Flourish: Waking Up To The Sin of Stealing

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Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus, thanks for uh uh just the reality of the narrow.

Uh we're mindful that in one of your gospels, someone called out and said, Lord, are there many being saved?

And you said your response was not, did you read my newsletter?

Did you get my donor letter?

Your response was strive to enter in at the narrow gate.

And so we've come not to strive today, not to work, not to exert ourselves.

Uh we we we we've entered in.

Uh and it's just that today, for those of us who are believers, the task is just to keep going without feeling like we're crazy or letting the loneliness of obedience just kind of crush us.

And we look around and feel like everyone's getting away with everything, and and and we're not.

And so give us the wisdom to not be jealous of the ungodly and give us the perspective to be satisfied with God.

Let that be enough for us today.

We ask this in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen.

You can have a scene.

If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Exodus chapter 20.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

If you're our guest, as I've been saying for the past six or eight weeks, uh, let me say welcome.

We're in a series on the actual book of Exodus.

We got to the Ten Commandments, and we kind of just kind of took a little slice out of the Ten Commandments just to say, we're gonna think about this with this one word, flourish.

Flourish, because uh these ten, these ten laws that God gives his people, is God's way of saying, hey, this is how you flourish uh as believers.

These are not the conditions for release from being in bondage.

God delivers his people.

Uh God doesn't negotiate, he doesn't try to blackmail anybody, he delivers them and says, hey, here's how you stay free, which is why we call this series on the Ten Commandments Flourish.

And we're uh which, if you're thinking about getting a tattoo for spring break, get this, okay?

Because no one's got this tattooed on them.

It's just for simple not steal.

And so I'm gonna talk to you this morning about waking up to the sin of stealing.

Uh, but I want to just kind of I'll start reading Exodus chapter 20.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

Uh, and if you don't have a Bible, there's one in your row.

I'm on page 61.

Uh, and I want to just confess before I read, I've kind of lived with a low-grade depression this week, and and and and partly last week, as I just kind of studied about stealing, looked around in our culture.

And let me just kind of give you some things that I came across before I read to explain why I'm kind of depressed.

Uh, Martin Luther said this back during the Reformation.

He said, if we hung all the thieves in our country, we would run out of straps and gallows and hangmen with which to hang them.

Uh, you fast forward to today, and statistics tell us that employee theft of time and property cost American businesses and investors more than$200 billion a year.

As much as a third of product cost goes to cover the various forms of stealing that take place on a product's way to the marketplace.

This is so, this is so true and and such a known commodity in the business world, it's referred to as the theft surcharge.

Just let me say that again.

We live in a country where we just factor into the price of anything that's made, the fact that people are gonna steal.

That doesn't shock you.

Clearly not.

You lost an hour of sleep.

So, so think about it this way: we live in a culture that factors in stealing into the cost of everything, and that cost is made and it's kind of passed along to everybody.

Uh, I was sharing with the staff this morning at our prayer time, and one of them said, Yeah, there's a guy here who works at his at a Walmart not far from here.

He said, Last year alone, best they can tell, they lost$1.2 million in employee theft.

So when the people at Walmart have the vest that says, Ha ha ha hi, I can help you, just say, No, clearly you're already helping yourself.

And here's my concern.

Is that it's just kind of a, we just kind of shrug and kind of nod, like, yeah, everybody steals.

It's just the price of doing business.

And then everybody stands before God who says, one of the ten things he could say to his chosen redeemed people is, you shall not steal.

There's a collision, beloved, that is coming.

So, what I want to do this morning is try to take the English language and use it to help you, you and I wake up and think differently about this whole stealing thing.

Exodus chapter 20, verse 1, it says, Now God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Exodus 20:1

You shall have no other gods before me.

You should not make for yourself the carved image or any likeness of anything that's in heaven above, or that's in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

You should not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you should not do any work.

You or your son or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who's within your gates.

