THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT: “MINE AND THEIRS”

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT: “MINE AND THEIRS” Exodus 20:15; Ephesians 4:28 November 30, 2008 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction When the friends of Kristen Clougherty learned she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, they rushed to support her with their prayers and tears. When Kristen announced that treatments at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute had failed and that out-of-state experimental treatment would not be covered by her insurance, a fund-raiser, which netted $40,000, was held on her behalf. Support was replaced by shock and anger when it was revealed that Kristen’s cancer story was all a hoax and that she had cut her hair to create the appearance of having gone through chemotherapy. Later Kristen’s friends learned the $40,000 raised for her cancer treatment had been transferred to a personal account from which she purchased a new car, luxury vacations, and plastic surgery. At Kristen’s trial, one of her scandalized friends observed, “It turns out she was infected with a disease even more deadly than cancer—the disease of greed.” Most parents will recognize in this picture the kind of conflict present even in the earliest days of childhood. Many times I’ve heard a mom or dad testify that they had definitive evidence of the depravity of man in their own kids. But really, this kind of wrangling over what’s mine and what’s others’ typifies the feelings in sinful human beings of all ages. Some fight over toys and some transform into lecherous, selfish fiends over things like Enron, Worldcom and Fannie Mae. Other trample store clerks to death in their rush to buy an Xbox. An ancient Greek legend says the philosopher Digenes spent his life walking around with a lantern, looking in vain for an honest man. He was asking Is there one person who doesn’t steal? Greed and avarice lead people to do crazy things. Stealing is at epidemic proportions these days, and with the economic situation as it is, it promises only to get worse. I read this week employee theft costs over $50 billion per year. The U.S. Dep’t of Commerce reports one of every three business failures is the direct result of employee theft. But employee theft is only the tip of the iceberg. And if you thought that stealing is always what those other people do, maybe it would be well for us to consider some of the very popular forms of stealing that go on with barely a thought. No doubt one or two in this collage might raise a welt on your conscience: shoplifting, pilfering, defaulted payments, overstated resumes, cheating on tests (which is also robbery), illegally downloaded songs or movies, exaggerating your deductions on Schedule C & other forms of tax fraud, falsifying your time card at work. Have you ever taken cash payment for services rendered with no intent to declare it as income? Plagiarism, illegal cable hook-ups, padded expense reports. Well, the eighth commandment is certainly as applicable and necessary today as ever. Four simple, straightforward words: You shall not steal. If this commandment were obeyed by everyone, statistically speaking, the United States would be six hundred billion dollars richer. That would put over $2,000 into the pocket of every man woman & child. Of course, that means that thievery, from credit card fraud to shoplifting, is removed from our pockets annually! Consider the principle of Ownership What the Bible teaches about God might surprise us. Property rights really matter to God. God calls us to respect the property of others, which includes, at very least, not stealing it. But the theology of ownership goes back just a bit farther. Psalm 24:1 summarizes one of the grandest principles in the Word of God – The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it… In a very real sense, we don’t own anything. It’s all God’s! And if it’s His He can do with it as He pleases, right? Well, part of what pleases Him is that while He is the owner of all, He graciously lets each of us “tend” a part of it. Some He allows to tend a larger share and others tend a smaller share. And He is in charge of that. We would do well to understand that. Even in the parable of the talents we are told that the master gave to one servant ten talents to another he gave five and to another only one. We don’t know what all goes in to the equation of who gets how much—only God knows. And Romans 14:12 says …each of us will give an account of himself to God. Now listen to how this principle of God’s ownership applies to the 8th commandment. He owns it all, and He apportions some of what He owns to each one as He wills, that we should steward or tend that portion. When someone steals from another he is in effect saying to God, the owner and director, “I have a better way to do all this ownership stuff. ‘Tell you what (as soon as you say something like “’tell you what…” to God, you’re already in hot water) “Tell you what—I’ll be God the owner and you tend to things the way I say.” Stealing is in fact ultimately the sin of pride and idolatry. What if your neighbor told you tomorrow he’s decided to put his dog and doghouse in your yard. You’d say, “Man, this is my yard and I decide how it will be used, and I don’t want your hound and his house in my yard! Biblically, ownership is foundational, and theft is usurpation of ownership. Consider the damage involved in stealing Whom do you rob when you steal from someone? Well, first and foremost, you are obviously robbing that individual. When you steal you arrogantly insist that you should have the thing in question