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Today's topic is the command against theft is found in Deuteronomy. At its root, theft seeks gain at the expense of others. As Christians, we are to follow the one who said, take up your cross and follow me. Pastor Wei shares how all that we have is from God and encourages us to graciously share with those in need.

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This morning we are continuing our series in the study of the book of Deuteronomy. And we have come to the eighth commandment. Last week we just covered the doctory, and this we are covering the eighth commandment, which is uh you shall not steal. And in Deuteronomy 23 to 24, we read a bunch of a group of case laws, right? Different different cases where where where it kind of uh elucidates uh what it means to not steal. Yeah. And then and um and it stems from Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse 19, right? Uh there it says, you shall not steal, which sounds like a fairly easy commandment, right? Uh most of us, if not all of us here, we think, yeah, don't steal easy one. Just keep your hands to yourself, right? Don't take other people's things, uh, and we are good. You know. Um and I'm gonna hazard the guess and say that almost all of us uh do not think of ourselves as thieves, right? So so you shall not steal is a very easy commandment to keep for us, right? Also we think. Yeah. Um because things do get a little bit complicated when we look at how the Jewish people understands uh stealing.

unknown 1:42

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SPEAKER_01 1:43

Stealing for them is not simply about just taking someone's property, right? It is all it is at its heart a violation of personal boundaries, right? It's a personal crime towards people. Um and and we all know that theft is to steal something, right? To take something from someone without permission or or when you have no legal rights over it, but you just take it for yourself anyway, right? Um to to make it more simple, you you are taking something that is not yours. But in the Bible, the the Hebrew word for the word to steal uh is used to refer to other forms of theft. Uh and there are many, there are more than one way uh of stealing from someone. Of course, it can be from property, right? Uh if you if we if you're gonna go uh go through the stories in Genesis, we we read uh if you remember Rachel uh in Genesis chapter 31, verse 19, Rachel stole her father's household gods, so it's a property of his her father. She stole it, and remember it she sat on it and then claimed that uh she had uh her period and all, and so the father couldn't search the place for his idols. Um, but it can also be to steal one's mind, right? You can actually be stealing people's mind. Uh and that is a a phrase that they use, uh the Jewish people use to refer to deceiving people, and that is a form of theft. And just uh I read for us Genesis 31, right, verse 19. In the next verse, we read that Jacob deceived Laban and ran away. There, the Hebrew literally says um that Jacob stole the heart of Laban, right? And it's not not meant to be some something romantic, oh he stole my heart. No, but but it's it's meant to say that uh Jacob deceived Laban and carried out uh his plans uh without without Laban knowing. Or it could be to steal a person, right? We we call them kidnapping, we call that uh uh uh human trafficking and all that, right? Um but you could also steal a person from his land. And so if you remember the story of Joseph, uh in Genesis 40, verse 15, Joseph says, For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, right? Um and really the word to steal in the Jewish understanding, it really depends on the context you are using it. Yeah, uh, and it can cover a lot of things, right? A wide uh range of things. It can be like we saw uh persons where you can kidnap people, you can steal property, you can steal life, right, by uh killing someone, you can steal today, uh intellectual uh property theft is a huge thing, right? You can plagiarize, you can download stuff and and and and uh uh illegally and all. Um you can steal people's reputation even um by by uh by slander, by gossip, you can steal people's good standing amongst others. Um you can you can steal dignity, you can steal people's trust or even people's beliefs, right? Um and so for for that for Jews, they interpret um stealing within the context you are using the word. Yeah, and so stealing, uh as I've said, is more than just about uh taking someone's property without permission or right. Uh actually it is more than just about whether what you're doing is legal or not, right? It's not about legality per se. Uh at the heart of it, it is a violation of the person. To steal from someone is to violate the person. Uh it's gaining something that is not yours at the personal loss of someone else, making them worse off than before. And so just to just to give a very easy example