For in for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the sea, excuse me, the heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day, and therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Honor your father and mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God has given you.

You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery.

And today we get to verse 15.

You shall not steal.

You shall not steal.

God believes this so much, when with such simplicity, he uses four simple words just to kind of lay out the boundaries that you and I are to operate in.

And he says, You shall not steal.

And so I want to just kind of invite you to think differently about this stealing thing with four statements this morning, or four points.

And the first one is this stealing communicates something to God.

Stealing communicates something to God.

Now, if you write that sentence down or that point down, I'm I don't want you to circle stealing.

I want you to go to the other end of the sentence, and I want you just to circle the word God, the name God, the personage of God.

Stealing communicates something to God because I want you to think about God.

That's the backdrop against which I want you to think about stealing.

Because if you think about stealing against the backdrop of stealing, you kind of shrug and go, yeah, that's just a theft surcharge.

It's just the price of doing business.

But when you drop stealing into the backdrop of God, all of a sudden it gets really magnified and the nooks and crannies and all the crevices of the insufficiency of taking something that doesn't belong to you, even if it's a pencil or a box of paper clips, or 30 minutes at the end of the day, you steal from your employer every day.

You drop that against the backdrop of God, and all of a sudden you see it a little more clearly.

Uh and to help us, let me just kind of tell you a story.

Uh, if if you want to read, if you want to meet big souls nowadays, you probably have to read like Christian biographies because there's not a whole lot, there's not that many big souls out there nowadays.

And uh I recommend this book all the time, but there's a biography by a guy named John Patton.

And the name of the book is just John Patton, missionary to the New Hebrides.

He was a missionary, went to a cluster of islands that was inhabited by these crazy people.

He tells a story in the book that one day a man followed him around all day with a loaded musket everywhere he went.

And and he would just look up and see the guy, and he would think, Well, I'm already I'm already dead in Christ, so all he can do is kill me.

So he'd just go about doing his work.

Uh, but that's not what I want to tell you.

The book opens and it kind of tells about him growing up and a little bit about his family.

And there's a there's probably my favorite scene in the book is that he's going off to go prepare for ministry, and his dad walks with him uh to tell him goodbye, and they agree upon this spot uh where they were gonna part ways and and and shake hands and say goodbye.

And and he it's it's so well written, but he describes his dad's long, flowing yellow beard blowing in the breeze, and they get to the part where, and he said, I could feel it, you know, rising up in him.

He gets to the part where he's gonna say goodbye to his dad, and his dad takes his hat off.

He said, All the way, my dad was mumbling, his lips were moving, but nothing was coming out.

He said, I knew my dad was praying for me.

And we got to this point where we said we're gonna part, my dad's gonna try and get back so we can get home before dark.

My dad took his hat off and he stuck his hand out and he shook my hand and he looked me in the eye and said, May the God of your father prosper you.

If you said that to your kids today, would they know who you were talking about?

And John Patton was so overwhelmed.

He had a dad that had so much integrity that when he walked and he said goodbye to his dad, he walked over this little hill, this little berm, and then down he was going on to catch the train.

And he said, I could feel it.

I I I won't try to do the old English thing.

He said, I could feel it swelling up in me.

So he he he looked back and he saw his dad standing there with his beard just flowing in the breeze with his hat in his hand.

And he said, I darted down this alley, and basically he just broke down and cried.

And here's the part that I want you to think about to help us kind of get our arms around what do we mean when we say stealing, communicate something to God.

He he crouched down in this little alley and he and he he just broke down.

He just had a moment where he broke down, didn't want his dad to see him, and he got himself together, and then he writes this in the book.

He said, I vowed early and often never to sin against such a father.

And I want us just to think that way about God.

And so don't think stealing, just stealing communicates something to God, and and and just to let let God and the nature of God be the backdrop against which we think about stealing today.

Now you say, What do you mean?

To help us, having kind of painted that picture, hopefully in your minds.

