Resurrection Life: Possessions

Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,

a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg.

It's our hope that these sermons will draw you

more into the life of following God, Father,

Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and

joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in

the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find

us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook,

Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this

sermon. God Bless. I'm going to read another

part of Servant on the Mount, because that's

what I thought we were going to read. This is

chapter 6, verse 19. where neither moth nor rust

destroys, and where thieves do not break in and

steal. For where your treasure is, there your

heart will be also." We pray. Lord God, we pray

that as we turn to this next commandment, Lord,

that we would find your law to be lovely than

to be desirous, that we would want, we would

seek to walk in your ways. that we would see

the beauty of Jesus who walks in them perfectly

and desire to be his disciples, those that follow

him. Gotta pray. Lord, we know, I think of the

reading that Gordon read for us before the confession,

we know that there's so many, it is such a temptation

to be religious and empty. And we see that in

the gospels, whitewashed tombs, just going about

the ways. Trying to look good. God, I pray that

that would not be the effect of looking at your

law, not huffing ourselves up, not trying to

look good, but seeking to really love you with

our whole heart and mind and soul and strength,

all of our being laid in worship to you. And

so Lord, do with this time what you will and

conform us to the image of our Lord, the image

of beauty and goodness and truth in whose name

we pray. Amen. All right, some of you I I'm sure

know this because one of the most famous Covers

of the Saturday Evening Post those famous ones

that were painted by Norman Rockwell is the painting

from 1936 called tipping the scales Some of you

might know that know what I'm talking about as

soon as I mention it, but it's it's a great Painting

there's there's two people in it and in between

the two there's a scale and one of them is this

older woman She's in this lovely flower dress,

and she has this cute black hat with all these

flowers around it, too. She just looks really

quaint. Silvery hair that's nicely done up underneath

her hat. And she's come to the butcher, maybe

for a Sunday chicken, or maybe it's big enough.

I kind of doubt it, but it's like a Thanksgiving

turkey. She's come to the butcher, and so on

the other side of the scale is the butcher, and

he's got this big bushy butchery. white mustache

and these beautiful spectacles, glasses, small

that fit his head just perfectly. And here's

what's happening. They're both smiling, they're

both grinning in this because in some ways they

think they have kind of won one over on the other.

What's happening is that under the paper, the

butcher paper that's holding the bird, You can

see hidden by that paper from the view of the

woman, the butcher pushing his finger down on

the scale. And on the other side, this woman

with this just lovely grin, you can see that

she's so warm and she's also thinking she's won

the day. Hidden by the scale itself from the

view of the butcher, she's pushing up on the

scale. They've figured out. how to win the upper

hand. They're both pleased with themselves and

totally unaware of the other. And of course,

like most of Rockwell's paintings, it's just

this depiction of American life. Normal, wholesome,

American everyday life. They look like charming

people. But man, they are both breaking the Ten

Commandment, or the Eighth Commandment. And you

know what? They look like people, she certainly

looks like somebody that would protest strongly

being called a thief. You know? Thank you very

much. I'm a good, upstanding, hard -working American

citizen. Not some Bonnie and Clyde. Not some

Butch Nelson, Babyface Cassidy. You know not

robbing banks doing some bank heists and jumping

on the train Cutting town I imagine this butcher

would be like Pretty pretty indignant if somebody

said hey don't go to that butcher pushing down

the scales not trustworthy But I also imagine

that he would he might call the police maybe

not the first time if the check bounce We would

the second time be like this person's trying

to rob me Yeah I imagine this older woman is

cooking up this roast chicken or roast turkey

for her grandchildren whom she dotes upon And

who she dreams will be the leaders of the future

And neither of them seem to be faced by the idea

of sort of padding their pocketbooks at the expense

of another, right? So the last couple of weeks

we've looked at the Sermon on the Mount a little

bit in relation to a couple of Ten Commandments,

because Jesus does, and we saw in chapter five

that Jesus makes it really clear that we cannot

let ourselves off the hook for murder and adultery.

anger and lust are thrown in there and they are

rightly done so because they are also so easily

connected with harming the other and faithlessness.

And I think it's possible for us to get to the

eighth commandment, because Jesus makes it so

explicit that the sixth and seventh are related

to us, that we get to the eighth commandment

and we can all collectively go... Let's just

breathe a sigh of relief here. Finally, we can

exhale. Y 'all, there was a survey done by the

Barna Group several years back. 86 % of adults,

this is in the US, said that they completely

satisfy the commandment. do not steal 86 percent

that's a pretty good number i imagine you'd put

yourself in that number statistically you would

if it 86 percent's a pretty high number you know

maybe some of you are like i might so it's 50

percent of you right um like the second command

commandment that prohibits the making of idols

And our inclination when we hear that to think

like that applies to the Hindu family that has

a little you know, like incense that they burn

and stuff like that We tend to think of this

command do not steal as Kind of applying to the

guy that walks down down Green Street late at

night one in the morning, you know Pulling on

door handles just going is this one unlocked?

