August 27, 2000 Exodus 20:15; Ephesians 4:28
“Stop thief !!” -or- “The only thing that God allows you to steal is 2nd base”
INTRODUCTION
I became personally acquainted with robbers and robbery 11 years ago, when just after I was married, Tammy turned to me and said, “What’s yours’ is mine now, and what’s mine is . . . still mine!”
A Sunday school teacher was teaching her class about the difference between right and wrong. "All right children, let’s take another example," she said. "If I were to get into a man’s pocket and take his billfold with all his money, what would I be?" Little Johnny raises his hand, and with a confident smile,
he blurts out, "You’d be his wife!"
Here in the last 9 months or so, as gas prices have shot up, the incidences of people stealing gasoline has greatly increased. You may have noticed that at many gas stations, there are now little notices that kindly tell you that if you drive off without paying for your gas, you can have your license taken away. Have you ever done that by accident? One morning, I was at the office and had to reach into my pocket to get something and discovered that I had $3 in my pocket. Now normally, finding money in your pocket that you didn’t know was there is a good thing. But virtually as soon as I found it, I realized that was the money that I was supposed to give to the cashier for the gas that I had gotten on the way to work. I suppose that I had so much on my mind that morning that I just got in the car after pumping the gas and drove away. Upon discovering my error, I quickly took the money back to that store and told them my story.
Not only have drive-offs greatly increased, but also, the incidences of people stealing gas out of cars through siphoning has greatly increased too. I read about one young man who got a lot more than he bargained for when he tried this approach. “Any thief knows that the easiest way to steal gasoline from a car is to siphon it from the other guy’s tank into your own. Stick a rubber hose in his gas tank suck on the other end of the rubber hose until you get a mouth full of the gas, then spit it out. From then on the gasoline will flow into your tank. A thief decided to siphon gas from Dennis Quiggley’s motor home in Seattle. When Dennis, inside the motor home, heard the noises outside he investigated [and] discovered the thief curled upon the ground violently vomiting. Intending to suck up the contents of the gas tank the thief had put his hose into the wrong hole--and had sucked up the contents of the sewage tank instead. The thief, a boy 14 will not be prosecuted, Dennis and the police agree that he has suffered enough.” --Associated Press. This young man learned the hard way that there are some very distasteful consequences to making stealing a part of your life.
This morning, we are going to deal with the 8th of the 10 commandments – “Thou shalt not steal”. Again, like most of the other commands, the temptation here is to think that this doesn’t apply to you. The only thing you’ve ever stolen in your life is a piece of candy in your brother’s room. How bad can that be? But as we deal with this command, I want you to deal with this issue. Do you really believe that God knows better than you do exactly what your real needs are, do you really believe that God will honor His promise to meet those needs, and are you willing to wait for God’s timing on the fulfillment of your needs. God has a plan for how He is going to meet your needs. Let’s take a look at what that plan includes.
1. God’s plan for the provision of our needs does not include stealing.
Is this stealing?
1. Accepting incorrect change
2. Over-estimating your deductions on your taxes (Matt. 22:21 “Render unto Caesar . . . “)
3. Not working to your full potential at your job [Titus 2:9-10] (i.e. getting to work late and leaving work early; only giving minimum wage work for a minimum wage job; only working your hardest when the boss is looking; a large problem at many jobs right now is that workers are spending a large percentage of their time sending and receiving e-mails, surfing through the internet, and viewing pornography on the net)
4. Taking more/longer coffee breaks than your boss allows
5. Not challenging a bill that you know is incorrect in your favor (we’ll quickly challenge a bill that costs us more than what we think is right, but an error in our favor, we chalk up as a blessing from God and never bother to check it out; most businesses, especially restaurants, will probably leave the bill as is if the error was in your favor; do you know how powerful a testimony it is for you to go back to that cashier and tell them that they under-charged you!?)
