The Eighth Commandment

Exodus 20:15 CSB

Do not steal.

We get what we want

Last Sunday after the Gathering, a few of us sat down to lunch in the office for our last Be the Church class on what we believe. One of the families has a little toddler and he was toddling in with a toy in his hand. His mom said something along the lines of, “He’s already trying to steal from the church.” I quickly told her, “That’s next week!”

And here we are! That story also shows us that, even at an early age, we learn, as Jen Wilkin says, that “even ill-gotten gain is gain, nonetheless.” Part of the human condition is this desire to get what we want.

I dug up my high school music collection this week so I could show you this: One of the many mix cd’s I burned made up of music I stole. I would faithfully trade cd’s in and out of my youth minister’s office, bring them home, rip the files onto my computer, and create epic mix cd’s like “Worship Songs #1” and “The best of Christian Rock.” If it was a really good CD, I just made an exact copy because I wanted more music. As much as I could get. Everything I wanted. I can still here the hum of the CD burner completing my theft over and over and over again.

Kids, today that’s similar to sharing your Spotify or Netflix password. Because you want to watch that series or listen to that new song. And we get what we want.

But for both of us, it’s stealing.

The Israelites who were hearing this commandment for the first time had this same condition of wanting what wasn’t theirs. Let’s press back into their back story once more and put ourselves in their shoes for just a minute.

The Egyptians had been stealing from them as they enslaved them and paid them no or unfair wages. The Egyptians had also stolen their children - literally taking them from their mother’s wombs. But God saw the injustice, and we often forget that God made this right in the Exodus. He is a God of justice. On the night that every firstborn male in Egypt was struck dead, the tenth plague, the Egyptians told the Israelites to get out of the country as quickly as they could, but we often forget what happened on their way out of town. Exo 12:35-36

Exodus 12:35–36 CSB

The Israelites acted on Moses’s word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold items and for clothing. And the Lord gave the people such favor with the Egyptians that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.

That’s one way to get paid for your work! But I would imagine it created a bit of entitlement for some as well.

Because these Israelites, hearing God say, “Do not steal” had stuff. For 3 months, they had been traversing the desert with the basics, PLUS whatever silver and gold items they had received from the Egyptians. Now, I’m going to guess that Izzy the Israelite had eyed how much gold his traveling buddy had, and the extra outfit he got to change into, and thought, “I wouldn’t mind to have some more myself!” Now, some of that is my speculation, but this is clear: When God said, “Do not steal” he was setting the standard for what a godly community would look like. We don’t steal! We don’t take what we want, we trust in a God who is just!

Do not steal. It’s all but universal. We believe it to be for the common good. Everyone knows we don’t steal.

But we do. Because we get what we want.

It kills us when we realize we’ve stolen from our neighbors to get what we want.

I mean that in more than one way.

In one sense, when we begin to realize that we do steal, and break the 8th commandment, it’s this gut wrenching reminder that instead of loving our neighbor as our selves, we’ve loved our selves more. It kills us when we realize how often that’s true.

But I mean it in another sense too. Stealing is a sin and sin results in death. It kills us when we steal from our neighbors to get what we want.

We laugh and joke about “stealing”music.

We don’t think twice about what work the AI generated content we use is stealing from.

We steal passwords to get more streaming services

We steal sips from the soda fountain

We steal supplies from the office

and towels from the hotel.

And Blake, you’re suggesting that kills us? Who gets hurt when I “borrow” some of those things?

Jen Wilkin makes this provocative statement in the book our Community Groups are working through: “But think how differently we behave when staying in the home of a friend or relative.”

She goes on to conclude that “the reason for this change of character has everything to do with… …relationship and likelihood of getting caught. We know and are known by the owner.”

We steal when we think we can get away with it and when we don’t know or disconnect ourself from the owner.

So what we do, is we disconnect ourselves emotionally, find a way to get away with it, and then take what we want. That’s exactly the scene described in Proverbs 1 before it concludes

Proverbs 1:19 CSB

Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly; it takes the lives of those who receive it.

It kills us when we’re caught stealing from our neighbor! In every sense!

Whether we’re stealing time from our employer,

overcharging for a service or good we provide,

skimming a little bit off the top of someone else’s profit,

We’re thieves. Sometimes we’ll even take from our families to get what we want!

You know where the cash is and you grab some for your self without asking.

You go to your parents house and take things back to your place without asking.

We steal! “Steal” not convinced?

We often think that the money in our bank account is ours. We think our property is our own. We convince ourselves that we are self made men and women.

Psalm 24:1 CSB

1 The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord;

We disconnect ourselves from God. And we think we can get away with it.