here, uh imagine you need to buy a laptop today, right? Normally what uh what we do is uh we will just step into a shop, Challenger, uh popular, Harvey Norman, whatever, right? We'll just step into a shop, and then maybe a salesperson will be kind of uh around and come to you, hey, hi, good morning, right? How can I help you today? Right, and we'll proceed to guide you through the options. And suppose you don't really know much about laptops, you don't know about processors, graphic cards, uh how many RAMs you have, and then all how many RAMs you need and all that, right? And so you're kind of depending on the expertise or the authority of this sales person, right? And uh you only need it to do A, B, and C. Maybe documents, maybe emails, watch YouTube, right? You only need to do A, B, and C, right? But the salesman proceeds to recommend much higher-end laptops, right? Not just A, B, and C. You can do all the way to X, Y, Z. Um and give and push you a laptop that has the best processors, the best graphics card and all. Right? Very high-end specs for gaming purposes, right? No lag at all. Right? Um, and and and you you now you buy a laptop that is two or three times the price that you needed to pay. Right? How would you feel? Would you feel cheated? Or would you feel like, oh, that the salesman did a good job uh recommending me something like this? Or what if the salesman did the opposite thing, right? And instead of outselling you, he I don't know what's the opposite of upsell, whether you can downsell someone, but to to recommend something to you that is really subha, right? Cheap, uh that will run uh run well for a few weeks, but that will start lagging in a few months, and then starts making really unbearable in the second half of the year, and then starts to break down after the warranty ends, right? Uh suppose a salesperson just does this to you and says, sell something that is that is that will just spoil very quickly, right? And then you find yourself having to buy and replace, buy and replace over and over again. You also feel cheated, isn't it? You also feel that you have put your trust in this salesperson and yet you know this is the product that the person pushed to you, right? And in both cases, legally speaking, uh I I think legally speaking, there's I'm not a lawyer, so don't quote me on this, but legally speaking, there's no theft involved. Right? You're the one who chose it in the end, and you're the one who paid for it in the end. Right? But in some other ways, you were deceived, you were manipulated, you suffered personal loss. And not just monetary, maybe one, two, three K, buying too high, and or having to replace your equipment. But you were also tricked, right? In in that sense, your mind was also stolen. You believed the salesperson and was exploited, right? And that is a violation uh of you. And so with that, it it it helps us understand a little bit more um the why these case laws were given and why they somehow sit in in uh accordance to the eighth commandment, you shall not steal. Right, in today's passage, uh Moses goes through several of these case laws, right? And that seem to be loosely related at best. But at the heart of it, they show how theft can occur in different ways. And I just want to just from the outside, I want to say that um at the heart of these laws is really two principles, right? Uh the the laws are concerned with the protection of persons, to protect people. Yeah, and number two, that the people of God will do what they owe to each other. Right? These two principles are uh are key to understanding uh these laws that we we see this morning, right? Uh and you will see that these laws are against uh specifically against exploitation of the vulnerable, the weak, or the needy in society. Um, especially the brothers and sisters, those we consider family as the covenantal God, uh people of God. And so uh what these laws tell us is that we are we are to be governed by grace and by love instead. Uh, but governed by grace and love in the way we treat one another. And as we will see later, interestingly, it protects the poor as well as the people who are well-to-do. Right? These are laws that cover everyone in Israel. Landowners also have rights and also need protection from theft. Um, and so ultimately is about how what we owe to one another as the children of God. And uh to put it more positively, right? It is really about meeting the needs of the person that we meet, making the person whole and sound, physically, spiritually, mentally. And so let's just quickly kind of run through the the case laws, um, and then we can again you know think about how how actually any of these laws apply to us today, right? But in verse uh chapter 23, verses 19 uh and 20, uh it says this you shall not charge interest or loans to your brother, interest on money, uh, interestingly, interest on food, interest on anything that's lent for interest. Um meaning we see the all the surrounding nations, they tend