Let’s start this morning by taking a little informal survey. Anyone here ever had money stolen from them? OK, how about tools, anyone ever have tools stolen? How about borrowed and not returned?
Anyone ever have a car stolen? What about having something stolen from your car, like say a computer? Anyone here ever have their home broken into? ILL… our precious CD collection gone… My recorded Radio talk shows from Romania! (Can you imagine the thief’s surprise? instead of music, a long lithany in a foreign language - ha, ha...)
There is something intensely personal about having an object stolen from me, it is a violation and I felt hurt and confused: who would do something like this? Felt angry. So to a certain degree I understand the sign that said, “This property protected by a pit bull with HIV”.
Here’s the flip side, a little more personal here. How many people here have ever stolen? Now I realize that I’m asking the wrong crowd, but maybe if we take it away from today and move it into the distant past.
Maybe candy as a child, or money from your mother’s purse or father’s wallet. A toy from a store? Maybe it was office supplies from work, or a little creative accounting on your tax return. Or maybe, it was taking a can and drink it, back in the store, and not paying for.
Anyone fall into those categories? Carmen where is my camera? Could I honestly say today that everyone here falls into one of those two categories as having been stolen from or has stolen from someone else?
We all have something lurking inside of us that is fascinated with the concept of getting something for nothing. Something that lives deep inside that says “boy, if I could get that for nothing that would be great.”
Which explains why so many shoplifters who are caught don’t need to shoplift. Because they aren’t doing it out of necessity they are doing it for the thrill. And so God is saying here, in Exodus 20:15- Don’t let that desire to get something for nothing, win out.
I love this loud story. The one where the horns blew, the people shouted, the walls came tumbling down! I like loud stories like that, when God delivered His people. No problem for God. Wiped it out, walls came down. You know, Jericho fell by no act of the Israelites except one of trust. Right? God asked them to do something that seemed a little crazy and they did it. Boom! No earth quick, no meteorite, no conspiration theory about bomb planted before by CIA…Jericho did not fall by any act of theirs except for the act of trust.
Turn to Joshua 6. God had spent years in the wilderness teaching people He had taken out of Egypt, out of bondage, out of idol worship, out of everything that was in Egypt, and He spent years in the wilderness teaching them with one lesson after another about relying only on Him.
"See! You can’t part the Red Sea. I can. You can’t make water come out of a rock. I can."God had been teaching them so much, but now He was about to take this lesson a step further. Joshua 6:17-19 READ.
God gives instructions about Jericho. Don’t touch it. It’s mine. This was, and is, a lesson in trust as well as tithe. The Israelites have been given the Promised Land totally by the power of God. To remind them that this was His power, His land, He told them that they were to remember Him first by dedicating the first fruits of the Promised Land to Him. That sounds nice, easy enough. They had learned to trust Him all through the wilderness. Right? How did they do?
Joshua 7:1 READ.
Notice that this verse starts out by saying that Israel was unfaithful. Israel was unfaithful, then it goes to great lengths to tell us exactly who caused the trouble, all the way down to his family and tribe. And then it concludes by telling us of God’s anger against Israel.
There’s a lesson here. Achan’s stealing is not isolated. It affects the whole people of God. Plus it affects how their enemies view them: Just another band of thugs no better than other tribes in the neighborhood.
I’ve discovered something. My actions never affect only me! That’s a hard lesson to learn. I’m still learning it. "Oh, it’s just going to hurt me. This is just going to affect me." Radio debate - "Why isn’t marijuana legal? It only affects me." I challenge anybody here to come up to me with something that only affects them. You’d be surprised. If nothing else, it affects your relationship with someone special: God. Nothing we do affects only us.
Keep this place marked and look at Exodus 20:15. You shall not steal… Law and Grace in the 10 C. Actually, these four little words have a far greater depth than is immediately apparent. They have far reaching implications, just like Achan’s breaking of this C.
The 8th C covers all types of theft that might come to mind: burglary, robbery, larceny, hijacking, shoplifting, pick-pocketing and purse-snatching. Stealing also covers more than this. It covers white collar crimes: Embezzlement. Bernard Maddoff, big banks CEO’s...
There are an infinite number of ways to break this commandment, and not just by taking property or money. We hear talk of stealing intellectual property. Ideas. Someone tells you about their invention and you go and patent it. You stole their idea. Music, claiming it to be your own. Plagiarism. This is a big one. Stealing someone’s written work and putting your name on it.
Another form of theft which is relevant this week comes from politicians promising; seeking our vote with promises that they don’t even intend to keep… Gambling is stealing because you are risking what God has entrusted you in a way that you are almost certain to lose.
Cheating on an exam is stealing a grade. Teachers who are satisfied with doing the minimum are stealing a proper education from their students. Workers who play video-games while on company time or employers withholding promised wages or benefits are stealing.
Taking away a child’s innocence is stealing, whether it be through abuse or allowing them to watch unhealthy programs on television. Stealing their wholesome childhood away from them.
Stealing also includes deception and exploitation. This includes swindling, cheating, price-gouging, and defrauding... When we do not inform the customer of problems with the product. Car or house… (IL. Our house in Hot Springs… )
…The Jews were very careful not to break this commandment. They made a law that said it was stealing to ask the price of something that you had no intention of buying. Can you figure that?
You were robbing the merchant of his time while raising his hopes that he would have food on his table that night. You were stealing hope from him. You might have prevented him from making a sale to a proper customer.
