Eighth Word of Community Design - Deuteronomy 5:1-5, 19
We have come to Week 8 in our journey through God’s Ten Words of Community Design. For those who have not been with us and to help us remember where we have traveled so far, he is a quick synopsis. We learned that the Hebrew words, ‘eser dabar (eh-ser dawbaw), which in Deuteronomy 4:13, are often translated as “the ten commandments,” are more accurately translated as, “the ten words,” suggesting that these are not ten ridged “because I told you so” rules from God, but more of God’s Words of Guidance to His people to shape them into the community in which he designed them to live. We have also learned, as we have explored these “words” that there is more to them that simply what we see on the surface…we have even noted from time to time, how Jesus’ words during His teaching, showed the depth of God’s words for His community.
Today, we come to the eighth word, “neither shall you steal.” We probably think that this is as simple as we first thought “You shall not murder,” was. It pretty much means, don’t be like Gru of Despicable Me, or at least how Gru was through the first part of the movie. Gru sought to be a villain of villains. He wanted to be greatest of all thieves. His theft accomplishments were a matter of pride and greed…it was a matter of self-gratification, not self-preservation. Gru wanted to steal the moon.
That is pretty much what we think of when of stealing. We define it as the taking of some object that is not ours…that does not belong to us. We think of it in terms of “breaking and entering,” “larceny,” “armed robbery,” “theft,” “shoplifting,” “embezzlement” and so on…maybe even as far as understanding that taking the company ink pen and notepads home for personal use, driving the company car for vacation, playing games on company time would fall into the definition of stealing, or keeping the extra change the cashier mistakenly gave you. Summed up, it means taking for ourselves something that truly does not belong to us.
What is wrong with stealing? It’s just stuff. The biggest problem with stealing is, like it was with adultery, stealing is akin to murder. Think about it if you will, the things we have (and truth be told, many of us have way too many things…but that is a different sermon for a different time)…but the things we have become extensions of us. They become a part of who we are. This was understood as far back as biblical times when God divided the land up among the Hebrew people. Part of the provisions of the giving of the land was the establishment of the Year of Jubilee. In the Year of Jubilee, any land which a family had been forced to sale or part with due to financial difficulties or for some other reason, was to be returned to the family, regardless of how fairly it had been obtained. The connection between people and their possessions is also noted through the Hebrew Law in that if someone stole from another person, to make amends for the theft, the person not only had to return what they stole, but they had to make additional restitution. Exodus 22 is full of examples, such as, “When someone steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, the thief shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep…[If] the animal is found alive in the thief’s passion, the thief shall pay double.”
To steal from someone was understood to have harmed their very being, their very lives, and livelihood. This may be why some scholars have suggested that this word was not originally simply the words, “You shall not steal,” because there are other laws elsewhere that address taking something that does not belong to you, but originally was “You shall not steal a person.”
What does it mean to “steal a person?” Could it simply mean kidnapping? Well, I think kidnapping could be included in that, because that is theft of another person. However, if we consider how big God’s other words have been…all that they have signified beyond the simple, literal understanding of the words, then this word must mean something more than simply kidnapping. Could it be, that to “steal a person,” would be any way that we take from a person what is part of them.
Theft does this. When a person whose home is broken into calls the police, they might report a television, computer, silver, money, or some other physical item stolen from their homes. However, the most significant theft may go unmentioned to the police. What else did the thief take? Often times, the biggest take by the thief is the person’s sense of security and safety.
The owner of a business not only loses income in the case of embezzlement, but may have their trust of others stolen from them.
How else might a person be stolen? In Despicable Me, Gru offers us examples that go beyond his theft of the Time’s Square Jumbotron and the moon. More dastardly is Gru’s “adoption” of three orphan girls in order to use them in his plot to recover a shrink ray that had been stolen from him. By involving the girls in his “crime ring,” Gru steals their innocence. How often do we see a child’s innocence stolen from them by an adult using them for their own benefit? Think of all the instance of child pornography that we hear about almost every week. Think of generations of families that pass down anything from how to “cheat the system” to “attitudes and beliefs of racism” to “cycles of abuse.” Think of parents or other adults who may or may not buy alcohol, tobacco, or drugs for their children, but just as bad use or abuse those items in front of them. In all of these instances of destroying the innocence of a child, a person has been stolen.
