2 Corinthians 9:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He calls generosity here "simplicity, which through us produces thanksgiving to God," because from it comes not only almsgiving, but also occasion for great thanksgiving, and not only thanksgiving but much else besides. The Apostle lists this in the following words, so that by showing the many good consequences of generosity, he may stir them to greater zeal.

Orthodox Christians, in these present days a heart-rending cry of millions of starving people resounds from the provinces of Samara and Orenburg. In the newspapers, eyewitnesses of the calamity describe terrible scenes of famine. It is hard to read them, knowing that famine is already raging now, at the beginning of autumn.

What will happen in winter? With what, and how, will the starving meet the spring? Will they even meet it? Will they live to see it? From Samara they write: "It is still only autumn, yet the peasants of Samara province already have no bread.

"At the same time there is a mass of accumulated arrears, an even greater mass of private debts, and half the livestock has been sold for almost nothing. There is nothing with which to feed the rest. In spring the peasants will have nothing with which to make a new sowing, nothing to support their ruined household, and nothing to feed their families."

What then? Shall we leave the poor to the mercy of fate, to die the most tormenting of deaths, death by hunger? No, no. Hungry Christians in Palestine were helped in good time and with zeal by the Christians of Macedonia, Corinth, and Galatia. The famine was averted, and despondency of spirit was removed.

Christ expects the same from us, who live in better conditions. Let us, all Russian Christians, give bread to the hungry and avert the horrors of famine. It is not much for each person to sacrifice. One need only deny oneself, even once, one of the ordinary dishes at table, and give the unspent sum for the starving.

For you, my Orthodox listeners, a field of constant, zealous, orderly, and proportionate charity opens in a circle close at hand. It is among you, for our poor parishioners, widows, orphans, the sick, and other unfortunate people.

It is not unknown to you that we intended to establish a society to help the poor of our parish. The charter of this society has already been approved and printed, and it is being distributed to all and each. Today the Lord will bless us to open this society and place it under the protection of the Theotokos.

We earnestly ask you not to refuse us your sympathy and assistance. Poverty, illness, and other misfortunes compel a person to seek support from others. Open your hearts. Help with your means, with your counsel, and by observing the needs of your neighbors.

Do not be stingy in benefactions: he who sows sparingly will himself also reap sparingly. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, your alms, and glorify and thank your Father in heaven. To Him, from all, always belongs all glory, honor, and worship (Mt 5:16).

This rich almsgiving of yours, he says, compels even us to thank God. "Which works through us thanksgiving to God." But how was this done?

Paul, who urged them to almsgiving, saw the poor comforted by alms. He also saw the Corinthians themselves obeying his evangelical commandment and willingly fulfilling this virtue. For this he offered thanksgiving to God.

"For the ministry of this service," he says, "not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also abounds through many thanksgivings to God. Through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for your obedience to the confession of the Gospel of Christ, and for the simplicity of your fellowship with them and with all" (2 Cor 9:12-13).

"The sower seems to spend and scatter his seed. The giver of alms also seems to scatter his goods. Yet this deed bears fruit, and bears it more surely than sowing. From sowing there is not always a harvest, but from the sowing of alms there is never crop failure.

"Only goodwill must be placed into it. This disposition is like rain falling in due season upon the sowing. Let each give as much as his heart is disposed to give. Whatever is not according to this measure will be fruitless.

"Not out of grief or necessity. By grief is meant regret over what is given, which is a sign of stinginess. By necessity is meant compulsion, whether from the need to obey or from the common nature of the work.

"The Apostle wants giving to proceed from the heart, like lush grass from rich soil."

According to St. John Chrysostom, "many fear to give alms on the pretext that they themselves may become poor and have to beg alms from others. To dispel this fear, the Apostle entreats God that every grace may abound. He asks God for them neither riches nor excess, but every sufficiency. In spiritual goods, however, he asks abundance for them.

"Time will end, but the fruits of beneficence will remain, and in due season they will be reaped by the benefactor. The Apostle brings in the prophet as counselor (Ps 111:9), finding a testimony that urges generosity. For the word 'he has scattered' means nothing other than generosity in giving. And although what was given is no longer present, the fruits of giving remain forever.

"But even in this age the same prophet gives assurance: I have not seen such a righteous benefactor forsaken, and his seed shall be in blessing" (Ps 36:25-26).

Then, in his prayer, the Apostle asks God that the Corinthians, having received seed for the sowing of alms, may truly use it for this purpose. In this way they would be enriched with the fruits of righteousness. The Apostle desires that their material sufficiency should go together with spiritual progress (Theophan).

In verse 11, according to the explanation of Blessed Theophylact, the Apostle teaches how wealth must be used. "It must not be buried in the ground, but possessed in all simplicity, that is, given away with every generosity." By simplicity here he means generosity, from which almsgiving comes, and which gives occasion for great thanksgiving (Chrysostom).

But this is not for your own pleasure. It is "for every simplicity," that is, for every generous giving, or for the increase of beneficence. Theophylact writes: "The Apostle shows how wealth must be used. It must not be buried in the ground, he says, but possessed in every simplicity, that is, spent with every generosity."

"Which works through us thanksgiving to God." Receiving help from your generosity, those in need will send up thanksgiving to God. They will thank Him both because He gave you sufficiency, and because He inspires you to make good use of it.

By the word "through us," the Apostle indicates his mediation in arranging the giving of alms. St. Chrysostom says: "Spend your wealth not on what you ought not, but on what brings thanksgiving to God.

"God has placed much under our authority. Reserving the lesser thing for Himself, He has yielded the more important to us. Thus He reserved for Himself the care of our sensible food, but entrusted to us the care of the spiritual. It lies within our power to make our noetic fields flourish.

"They require neither rains nor temperate air. Let there be only one thing, a willing purpose, and they will grow up to heaven itself. By simplicity here he means generosity, from which almsgiving comes, and which gives occasion for great thanksgiving."