Exodus 22.1–9; Luke 6.27–36; Romans 13.8–14
A sermon preached at Nedlands Anglican Church 18th February 2024
“Thou shalt not steal!” One of the difficulties I experience preaching the law is recollections of breaking it. I can still feel the shame, accused of shoplifting, and knowing I was guilty. I can’t remember my age—10 or 11 maybe—so, for a long time I have justified such things as the antics of youth. But now that I struggle to remember what happened yesterday, old events sharpen up.
Woolworths had recently arrived in town and laid out all its wares onto long, open counters, two of them running the length of the shop. The shop girls worked up and down between them. We had never seen such a thing. All the shops we knew had a counter with the shopkeeper behind, and all his stuff safe on shelves behind him. You told him what you wanted, and he fetched it. But Woolworths—it was all there to help yourself. And we did; it was close to Christmas and we needed presents. I worked my way along the counter putting what I wanted in a paper bag out of sight under the overhang of the counter—until a man observed me and accused me to the shop girl. I dropped the paper bag and pushed it away with my foot; then I lied my way out of it. But I was guilty and embarrassed and shamed. It was a close call, and a turning point in my life. I was no Christian, but I never again stole from a shop. As I say, I have long dismissed these things as part of growing up. But I have begun to question some of my self-justifications. Especially, I wonder about others who were involved in my crimes. I never did anything alone. God’s grace was at work in my life even before I knew him. But what if I caused someone else to go astray?
I am reading the Peter Prout’s autobiography,The Swampland of Shame. The part I have read is about the verbal and emotional abuse he suffered from his father, which made him feel worthless, and shameful about himself. He has lots of good psychological advice about dealing with that kind of shame, when it continues into adulthood. But as I read on, I am asking myself about the shame which stems from our own wrongdoing. I don’t think psychology can deal with that—not honestly. Only forgiveness can touch that.
So, Jesus last words to his followers are very precious.
Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Luke 24
“Repentance for the forgiveness of sins”: Forgiveness is possible, but not without facing up to ourselves and turning against the evils that have tripped us up. I don’t think that means we no will longer feel shame for things we have done. But we have the assurance that God no longer holds our sins against us, and that our relationship with him is as though we had never sinned—we are justified. I find this impossible to understand: our efforts at self-justification are useless, but now God has justified us, not by ignoring our wrongdoing, but truly, through the miracle of atonement—Jesus taking our guilt upon himself. One day we will see and understand the wonder of God himself, punishing himself for our crimes.
Looking back on that experience in the shop, and many others—I was a regular thief; we had an underground tunnel where we stored our loot—I wonder whether stealing isn’t natural for children. We have to be taught not to help ourselves to whatever attracts us. Unless we are taught, society would be unworkable. “His and hers,” and “mine and yours” are among the first things children are taught.
On a larger scale, private property—property rights—is a cornerstone of Western civilization. In the discussions of a new constitution for South Africa, property rights were a huge concern. Zimbabwe was engaged in farm invasions. The justification: “you stole the land from us, and now we are taking it back.” No consideration was given to buildings and improvements, or allowance made for the person who had bought their farm a year ago. I had a Zimbabwean student who was offered a free farm; he wouldn’t accept it, as he knew it had been forcibly stolen. South Africa adopted a policy of “willing seller, willing buyer.” That is also how we operate: Your property is yours to keep or to sell, if you are satisfied with the seller’s offer. You can’t just take; you pay a fair price.
But is this underpinned by anything more than society’s mood? Or could the government change its mind, as it did under the Communist system, where private property was abolished, and everyone became a tenant and employee of the state? Was there something morally wrong about the Canberra government seizure of Calvary Hospital, or was it right because it was legal?
To untangle this, we need to ask who is the ultimate owner, and on what basis we possess things. Does the Bible have a doctrine of ownership? In a way it does: everything we have is given us by God—and we hold it as his stewards. A steward is a manager. At the end we will have to give an account of what we did with what we were given, and be judged. Stealing is a denial of the doctrine of stewardship. I must not take it on myself to take for myself what God has given for you to manage. It is a sin against you and against God.
