"He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise” (Luke 3:11).

This is John the Baptist’s description of “fruits that befit repentance” (3:8). One sign of repentance is what you do with your food. O, how earthy the gospel is! It turns people around and makes them think differently about their food.

But not just their food—also the poor. “Share with him who has none” means care for him who has none. After Luke 3:11 the best text for why we should share our food with the poor is the parable of the Good Samaritan. The key statement is: “When he saw him he had compassion on him” (Luke 10:33). Jews and Samaritans hated each other. But this Samaritan pitied this Jew. Why? Because he was there and in need. Jesus’ point: Become the kind of person who cannot walk by on the other side. Don’t ask if the poor man is a Christian. Help him, because you are full and he is empty.

Another passage to spur us into feeding the hungry is Romans 12:20. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him.” How hollow it sounded several years ago in Green Bay when one Christian brother stood up and opposed a simple-lifestyle resolution by arguing from 1 John that the people we are to look out for are fellow Christians. Relief for unbelievers is not our business—only evangelism is. But Jesus says, “Do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27). And Paul says, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). Or as he puts it in 1 Thessalonians 3:12, “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men.”

Metro Food Share is an effort by the churches of Minnesota to collect 200,000 pounds of food in February for the food shelves which disperse it to the most needy. Pillsbury will match the gifts up to 100,000 pounds.

The food shelf we are collecting for is Community Emergency Services at 11th Ave. and 19th St. Our members Sally and David Michael work there. When we asked what they needed they said peanut butter. Reason: Protein and flexible usage.

So let’s give them a thousand jars!

Every Sunday through February there will be boxes at church where you can put the jars. About 100 jars are already in. Buy a bunch while shopping and bring them. It will be “fruit that befits repentance.”

For the glory of Christ our supplier,

Pastor John