The context for this portion of the Corinthian
correspondence is the collection for the saints in Jerusalem who were suffering
extreme poverty during an extended famine. The fundraising has stalled and the
weekly installments (1
Corinthians 16:2) have come up short. I image
there were a good number of wealthy Corinthians who used the occasion to point
out the foolishness of selling all your possessions and holding everything in
common. (Acts
2:44-45) Paul, ever the pragmatist, appeals to their pride, the
very thing he has previously argued against. But maybe this is where the
thirteenth chapter of his first letter “If I speak in the tongues of men and
angels and have not love I am a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal” is wedded to
the words of Jesus’ half-bother James. “Suppose a brother or a sister is
without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep
warm and well fed, “but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is
it? (James 2:15-17) If we have been made rich by the poverty of Christ how can
we not be generous toward the needs of others? Paul would not have said it that way but James, who as blood
kin is closer to Jesus than Paul, states the obvious. Faith without works is no faith at
all. Maybe that is why James sounds more like his half-brother than Paul
does. If someone is hungry give them food. If someone is thirsty give them
something to drink. If someone is naked clothe them. If someone is in prison
visit them. If someone is without shelter house them. If your brothers and
sisters in Jerusalem are in need, do whatever you can to help them. It's a
no-brainer. But Paul, ever the politician, cleans it up a bit and says, in doing so you will
excel in the generous undertaking of doing for others as has been done for you.
Which is Paul's way of speaking like James. "Just do it."
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