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Luke 3:10-14
John on Money: How You Handle Possessions
Reveals Your Relationship to God
/The crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?”
And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”
Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?”
And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”/[1]
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o any of us “own” any possessions?
Or are we rather called to be stewards, holding possessions that rightfully belong to another?
We have considered this issue in several previous messages.
The account before us presents a challenge from the Baptist—a challenge to consider the manner in which one handles possessions.
Regardless of who presented the challenge, the account nevertheless enjoys divine blessing.
John was the forerunner pointing to the Messiah.
The account before us has the certification of the Holy Spirit of God.
It has been included in the canon of Scripture.
This particular pericope anticipates the teaching of Jesus, as we shall shortly discover.
We have but few examples of the preaching of John the Baptist.
Perhaps one of the most detailed examples of his preaching is provided in the verses preceding our text.
From that particular account, we can certainly see that John was a biblical preacher.
He had a message that was solidly grounded in the Word of God.
He knew that he had received an appointment from God and thus He was participating with God in advancing the Kingdom of Heaven.
Listen to his message and note the power of his words.
You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.
And do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.”
For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.
Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire [*Luke 3:7-9*].
These words were elicited as the Pharisees and Sadducees approached John as he was baptising [see *Matthew 3:7-10*].
No doubt, they came to him full of confidence that they were righteous and without need.
However, John’s words must surely have arrested them in their self-conceit.
Nevertheless, the words John pointedly spoke would have been applicable to all the people coming to him.
The crowds appear to have been massive.
Mark notes that when John appeared, all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him [*Mark 1:5*].
To speak so sharply to such a biblically literate audience is not the way to win friends and influence people.
It is, however, the way in which to honour God if He has appointed you to preach prophetically.
The people, led by the Pharisees and Sadducees, were apparently assured that they were the people of God, though their hearts were far from God.
They were resting in the knowledge of their lineage.
They were confident in their religion.
John, however, confronted and destroyed those pompous thoughts.
Undoubtedly, the incisive confrontation arising from the prophet’s message arrested those who heard him and caused them to ponder what response might be appropriate.
The message begins with examination of the crowds response to John’s words.
/What then shall we do/? John’s answer to this question becomes the basis for our message today.
I would anticipate that each of us will benefit if we apply the censure of the Baptist to our own lives and ask of God, What then shall we do?
Asking the question, we will see the answer revealed through John’s response.
I do ask that you clearly establish in your mind who asked the question of John.
The crowds coming out to be baptised by him were the ones asking, What then shall we do?
Those who determined that they would submit to the righteous claims of the coming Messiah were the ones asking how they should conduct their lives.
They asked because they were confronted by the bracing demands of John’s message.
To translate this into contemporary terms, each individual who confesses himself or herself to be a Christian is confronted by statements such as these from the Baptist.
Since the condition for salvation is repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ [see *Mark 1:14, 15; Acts 20:18-21*], what evidence does one present that repentance has occurred?
How may one know that the faith possessed is saving faith?
Those who repent and believe the message of life are those who please God, and the life they live will be a life pleasing to God.
Based on John’s response to the questions raised, I am confident that we can make three great, sweeping statements concerning the life that is pleasing to God—the fruits of repentance and faith.
The statements are generalities.
They do not necessarily address specifics.
The specifics are left up to the individual as the spirit is submitted to the mind of Christ.
Nevertheless, in general, the life pleasing to God demands generosity.
The life pleasing to God demands honesty.
Finally, the life pleasing to God demands faith.
The Life Pleasing to God Demands Generosity — The transformed heart is a generous heart.
Understand that John is not saying that through generosity one will gain acceptance by God.
Acceptance by God, however, will transform the heart of an individual.
What is evident is that the love of God will be exhibited through a generous heart.
This point is sufficiently vital to the message that I must take time to ensure that each of us fully comprehend what is being stated.
At stake is nothing less than an axiom of the Faith.
We do not perform certain works in order to be saved; but because we are saved, those works in question will be a part of our life.
One does not act in some prescribed manner in order to become a Christian, but because one is a Christian he will act according to God’s love.
God is love [*1 John 4:16*].
This is a statement of God’s essential character rather than a mere emotional characterisation.
God is love and the impact of that statement on each of our lives should be evident from review of something that John wrote in *1 John 4:7-12*.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Don’t you find it fascinating that John did not call people to his austere lifestyle?
Neither did he demand commitment to a series of ritual religious acts.
There was no statement of the need to adhere to the Jewish sacrificial system to demonstrate the reality of one’s faith.
Instead, John pointed to meeting the needs of others.
The life that is pleasing to God is generous and the generosity is voluntary.
Underscore this truth in your mind.
There is no coercion in the Christian Faith.
Those Mormons who wish to receive a Temple recommend must observe “the law of tithing” which amounts to ten percent of their “increase” plus “fast offerings” and other assorted “donations.”
Likewise, adherents of the Jehovah’s Witnesses must commit themselves to work and sacrificial giving or they have no hope of obtaining the resurrection from the dead.
However, the Christian Faith is voluntary and participation in every aspect of that Faith is voluntary.
Nevertheless, a transformed life will manifest itself through a changed ethic involving an unselfish approach to life.
That ethic will compel the Christian who sees a person in basic need to give spare possessions to meet that need.
In that ancient world, men wore a tunic [χιτών], essentially a long undershirt, beneath their outer garment.
It would not be unusual for a man to wear two of these inner tunics to ward off the cold, as all that was worn other than the actual tunic or outer garment was this undergarment.
John says that should one notice an individual lacking this undergarment, he should be clothed with the extra.
The call is to voluntary provision for a genuine need, but it is a response borne out of moral concern for one’s neighbour.
This comes back to a truism of the Faith that it is our attitude that is of greater importance than our actions.
We can do the right acts but hold the wrong attitude and displease God.
However, if our attitude is correct, He will correct our actions.
I do believe it to be of great value for us to recognise that God is concerned for the poor and needy.
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