Think about Aboriginal land rites. We stole their land. Should we give it back; should we pay restitution? We must face the fact that from the Aboriginal point of view we were invaders. The ancestors of some Australians, including some who say they are Aborigines, took over the land. No one who is here now had a part in that, and those who have moved here to start a new life, include some who were deprived of land and property in their own countries.
Since 1788 the Australian people and successive governments have stewarded the land. Right or wrong, this is a fact. There comes a time when we must give place to God’s providence. It is like the de facto marriage I spoke of last Sunday. The original decision to sleep together together may have been sinful, but God recognizes the resulting marriage. It then becomes a sin to dissolve it. So, with Australia, there may have been much evil at the beginning, but God governs the world and apportions it as he will; from time to time he reapportions it. His judgement of this generation will be on the basis of how we manage what has been entrusted to us. In the recent referendum most people, including many first-nations people, objected to being singled out in the constitution, and having special rights and privileges. It was a vote for equality, I believe—I hope. The present constitution neither privileges nor discriminates against anyone, which is good. We can be very thankful there are no longer unfair restrictions on land ownership for Aboriginal people. The nation certainly owes it to them to treat them more than fairly, and to do what it can towards their upliftment. But now we are one people, and should pay equal respect to all, including respect for one another’s property.
But what about the epidemic of theft that has taken hold of our country. Every day an attempt to defraud me lands in my inbox; yesterday there were two. Most are easily recognized and I laugh, but it is no laughing matter when someone’s retirement savings disappear. It has become a common thing to hear of serious fraud on the part of those who manage people’s savings. I know an old couple who lost heavily this way. And then there are the astronomical amounts of money that hemorrhage from Centrelink, Medicare, and the NDIS through false claims. Politicians make fraudulent travel claims and so on. It seems that “thou shalt not steal” is little regarded in our enlightened new world.
But why should it be? Our nation has rejected God, and our children are no longer taught about his laws. Could we be reaping the obvious consequences? If the owner’s rights are withdrawn, why should ours be respected?
If God is dead, how do you make people good? “Education,” is the answer usually given today. But the IT hackers, white-collar criminals, welfare cheats, and crooked politicians make it clear that education alone is not the answer. Only the law of the state is left. People must be forced to do the right thing. And whenever they think they can outsmart the law, they will. Why wouldn’t they, if there is no God, and no absolute values? My son manages a supermarket. He has endless stories about people who steal; Our legal system has become so protective of criminals, that no one can stop them. A chap placed a few expensive pieces of scotch fillet steak in his trolley. The man in the meat department phoned the checkout to make sure he paid for them. He didn’t, and was stopped when he left the shop. The meat was recovered, but the thief escaped. Later he returned to the supermarket and physically attacked the man who had phoned the checkout—as though his rights had been violated. Happily the shoppers weighed in and he came out the worse for his attack. There are still values, but they are anchorless without God’s law underpinning them, and people lack motivation to keep them other than concern for their reputation, and fear of the law. Societies from time immemorial have battled the chaos that results from unrestrained theft. Most have seen belief in God as a positive force , and encouraged it. Our country has chosen another way. It will be interesting to see if it succeeds.
God gives us law to protect us. I would love to be free to do whatever I like, but that would destroy the people around me, and in the end it would destroy me. He prescribes our limits, and within these limits we enjoy freedom. He told Israel that if they wished to continue as his people, they should keep his laws. And, of course, they didn’t. Nor do we. They and we have fallen foul of the law and destroyed any relationship we may have had with God. The law becomes our accuser. It not only tells us what not to do, but prescribes penalties. The reason Jesus came to the world was to rescue sinners who had been disqualified by the law. He became our king, bore our sin, qualified us for eternal life, and planted his Spirit in us. The Holy Spirit motivates us to want to do good. Those who refuse him continue under the law; they mind the things of the flesh, Paul tells us. This means they think and act according to their fallen human nature. And there is no forgiveness; forgiveness goes with repentance. Their destiny is destruction.