to lend these things uh at an interest, right? Anything that people lend at an interest, you are not to lend an interest to your people. Right? You may charge your foreigner interest, but you may not change, charge your brother interest. That the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. And so in those times, especially, but even today, right? Um, who are the ones who would come to people to borrow anything, to lend anything? Um it is those who are driven to borrow, right? It is those people who are poor, poor enough that they they they're struggling enough that they have to come out and have to borrow from people just to tide over difficult periods. And uh at that time, the surrounding nations um they had uh crazy high interest rates, right? It can be as high as 20 to 25 percent for money, right? And can be as high as 30 to 50 percent uh interest rates on food, right? Meaning you say for every one kg of grain you take, you have to return uh 1.5 kg sometimes, right? And and to someone with a predatory mind, this is the perfect way to earn money, isn't it? I have money lying around, I have grain lying around, right? I have enough for myself. I don't I don't need it. I just lend and then for nothing at all, I start to earn more money in interest, right? Um so to anyone with a predatory mind, this is the this is a great way to exploit people. But to charge interest on loans to an already poor and struggling person is to exploit his vulnerability and to entrench him in poverty with really no way of getting out of debt. Right? So, in the eyes of God, a lender like this will be committing theft, taking what is really not his, uh taking, but taking it in interest, right? Uh, and taking away agency and dignity from the person by exploitation. Um as we move on, um things are a little bit less clear here, but but but Moses kind of talks about making a vow, right? Don't make a vow and then like fall back on your word, right? Uh quickly read it, read it out for us. In verse 21 and 22, it says, If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth. And so if you make a vow to the Lord, it is considered done. Right? That's that's really the the essence of it, right? If you say, if you promise God that you will do something, it is considered done. And then to not fulfill that vow is really to take back your work, your word, and really take back what you owe the Lord, what you have vowed to the Lord. Right? And that's sin also as a form of theft. And going on to uh verse 24 and 25. Um if you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you will eat your few, you may eat your few of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any uh uh in your bag. If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the ears of your hand, and you should, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain. And so this is interesting in in a few ways, yeah. Number one is um why does God allow others to just go into someone's vineyard or someone's field uh and eat from them, right? How does that not constitute stealing?

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SPEAKER_01 14:23

You can just go so go into someone's backyard, pluck the apples, pluck the oranges, and then just eat from it, right? How does that not constitute stealing? Um and so unique to Israel, I guess, is that um they had this concept that everything that we have belongs to God. Everything that we have belongs to God, especially that the land they were going into, right? At this point, they were still kind of at the cusp of uh the promised land, right? And they were going into the land, right? Uh and God set these laws to help me understand this point. The land that you're about to take is not yours. And it will never really be your personal property, your personal right. This is my land that I am giving it uh to you. Right? It is God's gift to the people, and they are stewards and tenants of the land. So, whatever fruit the land bears, of course, they are, of course, as landowners, you are to enjoy the fruit of your land, right? The fruit of your labor. And if a kinsman, a fellow country uh countryman, uh uh, a brother or a sister is hungry and wanders into your field to eat uh the grapes or the grain, right? Landowners are to extend God's gift and grace to him or her, right? We owe it to God to fill others up. And so, in that sense, it is not considered theft, right? But it is encouraged that you allow people to come into your field, to come into your vineyard, to have their field. But the other interesting thing then is that the protection is also for the landowner, right? The well-to-do one here, the the one that we think, ah yeah, never mind, so rich, just stick la, never mind, it doesn't hurt the person anyway, right? Um, God says you cannot exploit him either. You cannot eat, and then you still go and papa or something bad, go and bring for your father, your mother, right? Um, if you do, you will be stealing from the landowner.

