Chapter Nine--Cheerful, Cherish

Lesson Nine CHEERFUL, CHERISH

Cheerful

The Greek word for cheerful is hilaros, used only once in the New Testament. It is the derivation of the English word "hilarious." It sig-nifies that readiness of mind, that joyful and gracious attitude, which is prompt to do anything. Webster defines "cheerful" as "full of cheer; gleeful; joyous; also, ungrudging, hearty."

In a papyrus of the fourth century A. D. hilaros is used to describe the bright color of gold that has been cast into a furnace. In another papyrus it is used as a proper name, Hilara. In the Septuagint version of Psalms 104:15 the verb hilaruna translates a Hebrew word meaning "to cause to shine." Cheerful people have indeed happy dispositions that can well be described by the bright color of molten gold. They are indeed worthy of the name Hilara, Cheerful. They have indeed allowed God to make them shine, to create in them a radiant disposition.

Casting light on the meaning of hilaros is its use in two quotations from the Shepherd of Hermas: "Why are you downcast, Hermas? for you were wont to be patient and temperate, and always smiling. Why are you so gloomy and not cheerful?" (Vision 1.2, 3); "With cheerful countenance did she depart, and as she went, she said to me, 'Behave like a Man 1:1,(VisionHermas'".4, 3). Cheerful people have a smiling, not gloomy , disposition. They have a cheerful, not cheerless, countenance.

Let us now consider the sole New Testament passage in which hilaros is used: "Let each man do according as he hath purposed in his heart: not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7). The apostle makes it plain that the opposite of the cheerful giver is the one who gives grudgingly, or of necessity. The word "grudg-ingly" in the Greek is lupe, meaning "grief, sorrow." So the cheerless giver gives of grief or sorrow, unsmilingly, unhappily, with the feeling of tragedy, as if his giving is loss rather than gain.

The Greek word for "necessity" is anagke, meaning "under compulsion." The cheerless giver gives not because he wants to but because he has to. It may be that he gives because of pressure put on him by others. Cf. Luke 18:2-5. It may be that he gives because of the constraint of what he feels to be a legal requirement of divine revelation. But in either case his giving is not done freely and willingly. Paul re-quested that Philemon accept his runaway slave Onesimus back in his household because he would freely desire to do so, not merely because it was his cold duty to do so: "But without thy mind I would do nothing; that thy goodness should not be as of necessity, but of free will" (Philemon 1:14). And the goodness of Christian giving is always that of free will, of unbounding willingness. Such giving is truly cheerful giving.

Concerning divinely acceptable giving, Clement of Alexandria said, "See then, first, that he has not commanded you to be solicited or to wait to be importuned, but yourself to see those who are to be benefited. . . .Excellent accordingly also is the apostle's saying, 'For the Lord loveth a cheerful giver,' who delights in giving, and spares not, sowing that he may also reap, without murmuring, and disputing, and regret, which is pure beneficience."

In the apocryphal Septuagint the grace of cheerful giving is beautifully expressed: "In all thy gifts show a cheerful countenance, and dedicate thy tithes with gladness. Give unto the Most High according as he hath enriched thee; and as thou hast gotten give with a cheerful eye. For the Lord recompenseth, and will give thee seven times as much" (Sir 25:9-11).

When Paul observes that "God loveth a cheerful giver," he does not deny the love God has for all men, including cheerless givers. But he does affirm that the love God has for the cheerful giver is a very special kind of love, the love that declares His approval of them, that expresses His admiration for them because in their giving they are like Him, the gracious Giver of all good gifts. Cf. the Septuagint of Proverbs 22:9 , "God blesses a cheerful (hilaron) and liberal man."

Gracious, warmhearted people do not enjoy receiving a gift, no matter how valuable it may be, that is forced and constrained. And God will not approve or commend what His children give Him unless it is given joyously and willingly. He desires not only liberal giving but also gracious hearts.

Notice some characteristics of the Christian who is a cheerful giver:

1. He has a heart free from covetousness. Covetousness is the attitude of greediness or avarice, the desire to have more than one's rightful share. The covetous person believes that the abundant life consists in what one possesses and not in what he gives; he believes that it is more blessed to receive than to give. But the cheerful giver believes that the abundant life consists in liberality, openheartedness, unselfishness, concern for God's work and the needs of others. He believes that the higher blessedness of life is not in receiving but in giving. See Acts 20:35.

2. He is grateful for the blessings he has received from God. The cheerful giver is ever mindful of the greatest gift of all, the gift of God's only begotten Son, which has made possible his freedom from sin (John 3:16). He is ever mindful of the continual blessings, both spiritual and physical, that flow to him from the bountiful hand of his Father (James 1:17). Being grateful for the manifold blessings he has received from God, he finds it easy and joyous to give to God what rightfully should be dedicated to His service.

3. He loves God and men. Love always motivates cheerful giving. When we love someone, we want to please him, to serve him, to do for him. We never find it hard to sacrifice for those whom we love. So one who truly loves God and men, cheerfully gives of his means to glorify God and to bless men.

4. He is dependent on the grace of God. In appealing to the Corin-thian Christians concerning their responsibility and privilege of giving to the Lord, thus to benefit their poverty-stricken brethren, the apostle Paul pointed them to the example of the Macedonian Christians: "More-over, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God which hath been given in the; churches of Macedonia; how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For according to their power, I bear witness, yea and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord beseeching us with much entreaty in regard of this grace and the fellow-ship in the ministering to the saints: and this, not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God" (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). Notice in this citation the relationship be-tween the grace of God given the Macedonian Christians and their joyful , liberal giving. It was not by main strength and awkwardness that they so graciously gave to the Lord, but by the outworking of the grace of God which had flowed into their hearts. Their dependence for acceptable giving was not on themselves but on God. They were truly converted to the Lord, having first given themselves to Him. And all others who are truly converted to: the Lord, no matter how poor they may be, always find through God's grace the power for cheerful, liberal giving. Such giving is always a manifestation of God's grace in them.

