************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 110-111 ************
Doctrine: The Eighth Commandment
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on May 12, 2002
Q & 110-111
Isaiah 58:6-12
"The Eighth Commandment"
Introduction
Children's message ...
I The Eighth Commandment: Then and Now
A Some Old Testament scholars say that originally the eighth commandment referred to kidnapping – the theft of people – and that the tenth commandment, "You shall not covet ... [what] belongs to your neighbor," refers to your neighbor's goods. Kidnaping a person to use or to sell her as a slave was indeed a capital crime:
(Ex 21:16) "Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death.
(Deut 24:7) If a man is caught kidnapping one of his brother Israelites and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.
But, as we shall see, the Catechism takes a wider view.
B Economics and business used to be a very simple matter of swapping things. A farmer, for instance, would swap three bushels of potatoes for a chair. A hunter would exchange a deer for a new set of clothes. In a very real way people depended upon each other. In such a society everyone knew what God meant when He said, "You shall not steal."
Things are infinitely more complicated now. First, the real money today is not in producing goods and services but in buying and selling money itself: stocks, bonds, securities, futures, leveraged buy-outs, mutual funds, and so forth. The system has become so complex that only an expert can explain the difference between dealing and stealing.
Second, most of our business and commerce today is impersonal: it is with unthinking, unfeeling computers either in big, bloodless corporations or spendthrift government bureaucracies. The Catechism says that in the area of commerce, labor, goods and services we are not to cheat and swindle our neighbor. But our neighbor is no longer the man next door. Rather, it is the bank, the corporation, the insurance company, and the government. And, most people do not think it is wrong to steal from them because nobody gets hurt and the victims are impersonal. Very few people feel bad in stealing from rich businessmen. And, most people today do not feel bad about income tax evasion or ripping off some government program like HUD.
Another problem is that the bank, the corporation, the insurance company, and the government are so money minded, so greedy, so grasping, so enslaved to their petty rules, that unless you stand up for yourself, unless you fight for what is yours, unless you hire a lawyer and threaten law-suits, you are stepped on, walked over, and trampled underfoot. Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek to people but how can you do that with banks, corporations, insurance companies, and the government? As I said, matters are immensely more complicated today than they were at Mt. Sinai or in John Calvin's Geneva.
II God Forbids Theft
A All cultures recognize to some degree the rights of property and the evils of theft. Islamic countries strictly prohibit theft, traditionally punishing it by the loss of a hand. In medieval England manor lords hanged those killing a deer on their lands. The Japanese culture so respects another's property that taxi drivers there commonly return purses and wallets left in their cabs. American Indians praised stealing from enemies as an act of bravery that enriched the tribe, but stealing within the tribe was unheard of. No society can exist without some regard for private property.
B One of the hardest tasks of a parent is to teach a child the difference between "mine" and "yours." All children have a natural, inborn, selfish sense of "mine." They so quickly say "mine" about a doll, a tractor, a truck, or the biggest cookie. They instinctively know what is theirs. But, as they mature, they have to be taught what belongs to others. Unfortunately, many people never grow up. They have a mighty large "mine" concept and a very small "yours" concept.
C The Catechism tells us that theft is a sin "punishable by law." The Catechism also frowns on any dishonest practice calculated to bring gain by deceit. The Old Testament mentions some deceitful practices by name and tells us that God detests the crooks who use such tricks to enrich themselves:
(Deut 25:13-16) Do not have two differing weights in your bag--one heavy, one light. (14) Do not have two differing measures in your house--one large, one small. (15) You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. (16) For the LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.
Do you remember the old business motto, "Honesty is the best policy"? We don't hear it much today. Not that long ago a man returned a bag of money that fell onto the hood of his car from a Brink's Armored truck whose back door was accidentally left open. Company officials were flabbergasted. They were even more astonished when he refused a reward saying, "I only did what any honest man would do." We don't expect honesty anymore. We rather expect what happened in Toronto a couple of years ago when another Brink's armored truck lost three bags of money on the freeway during rush hour traffic: thousands of motorists brought traffic to a stand-still when they scrambled out of their cars in order to stuff twenty, fifty, and hundred dollar bills into their pockets. Some of the first ones were so intent on getting the money that they accidentally stepped into the path of speeding cars and were killed. The last report indicated that less than 1% of the monies were turned in to the authorities. No, we don't expect honesty anymore. In fact, in today's language, an "honest guy" is one who is naive and poor. And the "smart guy" is the one who "knows how to get away with it." He "knows the system" and "has been around." "Smart" people are rich people. Given a choice, most people, including Christians, would rather be smart and rich than honest and poor.
At the turn of the century the frontiers of the church used to be in the jungles of Africa, South America, and Asia. But now the frontiers of the church are in the business jungle. Here it is decided whom we serve – God or mammon, Jesus or money. And here the honest, God-fearing man sticks out like a martyr. We must never forget that, as Christians, we represent Jesus Christ at all times. Therefore the church must continually remind us that God hates all theft and robbery and that before God honesty is not only the best policy it is also the only policy.
D In forbidding theft and robbery the Catechism also reminds us that God forbids all greed.