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SPEAKER_01 16:16

Interesting how how it becomes like a uh like a like a this is about God's gift and grace to everyone, so come have your feel. But you are not allowed to violate the rights of of the landowner by by by taking back uh food from his field. Um very quickly, if I if I can move on to to the next um the next case law, which is which is a bit um strange uh to be kind of set in this context. Um but ultimately it's really about uh stealing the dignity of a woman, right? Women women in that time in the very patriarchal society, they tend to have uh less rights, right? If I can put it that way. Um and and and they therefore are open to a lot of exploitation, a lot of abuse. Um and so if I can very quickly read it out for us, right? When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and and he writes a he has a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house. And if she goes and becomes another man's wife, and the latter man hits her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in in her hand and sends her out of the house, or if the latter man dies, who who took her to be his wife, uh, then her former husband, and here's a crux the former husband who sent her away may not take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled. For that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. Um the the the responsibility here, the moral responsibility here, right, seems to have been shifted to the man, right? The woman has been defiled by the first husband for even offering the the certificate of divorce in the first place. Right? And why why is is this so important, right? Men cannot just anyhow, in a patriarchal society, I I suppose you could men could really just pick and choose, then if you don't like, you can divorce and then choose another one, right? But you can but here the law is saying you are not allowed to treat women that way. Right? You go all the way to the point of marriage and you married the woman, right? Clearly there was nothing wrong, and then you found something wrong about her. And here it's not clear about what exactly is wrong about her, right? Uh and and to to to cut it short, it seems that it might be something physical, um, maybe something to do with with uh not not being able to bear children or some something along those lines, right? And really nothing morally wrong about a woman. But if you still choose to divorce the woman anyway, then you are to write a certificate and put it in her hands. Right? A way of saying you are to relinquish your rights to her dowry, right? Whatever that she came with her, all those are now her possession and she uh she can take them back and then go back home to the family. Become a free woman in that sense, right? A free woman to also remarry if she chooses. And you are not to then try to go and get her back if she is somehow available and single again. You're not allowed to go back and try to try to try to marry her again, right? Um so that the woman will be free from the abuse of the first husband. The woman will be free and to to really preserve her dignity as a person, right? So, in this sense, in this case here, right, there can easily be a theft of dignity, of agency, right? Um and and really this is to protect the woman uh from the abuses or the exploitation of of men who marry and then choose to divorce uh as he sees fit. Um and so just very quickly, the next uh three three case laws. Um when a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken. It's a one-year honeymoon. Wow, very shock. Um but but it's nice, right? Like the newly married, the understanding is yeah, go and enjoy marital bliss, right? Don't steal the man away from the woman, don't steal the husband away from the wife, uh, and send him to out for war or ask him to do some public duty where he has to stay away from the family uh for a long period, right? Don't take that away from the couple. Um the second last, taking a pledge, uh, which relates really to about uh to loaning as well. Imagine I want to borrow something for you, then you think uh you cannot just take something money from me. I need a pledge, uh, right? Give me your IC, give me your this, give me or that, right? So that I can keep you here, right? So that I you you will repay me, right? Uh here it says don't take the person's meal or even the upper upper mealstone, right? Every family will have a meal. Because they need to grind the flour, the the grains and all to make flour, then to use the flour to make food, right? It's like stealing your gas stove or something, stealing your fridge, uh, right? You give me your fridge as a collateral, right? Until you can pay me back, I'm not gonna return you the fridge, right? Which is in Singapore in Senna, then you cannot keep food, then you cannot cook and all that, right? And so the idea here is that you're taking away the livelihood of the person. So, which is why it says that that will be taking a life in pledge. Yeah? And very last, very sorry, thank you, thank you for uh staying with me till now, if you are still with me. Uh very the very last one is what what I've talked about in in the case of Joseph, right? If a man is found stealing one of his