6. Allowing a friend to use your employee deduction (depends on the wording of the deduction – usually limited to you and your family members; your intent is not to steal – only to help out a friend; result is the same though)
7. Copying a tape or CD for your own personal use or as a gift for a friend
8. Claiming someone else’s idea or words as your own (plagiarism; one of my least favorite tasks in school was writing term papers and having to footnote all my sources. Most of the time, if a person wanted to, they could have faked all that footnote stuff b/c most professors don’t actually check to see if your footnote information is actually accurate. I had one professor though who would take your paper to the library, look up the books you quoted, and find the quote that you had used to make sure that you were legit.; this is where cheating on a test comes in too; recent case against Disney World in which they were sued for stealing someone else’s idea to build a giant sports complex in Orlando. The plaintiff won, and Disney has to pay 24[?] million dollars in damages)
9. Not giving someone (i.e. a friend, an employee, God) something that they deserve/need
a friend – James 2:15-16
an employee – James 5:1,4; Jeremiah 22:13
God – glory (Isaiah 42:8; 1 Cor. 1:27-29); ourselves (Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor 6:19-20); our talents and abilities (Matt 25:24-28); our finances (Malachi 3:8-12)
10. Copying copyrighted material (i.e. music, curriculum) for use in a church or Christian ministry b/c the church doesn’t have the money to purchase it .
There are other areas that we could go into too. Is it stealing to bring the cup from the coffee you purchased yesterday back to the store today in order to get another refill? When I worked at a restaurant, we would have people bring back the same drink cup every day for a week expecting us to refill it for free. Is it stealing to take advantage of someone else’s skills or time without rewarding them in some way? The reward may be nothing more than a “Thank you”, or it may be helping them out with some project of theirs’. They may refuse the reward, but it needs to be offered. Is it stealing to take time that should be given to your family and give it to your work or hobby?
You may agree or disagree with my assessment of some of these areas. Some of them are gray areas – the Bible doesn’t really tell us whether they are right or wrong. Others are very clear because they go against the laws which our government has enacted. When we disobeys the laws of government, we are disobeying God b/c government is an installation of God. (Romans 13) I don’t bring up these gray areas to point a finger at anyone. I bring them up to cause us to question ourselves and see if maybe we’re not as righteous in our dealings as we think we are. Before we can ever receive forgiveness, healing and blessing from God, we have to recognize our sin. Could it be that God is withholding his full blessing from your life and mine and even from this church because we have allowed sin to go on unchecked without even thinking about it? God calls us to live as people who are “above reproach” (1 Tim. 3:2). That means that no one can point a finger at us and accuse us of wrong-doing. It means being so squeaky clean that if we did receive a call from the IRS, we would welcome that auditor into our records without even a second thought.
Why do people steal? What justifications do people use for stealing?
“They are charging too much money. They’re trying to steal from me.” (i.e. taxes, tapes and CD’s, computer software; we think it’s a joke when someone comes home from an expensive hotel with one or more of the hotel’s towels in their suitcase. The hotel was expensive, so we figure that we paid for the hotel. After all, the hotel figures in the cost of all the towels that are going to be stolen that year when they set the price for the rooms, right? They’ll never miss it, and it makes a nice souvenir. It makes a nice reminder that you’re a thief!)
“I really need that, but I don’t have enough money for it.” (i.e. confusion of wants and needs. Paul said, “Having food and clothing, let us therewith be content.”; ads on TV back in the spring warning people who were receiving cable television without paying for it; many times, the reason that we don’t have money for legitimate needs is because we have used our money to pay for our wants rather than using it for what God intended; if you don’t have the money to purchase something, then it isn’t a need – at least not right now)
“I shouldn’t have to wait to get what I want.” (lack of patience for God’s timing)
“I’m only doing this to help out a friend. God hasn’t met my friend’s need, so I have to help God out by stealing.”
“I’m doing this to help the Lord in my ministry because God has so little money that I have to use stealing to supplement God’s bank account.”
“I don’t really believe that I can trust God to provide for my needs.” Has God promised to take care of your needs? YES!! (Psalm 23; Matt. 6) Then why don’t you do things His way and trust Him? (Mal. 3:8-12) The day the church treasurer resigned the church asked the local grain elevator manager to take the position. He agreed under two conditions. That no treasurer’s report would be given for the first year. That no questions be asked about finances during that year. The people were surprised but finally agreed since most of them did business with him and he was a trusted man. At the end of the year he gave his report: The church indebtedness of $228,000 [had] been paid. The minister’s salary had been increased by 8%. The Cooperative Program gifts [had] been paid 200%. There were no outstanding bills. There was a cash balance of $11,252!
