IF IT’S NOT YOURS

Sunday February 20. 2011

Exodus 20:15- You shall not steal.

Ephesians 4:28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

(So much of what I have gleaned for these messages comes from: Written in Stone by Philip Graham Ryken, Maximum Happiness by Dr. Wilbur Williams, Pulpit Commentary, Adam Clarke's Commentary, John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the Bible and for this particular commandment I've take liberties to retell the story of Achan as told to children by Linda Sue Pochodzay Edwards "I W-a-a-ant!" www.childrenschapel.org She just tells it a little better than I could.)

Imagine carrying a sign in front of the local courthouse that reads: "I stole from a local store."

Imagine doing that at 12pm. Under the hot beating sun. With sweat dripping down your forehead. For two hours.

If you get caught stealing and you end up in Putnam County, Ohio Judge Peter Miller's courtroom, that just might be your punishment.

"It is better than going to jail, but it's not fair," said Rashane Lewis, who was arrested for being the lookout in a Wal-Mart while a friend of hers took some children clothes.

Over the past twelve years, Judge Miller has sentenced over 600 people to these unusual punishments either outside the courthouse or at the store where the incident took place. Walking around with an embarrassing sign is his preferred method to deal with shoplifters.

According to the administration of the Putnam County probation system has said only three of Judge Miller's sign carriers has repeated their offense. He, along with other judges around the United States believe that public penitence, involving some sort of public humiliation works to rehabilitate convicted offenders.

'If you see someone marching up and down in front of a store, you may think twice before stealing. I'm not going to say it is going to prevent it, but it will stop the one who did it from doing it again," said Judge Miller.

He gives the offenders an option. Take a 30-60 day jail sentence or endure two hours of public embarrassment. Along with their choice, they must perform 25 hours of community service, they have six months of probation and they are fined $294.

http://lawvibe.com/get-caught-stealing-and-face-public-humiliation/#ixzz1EQ9asxbN

 

Consider this:

Thieves come in all shapes and sizes.

• Pilfering by employees.
  
• Taxpayer fraud.
  
• Insurance fraud.
  
• Welfare & Social Security fraud.
  
• Disability fraud
  
• Frivolous lawsuits
  
• False time cards.
  
• Over-worked & underpaid employees.
  
• Off-shore banking, Enron, WorldCom.
  
• Ponzi schemes. Bernie Madoff, Mona Shores High School
  
• Identity theft.
  

Granddad bandit. This guy robbed a dozen or so banks in the Virginia area before being apprehended.

I-35 Serial Bank Robber. In the state of Texas, this man uses a variety of disguises- and even looks like one of the dudes from ZZ-top. He preys on small town banks that are easy on and easy off the I-35 Expressway that runs east and west through Texas. He has robbed some 15 banks without hardly a shot at catching him- so far.

The Sparta Elders. This couple used another man's stolen credit card to buy basic essentials at a local supermarket. The surveillance caught them entering the store. Nobody knows who they are and all they did was spend about $100 bucks… and stopped using the credit card.

As a child I got the big idea that I would take candy from behind the counter of one our neighborhood stores. My sister ratted on me, the man in his bloody butcher's apron came chasing after me down Ionia street in front of other kids. He caught me, my parents were notified and I was properly disciplined.

Stealing is big business, little business but everybody's business and very immoral.

The Bible takes very seriously the issue of thievery and business dishonesty. Proper measures and scales were to be kept.

United States measurements and scales. Under the direction of the United States Department of Commerce, the National Institute of Standards and Technology estimates that 50% of the US economy is based on measurements and weights. This means that when you buy a pound of carrots you are buying a pound of carrots. When you pump a gallon of gas you are pumping a gallon of gas. When you purchase an eight foot two-by-four, you are purchasing an eight foot two-by-four. Wesco will get periodic "check-ups" by the State of Michigan where a State worker will actually pump gas and measure it to see if their pumps are accurate. The Weights and Measures Division promotes uniformity in U.S. weights and measures laws, regulations, and standards to achieve equity between buyers and sellers in the marketplace. This enhances consumer confidence, enables U.S. businesses to compete fairly at home and abroad, and strengthens the U.S. economy. (www.nist.gov)

What I have noticed about the Ten Commandments- and especially the ones dealing with relationships- is that the ante seems to get jacked up with each one. Starting with family as the foundation of society, then respect for human life, maintaining proper relationships and now preserving integrity within the system we see the importance of these Ten Commandments not as something that is dictating and controlling but something that makes human life better, brings glory to God and allows all of us greater freedom in living with one another.

