Lesson Plan for 2 Corinthians 8-13

ICEBREAKER

Show them a picture of a dam and ask: 

Q: Why do we build dams? 

Q: How do dams generate power? 

A: Water naturally seeks equilibrium. If water is in a high place and it is given an outlet, then that water will flow into a lower place until it finds balance again. And as it flows it generates power.

POSSIBLE OBJECT LESSON

You’ll need two watertight containers, one small and another big. I would use a milk jug or one of those ice cream buckets for the small container and then a see through storage bin for the other. Fill the smaller container with water and then place it in the bottom of the storage bin. Then tell them the smaller bucket represents a large lake being held back by a dam. That water is in a state of balance.  But what happens if I poke a hole in the bottom of that pail? Then go ahead and poke a hole. Then let them watch the water flow until it finds balance once again in the bottom of the larger container. Be sure to point out that power is being generated in the flow. They will be able to see it pushing out and creating waves and ripples as it flows.

We live in a world of inequalities. Some people have more than others, they are higher in status or position. They are like the water behind the dam. And others have less and occupy a lower position. They are downstream from the dam and have very little. But what if those in the higher position decide to open the floodgates of generosity and give of their abundance to those downstream? What happens? Power is created. There is power in giving and generosity. 

TRANSITION

Keep this in mind as we study 2 Corinthians 8-9. At this time, there were many Saints in Jerusalem that (because of famine, and war, and persecution) were suffering and poor. So the church leaders, including Paul, were making a special effort to collect funds from the other branches of the church to help the suffering Saints in Judea. Earlier the Saints in Corinth had promised that they would make a contribution to help. So in 2 Corinthians 8-9 Paul reminds them of that promise and teaches them some principles of generosity. 

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"Just say it in plain English Paul” 

You show them the following slide and challenge them to pick one of the verses, translate its meaning into their own words, and then give an example of how a person could live that principle today

EASY: 8:11 

INTERMEDIATE: 9:7 

HARD: 8:13-15 

EASY 2 Corinthians 8:11

11 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.

In plain English? Put your money where your mouth is. Don’t just be willing to help, actually help. 

Like Paul says in 8:24

24 Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf.

You say you love your fellow man and want to help them? Prove it. 

INTERMEDIATE 2 Corinthians 9:7

7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

In plain English: You should give what you’ve decided in your heart to give. Don’t do it reluctantly or because you feel you have to. God loves those who give willingly and cheerfully. 

If you look at the verse just prior to this one it says:

6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 

I think that means that those who give more, get more out of it. 

HARD 2 Corinthians 8:13-15

13 For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:

14 But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:

15 As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

In plain English:

God doesn’t want you to give so that other people can take it easy while your life is made harder, but to make things more equal. Right now, your plenty can supply their lack, so that what you lack can be supplied by them. Like the scriptures say, He that has the most had nothing left over, while he who had the least was not in want. 

Q: Have you ever felt the power of giving? What was it like?

Q: Have you ever felt the power of receiving? What was that like? 

You see, both sides are blessed. Some may wonder why God didn’t make us all financially equal to begin with. Why some rich and many poor. Perhaps we look heavenward and say “Hey! That’s not fair” and he calls back down to us and says “You’re right! That’s good, you’re developing a sense of justice, now get out there and make things more equal”. 

THE HOUSE WITH TWO DOORS

I also like the analogy of the house with two doors. Imagine a large house. That house represents a family’s needs and righteous wants. But what do we do when that gets full. What if we start to bring forth in abundance.  We have quite a problem here. There’s no more room for our abundance. It’s the same problem encountered by the rich fool back in the gospels. His solution was to build bigger barns to fit all of his abundance. God says this is a foolish solution. And I’m sure you see this, those that have more than enough get to the point that they don’t even know what to do with all they’ve been blessed with. So what do they do? they buy bigger houses full of rooms they don’t even use, nicer and nicer cars, and in general they spend more and more extravagantly.  But is there another solution to our house problem? Yes! Open up the back door and start to shovel the abundance out. How do we shovel it out? tithing, fast offerings, humanitarian aid, the missionary fund, direct help to struggling family and friends, disaster relief efforts, charities that help those in developing countries. There are many opportunities to give.  And you know what often happens when there is somebody that is willing to shovel out the back door? I think God says to himself “Well here is a rare individual, somebody that can be satisfied with enough and willing to give of their abundance, lets bless them even more”, and God starts shoveling the blessings more quickly into his front door abundance. So what do you do? Shovel it out the back just as quickly. And in the shoveling, power is generated. And remember, this doesn’t have to all be about money. We can be blessed abundantly in many different ways. 

APPLY

If you were to evaluate your generosity, what grade would you give yourself? A-F What could you do this week to “raise your grade?” 

CONCLUSION

Since we’ve been talking about water, what happens to a lake with no outlet, that only takes and never gives? Two bodies of water that come to mind. The Great Salt Lake in Utah and the Dead Sea in Israel. What has happened to them?  They die! They become lifeless, barren, and bleak. Don’t let this happen to you spiritually! Like you used to sing in Primary: Give said the little stream! And then hurry down the hill to bless others. I promise that as you do, you will find joy and power in the giving. 

ICEBREAKER

Q: When is it right to show “tough love”? 

TRANSITION

2 Corinthians 10-13 are a good example of tough love from an apostle. False prophets had begun to infiltrate the church in Corinth and had beguiled a number of the members. Because Paul was not as eloquent, attractive, or rich as many of these “chiefest apostles” as he called them, some members had begun to criticize Paul and call his authority into question. These chapters are Paul’s defense of his apostleship. 