Immediately the shocked congregation asked, "How did you do it? Where did the money come from?" He quietly answered: "Most of you bring your grain to my elevator. Throughout the year I simply withheld ten percent on your behalf and gave it to the church in your name. You didn’t even miss it!" "Do you see what we could do for the Lord if we were all willing to give at least the tithe to God, who really owns it?" So the new treasurer had made his point. --James Carter
TRANS: The first part of Paul’s teaching to thieves is to stop stealing. But Paul knew a truth that is evidenced every time sometime tries to stop a bad habit or a sin in their lives. It is not enough to just try and get rid of the bad habit. You have to replace it with something else if the change is going to be effective and permanent. One who used to use his hands to steal things needs something else to do with his hands to keep himself busy.
2. God’s plan for the provision of our needs does include work. (2 Thes 3:6-15)
Lately here in Bridgeport, I have seen an awful lot of “Help Wanted” and “Now Hiring” signs going up all over town. If someone in this area wants a job, it shouldn’t be that difficult for them to find one as long as they are willing to work. But that’s where the real problem comes. No one wants to have to work. I read about one young man who went to look for a job at a place where they really weren’t looking to hire anyone. The conversation went something like this. Manager: "I’m sorry I can’t hire you, but there isn’t enough work to keep you busy." Applicant: "You’d be surprised how little it takes." - Unknown (PULPIT HELPS, Sept., 1990)
All of the children of this area will be heading back to school tomorrow. That means that parents can breathe a sigh of relief. How many of you parents have had to deal with children saying “I’m bored” this summer? Tammy and I had a way of dealing with boredom in our house. If you’re bored, there’s laundry to be folded, rooms to be cleaned, dusting to be done – there’s all kinds of WORK to keep you from being bored the rest of the afternoon. It was amazing how quickly Benjamin and Victoria were no longer bored and would find some way of keeping themselves busy whenever that word “WORK” was mentioned.
Adults scatter just as quickly when you mention the word “Work”. We would much rather win the lottery or the Publisher’s Clearing House. That would be so much easier. People get sucked into gambling because they figure that they have a chance of getting rich quick rather than working at a job for decades like their parents did. And then there are children who grow up and rather than going out and getting a job, they decide that they are going to sponge off mom and dad for the rest of their lives just like that skit that Kristen and Niketta did for us last week. For persons who think that they can live off the efforts of others or get rich quick, Paul has some words of wisdom in 2 Thes 3. [read and make comments]
Many years ago, a wise old king called his wise men together and gave them a commission. "I want you to compile for me the wisdom of the ages. Put it in book form so we might leave it to posterity." The wise men left the king and worked for a long period of time. They finally returned with twelve volumes and proudly proclaimed that this truly was "the wisdom of the ages." The king looked at the twelve volumes and said, "Gentlemen, I’m certain this is the wisdom of the ages and that it contains the knowledge we should leave to mankind. However, it is too long and I fear that people will not read it. Condense it!" Again the wise men worked long and hard before they returned with only one volume. The king, However, knew that it was still too lengthy so he commanded them to further condense their work. The wise men reduced the volume to a chapter, then to a page, then to a paragraph, and finally to a sentence. When they wise old king saw the sentence he was absolutely elated. "Gentlemen," he said, "This is truly the wisdom of the ages, and as soon as all men everywhere learn this truth, then most of our problems will be solved." The sentence simply said, "There ain’t no free lunch." - Zig Ziglar
Some of us have gotten the wrong idea about work. We think that the reason that we have to work was because Adam and Eve brought sin into the world. We mistakenly think that if there was no sin, then there would be no work. Everyone would just be sitting underneath their own tree all day long soaking in the sun’s rays. That’s wrong! When God put Adam and Eve in the garden, He gave them two jobs. He told them that they were to fill the earth. That means that they were supposed to have lots of babies. Anyone who thinks that having babies isn’t work hasn’t talked to or been around a pregnant or recently pregnant woman in a while. Their second job was to tend the garden and rule over the animal life of the earth. Granted, both of these jobs were much easier before sin and the curse it brought came along. But sin didn’t create work – it just made it a pain. Did you know that once sin is gone, and we are living with Jesus in eternity, we will still be working there? Work is a part of God’s plan for our lives.