I want to read Genesis chapter 12, verses 1 to 4, where this really all got started when God kind of finally found someone who would be faithful after a failed start with Adam and Eve, and then kind of a restart, he gets Abram and he says this in Genesis chapter 12, verse 1.

Genesis 12:1–4 Genesis 12:1

Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation.

And here's just a little part of the sentence I want us just to focus on.

And I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.

And I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

But I want to back up about 12 words to that part where he says, and I will bless you.

Let me just stop right there.

God says, I to Abram, I will bless you, and I will make your name great.

So you don't have to look for likes on Facebook, you don't have to be aware of your social media status.

I will make your name great.

How much could you disconnect from the insufficiency of social media if you believe that God is committed to making your name great?

How much could you not care what people think about you and how many likes you got or who's aware of who you're going out with or what you're doing or what you've accomplished lately, if you just believed in the solitude of your heart that God just looks down and says, I'm gonna take care of everything having anything to do with making your name great.

He says, I will bless you and I'll make your name great.

And then two little words that I want to just imprint on your mind today, so that.

So that everything God does, God does with great intentionality, beloved.

Do you know that?

He doesn't waste anything.

God says, I will bless you so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless you, and I'll make your name great, I'll throw that in for free, but I will bless you, and the reason I bless you is so that you will be a blessing.

Now, why do you make such a big deal out of that?

Here's why I make such a big deal out of that.

There's a difference in being obedient and being generous.

There's a difference in being obedient and being generous.

It's not a virtue as much as it is a responsibility.

Now and now you say, What do you mean?

I had a conversation a while back with a friend of mine, and a friend of mine has a lot of money.

Nothing wrong with having a lot of money.

If you got a lot of money today, relax.

I'm not here to make you feel bad for that.

But he he's talking about he'd gone to a golf tournament and they had like a different levels of sponsorship.

They have like, you know, bronze and silver and gold, and then they have the elite circle, and he always sponsors a big table at this thing.

And I mean, it's a big muckety muck and a big blah, blah, blah.

And he goes, you know, I go, and they always count on me for a big check.

And the more he talked, the more just frustrated I got.

And I was like, Am I jealous?

No, I'm not jealous.

And I was like, Lord, what what's going on inside of me?

And this is where this phrase came from.

And and and he's just going on and on and on.

And I and he said, you know, and they want me to make a speech and all this kind of stuff.

And and and finally I just said, No, no, no, no, time out.

And I said, now, you where does all this come from?

And he says, Oh, God's been so good to me.

I mean, God has prospered our business.

I do remarkably well.

And I said, Oh, uh, oh, okay, so this is not a virtue.

You're not a generous person.

Don't you wish you and I were good friends?

Yes.

I said to a man who who wrote a check that's more than I make in a year.

I wasn't jealous at all.

I wasn't like, oh, I talked to rich guy.

I love this man.

I was just like, no, see for for for the lost people at this little social choare, uh, this this is a virtue.

They're being generous.

For you as a believer, it's not a virtue, it's a responsibility.

And he's like, Well, what do you mean?

And I said, Because God says, I'll bless you so that you'll be a blessing.

So if you've been blessed, it is your responsibility to be a blessing.

It's not like, oh, look at me.

I'm so virtuous, I'm so generous.

And I said, I'm I I'm I'm not mad at you.

I'm saying the same thing for me.

I'm not a generous person.

I just have a responsibility that when God blesses me, He does that with so that in mind.

Does this make sense to anybody but me?

Y'all are like, dude, we lost an hour's sleep and it's spring break, lighten up.

I just I've just been compressed and just been thinking about all of this.

And so I just want to say, it, it, it, it, it's, it's stealing communicates something to God.

You say, What do you mean?

It's this God, when you steal, you steal against the backdrop of a God that says, I'm gonna bless you.

And and so much so that you're gonna I'm gonna do it so that you'll turn around and be a blessing.

