin.”
“The seventh year, the year of release,” the Sabbatical year (Lev. 25)
“Faith is taking God at His word.” (Dr. James Reeves)
3. God Himself has been generous to us so that we would be generous in return.
2 Cor. 9:8-9 – “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’”
Psalm 112:9 – “He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor.”
Psalm 112:1 – “Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!”
Psalm 112:10 – “The wicked man sees it and is angry.”
4. God Himself is the source of our generosity.
2 Cor. 9:10 – “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”
Ja. 1:17
Q: Is there ever a time when we should not be generous?
2 Cor. 9:11 – “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”
“Enriched,” Gk. πλουτίζω (ploutizō), “to make rich”
Truth: Generosity has nothing to do with ‘the right time’ and everything to do with ‘the right heart.’”
2 Cor. 8:1-2 – “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.”
Q: If you were God, would you give you more money right now?
TAKEAWAYS
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You are called to give both your money and your time.
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Generosity isn’t about what you give; it’s about how you live.