Thou Shall Not Steal
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Our Scripture lesson comes from...
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
May God bless this the reading of His holy and infallible Word.
As we look at the Eighth Commandment, we need to once again begin with God.
God is the Foundation of Private Property
God is the Foundation of Private Property
The first two chapters of the Bible reveal our God is a working God.
God’s work did not end on the seventh day, only his work of creation.
The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
Our Scripture lesson today reveals that what God made; God owns.
As those created in God’s image we are created to work and to own the fruits of our labor.
This is why stealing is so bad, ...
Stealing is an Attack Upon God and Those Who Bear His Image
Stealing is an Attack Upon God and Those Who Bear His Image
If you have ever been the victim of theft, you know how it makes you feel violated.
Moreover, when we fail to live a productive and fruitful life, we dehumanize ourselves.
Unexpected Ways in Which We Steal
Unexpected Ways in Which We Steal
We all recognize robbing a bank, shoplifting, scamming and the like as stealing, but if you read Scripture carefully, you will discover that there are many unexpected ways in which we steal. Let us look at three of them:
Idleness
Idleness
If God is a working God, those who are created in His image should be working people. Idleness was a real problem in Thessalonica. Paul had to address this problem in both his letters. In other words, idleness was so deeply embedded in their culture, one letter was not enough! First:
and to 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.
Now for the second letter:
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
Taken together, we learn that each able bodied person is to work to provided for themselves in order that they will not be dependent upon anyone. In fact, an able-bodied person should not be supported by others, rather they should go hungry until they earn their own bread! This is not harsh, it is loving; because idleness dehumanizes us. It is a great evil we do to ourselves and to enable an idle person to remain in their idleness is to share in that sin.
A second unexpected way we steal is...
Wastefulness
Wastefulness
We can waste both our potential to be fruitful workers and the fruit of our labors. For example we read in the Proverbs:
Be not among drunkards
or among gluttonous eaters of meat,
for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and slumber will clothe them with rags.
Drunkenness, drugs, gluttony and gambling have consumed countless fortunes and destroyed countless lives. Many who are poor are poor because of their own actions. Most poverty is a lifestyle choice. It has very little to do with income. My grandparents were poor by today’s standards, but they did not live “poor”. They lived with dignity. They worked hard, they were fugal, they kept themselves and their homes clean.
The third unexpected way we steal is ...
Cheerlessness
Cheerlessness
In some ways this is the polar opposite of wastefulness. The Westminster Longer Catechism speaks of “defrauding ourselves and others” by not enjoying the fruits of our labor. As Scriptural proof, it cites two passages in Ecclesiastes, I will read the first one:
Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
From time to time, we have all know someone who died and they turn out to have been a secret millionaire. Typically, they lives alone in a tiny house, never had a family, never had friends. They never ate out, never had guests over, never had vacations, they just worked and saved every penny they earned. Such a life is a wasted life, more importantly, it is a sinful life.
The third proof text in the Westminster Longer Catechism does not seem to fit at first, but a little thinking reveals that it does. Here it is:
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Our life and possessions are to be shared. One of the greatest gifts we can give to others is joy. If we are not enjoying the fruits of our labor in thanksgiving to God, we become like dark rain cloud blocking out the rays of God’s goodness and love.
Think back upon those “secrete millionaires” you have known. They added nothing to those around them. They were black holes. They were in effect “unfruitful”, they wasted not only their wealth, but their lives also.
I hope this message has shown you that there is a lot more behind the Eight Commandment than you every realized. I commend the Westminster Larger Catechism to you for study. It does such a good job at organizing what the Bible teaches about stealing, but as I close, I want to point you to Jesus. Although materially He was a poor man, He lived the most productive and fruitful life that has ever been lived. Paul says that “He become poor, that we could become rich.” What did Paul mean by this? He meant that Jesus left the glories of heaven in order to die for sinners on the cross. He did this so that we could be forgiven for our violations of not just the Eighty Commandment, but all the Commandments. Don’t let the Commandments beat you down, let them turn you to Christ and He will lift you us. Not only we He forgive you, but He will empower you so you can obey.