When I was around 5 years old I remember a particular incident that started me off on a journey to understanding the 8th commandment…do not steal. My brother and I went grocery shopping with my mother and as we were standing on the line-up I saw Danny with a life-saver, so I asked him, where did you get that…and he said so non-chalantly…from there pointing to the candy stand right next to us…so I just thought…oh, I want one too so I took a pack of bubble gum. Neither one of us had ever done that before, even though we’d been at that grocery store dozens of time, so I don’t know what triggered that action on that particular occasion.
My mom was unaware of what had just taken place but when we got home, she noticed I was chewing on gum and Danny was sucking on a candy. They never gave us these treats, so I’m sure that’s what motivated her to ask “what’s in your mouths and where did you get it from?” and so Danny and I told her our story, Then she looked at us completely expressionless which was not normal in our family and so we knew something was not right and then she said…”Esperen no mas que venga su papa” “just wait till your father comes home.” But believe it or not Danny nor I knew what we had done wrong…my conscious was clear at least. So dad comes home and we’re both nervous wondering what’s gonna happen. Mom tells his the story and he proceeds to asks us to show him what we’d gotten from the grocery store so we sheepishly show him (all the while knowing that his temper can get the best of him) and when he sees what we’d taken…he looked at both of us with raging eyes, which confirmed we had done something really wrong but what? Then he spoke up and said in a very firm voice and expressive gestures “you never, ever, ever take what is not yours…even if you suspect it is yours but you’re not certain you do not take it…do you two little thieves understand?” and then he took our candy and gum and through them away. Not the most tactful words nor the wisest way of dealing with us but that lesson has stuck in my mind over all these years.
How many of you remember that first incidents when you took what didn’t belong to you? Maybe you don’t remember…or maybe I guess it’s a lot easier to think about or even confess incidents where you genuinely were naïve to the concept or new to it at least.
What does it mean to steal? I looked it up and here’s what I found. To steal means to take from someone without right or permission, to use without acknowledgement,
To accomplish in a concealed or unobserved manner; to try to carry out secretly; like in steal a look. To get into one's power gradually and by imperceptible degrees. These are very interesting definitions, because it goes beyond the scope of simply taking what is tangible.
My all time favorite movies all have to deal with theft…Ocean’s 11, 12, 13, Entrapment, the Score, the Italian Job and my all time favorite, Thomas Crown Affair. I don’t know what it is…maybe it’s the actors George Clooney, Pierce Brosnon, Shawn Connery…maybe it’s the wonder at the masterminds that put these kind of scripts together, maybe it’s the anticipation of “will they get away with it”…and let’s face it, or maybe it’s just me…but I’m cheering for the theifs and what makes these films so good is that they do get away with it, rarely do they not. Truth is though that when I watch these kinds of films it is obvious that these people are definitely thieves and I know I would never do something like that or at least to that magnitude.
The commandment reads “Do not steal” three simple words. It appears to be so self-explanatory that you wonder why God is wasting his breath in giving it to us. Isn’t it obvious…you don’t steal.
In working through this message, however, I’ve been reminded of how pervasive stealing is and how innate it is in the make-up of every human being. Let’s think about it theft includes what is tangible…you can steal possessions and persons in other words you can steal a man’s car or you can steal his wife. But theft can also include intangibles. Let me give you some examples and I’m going to use first person to illustrate this. Don’t steal my opinions and feelings (I know you may not mean to but there are times when I feel my thoughts are being suppressed, I don’t feel I can openly express what I think and often I wonder whether my feelings matter to you. Don’t steal my dreams I know I haven’t lived too long and I don’t have much experience but I love to think big, I love to think outside of the box…please let me. Don’t steal my time. I know you are a very busy person and you have so many things on the go, but so am I and my time is valueable. So I’m asking that you manage your tardiness and procrastination so that it doesn’t steal from me. Don’t steal my reputation. I’ve worked so hard on my character and my reputation. I know I make mistakes…I’m very aware of that, but if you have an issue with me please talk to me don’t talk behind my back and jeopardize what I’ve worked so hard to earn. Don’t steal my self-respect. Please learn to value who I am…acknowledge my presence, be considerate and polite. It doesn’t take much to destroy what will take me my whole life to discover…my worth. Don’t steal my kindness. I tend to be a generous person but please don’t take advantage of me. Don’t steal from my future. I recognize that you live in abundance of all kinds of natural resources…please don’t be wasteful. Don’t steal by withholding from me. I hurt when I know you withhold information from me. I’m disappointed when you withhold your service. I ache when you withhold your love and intimacy within our marriage.
There are so many ways that we steal from one another.
Each one of us have stolen and committed countless thefts haven’t we? Everyone of us at one time or another has taken what was not given, grabbed something that was not purchased, owned something we did not earn, kept something we did not intent, destroyed something that was not ours to destroy, withheld something legitimately belonging to another.
Author Lewis Smedes has pointed out, if theft could be limited to only such obviously wrong deeds as purse snatchings, shoplifters, and window-breaking thugs who steal wallets and DVD’s in the night, then this commandment would be a simple, straightforward law to ponder and also apply.”
I guess “do not steal” is not that simple, so I ask myself “why?”
And I wonder if it’s because , at the core of who we are we deal with the reality of our self-centeredness? And then I wonder if my self-centerdness stems from a mistrust in God, Maybe I believe that God withholds from me what is rightly due to me. You know…there is a destructive way of thinking that controls our ethic and moral makeup when we begin to believe that God withholds from us and that way of thinking says this…, “I deserve whatever I can get”. God ain’t gonna pull through for me, and nor is anyone else so I’ve gotta look out for me! Does this resonate with you? It does with me. And so we become thiefs of the tangible and intangible
I love the Bible because it relays the story of God, his character, his love, his patience, his teaching through the life journeys of really messed up people. People who on their own tend to do whatever is right in their own eyes and people who when they encounter the true God change…they’re never the same again and that gives me so much hope.
