Share With Those Who Have Not

11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” (Luke 3.11 ESV)

Assess your excess. What is your “2nd tunic”?

The first aspect of John’s instruction here involves some honest self-examination. The teaching goes beyond simply “check and see if you have an extra shirt laying around.” “Those who have two tunics”, simply put, have the luxury of extra, the gift of overflowing blessing from God.

Think carefully about our possessions.

Do we have any “2nd tunics”? If so, what does John teach us to do with those “2nd tunics”?

Consider Proverbs 30.7-9 in this light:

“Two things I ask of you;

deny them not to me before I die:

Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

give me neither poverty nor riches;

feed me with the food that is needful for me,

lest I be full and deny you

and say, “Who is the LORD?”

or lest I be poor and steal

and profane the name of my God.” (ESV)

The path of wisdom described here is the same path John commanded in Luke 3. Not poverty, not riches. A middle path.

Be merciful to those who are in need.

Simply put: If you’ve got something extra, give it to one in need. Think about it practically: What good is our extra, our overflow of blessings from God, doing for other people by taking up room in closets, sheds, or basements?

Consider the plight of the one without clothing and food. Pretty dire. Do we think they are comforted or soothed by the fact of our plenty? Have you ever been truly in need?

Remember the parable of the “Good Samaritan” that Jesus taught in Luke 10.33-37? Do you suppose the priest and the Levite had the resources to care for the man overcome by thieves? What good did their “extra” do the man broken and bleeding in the highway?

Repentance is marked by caring more for people than possessions.

You might remember Jesus’ words to the “Rich Young Ruler” in Matthew 19.21-22: “Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

It is not a coincidence that Jesus commanded him to sell his “extra” and give it to those who have not, just as John the Baptist taught his listeners to do.

What is heartbreaking is that this man’s “extra” might have cost him the Kingdom: “When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” (v.22)

Will our use of our “extra” cost us the Kingdom, too?