“And 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.””
Luke 3:10-14 ESV
As John is confronting the sins of the people, he is not just helping them turn back to God, he is also helping them to live in a healthy community with each other. This is an important pairing that we too often miss when it comes to faith. Faith isn’t just about our relationship with Jesus, it overflows from this into our relationships with the people around us. Whether they are cherished family, helpful neighbours, pleasant strangers, or potential enemies we are to live and treat others out of our faith.
Sharing the blessing of God instead of hoarding it for ourselves is living out of faith because we are trusting that Jesus will provide for us. The same with not collecting more taxes that was needed. The tax collectors had been acting out of greed and possibly fear. A fear of scarcity instead of living in the faithful abundance of Jesus’ grace. The soldiers were acting from a place of superiority instead of recognizing their kinship with those they were abusing. The soldiers were abusing the gift that God had given them to protect yet they used it to advance their own cause.
When we all learn to live as Jesus has blessed us, and to be good stewards of the blessing that each of us has been given then we start to experience the fullness of being in an honouring community of faith, trusting that our Lord will continue to be faithful. It is when we start to impose our limits on Jesus that we start to fear and act for our own self preservation. Unfortunately we realize too late that when we are focus on our self preservation we are separating ourselves from the faithfulness of the one who can actually preserve us. Trust in Jesus, not in our own limited resourcefulness, for Jesus is able to bless us from His infinite grace and give us not just life but eternal life.