But why did God give us work? By the way; it helps to think of work as a gift from God rather than as a curse from hell. Why did God give us work?
THE GOAL OF WORK IS NOT TO . . .
. . . increase my sense of self-worth. Many people find their sense of self-worth in the jobs that they do. Bringing home a pay-check helps them to fell significant. Getting a raise at work helps them to feel like they are appreciated and have value. Accomplishing tasks at work helps them to feel like they are a contributor to society or to the success of their business. There is one very big problem with that. What happens when they lose their job because they get fired, because of sickness, b/c the company goes out of business or down-sizes, or b/c they retire? What happens to their sense of self-worth? My sense of self-worth comes from the fact that I am a creation of God, He loves me, and I am His child because He was willing to pay the price of His Son in order to make me His child! I am safe in basing my sense of self-worth there, because that will never change!
. . . accumulate goods and give me a sense of security. The goal of work is not to amass wealth to be hoarded or to give peace and security. If you are working in order to have a large bank account, you’re working for the wrong reason. If you’re working to get a big house on the hill where you can feel at peace and feel like you have arrived, you’re working for the wrong reason. If you’re working to amass enough wealth to cover every possible disaster that could happen in your life so that you don’t have to worry, you’re working for the wrong reason. Wealth steals peace. It doesn’t give peace. Our peace and security is supposed to come from the fact that God holds us in the palm of His hand (Jn. 10:29) and that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39)! Jesus told the story of the rich fool [read Luke 12:16-21 if time].
. . . provide for my needs. That may shock you that I would say that. It even sounds a little contradictory to the 2nd statement in your outline that I provided for you – “God’s plan for the provision of our needs does include work.” Scripture does teach that if we are not willing to work, then our needs are going to go un-met. We will go hungry. We should go hungry if we are not willing to work. But work is not where the provision of your needs comes from. It is not your responsibility to provide for the needs of your family. It is not your employer’s responsibility to provide for the needs of your family. It is not your pay-check that puts food on your table. It is God that puts food on your table! He chooses to use your job as the tool whereby He sends His blessings down to you. We looked at Matt 6 a little while ago. Did you catch what it says about the flowers in verse 28? It says, “ . . . they labor [or toil] not . . .”, and yet God provides for their needs. The flowers don’t not work because they’re not willing. They don’t work because they’re not able. If it was the goal or the responsibility of work to provide for your needs, then what happens when you don’t have a job anymore? You had better start worrying. But since God has made it his responsibility to provide for you, you don’t have to worry regardless of your circumstances. Work is included in God’s plan for providing for us, but God is the ultimate source and the one to whom I owe my thanks for the food on my table and the clothes on my back.
THE GOAL OF WORK IS TO . . .
. . . keep me busy. It has been well said that “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” If I don’t keep myself busy doing good things, then I am going to find bad things to get involved in. That’s why Paul said in Eph. 4:28 that the best cure for a thief is that you give him something good to do with his hands. Then in the passage that we looked at earlier, 2 Thes. 3:11, it talks about the fact that those who do not keep themselves busy with work become busy-bodies. They get in the way of everyone else’s work and start to create real problems.
. . . to give me an appreciation for the value of things. Benjamin and Victoria’s favorite store is the dollar store. They like being able to go in there with just a dollar or two and being able to come out with one or more items with just that small level of investment. Being that we have just started their allowance, all money that they have spent up to this point has not been earned. It has been a gift from grandparents, friends or us. Gifts are great, but they do not teach a whole lot about the concept of value and responsibility. Benjamin has made the statement before when one of his toys was lost or stolen, “That’s ok; you guys [referring to Tammy and me] will just buy me another one.” Benjamin has not leaned the concept of value yet. Now that he is earning some of his own money, things that we used to buy him at the dollar store or other places will be purchased with his own funds. Since the getting of that item required work, it will cause him to value it a little more highly and take care of it better.