brothers, you're not a kid, just a kidnapper, right? In the Jewish understanding, you are a thief. You stole the person and you sow him into slavery. Uh the thief shall die, you shall purge the evil from your midst. Um and and and so, as we see, um it is really meant to kind of give you uh a broad Scope of what theft can be like. They may seem kind of loosely related at best, uh, sometimes even like like kind of uh kind of out of place, right? At one at one point, I think the the hit the subheading is miscellaneous laws, as if like they're not really related, right? But they really show us the scope of what theft can be like, right? And so even as we go through this case laws, I don't know if you are already in your mind, like your gears are turning and you're already thinking about uh examples that we see today, right? They are the of course very obvious things, right? The get-rich quick schemes, uh the scams in all shapes and forms. Um I don't know how many of you have received scam calls. I'm gonna guess like 90% of you have received some form of scam course, right? And I've received a few of them, mostly from bots, of course, with a very uh digital voice telling you they are from OCBC and all that, right? Um but occasionally from actual people. Um they'll tell me, oh, you have this strange activity going on in your Amazon account, you know, and uh I'm here to help you uh fix that and all that. So I like I mean in the past, if I have time, I will just talk to them. I'll just kind of keep entertainment a little bit, keep them busy until they realize that oh this guy, this guy knows what's up, then they will hang out with me. Um but I will kind of try to waste their time if I can. Um yeah, but but really people are really are just out there trying to scam uh others. Um there was one time uh I don't have a picture. I I took a picture of this, this uh I was I went into lift, I remember not seeing anything on the wall. I went to I was at Mihung Kui. I went back up the lift, right? Um I saw this piece of paper just stuck on the wall that says scan me, and then it's a QR code. Right? And at that point, I I really thought this cannot be right. It must be a scam, right? There's no other thing, there's no no no badge, no, I don't know, letter head, no nothing. It's just scan me and the QR code. Um and and to this day I feel like I should have just taken it down, right? Because I'm pretty sure it's a scam. And I'm pretty sure people who don't know anything, yeah. Oh, scan me, okay, scan now. Then then you will log into things, and then that there goes your phone, there goes your personal details, and there goes your bank account. Um but scams are everywhere. People are out there trying to steal, right? Um sometimes people exploit with their authority, right? They steal from the vulnerable. Um of course we know migrant workers are uh uh uh often being deceived by their agencies, right? They pay a huge amount of money to the agencies, they're promised certain things, they come here, things are actually not as promised, and things are actually really bad for them, and they are they are stuck in very disadvantageous positions. Um and so um you know pro bono uh lawyers, uh lawyers who will do pro bono cases often have to help them out. Uh and often uh are unable to help because legally, again, legality, right? Legally, they signed the contract, legally, they got themselves into it. But that those are a form of theft as well. Or when doctors make patients go through unnecessary tests. Uh, I think recently someone got uh actually uh uh what's the word for it? Got caught. A doctor actually got caught for putting people through unnecessary tests, which cost money, cost time, cause a lot of trauma to patients. Right. Um I I I'm not sure if I should say this, but sometimes it's really those small and seemingly innocent things, right? Uh recently supermarkets have started uh charging for plastic bags, right? Five cents apiece. Um one day, I I read about it and I I didn't really believe it because I haven't seen it in my eyes. But one day, Beth and I were at uh this this particular supermarket, and I see a few people just uh bagging their groceries with those clear plastic they use for your loose uh vegetables and fruits, right? Every single item they buy, they take one plastic, put it in points. I and I for I I don't I guess it's maybe really to line their beans or they have some other use for it, right? Um but that's how they they game the system, right? Uh fight fight the power, eat the rich. I don't know. But but but um so so people are doing that, right? And that itself is a form of theft, right? I mean, none of us is happy that that supermarkets are charging uh for plastic bags. Um there are I think good reasons why they do that. If you look at other countries, Australia as for as as for example, they charge one bag, nicer bag, but it's two bucks for a bag in Australia. Big one, sturdy one, but like two bucks, right? Ours is five cents, you know. Um but but yeah, to just grab plastic bags and like I I that is kind of uh a form of theft as well, right? Or have we taken anything from airplanes, from hotels? Uh and and uh as I was I was preparing this sermon, I feel like, yeah, I feel very duty, feel