Title: Only Children and Slaves
Text: Exodus 20:15; Parable of Good Samaritan
FCF: Why steal or strive to get God, when he wants to give you who he is for free?
Intro:
I know when we get to the commandment, ‘Thou shalt not steal,’ it’s easy to kick back and think, ‘I don’t need to really worry about this one.’ After all, I’m not a thief. I earn my living honestly. Oh sure, there may be those who rob banks, but I’m a respectable citizen. If you’re well versed in the news, you might even say – I’m not like those corporate embezzlers either. Well, I make my money the old fashioned way. I earn it.
I understand that, and honestly, I haven’t really indulged my latent kleptomania ever since my then 12 year old brother learned to lock his door and to share his cool books that he never read. I may overlook the occasional office supply on the cheap or illegal download, but when it comes to the traditional form of “stealing,” like you I think I can claim innocence.
But, our God is better than innocence, he’s about perfection. The command ‘No Stealing’ is simply a manifestation of something greater that our God has in store. And, if you’ll bear with me, I’d like to show you that this morning.
We are in that part of the covenant that is often like a photographic negative. Last week, we talked about adultery, and we saw how adultery is really just the opposite of God’s faithfulness. Before that, we talked about the commandment against killing, because our God is a God of undying hope. If you’ve ever read C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, you know the kind of thinking I’m talking about – seeing a point in reverse. And, if you haven’t read The Screwtape Letters, well, it’s a good read.
Now, it will help if you can really hear this next sentence: There are only three ways to get anything in life. Either you take it, you earn it, or you are given it. Let me say that again - there are three options – you steal it, you work for it, or you receive something as a gift.
Everything we want or need is acquired in one of these three ways.
At the one end of the spectrum, you have the guy in the black outfit breaking and entering at 2 in the morning. Again, I doubt very many of us have engaged in such acts, and we may in fact think that it’s something that’s behind us as a society. I mean, who really defends stealing any more?
Even the atheist, the humanist, and the relativist will say stealing is wrong – but I’d encourage you to look out for their line of reasoning as to the why. They’ll tell you its okay to do anything you want, as long as you don’t harm anyone else. And, for them, stealing is a pretty obvious harm. I’m going to have more to say about that later, but suffice it to say this – it’s a pretty low view of how we’re supposed to love each other, isn’t it? After all, they’re contending, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Such sentiment is not solely our perspective either. In preparing for this sermon, I came across a set of commentaries from the mid 1800s called The Pulpit Commentary. Overall, it’s a pretty good commentary, but it had one sentence that just made me laugh:
“Simple direct stealing, being severely punished by the law in most countries, is seldom practised, unless it be by children and slaves.
You can just imagine some Victorian looking down his nose as he writes that, can’t you? Well, I liked that sentence so much, I titled this sermon after it, because, as dated as it sounds, I think it has some truth. Stealing is only practiced by children and slaves. Our God doesn’t want us to be either.
Now, your first reaction probably was to say, “What do you mean, stealing is seldom practiced today?” The IRS estimates that simple theft costs the United States more than $120 billion every year. When you add other types of stealing, plus the costs of incarceration, security, lost productivity while people are sitting in court prosecuting, at least one economist has suggested that the total cost is $1.1 trillion dollars every year. That’s half our federal budget.
Children
But, I think the author may have been right in suggesting that stealing is the province of children. If you listen to NPR in the morning, they always have what I call the “funny story” right at half past the hour. Often, they’ll talk about some stupid robbery attempt that was foiled. One day this week it was the thief that wrote her hold up note on the back of a bulk mail envelope, addressed, of course, to her. Sure made catching her easy.
I think my favorite was the story of the young man who tried to steal gas from Dennis Quiggley’s motor home. Dennis was inside his home, when he heard the noises outside. He investigated [and] discovered the thief curled upon the ground violently vomiting. The would-be gas guzzler had inserted a tube in order to siphon off gas. Intending to suck up the contents of the gas tank the thief had put his hose into the wrong hole--and had begun sucking the contents of the sewage tank instead. The thief, a boy 14 will not be prosecuted, Dennis and the police agree that he had suffered enough.”
But, remember that stealing is a crime that affects children of all ages.
One estimate says that 1 out of every 52 shoppers carries something out of the supermarket for which they haven’t paid. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, 4 million people are caught shoplifting every year. But for every one caught, 35 others get away with it. This means that there are over 140 million incidents of shoplifting every year in America! And get this – only 10% of all shoplifters come from low incomes. 70% are middle class and 20% are classified as wealthy
Back in 1999, the IRS estimates that one in three people will cheat on their taxes. Some people think its 1 in 2, and they do it to the tune of nearly $200 billion dollars. That’s more money than General Motors was worth even back when gas was only $1/gallon. And again, some even think that estimate of $200 billion dollars is too low – it may be closer to $300 billion.
Stealing – from shoplifting to corporate fraud, from copyright to plagiarism – is everywhere. According to the Chicago Journal of Law and Economics, stealing is costing each and every one of us $17 per person per day.
But I’m sure as they do it, they’re thinking, “I’m not hurting anyone. I deserve this!” Well, they’re hurting us all. And since when did we really deserve anything but a good kick in the pants?
People who steal really are children, thinking that if they don’t see the consequences of their actions, they don’t exist. Do not be deceived, there is no such thing as a sin which affects no one. From prostitution, which robs two people of their dignity, to plagiarism which robs one person of their hard work, there is no such thing as a victimless crime.