I’d like to tell you the story of one man that…well you just kinda shake your head. The story is found in Luke chapter 19…it’s the journey of a small but very influential man in Jericho…his name is Zacchaeus.
The story tells us that Zaccaeus was a chief tax collector, and tax collectors during this era in particular were hated and feared because they were self-employed businessmen who made a profit only by collecting more in taxes than the Roman government required. So to make a profit taxes were often assessed at far higher than the legal rate. Not only that but the tax collectors themselves estimated the value of goods so needless to say they would over-assess the value of those goods. And to make matters worse the Roman law allowed the tax collectors to confiscate and keep goods not declared by the merchant. So the system was ripe for abuse.
And Scripture tells us that Zacchaeus was "wealthy", so we can assume that his wealth stemmed from theft at the expense of the people. And we can’t limit it to the theft of money. Because I can only imagine that as he assessed certain goods of a poor merchant, goods that he and his family worked hard to earn, and he demanded to be payed what he thought was due to him, that he also stripped that head of the family from his/her dignity, honor and self-respect.
And so Jesus is passing by and Zacchaeus a man of much influence has probably heard about Jesus, and let’s face it, people of great influence want to surround themselves by people of influence because that keeps them influential. But Zacchaeus is too short so climbs up a sycamore tree, perhaps hoping he’d get a glimpse and maybe get Jesus’ attention. I think that it was Jesus’ popularity at the time that had Zacchaues intrigued. I don’t think Zacchaeus knew much about Jesus, about the spiritual influence he had, or otherwise I’m not sure he would have been that interested. And there’s Jesus walking by and he sees this man on the tree and says “Zacchaeus (as if he’s known him his whole life) come down immediately, I have to stay at your house today.) And I can imagine Zacchaeus probably feeling pretty important at this point, because Jesus is popular and there are a ton of people all around and they hear Jesus calling him by name and inviting himself to his home as if they were old chums. So he gets off the tree and takes Jesus to his home. Imagine someone you know is quite popular calling you by name in front of a pile of people and inviting you out for a coffee?
But the people aren’t impressed, instead they’re saying…I can’t believe Jesus is going to the house of a sinner…the thief!
So Jesus goes to Zacchaues’ house and we have no clue what happens there. I would love to know the conversation that Jesus engages Zacchaeus in. I don’t get why that wasn’t included in this story, because whatever kind of interaction it was got Zacchaeus thinking. I believe that whatever Jesus said or didn’t say had Zacchaeus struggling in his inner most being. There must have been a long period of wrestling that was taking place in this man’s mind and heart. There had to have been, you just don’t suddenly change your lifestyle unless there’s been some serious inner searching and this kind of inner-searching doesn’t happen unless there’s some kind of conviction taking place and this kind of conviction, which isn’t guilt does not happen unless there’s some kind of divine stirring. What we do know is that Jesus’ presence brings this man to make an astounding choice in his life. We read it in verse 8 he says, “Look Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four tiems the amount.” Notice the way he addresses Jesus. Jesus is no longer an influential, popular guy that Zacchaeus wanted to have everyone know he was buds with, no Jesus is much more than that at this point, he is Lord. There’s been some kind of spiritual unveiling that is jolting this man to make changes quickly, immediately. He no longer wants to continue doing what he’s been doing. It’s as if for the first time he is awakened to his revolting sin and he no longer wants to be a part of it. It’s also as if he has been given a peek into how his thievery has affected the people, the hurt, the pain, the humiliation it has caused them. His conscious is no longer seared, his heart is no longer calloused, his mind is no longer enslaved to the oppression of his self-centredness and his spirit is being liberated to be concerned for the well-being of his fellow country men and women. Interestingly enough we find freedom in the concern for and of others.
Listen to Jesus’ words, “Today salvation has come to this house…” What powerful words. I think Jesus is saying in my own paraphrase “Zacchaeus, today you are choosing to trust me, today you are understanding I don’t withhold from you, today you are recognizing that your stealing went beyond financial theft and that I, God, have heard the cries of injustice among my people. Today you’re learning that although your only one tax collector among many, your choices to stop stealing, will create many changes for the people around you including your family…they were learning your ways Zacchaeus. So today Salvation has come to this house. He was a changed man, he was going to make right what he had made wrong…that is a sign of a heart that acknowledges wrong-doing…making things right before God and those around us. I mean, Zaccheus only had to pay back what he stole plus 20% according to the O.T law.; but he went beyond that…he was going to give 50% of everything he owned back to where it really belonged and would give back 400% to those he had intentionally stolen from. He didn’t have to do that. He wanted to.
In the book of Ephesians Paul tells those who have chosen to follow the ways of Jesus to stop living in ignorance of their ways due to the hardening of their hearts and he gives them a list of things they need to begin to live by. And in verse 28 he says to them…he who has been stealing must steal no longer.
We know what it’s like when someone has stolen from us, don’t we…regardless of what has been or is being stolen from us. It is a violation to us as a person, as an individual. It demonstrates an absolute disinterest, an apathy, a lack of concern, respect and consideration to the person I am and a failure to protect, honor and celebrate the gifts and the life given and entrusted to me by God so that I may in return give of myself to others. Lets remember that the principle behind “not stealing” is learning concern for the well-being of others (having their very best interest in mind) and trusting God. That’s the lesson Zacchaeus was learning. How about us? Are we willing to have God call us by name, speak to our hearts, perhaps come to terms with the variety of ways we may be stealing from the people around us and after recognizing that will we have the courage to make things right that God might say…”salvation has come to this house!” |