I thought about that a little bit. Now I feel bad about all the sports cars I used to test drive. Well, I had not money to buy them, you know. I wasted a lot of salesmen’s time, and their gas, too. In Germany I went to a fancy BMW store, and I drove around several sport cars…
Remember the widow story and her two leptas? Why didn’t Jesus jump up to stop her? "You need to go buy some bread with that. Don’t bring it here. Remember this place is a den of thieves.He didn’t do any of that. All He did was call her “blessed”.
To have stopped her would have caused her to steal that which she had pledged to God! We are responsible for what God has asked of us as well as what we have promised Him, even if we believe that the storehouse has not used our money as well as it should have.
That’s not our responsibility except as a group to change that. Turn with me to Malachi 3. It starts out with a warning and then a tremendous promise. Malachi 3:8-12. READ…
This takes us all the way back to the story of Achan. Turn back to Joshua. Here we find how much Achan missed out on by not trusting God.
Joshua 7. This was after they had gone all through the process of casting lots to find out which tribe, which family, which individual. And all that time Achan staying in there with his hands in his pockets and his mouth shut. Or maybe humming a little song (Doar o coliba, hmmm, hmmm)
Finally it comes down to him. Joshua 7:20-21. READ (Tone of voice)…
Achan had been given every opportunity to confess and make it right, but didn’t say a thing until he was cornered. He had stolen these things, and he couldn’t even enjoy them. He had to hide them in the ground.
I am shocked. Are you? The way he describes what he took, the plunder… The silver and the gold counted and weighted. The robe still beautiful… I could hear his sigh of regret that he couldn’t wear the beauuuutiful Babylonian robe.
Achan stole more than he realized. He stole the lives of his fellow soldiers who were defeated at Ai. He stole fathers from their children. He stole husbands from their wives. When we steal from God, we do far more than we realize.
When we rob God of tithes and offerings, what does it mean? It means that we don’t trust God to handle His own. We don’t trust God with what is His, to begin with. We don’t trust God to do what He promised us to do: I will never forsake you, I will take care of you…
The consequences of this are far reaching as well. When we keep what is Gods, not only can’t He bless our homes the way He wants to, He can’t bless others as well. He has chosen our faithful giving to provide for the spreading of the Gospel.
He could have done it any other way, but He chose this way. If all of us gave what God requires, money would no longer be an issue in the Gospel going to the whole world. We could do so much more with the ninety percent that is ours than by the hundred percent kept for ourselves.
Yet most people would rather hold onto their few trinkets like Achan than enjoy the vast wealth of Heaven that has been promised. It brought a death sentence to Achan and his family. When the Israelites walked away from the pile of rocks that had become the family grave, they named the place the Valley of Achor, or the valley of trouble.
What Achan didn’t know was that, just a few days later, God would have provided him with more than his meager haul at Jericho. Look at Joshua 8:1-2. READ…
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Within hours, had Achan only waited, had he only obeyed and trusted, he and his family would have been blessed beyond his wildest dreams. How much better it is to trust in God’s timing and in God’s provisions.
Even if we have to wait until we get to Heaven to receive the happiness, comfort, and security that we desire, it’s worth every minute of patience. God withholds nothing good from His children! I wish I could send him and email.
EMAIL: Dear Achan, would not it have been better to wear the old ordinary shirt you carried with you through the wilderness? And been better to endure a thin wallet and tight finances yet live with your wife and your sons and your beautiful daughters to see God’s people march triumphantly into the Promise Land? Wouldn’t it have been better, than ending it all under a cold pile of rocks in the grave? After all those years of following God through the wilderness, why did you fail to trust God just before receiving your inheritance? The good news is that Israel dealt with the situation and God was able to bless them once again. They were able to possess the Land of Milk and Honey. Forgiveness is there.
ILL. Jack removes the envelope from the small pile of mail and draws in a deep breath. It is from his former employer. He has lost sleep waiting for it. What he is about to read could lead to his exoneration or to imprisonment.
He had written to this man two weeks ago, confessing that he had stolen money from the cash deposits he drove to the bank each day as part of his job. After he received Jesus Christ, he felt that confession & offer of restitution was the only thing to do.
He was taking a huge risk. Should the company decide to prosecute, it could have grave consequences for his family. As a full-time student with a part-time job and a family to care for, there was no way he could afford an attorney if they chose to prosecute.
If they were to sue him for the entire amount, that would put his family out of house, home and seminary. He proceeded to send the letter anyway. Now Jack calls to his wife, Pat, and asks her to come into the kitchen. When she sees the envelope, she nervously goes to the sink and begins washing dishes because that s how Pat works off nervousness. "Could Jack really go off to jail?"
Slipping his thumb under the flap, Jack slowly tears the envelope open. He pulls out a single sheet of paper, pausing only for a second as he considers the possible outcome of his confession. He begins reading aloud to Pat. "Dear Jack, Thank you for your letter indicating your actions while in our employ. The figures from the deposits were adjusted by our accounting department and there is no need to address this matter further. We appreciate your sincerity".
There is forgiveness. There is a chance to move on. Achan didn’t seek for this forgiveness. He didn’t seek for the chance to move on to the Promised Land…
CALL: Let’s trust God with our ordeals, no matter what they are, with helping us to make things right, with helping us to stand honestly before Him and our neighbors, with allowing Him to help us keep His Commandments.
…Law and Grace. Let’s show our love for God by allowing Him to knock down the walls that prevent us from entering the Promised Land.
