Sermon Cloud

October 25, 2009

8^th Commandment “Don’t steal stuff!”

15 You shall not steal.  Pretty simple again, right?  Don’t take stuff as your own that isn’t yours.  This is going to be a real challenge this morning because I don’t think anyone here thinks of themselves as a thief.  Seriously, maybe a couple of us realize we have issues here, but it is a tiny minority. 

What does stealing show about our hearts?

            Let’s think about this for a minute.  Why would someone steal something?  There’s always a reason for everything we do.  We choose things because we prefer it to other options.  In general, I think we can say that stealing shows that we are focused on ourselves and our needs/desires over the needs/desires of others. In other words, stealing is a community killer.  Let’s press that.  Let’s say someone is going to steal a car out of a driveway.  It could be that they can drive it with a new plate and have a nice car that cost them nothing.  Or maybe its because of boredom.  The thrill of the steal, a high speed joyride, trash the car, and a great night of fun on the edge.  Its still the person being primarily motivated by their own need for fun with no consideration for how “fun” it will be for the person when their trashed car is recovered.  See how all of the different ways that might motivate someone to steal all have some kind of selfish bent that is far from seeking the good of others.  The reason that stealing is such a killer is that it runs in exactly the opposite direction of God’s desire to form a new community (the church!) among all peoples.  Instead of selfless sacrifice and material gifts, its forceful or deceptive taking.  Its our love for God and our neighbor that causes us to fight against the selfishness that drives theft and instead commit to each other’s good.  Instead of stealing, we have service and giving. 

Let me say this one more way:  The opposite of stealing is not to not steal.  The opposite of stealing is loving your neighbor and putting their needs and desires ahead of your own. 

Stealing in HD

            You guys tracking?  I bet you are and you even agree.  You kleptos out there even know this is true.  You may do it for dozens of reasons, but they all fall in the category of selfishness and a lack of love for others and the God that made them and that rules the earth.  The trick is that 97% percent of us agree with what I’ve said so far and also don’t think its them.  But is it?  Let’s look at ways we might steal.

1.  Plain old theft.  I’ve already talked about this.  Its stealing $100 out of Granny’s wallet.  It’s taking a shirt from a poorly policed sidewalk sale.  You get the picture.

2.  Financial shell games. Some real obvious ones would be the ponzi schemes that were lying to investors about where the money was going.  When the dust settles, investors’ money was stolen.  This could also be on a much smaller scale.  A commissioned salesperson in your employ has closed a sale.  Their customer calls and you answer the phone and they say they are ready to buy and you know that your salesperson made the sale, but you account for it as if you did it (and you justify it because you took the call…more on this justifying tendency in a minute) and don’t have to pay a commission.   I’d add that it’s very possible to do this with the government.  You may think we are overtaxed and that the government isn’t efficient enough to merit your money (justifying again), so you don’t report your tips or your profits from a speaking engagement or whatever.  According to the law, that money is rightfully the government’s.  There are a million ways we do this: stealing from petty cash, using expense account funds on a date with your spouse or S.O.  And on every one of them we don’t walk away feeling like a thief because we are underpaid, overtaxed or whatever. 

3.  Intellectual theft.  Cheating on tests, using someone else’s work as your own, whatever.  This is massive issue in academia and in churches, too. Just give ‘em credit!  Dt’s geometry class cheating.  There will be excuses, I am sure.  I was too busy, too much stuff was assigned or due, etc. 

4.  Long term-borrowing.  I don’t know what else to call this.  We borrow something, a shirt, a book, a set of skis, a guitar, some money, whatever.  I don’t doubt there is initially a desire to give it back or pay it back someday.  But do we?  It may seem like I’m splitting hairs here, but this problem is so bad that I had to catalog every book I owned because I so rarely would get them back.  I loaned out a tent to someone and had to camp under the stars at 11K feet.  Honestly, I would have been happy to have bought people copies of books or even a tent rather than had the promise of a return.

            We need some time here because I don’t think you really think this is an issue.  After all, I mean we borrow a book from a friend or a few bucks or whatever and we just forgot.  Is that really stealing?  Well, let me ask you this way.  How do you feel when someone takes your guitar, your favorite shirt,  or whatever?  You were happy to loan it, but I promise you that you haven’t forgotten that someone has it, right?  That’s the funny thing about borrowing and loaning stuff. The person that received it forgets they borrowed $20 of food and drinks at the Tech game, but the giver almost never forgets.  Another way to say it is that the borrower expects grace and the loaner really wants justice. 

