Stealing & Giving

"You shall not steal." Exodus 20:16

The eighth commandment, like all of the 10 Commandments, has both a negative prohibition and a positive implication. First the negative: no stealing. Don't take what belongs to someone else. Pretty straightforward. It includes all kinds of theft: breaking into someone's house and taking their stuff; purse snatching; fudging on your tax return; wasting time on the internet when you are on the clock at work; stealing someone's ideas or words and passing them off as your own; illegally downloading songs from the internet or copying cds; possibly even finding pictures on websites, copying them, and posting them on your blog like the one here--I'm not sure what the rules are about that.

So, the implications of not stealing pervade all aspects of our lives, from the headline thefts that make the news to the many mundane ways in which we're tempted to take what does not belong to us. And behind this commandment is the fact that personal property matters to God and so it is to rightly matter to us as well. In fact, loving our neighbors (Jesus' summation of commandments five through 10) involves loving their stuff by not taking it from them.

But that's not all. It's not enough only to avoid what the commandments prohibit, because they also encompass the positive aspects of what God calls us to in loving Him and loving our neighbor. And this commandment tells us that it's not enough to simply refrain from stealing from our neighbor, but we are to use our own resources for the good of our neighbors, to concern ourselves not only with our own flourishing but to also be committed to the flourishing of our neighbor as well. Paul gets at this in Ephesians 4:28, when he calls the thieves among us to give up our stealing and embrace generosity:

"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."

What's the principle here? We are to actively care for the needs of those around us and even to commit ourselves to honest labor so that we are not only able to meet our own needs but also able to help meet the needs of others. This, I think, is the sticking point of the eighth commandment for most of us. Why is it often so hard for us to embrace this fact, that we are called to a life of generosity to others and openhandedness with our money, our possessions, our stuff, our time? It might be our greed and covetousness--the subject of the 10th commandment. Or it might be a lack of trust in our God. The economy is struggling--how can I be generous? I have children and a mortgage and food costs are soaring--how can I be generous? I live on a fixed income and I'm not sure I've put enough away for my retirement--how can I be generous? I'm only a college student and I'm trying to scrape together enough to buy books--how can I be generous?

You see, we're afraid. Afraid God won't provide, afraid He won't take care of us, afraid of the uncertainties of life. God does call us to live wisely--but He also calls us to live generously as we rest in the generous care of our Father for us. Jesus has a lot to say about trusting our Father for our needs. Remember Matthew 6 in the Sermon on the Mount. Don't be anxious about your life, what your will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Look at the birds--your Father feeds them though they don't sow or reap. Look at the lilies of the field--they don't spin or sew and your Father clothes them. Don't you know you are much more valuable to your Father than the birds and the flowers? Therefore don't be anxious.... "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (v. 33).

But can we trust that? Trust our Father? Trust Jesus and his words to us? How do we know he understands our struggles, knows our needs, will act generously to us? Here's what Paul said to the Corinthians when he exhorted them to give generously to the needs of others:

"But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.... For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:7,9)

How can we be set free not only to refrain from stealing but to actively share with other, meet their needs, be generous? Only by knowing the generosity of our Father to us in Jesus. Jesus laid aside his riches, made himself poor, in order to meet our need, to make us rich in relationship with our Father, to adopt us into God's family, to give us an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. In other words, not only did Jesus not steal from us, he gave himself for us to generously meet our ever need. May that generosity of our God for us free us to be generous to our neighbor as well. Amen.

Do not murder...

"You shall not murder."--Exodus 20:13

   This scene of Cain murdering Abel is from the 1432 Ghent Altarpiece, and it's a vivid reminder that murder, the subject of the sixth commandment, has been an issue for humanity since the very first family.

  On the surface, the sixth commandment is straightforward and doesn't engender much debate--all societies have some sort of prohibition against murder.  And murder is the best translation of the Hebrew word.  In the Old Testament there are several words related to killing, and it is clear that some kinds of killing are presented as not only not wrong, but even appropriate in certain situations.  This word covers what we would classify as murder, but also can include cases of accidental killing.  This commandment does not prohibit killing in warfare or capital punishment, both of which are recognized by Scripture as legitimate under certain conditions.  

   So, on the surface there seems little pointed about this commandment for most of us--we know we shouldn't murder, and it is unlikely that most of us ever will.  So we're off the hook.  Or are we?

   Not quite.  The implications of this commandment go much deeper than the outward act of murder in two ways.  First, we've got Jesus' penetrating analysis of the law in Matthew 5:21-22.

 "You have heard that it was said to those of old: 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.'  But I say to to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire." 

 What's he getting at?  Murder, like every sin, springs from the heart and can fester in our hearts even if it never translates into an act of violence against another person.  When hate takes root in our lives, we are guilty of breaking the sixth commandment, of murdering our neighbor in our hearts.  So... every bitter thought, every indulgence in a sweet morsel of gossip, every cold look, every snide remark, every dismissive comment, every time we inwardly smile at the misfortunes of another... murder.  Who is guilty?  Who breaks this commandment?  Who needs rescue and mercy and grace?  We do.

  But that's not all.  Each of the ten commandments has bearing on our lives in two ways--in what they prohibit, and also in what they, by extension, enjoin upon us.  So, not only are forbidden to take the life of another, or bring damage or injury, we are also called to act for the good of our neighbor, for his peace, his flourishing, his health.  Not only do we not rob our neighbor of his life, we are responsible for positively guarding his life as well.  Scripture is full of God's heart, for example, for the poor, the oppressed, the widow, the orphan.  Those marginalized by society are to be cared for by God's people.  Jesus taught this clearly and pointedly, painfully even, in Matthew 25.  He tells of the last judgment, when the "sheep and the goats" are separated.  And the one group will inherit eternal life, and the other eternal curse.  And that judgment, in this sermon, hinges on the care of those in need.  Those who receive life are commended for caring for the needy, and those who receive judgment withheld care for those in need.  Here's what he says to those who are condemned:

"...I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'  Then they will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'  Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'"

What's he saying?  Not that care for the needy and mercy earn salvation, but that they are certainly to be the fruit of salvation--the fruit of a life forgiven and transformed by the love of Jesus.  Jesus comes to us as we are lost in our sin, but he does not leave us there.  He is about the work of turning us, as we've said often in our Exodus sermon series, into "love God and love neighbor kinds of people."