It's not the only time God kind of reminds us what he's about.

The New Testament, 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 17.

1 Timothy 6:17

As for the rich in this present age, by the way, rich means abundantly supplied, which is every one of you in this room.

As for the abundantly supplied in this present age, charge them not to be haughty nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

And so here's what, here's the backdrop.

I want to just kind of dial the focus in a little bit so it'll get a little clearer for all of us.

That when we say stealing communicates something to God, think about God in terms of God is the one that says to Abram and to all his descendants, I'll bless you so that you'll be a blessing, and I richly provide you with everything to enjoy.

Anyone going anywhere for spring break this week?

Uh y'all are like, dude, we don't get spring break.

I'm 58, okay?

I'm going to work tomorrow, and I'm just thankful to have a job.

That's awesome.

By the way, to improve company morale around here every once in a while, I say to the staff, the best way to appreciate your job is to envision yourself without one.

Just to help them get a little perspective.

Because sometimes we act like because I work for Jesus that you can't expect me to work hard.

You're at the wrong place.

But anyway, stealing communicates something to God.

And I just want us to not hear, oh, stealing, I want you to just to against the backdrop of this God who has blessing his people and freely providing or richly providing everything for our enjoyment.

If you believe that God is a God who loves to bless his people and richly provides everything for your enjoyment, then the question becomes then why would you steal anything?

Because it's against the backdrop of this, it's not stealing, it's against the backdrop of God.

To paraphrase John Patton, why would you ever want to sin against such a father?

Why would you ever want to say, you know what?

Hey, hey, I know you're God and everything, but you're not just doing this on my timetable, so I'm gonna have to accelerate and steal stuff.

I told both my daughters from the time they were two, hey, we don't steal because it makes God look bad.

And they're like, okay.

I don't know what that means, but I'll say it because if it'll just end this conversation.

And not to shame my kids, but I just want them to think rightly about God.

Hey, because when you steal, what you're saying to God is, hey, your name is not Jehovah Jirah, the Lord our God who provides.

That's my name.

Or to paraphrase it as I say it on the street, I'm gonna get mine.

There's a difference in what you get, what you have to get, and what you can only receive.

There's a big difference in what you have to get and what you can only receive.

Second thing about stealing, stealing confers something onto your children.

Stealing confers something onto your children.

You say, What do you mean?

Look at Exodus chapter 20, verse 5 and 6, where God says, as part of the great uh the Ten Commandments, you shall not bow down to them, these these graven images.

Exodus 20:5

He says, You should not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.

Hear me, beloved, hear me, mom and dad, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation, those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

When it comes to the eighth commandment, thou shalt not steal, you either keep it or you break it.

And when you break it, you're conferring something onto your kids.

You got to ask yourself, am I leaving a legacy of righteousness or regret?

Because here's the bottom line.

What if you get away with it your entire life only to see when you're old and unable to do anything about it that your kids didn't?

What if you spend the last 10 years of your life watching your kids deal with the consequences?

They have no idea where they come from.

But you do.

You do deep in your heart and deep in your head, you're like, I wonder if God's punishing the generations after me for myself.

You say, God would never do that.

Then tell me what you do with this right here in Exodus chapter 20 and in Exodus 34, for he repeats the same thing, hot out of the heart of God.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

He passes in front of Moses and he says, The Lord, the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

And he goes on and he says, But but who but who will by no means clear the guilty?

Visiting the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.

See, your life has consequences, mom and dad.

So be careful because stealing confers something onto your children.

And if you're single in here and you're a kid in here, you're thinking, well, glad you're talking to my parent.

Now I'm talking to you too.

Because you're already setting in motion this legacy.

It's going to be one of righteousness or it's going to be one of regret.

It's going to be one where your kids look and say, you know what?

My mom and dad weren't perfect, but but man, they trusted God.

And God just took care of them and God blessed them.