            The thing about theft is that its self centered.  It’s focused on my needs.  It could care less about your needs.  It is a community killer.  I know you won’t see it that way when it’s happening because there’s always justification. 

A community (and mission!) destroyed and healed

            That’s the real issue.  I’ve seen friendships ruined because someone wouldn’t pay back something.  In the outright stealing of the car or granny’s cash, maybe the thief says to himself or herself, “Yeah but granny’s loaded!  She doesn’t need it as much as me.”  Hmm.  Or in the case of a borrowed and not returned shirt, “But they have lots of shirts and rich parents that hook them up.”  Or in the case of a broken computer or golf clubs not returned, “It wasn’t my fault.  My roommate used it/them.”  Or with the $2000 loan, “I just don’t have it.  I am still behind.  How can I pay them back?”  And on we go with the games.  The thing is we are simultaneously violating the eighth commandment and destroying community and mission…all while we tell ourselves little lies so we can still think we are a good person.  Basically, we tend to be selfish and think of ourselves as a good person all at the same time.

            Let me announce some good news.  Let’s think about the gospel for a second to see why stealing is such a community and missional killer.  We have a debt to God because of where we’ve failed. We’ve stolen from his generosity.  He’s given us so many good things and relationships and we ignored Him.  We stood guilty.  But He sent His Son for people that neglected, borrowed from grace with no intent to repay, that have stolen from His goodness.  He was quick to forgive.  So will we abuse His debt cancellation by ignoring Him and sinning more?  May it never be!  Will we act like greedy punks when others are making an effort to repay?  No way.  If we believe the gospel, we are much less likely to steal (in whatever form) and much less likely to be a jerk about things owed to us. 

The Gospel Applied

            Mooch lifestyle.  Let’s call these things what they are.  If you are always in borrowing mode…aka the mooch…you need to repent and believe the gospel.  If it’s because you’ve lost a job and you are in a tough time, then talk with your friends and get them thinking and praying about new career options.  But that’s rarely the case.   Needing some cash for a burger at Chilis is not the same as the guy that is about to get evicted.  But on that note, why are you always paycheck to paycheck and needing to get bailed out? Why do you expect your roommates to “cover you” just one more time  I don’t know, but you might just have such a sense of entitlement that you expect to live a certain lifestyle regardless of if you actually have the cash to cover it.  You certainly aren’t looking to help other people.  Its low grade stealing and your friends will get really tired of it and feel used.  It’s all about you and you aren’t thinking of Jesus or them.  You may lack some practical tools. Come to our money seminar on November 8^th. 

            Isolated debt.  If you don’t have a borrowing “habit” but you know you have borrowed some high ticket items or cash from people, including family, go make it right today.  I’ve seen families split apart over this.  Christians will stop going to the same groups or churches because of issues like this.  I guarantee some people don’t talk with others in this room because of hurt over this.  I’ve watched families cry over extended family members that take advantage of the situation and make a few payments and then stop altogether.  This is a deep wound against the generosity of others.  If you need to pay $10 a month for the next 25 years, do it.  Who know, you may give them a chance to forgive the debt, which I promise you they’d rather do than stay mad at you which I can almost guarantee they are.  How do you reconcile your lack of repayment with the selflessness of Jesus?  Do you abuse His grace in the way your are abusing their generosity?

            If you are the type that just burns over things owed you, you might remember Jesus and one of His parables. Matthew 18:23-34.  Sometimes you might consider modeling the gospel by reducing or forgiving debt because of how Jesus has done that with. There are lots of good reasons for not doing this for very practical reasons, but at the least you may consider very gracious repayment plans because of how patient and gracious Jesus was with you on your debt of sin to Him. 

            So, stealing whether low or high grade is a community killer. It rips a family apart whether its flesh and blood or a spiritual one.  A gospel centered missional one.  On the missional note, nothing discredits the gospels’ power more than when a nonbeliever watches a Christian mooch or refuse to return things or cash that they promised. 

            Instead, the desire to not be an abuser of grace compels us enjoy Him and obey Him.  And this enjoyment of God enabled by Jesus’ cross actually makes us want to love people because of Him.  We die to self and live to Jesus and begin to love one another.  Can you see how this melts the mooch?  Can you see how this would make us want to make a debt right?  We may need to borrow, but we won’t steal because of the freeness of grace. Oh, and those that have given the cash or stuff will be much more likely to forgive debt or have very fair repayment plans because God has been very kind with their debts to Him!  Can you see how being compelled by God’s kindness would make us more obedient to Him?  This is the stuff of forgiveness, love, community, and mission.