very bad. Because some of these things I've done before as well, right? You go on the airline, then what the airline serves with like stainless steel, uh fork, spoon, whatever. Then you just take, you know, and and and and um that is uh yeah, I mean, I I this is my uh confession here, and I I want to repent of this. I was telling just telling me back for we I really need to repent of this, right? Uh but we take things from hotels, we take things from from airplanes and all, uh grab more surveys, then put it in the bag. Next time we can use the survey, grab more sugar packets than we actually need so that uh we can go home and drink with our copy. Um these are examples of small things, but nonetheless, right, are considered theft in God's eyes, right? And they're also really less obvious examples, um, but they are no less than theft, right? Um employees commit theft when they slack off instead of working, right? And and or they fail to do the job well, they or sometimes they take office supplies back home, that kind of thing that you can cheat or uh steal from your employers, right, by by by this means. Or employers likewise can commit theft when instead of taking care of their employees, the people under you, right, they put them at risk, right? Uh because recently we know you know people are being put into very risky, very dangerous modes of transportation. Uh or they make employers, employees work OT uh overtime, without pay, give them no rest, work them hard, make it sloped, right? Uh these are ways that we steal from people that we sometimes don't really uh know, don't really um consider. Um consider this strange, uh not strange case, but like this interesting case of Epsalon. Uh kind of like Jacob uh deceiving Laban, right? Um if you know the story of Epsalon, um he was on bad terms with his father. His father was King David, right? Um he was on bad terms with David, um and he grew bitter. So at one point he wanted to usurp his his father. He wanted to usurp King the king and take the throne. In 2 Samuel 15, right, uh we read that actually he spent four years, four long years deceiving people. He will stand outside the gate and he'll just pretend, pretend like he's official. He's got like 50 of his soldiers, the chariots and all. Just pretend he's an official, stand outside the gate. Then we people come in, they usually want to go in to seek audience with the king to settle some dispute, right? To be the judge over their issues, their dispute. And then uh Epsilon would be like um, he'll put on a show, he'll say, Oh, aye, the king is too busy for you, lah. He's not free. You go in, you also know you're on. Don't bother, lah, don't waste your time. Ayeah. If only he bothered appointing a judge, you know, he's like, he's not doing his job. Uh don't know what he's doing at all. If he were me, uh, I tell you, I guarantee, I confirm, uh judge it so well that it is in your favor, because you are in the right. No, if only I was a judge. Aye, Cyan, too bad, lah. That's that's your lot. You you might as well go home. Um, he did that for four years, right? And eventually he got enough people uh to to be on his side, and then that's where he started to try taking over the throne. Um, the interesting thing here, and kind of my point from this story, is that scripture tells us what that what Absalom did was to steal the hearts of uh the men of Israel. Again, not in a romantic sense, but to really to steal to make their judgment unsound, right? To steal something from them and make them think otherwise about the king. So he stole the minds and the hearts of the people, and so they were not thinking with sound judgment about the king. And um, yeah, in our relationships with people, we tend to do that too, right? Especially when uh when we are unhappy with someone, when we uh want things our way, but there's no legitimate way of doing it or getting it, right? We find other means to garner support, to rally people around us, around our cause. We find a few people, we gossip here, slander there, poison the well, create dissension, and really make the person uh we are unhappy that we are unhappy with to make the person lose his reputation and his standing with the people. And that is theft as well. Just as Epsilon stole from the people, right? We steal from people when we deceive or manipulate people through these means and ways. Steal people's trust and confidence away from the person you dislike. And really, there are many other ways or forms of stealing, of exploitation uh to gain, but essentially it is to gain something by making someone else suffer a loss. And so when we think soberly, it is no wonder that God sets a commandment against theft. We might think, yeah, it is so trivial. All of us are afraid of theft and we will not steal, right? But when we look at the scope of what theft looks like in the in the Bible, right, it is no wonder that God sets a commandment against theft in the Ten Commandments. So as we think about it and about how scripture applies to us, really one question that we can ask is why do we steal What is it about stealing that makes us want to do it, right? Even though we know it's uh legally and morally wrong, right? Why why do we steal? Um Jesus kind of uh puts