instead of the person who earned it or was given the item in the first place. But you don’t just hurt the person you directly steal from. You also hurt anyone who depends on that person. As soon as you take something from someone else, there is a systemic series of consequences like falling dominoes. Clearly, if you steal $500 from a man that man has $500 less with which to feed his family, buy gas for his car so he can go to work, pay for his power bill, and so on. If you take an inappropriately long lunch at work, that means some amount of work, for which somebody is paying is not getting done. That boss has lost both the profit of that missing work, and the pay and benefits that went to you. Put a few of those together and his boss starts noticing there is a problem with that manager and maybe bumps him to the top of the layoff list. Not giving a fair day’s work for your wage is stealing. Not only do you bring harm to the one you rob and those who depend on him, but many others are potentially affected by the wrongdoing of one person selfishly grabbing something that is not rightfully his. Bernie Ebbers was a Sunday School teacher, but during the weekdays he oversaw the largest bookkeeping fraud in corporate history at Wordcom. Thousands of people lost their jobs and their retirement. Andrew Fastow created illegal and secret partnerships and inflated Enron’s balance sheet, resulting in the absolute financial devastation of thousands of families who not only worked for, but invested heavily in what they thought was a thriving corporation. I wonder how those who are responsible for it feel about how their greedy decisions led to the banking crisis, tens of thousands of jobs lost, not to mention an international financial meltdown? And they just thought they were taking a shortcut to good profits. Stealing is all about trying to get something you did not earn or deserve, something not rightfully yours, and trying to get it for nothing. But someone always has to pay for it. It is the lowest form of selfishness to treat others with such disregard. And it is particularly repugnant for a Christian to steal. The Word of Christ directs us otherwise when it says, Do nothing out of selfish ambition or van conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3) Even more than robbing others you may never even know, when you steal you actually rob yourself. You ruin your own character one theft at a time and effectively weaken yourself against temptations yet to come. Once when I was a boy I stole an ice cream sandwich out of the freezer at Wade Square Tomboy Supermarket. The manager and a state policeman who happened to be shopping there that morning met me at the door. Was I scared! I was never so sorry for anything in all my life! I have thought many times since then about how thankful I am that I got caught. Who knows what my successful theft might have led me into in the years to come. Stealing robs yourself. But it also robs God. How does my stealing rob God? Very simply, He is robbed of the glory He might have received through my honesty and integrity. For one fleeting moment the city of Belleville looked really good. The AP picked up on a story when two years ago Paul Kinsella devised an integrity experiment. He dropped 100 wallets in various places around his hometown of Belleville, to see who would return them. Each wallet contained $2.10 and a fake $50 gift certificate. Kinsella eventually received 74 of the 100 wallets back, something local police lieutenant Don Sax found surprising."I think it's great that they did [return the wallets]," Sax said, "especially with such a small amount of money being in there." A local cynic commented that the other 26 were probably found by people just visiting from out of town! A Fresh View of Stealing God owns everything; and we tend some of it. The portion that we tend as stewards is determined by God. What really is happening when the tend-ers become selfish and are tempted to steal from others? Listen carefully: Stealing is a symptom of an underlying mistrust of God. (repeat) How is this the case? Given the ownership of God, the stewardship of His people and the truth that God decides how much or how little each of us gets to tend, stealing indicates someone is very unhappy with not having what another has, so he decides to take it. Essentially, this is like saying to God (the Owner and Apportioner): God, I don’t think you’re adequately taking care of me. If you were, I would have that thing that I want! Now, isn’t that the height of arrogance? When I decide to take things into my own hands and decide to steal something (property or in-kind valuables) I am essentially telling God that I don’t trust Him. The Bible consistently marries the notions of God’s providence and our contentment and peace. The genuine, faith-living disciple of Christ is pictured as one who is not anxious and not jealous of others. Why? How? He believes—genuinely trusts—that God has his best interests at heart. And he says in his heart, I don’t have a Mercedes Benz. That means God has not allowed me to have a Mercedes Benz, which I interpret to mean He doesn’t want me to have one, or He would either provide me one directly or provide me with the wherewithal to buy one for myself in good conscience. He has not. Therefore I am at peace with not having a Mercedes Benz, because if God doesn’t think I need one, then neither do I. and the last thing I’ll want to do is go out and steal one, or even buy one I can’t afford! The apostle Paul wrote: I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:12-13) And later he wrote to Timothy: But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6) Here