You Shall Not Steal

Radiant Church, June 16, 2019 Mike Rydman Exodus 20:15 You Shall Not Steal Exodus 20:15 You shall not steal. Respect for other people’s property – important element of a stable society Q. 110 from the Heidelberg Catechism A. He forbids not only outright theft and robbery, punishable by law. But in God’s sight theft also includes cheating and swindling our neighbor by schemes made to appear legitimate, such as: inaccurate measurements of weight, size, or volume; fraudulent merchandising; counterfeit money; excessive interest; or any other means forbidden by God. In addition, he forbids all greed and pointless squandering of his gifts. Also includes stealing people (a big part of what the ancient Israelites would have heard in this commandment, and even into the Middle Ages) Stealing children to enroll them in a monastery Stealing children to use them as beggars Stealing young girls, sometimes to marry them Stealing someone in order to enslave them or sell them as slaves The State or the rich stealing property from humble farmers/landowners How do we see it today? Cheating the Government on our taxes Cheating employees of their wages Cheating our employer out of a good days work effort Cheating our way through school The Bible warns us against thinking that life consists of one’s possessions The Housing Market bubble broke in 2008 Predatory lenders wrote mortgages people didn’t need or could afford Predatory appraisers wrote appraisals that were inflated Builders built houses quickly at higher profits than the construction was worth Borrowers who lied on their applications 70% of the mortgages that failed that year turned out to have false information on them Greed is the fruit of dissatisfaction Putting profit above people and principles Stealing also forbids the attitude that says, “Somebody else will take care of this and provide.” This quickly became a problem in the early church. Ephesians 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 and aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. But, not taking what you do not deserve or have not worked for is not the sole intention of this command. Heidelberg Catechism 111 Q. What does God require of you in this commandment? A. That I do whatever I can for my neighbor’s good, that I treat others as I would like them to treat me, and that I work faithfully so that I may share with those in need. What does this mean for us? I want laws, virtues and practices that protect and promote my neighbor’s well being. I want to work hard so that I may be able to help my neighbor when he/she is not doing well. Every time I give to our church, or to a missionary or mission agency, or I give to help someone in need, I declare that money does not control me. Where your treasure goes, your heart always follows Malachi 3:7-12 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?” Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, “How have we robbed you?” In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts. What do we ultimately hope for with our money? Security for ourselves Inheritance from our parents, or inheritance for our children 1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. If we’re honest, most of us value and want the inheritance now, rather than the eternal inheritance we have been promised by God through Jesus. So where is our hope in this? Jesus was crucified between two thieves, two breakers of the 8th Commandment. Yet there was and is still hope Luke 23:39-43 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”