The Heidelberg Catechism- a Puritan document that describes the Christian concepts of faith- summarizes the eighth commandment: "God forbids not only outright theft and robbery, but also such wicked schemes and devices as false weights and measures, deceptive merchandising, counterfeit money, and usury; we must not defraud our neighbor in any way, whether by force or by show of right. In addition, God forbids all greed and all abuse or squandering of his gifts."

John Wesley comments on this commandment by writing: This command forbids us to rob ourselves of what we have, by sinful spending, or of the use and comfort of it by sinful sparing; and to rob others by invading our neighbour's rights, taking his goods, or house, or field, forcibly or clandestinely, over - reaching in bargains, not restoring what is borrowed or found, with - holding just debts, rents or wages; and, which is worst of all, to rob the public in the coin or revenue, or that which is dedicated to the service of religion.

I have three critical thoughts that I hope would spur us all to greater appreciation and a greater adherence to this commandment: You shall not steal.

1. Easy to understand but hard to resist.
   

What makes keeping this commandment so difficult is that it can cut all across all ages at any age and any capacity; to keep it requires constant vigilance.

When I was a teenager I remember hearing the testimony of one of the stalwarts of the church who confessed to taking materials from the company under the justification that "everyone else is doing it so why not me." After he took the stuff he was convicted by the Holy Spirit. He made confession to the Lord, to the Church and then to his company. He didn't lose his job.

It's easy to think that if others are doing it then it's okay. But we must be mature enough not to think that way. We can also believe that it is owed to us. Suppose you do deserve to be paid more- does that qualify you then to pilfer things from work? Of course not.

Satan is a tempter and is crafty. He will constantly strive to trip up your integrity. What surprises me is that even the best of people fall into the trap.

People will illicitly use company credit cards for personal use. I know a fellow who says that this can accidentally happen and the company will give grace for those kinds of situations. Someone's personal credit card may look like the company's; but yet there are people who work for companies and bilk their business for meals and things that have nothing to do with the business. This is wrong and shouldn't be done.

We must be constantly vigilant and watch our step. And like they told us at Plumb's Supermarket: If you don't have a receipt for it then it's not yours to eat.

1. Stealing goes beyond nickels and dimes.
   

If avoiding simple theft was good enough then we all might do alright. But consider the Leslie Thrasher painting of a woman purchasing meat. The man weighing has his finger pushing down while she has hers under the scale pushing up; they are both content because they both think they are one-upping the other. In reality, they are trying to steal from each other.

The Bible speaks of having honest scales. The reason is for the need of society to have an honest economy. You've heard it said, "There is no honor among thieves." Yes there is! Try stealing from a thief! I'd bet he gives justice worse than he would want to receive justice. Try ripping off the Mafia and see what happens!

For centuries towns and villages have struggled to make sure that there was honesty in the scales system. Anyone caught cheating customers would be banned from doing sales. Furthermore, some could a hand or even lose their life.

We find that even today in certain Islamic countries that operate by what is called Sharia Law- a very fundamentalist Islamic belief system- affords the judges to have a thief's hand amputated for stealing something of value.

Something else that goes beyond nickels and dimes is people and businesses who take advantage of someone by selling them something that is either too far gone to be of any good or just simply over-pricing their product. Price gouging is not a new concept. In The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the town merchant finds the chance to jack up his prices on wheat because there is none elsewhere. However, "Pa" reminds him that people won't soon forget come spring-time if he over-prices his product.

Something else that gets overlooked is lazy people who are suing companies for workman's compensation and there is nothing wrong; or they sue their neighbor over inconsequential things hoping for a windfall. Greed is a very strong component to thievery.

What about internet theft? With today's high technology you can literally go to a web site and watch a movie without ever going to the theatre and paying for it or waiting for it to come out on video. Software is pirated and then exchanged. I certainly believe that there is a certain point of sharing that is allowed and more should be allowed but at the same time do I have the right to actually steal someone else's stuff when I have not paid for it?

Questions will abound but the bottom line is this: If it's not yours then it's not yours to have.

1. Stewardship is at the heart of honesty.
   

God calls everyone to stewardship. Good stewards of God's resources are going to be people who regard everything they have as belonging to God. Whatever we own is his and we must handle them as belonging to him.

This then nips greed in the bud- or it should. When we come to that place in life where we regard all things as gifts from God it then helps us to know that we can trust God for our provisions and that he will provide. We can also know that we don't need to short-cut the system of honesty and integrity to get something we don't need.

When a person is giving to God of their resources they do so because they trust God. They also recognize that God will honor their sacrifices at work and in whatever place they find themselves.