And we didn't, we weren't, we didn't have everything, but we had all we needed, and then some.

I mean, why would I not want to?

Wow.

What?

Yeah.

That.

I want that.

Thirdly, this morning, stealing robs people of the dignity of accomplishment.

Stealing robs people of the dignity of accomplishment.

You say, What do you mean?

There's a section in scripture and in Ephesians chapter 4 where Paul's describing what this new life in Christ looks like, what it should be like.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

And in this passage, he says these words in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 28.

Ephesians 4:28

This is crazy talk.

This is so off the charts.

In our day and age in 2016, this is judgmental.

This is law.

This is legalistic.

Now, having said all that, you ready to hear it?

This is what Paul says.

Let the thief no longer steal.

What?

We should have a thief support group.

You're hating on the thieves.

Tell them the thief not to steal anymore.

Let the thief.

See, this is how crazy.

This is how crazy God and people in the Bible think about the capacity of the gospel that it takes thieves.

By the way, one in 11 Americans shoplifts on a consistent basis.

So just by the nature of the math in this room, some of you are nervous right now.

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor.

What?

Look at me.

Get a job.

I know that's crazy.

Your job is not to steal from other people.

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands so that.

Circle those words in your mind.

So that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

This sentence has been my meditation for the past four days.

You don't have to read a lot of the Bible.

You don't have to like go home to.

Day and read the book of Leviticus.

Hmm, that was hardy.

Just take a sentence like this and just meditate on it for like three days.

Let the thief here's the first thing I want you to understand.

In the church at Ephesus, there were thieves.

Don't you want to go to church with a bunch of thieves?

I don't know if that's a real or trick question.

Don't make eye contact, honey.

Just look down.

Work on the grocery list.

We're going to H E B.

Let the thief.

Yeah.

The evangelism program or whatever at the church at Ephesus was so consequential that thieves started coming to church.

I want thieves to come here.

Don't steal from us because we'll punish you to the fullest extent of the law.

And I don't mean I'll call the sheriff.

There's people that have concealed handgun permits right here in the service.

I just let them loose on you.

Let the thief no longer steal.

Now you got the thief, and then this phrase, no longer steal.

See, it's not the in the gospel, it's not just forgiveness for sin.

There's freedom from sin.

So there's the expectation that you stop stealing, thieves.

Let the thief know.

Now, again, this is in a whole section in Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

It starts in about verse 17, where it just talks about this new life in Christ, this nutty, crazy expectation that you make a clean break with your old way of life.

Your thief, you no longer steal.

Instead, let him labor, let him work, doing honest work.

Look at me, because what you used to do when you stole was dishonest.

Doing honest work with his own hands.

Why?

This is the expectation of the gospel.

This is crazy talk.

So that he may be, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

The Bible says that a person who is a thief can be for not just forgiven, but can be have freedom from that.

It's not just forgiveness for, it's freedom from, such that they no longer steal.

And instead they go to work and they get a job and they do honest work with their own hands.

Why?

So that when they meet somebody who's really needy, they have something to share.

And by the way, stealing, persisting in a lifestyle of thievery, robs that person from the dignity of accomplishment and I would say generosity.

The gospel so believes in its own self that it says unapologetically that the thief, the person that steals, can go from stealing to giving.

That is crazy talk, beloved.

Because what we do in our therapeutic culture is we have a 12-step program for the thief, and we cook dinner for them, and we provide child care at the church, and the thief gets together with other thieves and just sits around and just tells us glory days of thieving.

Yes, I just said that.

I don't know how much being how we progress in here.

We got to ask ourselves in these ministries is this socialization or is this transformation?

But the Bible comes along and says, hey, stealing robs people of the dignity of accomplishment.

You're not helping people by just continually pouring out non-discerning pity on them.

Now here's the reality: some of you got adult children that are stealing from you right now.

And I know it's hard.

Man, I want to help my kids.

You're not helping your kids if you're keeping them from taking responsibility for their life and for their actions.