The people of God have suffered defeats at crucial moments in history because of greed, because of love for money. When, for instance, after forty years of wandering, Israel was about to take possession of the Promised Land, she received a stunning setback because Achan had stolen and hidden a beautiful robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold (Josh 7:21). When Jesus had returned to the Father and empowered the church with His Spirit to evangelize the earth, the Christian community received a hard blow: Ananias and Sapphira lied and died because they were covering up their love of money (Acts 5). Or, consider the case of Judas Iscariot, who was in the Master's company for three years, day and night, before he betrayed the Lord. How could he do what he did? Scripture suggests that Judas's love for money was the reason why the devil could invade his soul (John 12:6).
We should never think that just because we are a Christian we are beyond the love of money or that greed is behind us. The history of the church shows us that Judas was not the only Gospel preacher whose heart was in his wallet. All of us must guard our hearts and minds against this soul-killer. And, we should instruct our children much more diligently than we do about the power of goods and money.
III God Commands Sharing
A Based upon the Bible the Catechism doesn't just tell us what not to do; it also tells us the positive requirements of the eighth commandment. Our Scripture reading from Isaiah, for instance, talks about justice and feeding the hungry. Listen also to what the Apostle Paul says:
(Eph 4:28) He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
The Catechism says God requires
That I do whatever I can
for my neighbor's good,
that I treat him
as I would like others to treat me,
and that I work faithfully
so that I may share with those in need.
Notice, I work "so that I may share with those in need."
B The last decade has seen the fall of communism as a viable alternative to capitalism. It fell not because of man's desire for freedom; nor did it fall because of political discontent. It fell because the economies of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union were in a shambles: the people were no longer willing to put up with inferior and inadequate food supplies, consumer goods, and personal necessities. Most observers placed the blame on the lack of incentive: when people work for the state rather than themselves they have no incentive to do better work or to produce superior goods or to raise better quality beef. The conventional wisdom also says that capitalism is such a success because people do have an incentive to work hard and to produce superior goods at an affordable price.
Under capitalism, work is seen as a way to feather our own nest. We work in order to get ahead: to buy our own farm, to get that new couch, to purchase a color TV set, and so on.
The Catechism has a terribly upsetting view of work – upsetting, that is, if you subscribe to capitalism's view of work. Those who are not acquainted with the Catechism would probably label it as being communistic and unAmerican here.
What's the purpose of work? Why do you work long hours? To feather your own nests? To get ahead? That's not what the Catechism says! It says I work to "share with those in need."
C When we take to heart the message of the eighth commandment great things begin to happen. As our Scripture portion from Isaiah shows us, we'd begin to feed the world's hungry. We stop worrying about how we'll make ends meet and we start working to share with those in need. We call to the starving masses, "Come to my table and eat." We feed them grain from God's fields and are such a powerful witness that we, by God's grace, lead many to the table of the Lord.
One of God's favorite saints has to be a woman in Appalachia.
It had been a hard winter there. The snow had piled up deeper and deeper, the mercury dropped, rivers froze, people suffered. The Red Cross used helicopters to fly in supplies. One crew had been working day after day--long hours. They were on their way home late in the afternoon when they saw a little cabin submerged in the snow. There was a thin whisper of smoke coming from the chimney. The rescue team figured the people in the cabin were almost out of food, fuel, perhaps medicine. Because of the trees they had to put the helicopter down a mile away. They put on heavy packs filled with emergency supplies, trudged through heavy snow, waist deep, and reached the cabin exhausted, panting, sweating. They pounded on the door. When a thin, gaunt mountain woman opened the door the lead man blurted "We're from the Red Cross." She was silent for a moment and then she said, "It's been a hard winter. I just don't think we can give anything this year."
This woman, poor though she was, thought first of helping others.
D When we take to heart the message of the eighth commandment great things begin to happen. One of the things that happens, as I showed the children, is that we financially support the work of the Lord in the church and Kingdom.
Along this line, the Church Council has asked me to say something about our budget shortfall. Now, I don't believe for one minute that anyone here is trying to steal from the Lord; for, this congregation is the best giving and most generous congregation I have served and have even heard about. Yet, the deacons tell me that the donations are exactly the same as last year. I think this means that members forgot to increase their donations when our budget went up at the start of the year. The deacons also tell me that members give the most when we have a building and a building program to pay for. So, tongue in cheek, I was going to suggest this morning that we start another building program. I have a set of plans with me and everything. In other words, the money is available and our members have a generous spirit.
In one of the previous churches I served someone came to see me. He waved his check register at me. "We did it," he said. "We've been slowly increasing the percent of our income that we give to the church. For the first time we made our goal of 20%." "Wonderful," I said. And I thanked God for blessing this man and his wife with a generous giving and sharing spirit.
IV All Things are God's
A Underlying the eighth commandment is a very important Biblical principle. You all know or should know this principle:
(Ps 24:1) The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it ...
Everything belongs to the Lord. All the silver and gold is His. The cattle on a thousand hills are His (Psalm 50:10).
B This means that God has loaned His good things to us. God has loaned to us our possessions, our money, our homes. All of these belong to God and He has seen fit to let us use them – not just for ourselves but also for our neighbor's good and to support the church and Kingdom. We are not the owners, but rather the stewards, who must render account of our management to God. God will want to know what we have done with what He has entrusted to us. If we have been selfish or greedy and have not shared with those in need we will have to answer to God for this.
Conclusion
Finally, let us remind ourselves again of the place of the Law in the lives of God's children. Don't forget, God gave it as a guide for gratitude. We obey the Law not to gain salvation but out of thankfulness for salvation. Remember the preface to the Law:
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of Egypt,
out of the land of slavery.
Or, to put it into New Testament language:
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of your slavery
to sin and evil.