it this way for out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false weakness, slander, right? It's really about the condition of our hearts, our sinful nature. We become um discontent, discontent with what we have, discontent with our lot in life, discontent in comparison with others. Why don't I have these things and this other person has everything? And that's we we begin to begin to to steal, begin to brew uh the the the the urge to steal from others in various forms and means. Right? Augustine kind of talks about sin this way, that sin causes us to turn inward on ourselves. Right? It causes us to curve inwards is his words on ourselves. And so we become selfish, we become self-centered, right? It's about me, it's about what I want, and what I want is right, what I think is right. And because of that, I should be able to obtain what I want by any means necessary. And so we find all ways to vindicate, to justify ourselves, right? I never force this person to buy this one. I mean, I just recommend only, I just say one. They own self-buy one, right? So I'm not at fault here, it's not me. I did not cheat the person. Or we think, ah, yeah, it's not like the company, it's not like this person cannot afford it, right? I mean, just take a bit here and there only one. What is wrong with that, right? The person don't really suffer anything much. Or like we think, oh come on, you know, this person clearly doesn't know what he's doing. No, um, and so so I I gotta do something, I gotta be like the the the the hero in this situation, I gotta come in, step in, and help out the situation, I gotta do something about it, right? And so in in doing all these things, right, we we turn away from God and we turn away from others, and we curve in on ourselves, becoming uh becoming self-centered. And it is precisely this that fractures our relationship with God and with fellow men. It's precisely this that causes us to um steal from people, right? Um and this is quite in line actually with what the evil one does, what Satan does, right? In John 10, Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd and how the ones that came before him were thieves and robbers. Right? He says this in verse 10, right? The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Right? Theft is always destructive. It is never constructive, right? Theft is always destructive. Whether it is to property, to dignity, to freedom, reputation, agency, or to the mind and heart of the person. Theft is always destructive. And that becomes uh a privation of life in that there is a loss, there is a lack now. Um and so peace and wholeness is gone because you have done something, you have deprived the person, or you have made the person lose something, lose their property, lose their mind, lose their judgment. But Jesus goes on to say this, right? I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. And so who Jesus is and what he has done for all of us is the prime example of what it means to not steal. And so, really, I think the the concept is this what is the opposite of stealing? In scripture, it seems to be it seems that the opposite of stealing is not simply don't steal or not to steal, right? The opposite of stealing, uh as we have seen from the case laws, um and really, really the two principles, right? The the opposite of stealing is the protection of persons. The opposite of stealing is to do what we owe to others, right? That is how scripture cultures it. Um the opposite of stealing is actually actively in reverse to to seek the welfare of others and making good use of God's gift and grace to us for other people's sake. Uh in the commentary of uh John Calvin on the eighth uh commandment, uh you shall not steal, he writes this. Uh, I'm just gonna quickly read out uh and point out the important uh parts. For we must consider that what each individual possesses has not fallen to him by chance, but by the distribution of the sovereign Lord of all. Everything that we have comes from God, right? And so no one can pervert his means to bad purposes without committing a fraud on a divine dispensation. Meaning if everything is really given to us, and we still go out to steal, to exploit, to take something from others, to cause people to have a loss, right? We are committing a fraud against God, the giver of the gifts. Right? And we are in the end sinning against God, stealing from God. Whatever we have comes from God, and if we use them for ill gains, we we we sin against God. And at the end of that commentary, uh in John Calvin's uh writing, uh he writes, um, well, it's a bit um tough going, but let's let's let's kind of read through this once. Let everyone, I say, thus, consider what in his own place and order he owes to his neighbors. Right? The old testament especially, but the scripture itself is always asking us to think about our place in society. Or actually, to be more specific, our place in the covenantal people of God. And what is my relationship to my brother or my sister? Why is my relationship to someone who is in need in my community? Right? And so Calvin writes this we consider, um, sorry, I say consider what in his own case and order he owes to his neighbors and pays what he owes. Moreover, we must always