Sermon archive

This blog contains sermons listed by date, Bible passage and title

Name:
Location: Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Sermon 7 of 10 on Ten Commandments 7/2/09

Sermon 7 of 10 on Ten Commandments
8/02/09
Text:
Title: You Shall Not Steal
As I prepared for this sermon on the Seventh Commandment, “You shall not steal.” I was hard pressed to come up with a sermon that would give the congregation, as redeemed children of God, a new perspective on this Commandment. I would say that none of us would consider ourselves of being guilty of stealing.
I would say though that if we were to be honest with ourselves we all know we are guilty of stealing. Stealing from our boss when we don’t give them a full day’s work, or lie about being sick, or taking home that pen or whatever we don’t think they will miss. Cheating on taxes, not reporting income, or paying someone in cash so that will not have to report their income are all forms of stealing. Those getting government help often lie about their marital status, or income, so that their government checks do not get cut. I could go and on listing all the different ways we break this commandment. We all stand guilty before God.
We all stand guilty, but God cannot condemn us because Jesus in his perfect life and death took God’s just wrath upon himself, so we can be free of God’s wrath. That is the good news of Jesus salvation. We are free of God’s condemnation that is a sure thing.
Stealing comes about when a person is centered on self. And being centered on self does not allow you to be centered on God. Self-centeredness wars against the Christian faith. You can't receive and trust Jesus as Savior when you are centered on yourself.
Accepting God’s gifts of forgiveness and eternal life and living a God pleasing life requires that you come to him with empty hands and hearts so he can fill you with himself. That's why the humanistic emphases of our society make it so hard for people to deal personally with Jesus. Humanism, by definition, puts man at the center, thus making people masters of their own fate, the captains of their own souls. And that will in the end only lead to sorrow and loneliness, and the utter defeat of the soul.
But in Christ you find the true center of life, for in him you find an assurance about life that comes from his love, his forgiveness, his acceptance. In that assurance you live day by day in the knowledge that you are not just on your own in life but are a child of God. And as a child of God you find power to get beyond your selfishness, your self-centeredness. You can't follow Jesus as Lord and continue to be centered on yourself.
The Seventh Commandment addresses the problem of human selfishness in a very pointed way. It simply says, "You shall not steal" what belongs to your neighbor. It is God's Word that aims at protecting human society from the results of its own dishonesty self-centeredness, and selfishness and greed.
God knows, and you and I know, that this commandment will not change hearts. It is only when we look at the command through the filter of our faith in Jesus, our Lord and Savior, it is given the dynamic it needs to be one of God's Ten Words for a Happy Christian Life.
While we think that this commandment only talks about stealing from those around us the Bible also warns against stealing from God. Jesus concluded his "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's" with "and give to God what is God's." Through his prophet Malachi God once bluntly accused his Old Testament people of robbing him because they were not bringing their tithes to his storehouse. This is not a word to the world in general, for those who have not been led to receive from God through Jesus will not be concerned about giving to him in return. But we who know that God loves a cheerful giver will surely not want to be guilty of robbing him of the offerings he equips us to bring. Instead, we will joyfully worship and praise him with our gifts and in the process enable the Gospel ministry in the world. It's part of leading the happy Christian life!
That is not the way of the world, for those of the world applaud those who put together a sharp deal, taking advantage of the unwary. Christians in their life, on the other hand, want to be honest in all their dealings.
It requires for us a different mindset; a new learned behavior. So how does one begin to live a more God pleasing life as far as this Commandment is concerned? First of all it can only begin if you truly do believe that you truly are a poor miserable sinner and have in you no reason for God to forgive you. It is at that time that throw yourself at the foot of the cross acknowledging Jesus’ saving work on your behalf.
Then and only then can you receive the power of Jesus to help you fight against your sinful flesh. For those who work a good place to start living a happy life is to give of yourself, your time and effort to your employer. If you are having trouble putting yourself energetically into the work you are paid to do remember God’s Word as written by St. Paul, “Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men.”
Think how good life would be if every morning you got out of bed, looked in the mirror and said to yourself, “Today I am working for the Lord, so I am going to give my best in whatever I am going to do.”
There is even more in this Commandment for leading a happy life. In his explanation of this Commandment Luther properly focuses on the positive side of this Commandment when he wrote, “We are to fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor's, neighbor is not just our next door neighbor, but all those we come into contact with, money or possessions, nor get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his property and his way of making a living."
Protecting our neighbor's property is out of touch with those of the world and unfortunately with many Christians. I hear quite often, “It is their tough luck”, but as Christians we are to see our neighbor’s property in a whole different light, the light of Christ, as shown in his teachings.
Protecting our neighbor’s property may be as simple as putting the neighbor boy's bike under cover and out of the rain. It may mean helping a neighbor with a home-improvement project. It may mean joining in the Neighborhood Watch program in which you combine with other residents of your neighborhood in keeping an eye on everyone's things to protect them from burglary. It may mean becoming a volunteer worker for the Police Department to assist it in protecting the whole community. Or it could be, as five members of our congregation are doing working with the Red Cross so that they can help their neighbor in time of need.
Those things are relatively easy. The challenge comes in when as Luther says, “We are to help, improve, and protect our neighbor’s possessions. Christian business men have a real struggle with this as they are many times in competition with other Christian businesspeople.
But we all are to look out for the interests of others, for Saint Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” First, and foremost we in looking out for the interest of others should teach them of the Kingdom of God, for there is a promise with that command. It is “and all these things, all your earthly needs, will be yours as well.”
Look out for the interest of others and the implied promise is; and God will look out for your interests. That kind of faithful attitude and the experience of blessing that results surely make this Commandment part of living the happy Christian life!
In closing my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if have come to the realization in your life that you are or are becoming self-centered you don’t have to go through life that way, for if you continue, not only will your life be unhappy, but you will more than likely end up with, yourself.
Instead, be filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ and you will have his own assurance of everlasting life with him and while on the way to that heavenly life you will enjoy the blessing of his guiding you to honesty and helping others, not because you have to, but because you will mirror the love of Christ which is in you. You don’t have to take my word for it, for you will learn from your own experience that this Seventh Commandment for a Christian is indeed one of God's Ten Words for a Happy Christian Life. Amen