A reflection on 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 & Luke 9:37-43

Paul is bragging about the Macedonian churches, but listen to what he’s bragging about—these people are in “great trial of affliction” and “deep poverty.” They shouldn’t have anything to give. But they’re giving with “abundance of their joy,” and their poverty is somehow overflowing into “riches of their liberality.” They’re giving beyond their ability. And they’re begging Paul to let them participate.

Paul tells you the secret: “They first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.” That’s the key. They didn’t give money first—they gave themselves first. And once you give yourself to God, you suddenly have access to resources that don’t come from your bank account.

Meanwhile, Jesus comes down from the mountain. A desperate father runs up—his only child is possessed. He already tried the disciples. They couldn’t do anything. Jesus’s response? “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?” He’s talking to the disciples. They failed because they were disconnected—operating from technique rather than communion. Then Jesus heals the boy immediately, and everyone marvels at “the majesty of God.”

When you give yourself first to God—when you’re operating from actual communion with divine life—power flows that seems impossible from your natural resources alone.

The Macedonians shouldn’t have been able to give like that. They were poor and suffering. But because they gave themselves to the Lord first, their poverty became abundance, their affliction became joy. They were connected. Their generosity flowed from that communion, not from their bank accounts.

The disciples had authority. They’d cast out demons before. But this time? Nothing. They were going through the motions, trying to manage the situation from their heads, using the right techniques without being actually plugged into God. They were performing rather than communing. That’s what Jesus means by “faithless”—not that they disbelieved, but that they were disconnected.

On the inner level, this is huge. You can’t access divine power by white-knuckling it. The Macedonians didn’t give through gritted teeth. They gave with “abundance of joy”—joy in the middle of affliction, abundance in the middle of poverty. That’s only possible when you’ve given yourself to God first, when you’re operating from living connection to divine life rather than from your ego’s desperate attempts to manage.

The disciples were in their heads, probably using the right words, the right techniques. But they weren’t connected to the source. Communion with God—that’s what makes divine power flow. Not correct theology, not right technique. Your soul is always connected to God, always hearing that voice. The disciples weren’t listening. They were managing, not communing.

Think about what this means practically. The Macedonians were poor—that was real. But they didn’t let their poverty define what was possible because they were operating from communion with God, not from their own resources. The disciples had failed—that was real. But Jesus shows them that divine power is available when you’re actually connected, actually listening, actually moving from that place where your soul touches God.

Paul emphasizes: it was the “grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.” They didn’t manufacture this generosity through willpower. It was grace—divine power working through their self-giving, through their communion with God. Similarly, Jesus doesn’t just criticize the disciples—He immediately heals the child, showing the reality of communion with God.

Bottom line: The Macedonians gave beyond their ability because they gave themselves first—they were operating from communion with God. The disciples failed because they operated from technique without connection. Divine power flows through self-giving and living communion, not through having the right resources or right actions. The point isn’t that God becomes your wish fulfiller when you have enough faith. The point is that when you give yourself completely to God—when you’re actually communing with Him rather than managing reality from your head—you participate in His work in ways that transcend your natural limitations. The Macedonians’ generosity served God’s purposes. Jesus’s healing served the Father’s will. Communion opens you to participate in the good, true, and beautiful things God is already doing, not to bend divine power toward your agenda.