Malachi 3:8–10 CSB

“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me!” “How do we rob you?” you ask. “By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. You are suffering under a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing me. Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way,” says the Lord of Armies. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.

And often while we’re robbing God, we come crying to him about why we aren’t more successful, more provided for, more blessed. We don’t understand why we don’t get what we want, so we often steal to get it. Even from God if we think we can get away with it.

One of the people who heard God say from the mountain, “do not steal,” was a little boy named Joshua, who was Moses assistant.

Later on, Joshua became the leader of the Israelites, and he led them into a battle where they were defeated. People died. And Joshua complained to God. What are you doing God? Why would you let us get killed when we’re trying to take the land you’ve given to us? And God had something to say. Josh 7:10-12

Joshua 7:10–12 CSB

The Lord then said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen facedown? Israel has sinned. They have violated my covenant that I appointed for them. They have taken some of what was set apart. They have stolen, deceived, and put those things with their own belongings. This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you what is set apart.

So the Bible says Joshua got up early the next morning, and started this process of letting God show the community who had stolen something set apart by God.

Now, I might ask God one day how Joshua knew who was being selected.. Did they light up? Did the cloud hover over them? Was there like a circle drawn around them in the sand? We don’t know.

But the tribe of Judah was selected, then the Zerahite clan, then the Zabdi family, and then man by man they came forward until, in the first ever reality tv elimination episode, Achan was selected.

He knew he’d done wrong. He was a thief. That day, in the valley of Achor, Achan was stoned to death for his crime that cost others their life

It kills us when we realize we’ve stolen to get what we want.

It reminds us there are no thieves in God’s kingdom.

But here’s good news:

Instead of taking our lives, Jesus takes our place.

Jesus left heaven, where no thieves exist, so that he could buy back thieves like you and me that Satan had taken from his Father. And even as he was doing that, people continued to steal. Even from Jesus - the one saving them!

Find Luke 23:32-34 with me.

Luke 23:32–34 CSB

Two others—criminals—were also led away to be executed with him. When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided his clothes and cast lots.

They divided his clothing and cast lots. There’s the human condition on full display. Beaten, bloodied, and now naked, the guards are dividing up his clothes - taking something that isn’t theirs - stealing them from Jesus. And why? To say they had a piece of memorabilia? Probably. But John, in his gospel gives us even more of the details on why they were “casting lots.” John 19:23-24

John 19:23–24 CSB

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.” This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled that says: They divided my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. This is what the soldiers did.

Almost sickening to think that these guards would steal from Jesus. They’re trying to make a quick buck off of Jesus’ death.

And while these “noble” guards are doing this, there are two criminals that have been historically recognized as thieves on the crosses to Jesus’ left and right. The guards deserved to be on the cross as much as the thieves!

It wasn’t just the guards stealing his clothes that could have been on the cross that day, it could have been you and me. Thieves.

We often cry out like the criminals on the cross that day: Luke 23:39

Luke 23:39 CSB

Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But instead of taking our lives, Jesus took our place.

He took the punishment for any who would repent and believe that Jesus was the Son of God. Luke 23:40-43

Luke 23:40–43 CSB

But the other answered, rebuking him: “Don’t you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment? We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

When everything was taken from Jesus, the only thing he was taking was your place so that you could have more than all you could ask or imagine in eternity with God.

When everything was taken from Jesus, he was still giving the gift of eternal life.

When everything was taken from Jesus, he was still forgiving sinners.

You were taken from Jesus by Satan and by sin, and Jesus considered you so valuable that he would give his own life to get you back.

And once he does,

Jesus wants to transform you from a grabber to a giver.

There are no thieves in heaven because Jesus changes each citizen of his kingdom from grabbers to givers! Even the thief on the cross..

Paul writes in Ephesians about all kinds of things that happen when by faith we take off the old way of life and put on the new way of life in Christ. Here’s one of them in Eph 4:28

Ephesians 4:28 CSB

Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

Good, honest, hard work is a gift from God intended to change your life. Some of us need to know the value of hard work, no doubt.

But notice what the purpose of all this hard work is to be: so that you have something to share with anyone in need.

For some of us we love and worship hard work - but often for our own gain. Scripture isn’t teaching us to work hard so we can retire early, or have passive income, or spend more time getting the life experiences we want. It’s saying that the antidote to our stealing hearts is to work hard so that we can give to others freely and generously.

Jen Wilkin says it this way, “Don’t just be a non-thief; be a provider of abundance.”