is the Christian’s healing and defense in a world of relentless, almost militant advertising, wanton materialism and all-consuming hedonism: Contentment. The place of satisfaction before God that I have all I need as I trust Him, because I realize that He is all I need. Beyond that He will give me whatever He wants me to have—things I need and things beyond. In that place, stealing will be the farthest thing from my mind. Not only am I safe there from the temptation to steal, I find I am actually happy others have what they have. Contentment is the place of deliverance from selfishness. Three Exhortations for the saints Brothers and sisters, once again I urge you to see the value of the commandment of God. He has not given this eighth commandment as only a condemning word, a stifling of our wants. See it as the emancipating word that it is. He would have us live life with joy, peace and contentment, free from the entrapment of this world’s shallow desires and meaningless mundane attractions. He wants us free to enjoy Him, and the best He has for us. So out of His love for us He says, You shall not steal. There are three quick exhortations in closing: 1. Trust God’s apportioning Don’t live your life in the misery of desire for things that will never satisfy you anyway. To the degree you trust that God is benevolently in charge of giving you all you need and want in Him, and withholding from you all that would be harmful to you or would stifle your wholeness in Him, to that degree you will know peace, contentment and joy. The world’s bacchanal of glittery trinkets may look fulfilling, but the pursuit of it without God is vacuous and worthless. Only God can fill a life. In his incomparable work Pensees Blaise Pascal wrote: What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself. 2. Thank God for your portion and for others The farthest thing from the calling of God in our lives is selfishness and envy. These are the exact opposite of the character of Jesus to which we are destined to be conformed. There is only one true way to be delivered from the anxiety of wanting what we don’t have, and that is to seek Him and His righteousness first of all. Don’t even seek contentment. Seek Him. He is your fulfillment and in Him you will find the strength and wisdom to live above the concerns and carnalities of this world. Trust Him to empower you to live Christianly in Him. 3. Live in obedience to the Christian ethic In terms of the things we have in this world, we simply must remember that we do not own them. They belong to Him, and we are stewards. We can be healed of our seemingly quenchless desire for other people’s things if we adhere to the deep wisdom of Matthew 7:12 – In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Paul wrote to those who had converted from paganism to the Christian faith in the first century. And he said this: He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. (Ephesians 4:28) The story is told of a renowned pickpocket in London who came under conviction and gave his life to Christ. Knowing his own skill and temptation to continue in a lifestyle that would only bring shame to the Lord, he bought himself a thick pair of gloves. For years people would see him walking in the city, even in the middle of summer, wearing thick gloves to prevent him from stealing from others. LEE STROBEL: An acquaintance called with what he said was an embarrassing request: His little girl had been caught shoplifting from our church bookstore, and he wanted to know if I would represent the church so she could come and apologize. He said he wanted to use this incident as a teaching moment. I agreed—but I had a much bigger lesson in mind. The next day, the parents and their eight-year-old daughter trooped into my office and sat down. "Tell me what happened," I said to the little girl as gently as I could. "Well," she said as she started to sniffle, "I saw a book that I really wanted, but I didn't have any money…" Now tears formed in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. I handed her a tissue. "So I put the book under my coat and took it. I knew it was wrong. I knew I shouldn't do it, but I did. And I'm sorry. I'll never do it again. Honest!" "I'm so glad you're willing to admit what you did and say you're sorry," I told her. "That's very brave, and it's the right thing to do. But what do you think an appropriate punishment would be?" She shrugged. I thought for a moment before saying, "I understand the book cost five dollars. I think it would be fair if you paid the bookstore five dollars, plus three times that amount, which would make the total twenty dollars. Do you think that would be fair?" She nodded sadly. "Yes," she murmured. She could see the fairness in that. But now there was fear in her eyes. Twenty dollars is a mountain of money for a little kid. Where would she ever come up with that amount of cash? I wanted to use this moment to teach her something about Jesus. So I opened my desk drawer, removed my checkbook, and wrote out a check on my personal account for the full amount. I tore off the check and held it out to her. Her mouth dropped open. "I'm going to pay your penalty so you don't have to. Do you know why I'd do that?" Bewildered, she shook her head. "Because I love you. Because I care about you. Because you are valuable to me. And please remember this: That's how Jesus feels about you too. Except even more." At that moment, she reached out and accepted my gift. I wish I could find the words to describe the look of absolute relief and joy and wonder that blossomed on her face. She was almost giddy with gratitude.       [Back to Top]