. . . to bring glory to God. (Titus 2:9-10; 1 Cor. 10:31) When you go to work each day, you are entering into a spiritual exercise. Roy, when you work on that radiator tomorrow, the reason you do such a good job and work honestly for your boss is in order to bring glory to God. Tammy, when you teach your students tomorrow, you won’t be doing it for their benefit or for your principal. You do it for God. Janet, as you clean rooms at the hospital, you don’t do it for the comfort of the person who will use that room next or so that you won’t have to hear the complaints of your boss. You do it so that God receives glory. Knowing that puts a different motivation in why we do what we do. It also makes it a little bit easier to put up with all the junk that work brings along with it. The complaints of customers, the criticisms of employers, the laziness of fellow employees. We don’t do it for a pay-check, for a raise, for a word of recognition. We do it for God.
. . . to have in order to give to others. That brings us to the final point of our outline.
3. God’s plan for the provision of our needs does include sharing with those in need.
I want us to very quickly look at a few passages that deal with this area of giving without reserve in order that the needs of everyone might be dealt with. [read and make comments on Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-25; 2 Cor 8:1-5]
It is very easy to think, “Well, when I have more, then I will start to give some of it away. I just can’t afford it right now.” ”The Junior Sunday School Teacher asked her eight eager 10-year-olds if they would give $1,000,000 to the missionaries. "YES!" they all screamed!! "Would you give $1,000?" Again they shouted "YES!" "How about $100?" "Oh, YES we would!" they all agreed!! "Would you give just a dollar to the missionaries?" she asked. The boys exclaimed "YES!" just as before except for Johnnie. "Johnnie," the teacher said as she noticed the boy clutching his pocket, "why didn’t you say ’YES’ this time?" "Well," he stammered, "I HAVE a dollar." [Bible Illustrator] We have to develop the habit of giving when we only have a little. That’s true for an individual, a family, or a church. If we do not give when we have only a little, then we will never give when we have a lot.
Tammy has begun using some of her money to start giving the kids an allowance. It’s not very much, but it’s enough for them to start learning wise use of what resources they have. Both of the kids have a bank that has 3 compartments in it. One compartment is labeled bank. That goes into savings for some future goal. One is labeled store. That can be spent immediately on something small that they want right now. And the final compartment is labeled church in which they deposit 10% of their allowance. That 10% amounts only to $.50. Though the amount of money is small, the amount is not the issue. The issue is that giving that small amount will teach them the discipline of giving whether they have a lot or just a little. If they can give 10% of the small amount that they have today, and maintain that as a godly habit through their growing years, then they will have no trouble giving 10% even if their salary grows to a million dollars a year.
Are you willing to be used of God to help meet the needs of others by giving of what God has given you even when you feel like you do not have enough to meet your own needs?
CONCLUSION
“Danny Sampson robbed a bank in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Danny Sampson used a hand-me-down Colt 45 and robbed a bank and got $6,000. When the Royal Canadian Mounted Police caught him and confiscated the gun, routinely they sent the gun to their laboratory where it was recognized as a collector’s prize. Danny Sampson didn’t have to rob a bank; he had a gun worth $100,000.” --Associated Press. Danny Sampson didn’t know it, but God had already provided for his needs. It was when he tried to take matters into his own hands that Danny got himself in trouble.
INIVITATION
Are you trying to provide for your own needs either through work or through stealing? God tells us to trust in Him for the provision of our needs. He has taken that job upon Himself.
- if you have stolen or have been stealing . . . stop . . . seek forgiveness . . . get busy doing good things . . . make restitution where possible . . . and learn to give rather than always being a taker
- if you’ve been working for the wrong reasons, allow God’s Spirit to show you that and change your motivation for why you go into work tomorrow morning. It will make that work seem a lot less like toil and a lot more like a gift that you give to God.
- if you have been stingy with what God has given you, find a way to start giving away a portion of your resources. That may mean re-evaluating what true needs are in your life and getting rid of something that you once thought you could not live without.
Remember, when you behave as a thief, you put yourself in the same category as Judas Iscariot and the two men who hung on the crosses beside Jesus. But when you give, you put yourself in the same category as God who loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son.