Then, too, we must recognize that the truly converted Christian, who loves God and is grateful for His blessings, gives cheerfully and liberally because he knows that he will be the recipient of divine grace for higher and more fruitful living. Carefully read 2 Corinthians 9:8-12. Once any Christian is convinced that cheerful, liberal giving will always result in the grace of God for increasingly abundant living, there will be no "stew" in his stewardship of the manifold grace of God.

A word closely akin to hilaros is the noun hilarotes, meaning "cheerfulness, gladness, graciousness." In the New Testament it is used only in Romans 12:8, ". . . he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness." Cheerfulness describes the attitude of the cheerful person. It must characterize every act of mercy the Christian renders others. As God loves the cheer-ful giver, so also He loves everyone who extends mercy to others with cheerfulness. "Wherefore put on cheerfulness, which always is agreeable and acceptable to, God, and rejoice in it" (Shepherd of Hernias, Com-mandments X.2, 6)

Cherish

The word "cherish" is one of the most beautiful, meaningful words in the New Testament. It is from the Greek thalpo, primarily meaning "to heat or warm." In classical Greek this meaning is quite common; for example, "And this moment the bow was in the hands of Eurmachus, who was warming it by the fire" (Homer, Odyssey XXI.179). Metaphorically deceiving,"means thalpo "to soften by as in the writings o fAristophanes. In the writings of Sophocles it is used to describe the inflaming or heating of passion. It is also used metaphorically with the meaning of "comfort or cherish," as in the writings of Theocritus. An example of the use of the noun thalpore, comfort or consolation, is Homer, Illiad 1.167, where Andromache cries out to her husband Hector who is ready to go into combat against Achilles, "It would be better for me, should I lose you , tocomfortliedeadandburied, I shall have nothing left to bring me when you are gone, save sorrow."

Thalpo is used only twice in the New Testament. Its first occurrence is in Ephesians 5:29, quoted here with the preceding verse: "Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their awn bodies. He that loveth his own wife loveth himself: for no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as Christ also the church." In his use here of thalpo, cherish, Paul may have both its literal and meta-phorical meanings in mind. Certainly, the man who loves his own body will provide for its warmth, as he is able, by furnishing himself with suitable clothing and shelter. And if he loves his own wife as his own body, he will provide the means of keeping her body warm. But far more important than the physical comfort he provides her is the spiritual and mental comfort he gives her to keep her heart warm. It is interesting to note here that in a papyrus of the sixth century A. D. there is a marriage contract in which a husband undertakes to "love, cherish, and serve" his wife. These words are virtually literally incorporated in many modern wedding ceremonies. Every Christian husband who reads this is asked to recall the nuptial vows he made before the wedding altar. In effect, did you not promise to love, cherish, and serve your wife? Are you keeping this promise? Are you as solicitous for the welfare of your wife as for your own body? Do you lovingly labor not only to keep her body warm, but also to keep her heart warm by the courtesy, con-sideration and encouragement you constantly extend her? Paul says that the husband is to show the same concern for his wife that Christ shows for the church. He who gave Himself for the church is tenderly , lovingly solicitous for its every need. See Matthew 6:33; Ephesians 5:25-27. And so must Christian husbands imitate His concern for the church as they lovingly cherish their wives.

The one other use of thalpo in the New Testament is in 1 Thessalonians 2:7, quoted here with the next verse: "But we were gentle in the midst of you, as when a nurse cherisheth her own children: even So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us." Paul declares that he and his co-workers had the same attitude toward their Thessalonian brethren as a nursing mother has toward her own children. The word "gentle" is from the Greek epios which is,commonlyusedofthekindnessofparentstowardtheirchildren.

As a loving mother nurses her offspring with gentleness, so Paul and his fellow workers nurtured their brethren in the same gentle spirit. They cherished them in feeding them the word of God, just as a nursing mother cherishes her children in providing them with the milk of her breast.

Why does the loving mother cherish her children? Because they are dear to her. And Paul and his co-workers cherished their brethren in Thessolonica, treating them with gentleness, because, to use the apostle's own words, "Ye were become very dear to us."

We are reminded here of the use of thalpo in the Septuagint of Deuteronomy 22:16, where the description is made of birds covering their young with feathers. This figure is made memorable by our Lord's mournful words over Jerusalem: "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her; how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matthew 23:37). Even though the Lord's offer of care and protection was refused by the subborn, recalcitrant Jews, yet His tender, solicitous feeling for them was essentially the same as that of a clucking hen for her tiny chickens. This was the attitude of Paul and his co-workers toward their brethren, and it must be the attitude of all other Christians who would please their Lord. When we truly love our brethren, we will deal with them gently, graciously, and patiently, cherishing them as our Lord does.

Questions

• Discuss the use of hilaros in the papyri, the Septuagint, and the Shepherd of Hermas.

• What is meant by a cheerful giver? Why does the Lord love such a giver?

• Discuss some of the characteristics of the Christian who is a cheerful giver.

• How is thalpo used in classical Greek?

• How are Christian husbands to cherish their wives?

• How did Paul and co-workers cherish their Thessalonian brethren?

• What should be our attitude toward our brethren?