In the movie, Gru also displays another heinous theft. He steals hope from the girls. Having grown close to the girls, he promises to attend their ballet recital. However, as things work out, the ballet recital also falls on the same night as the most opportune time to steal the moon. Guess which one Gru chooses. When Gru fails to show, their hope for having someone truly care for them is shattered. How often do we see this happen when parents choose career or even pleasure activities an opportunity to support or encourage their child? What about other instances of the theft of hope—such as telling a friend who is aspiring to be a singer that “there’s no use, you’ll never be good enough,” or maybe it is as simple as telling a person whose loved one is in the hospital struggling to recover from illness, “oh this is going to be bad, don’t listen to what they tell you, she won’t get any better.”
There is also the theft of dignity. This might happen in as simple a thing as publically embarrassing someone, such as if I was to stand here and publically tell you one of ______________’s deep dark secret struggles that they shared with me in a counseling session, or if I was to lambast ______________ in front of everyone else for something I thought they did wrong. However, there is another way in which we may steal a person with regards to their dignity.
I mentioned earlier in the sermon that more often than not, stealing is a result of greed or self-gratification rather than self-preservation. However, there are instances of theft that relate to self (or others)-preservation, saving a life. We hear or read of stories of someone that broke into or robbed a drug store, not to get drugs to get high on, but because they needed medicine for themselves, or the person who broke into the grocery store to get food to feed their family. Both items desperately needed, both situations in which life or death is dependent upon their actions. Am I trying to suggest that it is okay for them to steal what they need in order to survive? No, but what I am suggesting is that something even greater has been stolen from them, their dignity. Who is responsible for stealing their dignity? Any of us who had the means and opportunity to provide for them and did not.
Then there is the matter of stealing someone’s faith in God. What do I mean? Let me share a story:
There is the story of a pastor who moved to Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.
As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, 'you better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it'. Then he thought, 'Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Besides, the bus company already gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a gift from God and keep quiet.'
When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change."
The driver with a smile, replied, "Aren't you the new pastor in town? I have been thinking lately about going to worship somewhere. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change."
As soon as he stepped off the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole with a tight grip and said, "O God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter."
We could change that to, “O God, I almost stole his faith for a quarter. Do we remember, going back to not making wrongful use of the name of the Lord, that there are those who are struggling with their faith, trying to make faith decisions, and even searching for some meaning for their lives, and they see us, they know we are Christians, and yet they don’t see us as being any different than the rest of the world, and they decide ‘Why bother?’
So if we are not supposed to steal, what are we supposed to do…this is more than a list of don’t do’s…for we have already discovered a multitude of what we should be doing. What are we supposed to do? Believe it or not, Gru offers us a picture of that as well…
Gru gave up his life of trying to be the best villain in the world, to take on a more daunting, yet rewarding task…seeking to be the dad that the kids deserved. He repented of his theft, and began to offer them hope, offer them peace, offer them love, offer to them to be a family. Rather than take, Gru gives. The opposite of stealing, is giving.
So maybe the opposite of stealing involves offering one’s self to be the best dad in the world.
Maybe the opposite of stealing is giving gifts to those in need.
Maybe the opposite of stealing is giving of one’s time to feed the hungry.
Maybe the opposite of stealing is clothing the naked and healing the sick.
Maybe the opposite of stealing is not simply providing for these things out of our abundance, but through sacrifice…consider the cross…
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life[i]…So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, sot that in him we might become the righteousness of God.[ii]
My brothers and sisters, think of this community, think of this world, if we simply stopped taking what doesn’t belong to us and instead, gave of all we have and all we are for those around us…remember to love God with all our heart, and strength, and soul…AND LOVING OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES. For on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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