I love my children.

I get up and go to work every day for my kids and my wife because they like stuff.

And somebody's got to pay for it, right?

It's just part of the deal.

But I also love my kids enough to tell them, hey, now by the way, you're preparing to leave the nest.

You're welcome to come back and visit.

You're even welcome to come back for a short stay while you get together a plan to get out of the nest and never come back.

Yeah.

Oh, I know, I know.

38% of millennials come home and live with their parents because we've allowed them to be lazy.

And you gotta love them enough to say, hey, listen, you're sucking the life out of me.

You're 28.

I shouldn't be supporting you.

You should be supporting yourself.

Get off drugs or whatever you gotta do and get a job.

Well, no one's hiring.

McDonald's is hiring.

This is how, this is how little compassion I have.

A man walked in that door right there a while back and said he needed a handout.

And I he said he couldn't find a job.

I just passed a McDonald's right up the road up here that said, We're now hiring.

And I said, McDonald's is hiring.

Let me drive you there and get you an application.

And he said, That's beneath me.

And I said, out of my heart of compassion, if you're really broke, ain't nothing beneath you.

So we're not giving you nothing.

What kind of church is this?

It's one that doesn't tolerate foolishness.

So you want to ride at McDonald's or you want to walk out?

Boom, push the door and walked out.

Okay, another satisfied customer.

Now, here's the problem with America.

That lazy person will go get on social media and write a review about our church.

And non-discerning people go, oh my gosh, this church shouldn't help this man.

Yes, we did.

We invited him.

This is crazy.

Hear this.

We invited him into dignity, and he said no.

And so he continues to live an undignified life where he mooches off of non-discerning people.

I wish I could see your faces.

You're like, why are you mad?

I'm not.

I'm not.

It's just stop letting yourself be violated.

Because you're not mad at the people that are stealing from you, you're really mad at yourself.

It's no way to live.

Finally, fourthly, and finally, stealing makes me take many forms.

It takes many forms.

I I read an article this past week where it says the average American quits working 45 minutes to two hours before quitting time.

45 minutes to two hours.

That means every day.

And the guy just added it up.

Like he he he he did this little small uh like like a like like a focus group.

And one guy makes$26 an hour, and he says the last 90 minutes of every day, man, I'm updating, I'm checking my social status, I'm texting, I'm making plans at night where I'm gonna meet my buddies.

He's 28, he's single, and he says, Hey, I work hard, I earn the right towards the end of the day to focus on what I'm gonna do that night.

And the guy said, the guy that's doing the little study said, Hey, if you make$28 an hour, I think it was 28.

He said, So uh 90 minutes, he did the math and he spooled it out of the year and he said, You steal this much money for your employer.

And the kid said, That's his problem.

See, that's why I say we gotta wake up to stealing.

You just gotta wake up and just kind of say, Hey, now wait a minute.

Uh, because stealing takes many forms.

Leaving work early, downloading computer programs you haven't paid for.

That's stealing.

Borrowing things from the church that you never return, that's stealing.

Yes.

Yes, I was in the garage of a person who worked at this church at one point, and I looked over and something said GPBC on it.

And I said, Did you change your name?

Oh man, uh, yeah, I borrowed that about a a year ago, and I just forgot to take it back.

And he looked at me and said, What's the problem?

And I said, You're a thief, that's the problem.

And he got his feelings hurt.

And I said, When you come to work tomorrow, look around for anything that's got your initials on it.

We don't steal from you.

Don't steal from us.

Oh man, come on, man.

I just forgot.

How many times have you used that in the past year?

Probably 15.

You got dementia?

Man, why you gotta be this way?

Now I'm just asking a question.

See how subtle it is?

And that person walks away and gets like, oh man, Neil's such a jerk.

Can you imagine losing a precious family heirloom and coming to my house for dinner on Tuesday, and there it is up on the curio shelf in my living room?