Especially for us Christians, there is no need for crime either. As Christians, we have already received a great inheritance. We are called to be a giving people, not a getting one. We have already been blessed full to the brim and overflowing. We need not strive for so much more. And we certainly need not take what little others have from them. In the economy of faith, the Lord really is our shepherd. We will never be in want.
Danny Sampson robbed a bank in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He used a hand-me-down Colt 45 and stole $6000. When the Royal Canadian Mounted Police caught him and confiscated the gun they sent the gun to the lab. The laboratory recognized the gun as a collector’s prize. It was worth over $100,000. Danny didn’t have to rob a bank, he was wealthy and didn’t know it.
We are children of the King. All things are under us. Why would we need to resort to acquiring things dishonestly?
Slaves
But I want to suggest that as children of the King, slaves and servants of a good God, we are so blessed that we don’t have to rely on “earning” what we really need either.
Now, I don’t want to give you the impression that God denigrates work. Quite the opposite, God values our work. Paul told the Thessalonians that those who wouldn’t work shouldn’t eat. In Exodus, God specifically calls out the names of the workmen who will fashion the Ark of the Covenant. The woman of Proverbs 31 is praised for the works of her hand. Working gives us purpose and fulfillment, and it creates good things we can have.
But remember that toil and striving was Adam’s curse. Why do we toil and strive for that which is not bread? His yoke is easy, his burden light. We cannot fashion our own reward. We can never earn God’s righteousness.
As wage-earners dependent on another for our daily bread, we become, in effect, slaves. And, our God did not create us to be in the power of other men. It was for freedom that he made us free. We are and should be beholden to Him and Him alone. We are not to debtors, but rather ones who forgive debts. I seem to remember that from somewhere.
No, you see, our God wants something higher for us. He never suggested that we need to earn his love or approval. Our God is a God of grace. He gives us freedom from our sins, and he gives it freely. We need not be slaves to our sin. We need his forgiveness for that debt. It’s a debt we can never repay. We can never be successful in somehow stealing it from him, and we can’t ‘earn it’ either. No, our God gives us the gift of eternal life. You are saved by grace. You don’t work for it: it is the free gift of God, lest any man should boast.
And by the way – Paul’s first reaction to that statement is that we are created to do good works. Its not that work is bad, it’s just that the gift of salvation is better.
Think about your marriage for a minute. It would make no sense to ask, “Do you deserve a raise in your marriage?” Marriages are not about earning something from your spouse; they are about loving freely and unconditionally. It’s better than money.
Your marriage models how God loves you. Its aim is not to get for yourself; it is to give and be given to. I can’t stress that enough. There is no dollar value on value. It’s always a gift, and not the type you return three days after Christmas either. It’s about love, and that’s what we really need most of all.
The People of God
Jesus told a story that illustrates these different ways we try to get what we want in relationship. You know this story, but let me remind you of the details. The story is first and foremost about love, and whom we need to love.
Look at how each of the characters in this story sought to acquire what they thought they needed:
• Thieves – Steal it
• Priest and Levites have the secular ‘Don’t get involved’ reaction. I don’t need anything from you, I don’t want to give anything to you. They figured if they just held on to what was theirs and ignored everyone else, they’d be ok.
• Innkeeper – Earns his keep. He does a good thing in caring for the man, but it was just what was expected for the wages he had been given. There is a better model…
• Samaritan – Gives it away.
We all know that God loves us, freely. We are all like that poor man who is set upon the road. This world has taken us, stripped us of dignity and sapped our souls. It has left us broken and beaten and ready to die. We don’t need somebody just to walk by and pity what has happened to us. We don’t even need somebody who will care for us if we can just pay him the right price. We have nothing left to give. What we need is someone who will lovingly and freely give us the freedom to be the people of God we need to be.
And we praise God that he sent a Son to do just that. Would you pray with me?
Long Branch Baptist Church
Halfway, Virginia; est. 1786
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Enter to Worship
Prelude David Witt
Invocation Psalm 23
*Opening Hymn #472
“Heavenly Sunlight”
Welcome & Announcements
Morning Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
*Praise Hymn [See Insert]
“Behold What Manner of Love”
*Responsive Reading [See Right]
*Offertory Hymn #484
“More Love to Thee, O Christ”
Offertory Mr. Witt
*Doxology
Scripture Exodus 20:15
Sermon
“Only Children and Slaves”
Invitation Hymn #481
“In the Garden”
Benediction
Congregational Response
May the grace of Christ of Savior / And the Father’s boundless love
With the Holy Spirit’s favor / Rest upon us from above. Amen.
* Congregation, please stand.
Depart To Serve
RESPONSIVE READING
Because you relied on the Lord, he gave these things into your hand.
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the entire earth, to strengthen those whose heart is true to him.
Every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
When we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.
But you have said, “It is vain to serve God. What do we profit by keeping his command or by going about as mourners before the Lord of hosts?
Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
But the free gift is not like the sin. For if the many died through the one man’s sin, much more surely has the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded – given for the many.
And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who has given him a gift, to receive a gift in return? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
-2 Chr 16:8-9; James 1:17; Eph 2:8-10; 2Thess 3:10; Eph 4:28;
Mal 3:13-14; Rom 4:4-5; 5:15-17;6:23; 11:33-36
If you can stay after next Sunday to help us cut out craft pieces for Marshall VBS and talk about worship, it would be great!
Please pray for Middleburg VBS this week.
If you can stay after next Sunday to help us cut out craft pieces for Marshall VBS and talk about worship, it would be great!
Please pray for Middleburg VBS this week.