Recently, Katelyn and I went out to dinner with some friends and on that particular night, we were the only people in this restaurant. It was a tough night for them, you could tell. So we enjoy our dinner, and our time with friends, who generously bought our meal, and headed to our cars. As we’re getting ready to pull out, our friends car stops and she runs back inside. We text and ask if everything is ok, and learn that they were thinking about how hard of a night it was for the server depending on tips and they were heading back in to give even more of a tip.

I was floored that day. That’s a kind of generosity that wasn’t living in my heart.

Generosity like that pushes me to open my heart to the God who owns everything and genuinely wants to transform me from a grabber to a giver. That’s still a work in process.

There’s no way to address everyone’s next step in being transformed from a grabber to a giver. But Eph 4:28 does lay out a process that helps us figure out what our next step might be.

Ephesians 4:28 CSB

28 Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

Let the thief no longer steal. Let him be convinced that God’s law is good. He has to believe Psalm 24:1 “1 The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord;” It’s not his for the taking!

Instead, he is to do honest work. Hard, honest work is an antidote to stealing. It’s the initial salve on the healing wounds of the thief. Work isn’t just some necessary evil by which we pay the bills. Work is given to us by God for our good and his glory. You may need to recommit to being a hard worker right where you are. You may need to seek out work that is more honest. But you are to do honest work…

So that you have something to share with anyone in need. It may be a process getting there. Learning to budget. Learning to live within your means. Not robbing God of the tithe. Those are all steps along the way to sharing with anyone in need. To not do those things is to be content with being a thief - not only from God, but from those whom you might be able to share generously with.

What’s your next step? Whatever it is, I pray that it would change your life.

Warren Buffet once said in an interview about his $26 billion gift to the Gates Foundation: "My gift has not changed my lifestyle one bit. I still go to the movies I want to go to and eat at the restaurants I want to dine at. But what about the person who gives a gift that requires they can't go to the movies or eat out. They are the true givers—the true heroes [of generosity]."

Now, all of this informs tithing to God through your local church. If you’re a CCC Covenant Member, let me talk to you for a moment.

First, some major thank you’s. Many of you believe and practice both tithes to the church and offerings to others. Thank you. Your generosity leads us to be more like Jesus. In the first two months of 2024 we have met or exceeded our monthly budget need of $42,938.

Second, it doesn’t get by us that financial integrity and transparency matters. We build in all kinds of accountability measures in handling finances here at CCC. You can see the financials at any point. Also, know that our heart, even as the church, is to be generous towards others. 16.84% of this year’s budget is set aside for missions - and we want that to keep growing.

In a recent leadership team meeting a concern was brought up that we didn’t talk about giving at all - no logistics on how to or even that it mattered. We were talking through that and he stopped me. “I’m bringing this up because the more I get involved with our ministry partners, the more I want us to give to them.”

Third, and most importantly, know that giving at Christ Community isn’t about meeting the budget number. We expect our covenant members to give not because we need to fund the mission of the church but because we care about what money does to your heart! We want you to be generous so that your heart is free from the temptation to steal!

May we be thieves transformed from grabbers to givers.

Givers are ready to share the greatest thing they’ve ever received: forgiveness

This past week, at my alma mater, Campbellsville University, a young man was found dead in his dorm room. He had been killed by a fellow student. 18 years old, his life had been shorter than his parents had imagined it would be. In fact, I can’t imagine being a father who had had his son taken away like that. But if God would ever have me in that position, I hope that my heart would be similar to Joe Kilman’s. Joe Kilman stood before the Campbellsville student body and asked them to yell out whatever emotion they were feeling about what had happened to his son. “Anger! Sadness! Emptiness! Hope! Love! Frustration! Mad! Confusion! Guilty! Condemned! Broken!” “I felt every single one of those emotions simultaneously since the moment I got the phone call,” he said. “Emotions are one thing. We have choices in life. Forgiveness is something I didn’t hear because it’s not an emotion. It’s a choice. Choose forgiveness because it’s the center of who Jesus is.

People who have been transformed by Jesus from grabbers into givers are ready to share the greatest thing they’ve ever received: forgiveness.

God isn’t after your money, he’s after your heart. After you. You are worth his death. That’s why he said “Do not steal.” He didn’t want your money and your stuff to get in the way of his forgiveness of you, and your forgiveness of others.

And if it has, the way you grab onto the one thing that matters is you give your entire self to Jesus.

You can do that today.

And if you’ve already done that, and followed him in believer’s baptism, may generosity well up in you as you come and remember what Christ so generously gave to you: himself. His body and his blood, his very life, so that you could be forgiven and live.

After you take communion today, if you’re a covenant member, we encourage you to give financially as well. You can do that in the cans here at the corner of the stage or online at loveshelbyville.com/give. It’s just one way that Jesus is transforming your heart.