Those who have God in their lives walk by the Spirit. Paul points us away from Moses to the law to Christ; not that Christ’s law is against Moses, or does away with Moses; it is the positive of Moses’ negative. It is the way of life for those who were once disqualified by the law, and are now forgiven and motivated by a healthy fear of God and the indwelling Spirit of God.
Some question whether Christians should fear God. Those who have fled to Christ for refuge need have no fear of final rejection. Our relationship with God is one of love and gratitude, not fear of condemnation. Nevertheless, God is not unmindful of what we do, and may well deal severely with us on a particular issue. It is part of his being our Father, and training us in righteousness. Temptation is real, sometimes the pressure is painful. A pastor shipwrecked his ministry on a matter of financial integrity. He and his wife were building a new home; the needs were unending. He “borrowed” money from the church accounts. I’m sure when he took it, he meant to repay it, but you know how it is. The demands never get less. The discrepancy was not discovered until much later. He was a good man, I think, but ruined any ministry he might have had by caving in to temptation. Those who deal with other people’s money need to be especially diligent. Again, it is those who are highly educated, with the know-how to look after money, who become thieves.
Regard the fear of God as you would the fear of an electricity substation. It has no fear for those who remain outside the wire, but would you ignore the signs and break in? Peter tells us that judgement begins with the household of God: “and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”[1]—especially for those who pretend a relationship with God.
In the very early days of our time at the college in Cape Town a serious amount of money went missing from a student’s room. It was obviously an inside job. I pleaded with the students that the money be returned. “It’s not just the loss to a fellow-student,” I said. “It’s what it does to our fellowship.” It was a time in South Africa when interracial tensions were running high. God had given us a wonderful community, but suspicion threatened to destroy it. “Return the money,” I said, “and nothing more will be done. If you don’t, then I will turn the thing over to God; he must deal with it.” Things continued and there were other problems, but the offender was clever. Then his fellow-students caught him out in relation to a girlfriend who became pregnant. Confronted with the anger of the students—he had also made her seriously ill—he fled; we thought he had left Cape Town. When we cleaned his room we realized we had a clever con-man in our midst masquerading as a Christian. A month later his parents visited the College to pick up some of his things. They told us he had drowned on a nearby beach, showing off to his friends how well he cold swim. We learned that day about the fear of God; and how!
But let me speak directly to those of us who know God and desire to walk in a way that pleases him. Christians will respect the property of others and refrain from stealing. They will be honest, even when it means loss to themselves. They will pay their debts on time, and refrain from taking on debts that are too large for them to safely repay. Christians will pay those who work for them, fairly and timeously. They will pay their taxes. Christians should have a reputation of honesty, reliability, fairness.
But we can go a step further. “Don’t steal,” is the negative. Contentment with what God has given us, is the positive. We understand that our life and everything that makes it up is his gift. We are stewards of all he gives us—which brings us to the last commandment, “You shall not covet.” Coveting is wanting something that belongs to someone else. Desiring something likesomething someone else has is not coveting. No, coveting is setting your heart on something belonging to someone else in a way that you would take it if you could. Coveting and stealing go together.
When Idi Amin was in power in Uganda, you had only to whisper to the security people that so-an-so was unreliable and they would disappear. An old man in Uganda explained it to me. Many had someone over them whose job they wanted. So, they would mention them to the security, and they would disappear. They would then inherit their position. The problem was there was now someone who wanted their job. So, the ripples went through Ugandan society. The old man told me there was hardly a family in the country which had not lost members.
The Letter to the Ephesians has a section of instructions for Christian living. Among them there is a word to those who steal.
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.[2]
We see there were thieves among those who were attracted by the gospel. God forgave them when they repented and believed in Jesus. And look at their new way of life: not just being careful not to steal, but working to have the means to help others. If our lives are driven by love—the desire to help others— there will be no place for stealing; quite the opposite: we will want to give to help others. The opposite to stealing is giving. Christians should be giving people; God always gives us enough to be generous to someone else. If you are a giver, you are unlikely to be tempted to steal.
[1] 1 Peter 4.17.
[2] Ephesians 4.28.