Oh, I just borrowed that.

I forgot.

Is that yours?

Oh, look there, that's a picture of your grandmother.

I'm sorry.

And yet we we reserve the right to be offended by the person that says, hey man, that's stealing.

Copying a CD from a friend of yours that you didn't pay for.

That's stealing.

Signing up for every event the church offers simply because they have childcare and you need to break from your kids, that's stealing.

We spend way too much money as a church on childcare, and that will change.

And here's why.

Because men, you can watch your kids when your wife comes to an event at the church.

Somebody said, Well, my husband can't watch the kids.

I got three kids in childcare.

Well, where's your husband?

Oh, he's he's work, he's having a meeting, they're having a fantasy football draft.

You're stealing.

We're gonna help you not steal.

Aren't you glad you came today?

Yeah.

I said, uh, by the way, stealing takes many forms.

Here's one tithing.

Now, this is not, say with me, this is not, and now I will close with a guilt push forgiving.

No, it's not it.

I just said about two weeks ago, a guy said to me that goes to this church, he said, Hey man, what do you what what's God put in you?

What's your vision for our church?

And I said, I just like our church to be a place of no lack.

And he went, what?

And I said, just a place of no lack.

He goes, Oh man, um, be careful, that sounds charismatic.

I said, Okay.

I just, he said, Well, where do you get that from?

And I said, Out of the Bible.

Malachi chapter 3, verses 8 to 10.

Malachi 3:8–10

And let me just close by reading that to you.

He says, Will man rob God?

And God says, Yeah, you are robbing me, but you say, How we robbed you and your tithe and contributions, you are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.

He says, Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

And I and I referenced it, I butchered it, I had to go back and read it, and I said, It's that, it's those last six words where God says, until there is no more need.

And I just said, Do you ever think about our church just being a place where there's just no more need?

And he goes, Well, you mean like in the church, like as an organizational, uh as an organization or the people that are the church, just across the board where there's no more need.

And he goes, Well, no, I don't think that's possible.

Okay, well, either God's a liar, or we don't have faith, or we like culture, have kind of just factored it in.

Hey, we're gonna rob God because we don't bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, we bring about 2% into the storehouse, and then we give 5% to the Boy Scouts, and we tip the waitress 20% because we want them to think are generous, and we give some to here and some to there, and oh, this is my favorite.

My kid goes to private, my kid goes to a Christian school, so my tithe goes to pay for that.

That's a quote out of a man's mouth.

Well, my kid likes to deer hunt, so my tithes are gonna buy her a deer lease.

Oh, it's not funny.

It's the same logic.

But but here's what I want to say.

When I say stealing takes so many forms, I just I don't want you to focus on the part we always say, oh, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse.

No, yeah, you if you have you not heard that before, are you kidding me?

I want to focus it in on that last little part where he says, until there's no need.

Until there's no need.

And here's what I'm saying: stealing is so rampant and so prevalent in culture and in the church that there's need everywhere.

That there's need everywhere.

A third of the price of all manufactured goods factor in this element that, hey, there's going to be theft, so let's just jack up the price enough to cover our losses.

And just, can you just fathom our church being a church where there's no lack?

Just, hey, there's there's no lack.

What's your church like?

Oh man, it's just there's just no lack.

And because then you gotta, now I'm I'm not defining that.

I'm not saying, oh man, we got money coming.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Don't think about it just in those terms.

It's because I've had two conversations this week, and I said, uh, it's not just a financial thing.

Going back to where God told Abram, hey, I'll bless you so that you'll be a blessing.

And in you, all the nations of the world will be blessed.

It's that little preposition in what he's saying is your spiritual legacy is that of the gospel.

And that's how the nations are gonna be blessed because you're gonna take the gospel to them.

But stealing takes so many forms that I just think that it's just, it's kind of like, man, it's just the price of doing business.

And I just, it at some point we got to just say, you know what?