God will honor not only your sacrifice but also your honesty. Too often we can short-cut our way to financial success and think nothing of it. However, God will bless your honesty and integrity as a Christian. In fact, I am convinced that God will bless anyone's honesty and integrity regardless of whether or not they are a believer.

This whole issue of not stealing cuts to the heart of God's character. God is a holy God who cares deeply about doing things justly and fairly. God cares about us as humanity living properly and doing fairly to others.

However, greed undercuts so much of what God desires. I am convinced that what will take America down more than anything is the godless greed that we are seeing today. What a shame it is for people whether they be democrat or republican, Christian, Muslim, Jew or Atheist to cave into moral ineptitude.

The greed we have seen in recent years has created the economic mess we are in.

"Be sure your sin will find you out."

Consider Achan in Joshua 7. Achan took for himself and his family gold, jewels and clothing from Israel's battle at Jericho. The battle was won but he lost his soul in the process. Achan buried these things in the floor of the tent.

You remember the story. Achan had everything he needed.

He had his tent-home. He likely had some sheep and cattle. He had a wife and children that loved him. Achan should have been very happy. But he wasn't.

Achan -- wanted -- more.

During the battle of Jericho Achan saw some very lovely things: a beautiful robe, a piece of gold, and some silver coins. But God had said that everything belonged to him and no one was to take anything for themselves.

But Achan looked at those items and probably thought, "I sure would like to have all that. My clothes are made from sheep's wool. Those designer clothes are much nicer than the clothing I have. It would look so good on me and my family. And if I had that gold and those silver coins, why, I could buy anything I want."

Achan thought it all over in his mind. The more he thought about it, the better it sounded. The robes and all that money was just too good to pass up. He couldn't just leave it there. After all, if he didn't take it, someone else would come along and take it, right? He finally made his decision. Achan picked up the robes, the gold and the silver coins and put them in a safe place. Achan must have felt as happy as he journeyed home. But I wonder too if he must have felt guilty as well knowing that he was stealing.

I wonder if he justified his actions. "Others are getting better pay than me and I'm doing harder work than them." "Don't they know the old saying 'To the victor goes the spoils'? I'm only taking what is rightfully mine." On and on I'll bet his justification of himself went.

After Achan got home with his stolen treasures, he began to think more about what he had done. I'll bet he thought along these lines: "None of my friends have a robe like this one. It is so special that if I wear it, they will wonder where I got it. I can't tell them I found it and stole it." Then he thought about the gold and the silver. "If I take this gold to the market and try to buy new things, people will wonder how I got the gold. Only the rich people have gold and I am not rich. I can't use the silver either, because it is not from my country, and they will know that I have stolen it. What can I do now?"

Achan began to dig a hole. He dug a deep hole in the ground under his tent. In that hole, he buried the robe, the gold, and the silver. "Ah, that takes care of that!" He thought. "It is all under the ground, and no one will ever know what I have done."

Problem is, Achan forgot about God. Achan forgot that God sees everything and knows what he did. In the end, Achan had to be punished for the sin he committed.

But what happens is the whole nation suffered first. They lost an easy battle against Ai- 30 Israelites were killed. Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, went before God in prayer and God told him that there was sin in the camp. Slowly but surely the truth narrowed down and came out on Achan. His sin of theft was brought out for the whole world to see. And he and his whole family suffered the terrible consequence of death.

All for a few meaningless items that he had buried in the floor of his tent.

I realize that people do and steal far worse but let's avoid justifying the things we have and how we get them. Let's do an honest day's work for our pay. Let's pay those who work for us an honest wage. Let's not justify our actions at tax time in order to save a few bucks and in so doing lose our soul. Let's not rob God of his opportunity to bless us when we give unto him all of what he has given to us.

So how do we overcome the thoughts and temptations to take that which is not ours?

First, give thanks to God for what you already have. I really believe that a person who is truly thankful for what they have are less tempted to take what is not theirs. The reason? They trust God to supply. Which points us to a second suggestion:

Second, be content, as Paul wrote to the Philippians (4:11), in whatever state you are in. Be happy with what you have and realize that others have a whole lot less than you.

Third, give away something. Find something in your home that you can just give to someone else. It may be magazines that your friend here at church might be interested in or it might be a toaster that your neighbor needs or a box of canned goods to the food pantry. Give something away to someone else. Learn to hold the things in your possession loosely.

Fourth, love your neighbor as yourself. You would not want your neighbor sneaking into your garage and stealing something so don't do the same. You would not want the government cheating you out of your taxes so don't do likewise. And even if they do- your neighbor, the local burglar or the government, don't do wrong to those who spitefully use you. And when you see them on the street be nice to them and love them as much as Jesus does.