have a preference, uh reference to the lawgiver. And so remember that the law requires us to promote and defend the interests and convenience of our fellow men. Applies equally to our minds and our hands. Um meaning to say it is not simply don't steal, don't steal and you'll be fine. Right? Scripture is trying to say God gives you all these things, right? To be used to bless people. These are not your things anyway. You're not giving things uh uh that isn't that are not yours, so you're not in in some sense like like losing out, right? But that God has given you all this, and that that you we are to see what needs people around us have and to really help them meet their needs. Um doing so, understanding that what we have comes from God and we owe it all to him, and therefore we owe it to his people, we owe it to the our our neighbors, the people who are in need. Right? Understanding this part frees us from that self-centeredness, right? It frees us from curving in onto ourselves, right? Uh helps us to become more open. Then we learn to be content with what we have in life. We learn to be content with what God has graciously and sovereignly given us. And we really learn that it is not about us. At the end of the day, it's really not about us. I don't have to strive and grasp for things that God hasn't ordained for me. We don't have to begrudge or steal from others, we don't we won't feel the urge to gossip or to slander against people, to orchestrate things uh to see the downfall of someone, right? Since God has graciously given us gifts, means, possessions. The question posed by today's uh case laws is this how am I to steward them? How am I to steward the gifts that God has given me? What do I owe to God and to neighbor? And how can I take part in what God is doing in other people's lives so that I become God's means of grace to others? So that I seek the welfare of people. I seek to make people whole. How do I lay down my life for others as the good shepherd laid down his life for us? We owe it to God to use what he has given us to help those who are needy and to seek the welfare of people, right? Whether actually whether it's uh towards our spouse, to our parents or our children, right? Joe Calvin actually wrote about how parents should treat their children in a certain way so that's not to steal from them. And children also have to treat their parents in a certain way so as to not to steal from them, right? Which is the honor your your your father and your mother, right? But also uh parents don't provoke your children to anger, right? Um there are all these different ways where where we have to ask ourselves, what has God given me in my current situation, my current context? And how am I supposed to bless people rather than tear people down, rather than steal from them? Anything, kind of listening through this whole sermon and and and parts of it kind of pricks at you and and all. Uh if we have been thieves in one way or another, as as as I I recognize really myself that I have been thieving, I have been stealing, in one way or another, right? Um if we are guilty in any way, right, know that we can find forgiveness in our good and gracious God. And really coming to God, confessing, repenting, right, um offers a transformation in this part of our lives, right? Um and I'll close with this. Speaking of the new life we have in Christ, Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Um, Paul speaks of a theology of work, right? Stealing produces dishonest, ill-gotten gains. But the new life in Christ caused us to do honest work with our own hands, right? Uh, the sort of labor God honors and blesses. Even for things like achieving authority, achieving some sort of power, or soft power, right, in the form of good relationships with people, uh, gathering the hearts and minds of people to agree on things, right? Um, these things, right, we can work at it in honest ways. And importantly, interestingly, Paul puts it this way the thief should no longer steal, but work honestly so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Importantly, the fruit of our labor produces something that we can share with others, that we may bless others. Whatever forms of uh theft we have been involved in, um God can forgive and God can cleanse us and even direct us in our new life in Him. To really be productive in Him and to be constructive towards others, so that when once we harm others, now we may bless and help anyone in need. And so, kind of to conclude and to give a very quick summary, theft is variegated in its form and wide in its scope. It seeks the loss of people so that we may gain something out of it. But the way of God in his commandment against theft is to see that all we have is from God and to then graciously share with those in need. So, church, let us not indulge ourselves in any form of stealing, but strive to do what is honest and upright in the eyes of God so that we may be like Christ in bringing God's blessing and grace to the people around us.

SPEAKER_00 44:25

We pray that you've been ministered to by the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about Eastern Christian Church, please visit our website at yccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.