CRITICISMS OF PAUL

10:1 

He’s timid in person, but bold in his letters when at a safe distance.

10:10 

He writes well, his letters are powerful, but unimpressive in real life. He’s not much to look at, and he’s not a great speaker. 

Joseph Smith Quote

He is about 5 foot high; very dark hair; dark complexion, dark skin; large Roman nose; sharp face; small black eyes, penetrating as eternity; round shoulders; a whining voice, except when elevated and then it almost resembles the roaring of a lion. 

(The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith [comp. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook; Orem, Utah: Grandin Book Company, 1991], 59)

11:6 

He’s rude or unpolished in speech.

11:7-12

He’s not really an apostle because he isn’t supported financially by the church. He’s not willing to take their money to support his basic needs. He’s allowing the Macedonians to do this but with the Corinthians he doesn’t want to give them any excuse to accuse him. Which kind of tells you that he’s probably doing this because he knows how critical the Corinthians are. He was afraid that they would accuse him of preaching for money. But now they are criticizing him for not taking their money. Are you offended because I didn’t let you support me financially?, because I didn’t take  your money?

PAUL’S DEFENSE

10:2-5

We don’t fight the way the world does. They fight dirty. They use manipulation, and boasting, and deception. But we fight fair. 

We use godly weapons. We use the truth to cut through the lies and anything that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.

10:8

We apostles are sent to build you up not tear you down. So if I write “tough love” type letters to you, it’s because I love you and want what’s best for you.

10:12

We don’t do what the world does. We aren’t boasters of our own selves. We don’t commend and compare and rank ourselves the way the world does. We have a different way of doing things. But you know what’s funny, Paul is going to do just that in the next chapter, but in an ironic, sarcastic way.

11:1-5

So, I’m going to be a little foolish here with you, bear with me. 

I care about you guys, I’m jealous over you. Like a father I wanted to marry you to Christ in purity. I’m afraid you’re being deceived and pulled away from the simple gospel of Christ.

So, You guys seem to put up with anybody who comes along and preaches a different Christ or different gospel. He’s referring to these false apostles or chiefest apostles.  If you can put up with them, then you should be able to put up with me, I think I’m just as qualified as them.

11:13

These guys that are charging you for their preaching, and setting themselves up as a light, they’re deceiving you. They may appear good on the outside, but inside their working for Satan. 

11:16-17

Ok guys, I’m going to be a fool for a minute. I’m going to boast of myself a little. I’m not speaking in God’s way right now, because God’s leaders don’t need to boast of themselves, but this may be the only way to get through to you. It reminds of Paul’s statement back in 1 Corinthians 9 where he says he will become anything to anyone to win souls to Christ, To the Jews I become as a Jew that I might gain the Jews, to the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak, So here, he is saying, I become as a fool to the fools, so that I might gain the fools. So, He’s really getting wound up now. 

11:18-21

You seem to tolerate imposters and fools readily. When people come a long and take your money and boast of themselves, you take it, and love it, even if they hit you in the face you bear it willingly. So you love boasting? All right, I’ll give you boasting, (I’m speaking as a fool) but ok, lets do this. 

I’ll one up them on this one.

I work harder than they do

I’ve been persecuted more than they have

I’ve suffered more than they have

11:24-29

24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

That whole last section is a rhetorical device, with the length and repetition, it’s meant to tire them out mentally. Look at all I’ve been through.

Not only have I been through all that, I also have the burden of responsibility for all the churches in this area.

And on top of all that, I have my inner emotional suffering for those that struggle and fall into sin. 

12:1-4

So what about visions and revelations now. I’ve had plenty of those too. 

And the man he is talking about here is himself, in the third person.

Apparently Paul had a vision of the Celestial Kingdom. He knew what heaven was like. 

12:7-12

Apparently there was something about Paul’s appearance that worried him. He calls it his thorn in the flesh. We don’t know what it is. Some think that It could have been something about his eyes or eyesight because of Galatians 4:15 which says:  wherefore I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.”  Whatever it was, it was something that troubled him and he asks God to take it away three times. And God’s answer

So, Don’t worry about it Paul, I will make sure that it doesn’t affect the effectiveness of your work. My grace will make up the difference. So you don’t need this infirmity taken from you. In fact, because you have to rely on me through it, you’ll have my grace and my grace will make you stronger.  And knowing Paul, I imagine the only reason he would have asked for something like that to be taken away would not be out of self concern, but probably because he felt it would make him a better missionary. Maybe he felt it got in the way of the work. He just wanted to be the best missionary he could be.

So, if I have anything else to boast of, I will boast of my infirmities and weaknesses. Because it they actually make me stronger.  

I didn’t want to do this, I’ve made a fool of myself in all this boasting, but you compelled me. I shouldn’t have had to do that. You should have defended me and stood up for me.  I have every right to be considered an apostle of God to you.  And yeah, really sad that Paul had to be reduced to doing thi.

APPLY

What should we do when we encounter others who challenge our beliefs or criticize our leaders and call their authority into question?

HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND

Somebody says to them:  The Church Leaders are way out of touch. Their policies are outdated, they’re unqualified to teach on certain issues, and they are simply too old to really understand our times . All they really want is to control people and take their money.

CONCLUSION

And then conclude with your fervent testimony of the prophets and apostles and how they have blessed you. 

Jeffrey R. Holland Quote 

Brothers and sisters, this is a divine work in process, with the manifestations and blessings of it abounding in every direction, so please don’t hyperventilate if from time to time issues arise that need to be examined, understood, and resolved. They do and they will. In this Church, what we know will always trump what we do not know. And remember, in this world, everyone is to walk by faith.