I'm just not gonna steal.

Let the thief that stole steal no more, but let him labor with his own hands.

Why?

Because God just said, I mean, can you, Matt, hey, why don't you steal?

Why don't you, why do you why do you work your quitting time?

Because the Bible says you shall not steal.

Oh, it's not stealing, man.

It's just, you know, we're tired.

This company made, you know,$18 million last year.

They're fine.

Our stock price is way up.

It's not mine to manage.

What mine, what's mine to manage is whether or not I steal from my employer or not.

Somebody was, I was walking around greeting people for the service, and guys said, Yeah, I was in firehouse subs, and the lady in front of me grabbed a handful of straws about that about that big around and jammed them in her purse.

That's stealing.

And it's just, here's my confession.

We have stolen so much for so long, we've convinced ourselves that it's all right.

I deserve this.

And I would just want to ask, on what basis?

Is God, does God not know what we need and will he not provide?

And if you and if you really believe that, because I want to just end where I started, that it communicates something to God.

And and beloved, be careful that you don't communicate to God so consistently that God just backs up and says, you be your own provider.

You just get yours.

By whatever means possible.

Because there's a difference between what you gotta get and what you can only receive.

Let's pray together.

Just take a moment and just ask the Holy Spirit.

And I'm not being glib when I say this, but just ask the Holy Spirit to show you all the ways in which you steal.

Just because I think most of us first blush, we're pretty honest people.

We don't steal.

Someone asked Thomas Aquinas a question about another man, and he said, I do not know him sufficiently to not steal his reputation by speaking out of ignorance.

And so maybe I've just been reading too much about stealing the past couple of weeks, or maybe it's just become so ingrained in the fabric of our culture that we've fallen asleep to the sin.

And maybe today we could just ask the Lord to awaken us to the sin of stealing.

Because over all of this, when God says, you shall not steal, what he's really saying is, because I'm gonna take care of you.

Don't act like I've forgotten how to provide everything you need.

So let's again let's finish where we started by just kind of thinking about this against the backdrop of our faithful, consistent God.

Father, when we think about your sufficiency and your willingness, it magnifies the offense of stealing, of taking that which doesn't belong to us simply because we want it or we think we deserve it, or we've been too lazy to work and earn money and buy it.

And so, just as stealing takes many forms, so your sufficiency takes many forms.

And I pray that we would just think about this heinous, grievous sin against the backdrop of our great faithful God, who started this whole thing in motion by saying, I will bless you and you'll be a blessing.

I will bless you so that you'll be a blessing.

Who says in the New Testament through Paul, hey, I richly provide everything for your enjoyment.

I don't just richly provide it, I provide it so that you'll stink and enjoy it.

And Father, I pray we would just get a sense that we would just kind of give us some sensitivity where we've kind of seared our conscience.

Not to feel bad, but some sensitivity to be different, some sensitivity to taking personal responsibility instead of personal property.

And Lord, I pray that where offense needs to be taken.

Let it be taken.

Some of us should be offended today, some of us should be a little torn on the inside and a little torqued.

But also give us the wisdom to take it out on the right person, ourselves.

If the salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again?

Lord, we just want to be the salt.

We want to be the people that bring out the flavors of God and truthfulness in this culture.

And one of the ways we do that is just by obeying the eighth commandment that says you you don't steal.

Be done acting like God's not sufficient and consistent.

And so, Lord, we acknowledge today that our lives are a reflection on you.

We want to reflect you accurately.

And so, because of mercy, the thief that is stole can steal no more.

There's for not just forgiveness for stealing, there's freedom from stealing.

And so let that be on us today.

We pray in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Stand to your feet.

Let me speak a blessing over you.

Hold your hands out.

All of life is lived against the backdrop of a sufficient, satisfying God who consistently demonstrates his faithfulness to his covenant.

Leave now and live as if you not only believe that, but you're part of that covenant as well.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.

You're dismissed.