Maybe if we're thinking a little bit more with

a little more greater complexity, we're like

Bernie Madoff Wall Street Ponzi scheme, you know,

we certainly don't tend to think of ourselves

But just like Jesus spoke of anger and lust murder

and adultery there in chapter 5 What did we hear

in chapter 6 that we're not supposed to lay up

treasures in heaven or? Ross rest moth and rust

destroy and where thieves break in and steal

right the shun this kind of idea Just to find

that our treasures are in heaven It's not just

because there are thieves here on earth But that

our own thieving is always a reflection of where

our treasures are, right? Our own grabbing on

to things have to do with what our faith is in

our trust is in okay So this morning, I want

us to consider just a question like what is stealing

and why does it matter? Pretty easy. What is

stealing? This is the last. So there's three

commands that are really short, right? Don't

murder, don't commit adultery, and this is the

last one. Don't steal. The other ones have a

few more words to them. But quite literally,

these three commands in the Hebrew are just two

words, right? Two words. We've talked about this

last couple of weeks. And these two words are

lo, the same words as the last couple of weeks,

but logonaf, which is really, don't take stuff

that doesn't belong to you. Don't steal. Don't

take something from somebody else without their

permission that is not properly yours to have.

Don't take something that doesn't belong to you.

And doesn't it, again, just strike you as so

simple? I think it kind of does. And so one of

the things that I've been doing in this series,

in the Ten Commandments, is I've been looking

at the great catechisms of the Protestant Reformation.

Because if you read Luther's catechism, or if

you read the other catechisms, pretty much all

of them explain with some great detail the Ten

Commandments. So I'm going to read to you a couple

of those. One of the great catechisms that came

out of the Protestant Reformation was the Heidelberg

Catechism, written in Heidelberg, Germany in

1563. So that was part of the German Reformed

tradition, which second church, when it was started

in 1864, was the second German Reformed church

in Harrisburg. The very first Church in Harrisburg

was actually Salem German Reformed Church, and

it was built by John Harris, who laid out Harrisburg.

We're the second German Reformed Church. And

so let me read for you question 110 from the

Heidelberg Catechism. What does God forbid in

the Eighth Commandment? God forbids not only

outright theft and robbery punishable by law,

but in God's sight, theft also includes all scheming

and swindling in order to get our neighbor's

goods for ourselves. whether by force or means

that appear legitimate. Such as inaccurate measurements,

doing this and this, right? Of weight, size,

or volume, fraudulent merchandising, counterfeit

money, excessive interest. All of the reformers

talk about excessive interest in some of their

writings actually, but I mean all the great reformers.

They would have hated payday loan places because

it hurts the poor so much. Or any other means

forbidden by God. In addition, God forbids all

greed and pointless squandering of his gifts.

Fairly extensive, right? Kind of getting us to

think more broadly about what does it mean to

steal? Well, so that's one of the great catechisms

of the Protestant Reformation, the German Reformed

Church specifically, the Heidelberg catechism.

1563. If you go forward a little bit, what you

find is actually the great confessional documents

of the Presbyterian tradition, and we're part

of that as a church in the Presbyterian church

in America. And those great documents were written

in 1643 to 47 at the Westminster assembly, and

so they're called the Westminster Confession

of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms. The

Larger Catechism is the best part, they're all

great, but the Larger Catechism is where you

get the Ten Commandments sort of expounded. And

I wanna read to you some of that, okay? So here's

question 141. What are the duties required in

the Eighth Commandment? The duties required in

the Eighth Commandment are truth, faithfulness,

and justice in contracts and commerce between

man and man. So honorably business dealings,

right? Good contracts that honor the other person.

rendering to everyone his due restitution of

goods unlawfully detained from the right owners

thereof restitution think about how actually

Zacchaeus says I'm going to pay back fourfold

and Jesus says salvation has come to your house

today for all that I took unjustly um giving

and lending freely according to our abilities

and the necessities of others so lending towards

the necessities of others Moderation of our judgments,

wills, and affections concerning worldly goods,

a provenance, care, and study to get, keep, use,

and dispose of those things which are necessary

and convenient for the sustenance of our nature."

That's maybe a long -completed statement, but

one of the things that maybe that applies to

is, hey, Flora says, I think I can be a nurse,

and that would be a good way to sustain myself

and love others. That's maybe a proper application

of this is what it's saying. One of the things

that you can do is actually seek, how do I work

in the world well? A lawful calling and diligence

in it, or your work. Frugality, avoiding unnecessary

lawsuit suits and surety ship, or other like

engagements. And an endeavor by all just and

lawful means to procure, preserve, and further

the wealth and outward estate of others, as well

as our own. It's wildly expansive. I'm not done.

Question 142. What are the sins forbidden in

the Eighth Commandment? The sins forbidden in

the Eighth Commandment, besides the neglect of

the duties, so it's like all that other stuff

that I just said, that stuff, are theft, robbery,

man stealing. By the way, I actually read this

week, there was a statement about different ways

that man stealing happens. This was written,

also in Germany in the 17th century. And one

of the ways that was listed was stealing children

for the growth of a monastery. Man stealing and

receiving anything that is stolen, receiving

things that are stolen. Fraudulent dealing, false

weights and measures. There's that one again.

Removing landmarks. meaning unjust disputes over

the border between your land and your neighbors.

This is upholding the surveyor's job as a just

and good job. Injustice and unfaithfulness in

contracts between man and man are in matters

of trust, oppression, extortion, usury, bribery,

vexatious lawsuits, unjust enclosures, depopulations,

unjust enclosures and depopulations, unjust annexations

maybe of one area towards something else for

the maybe the sake of, you know, gain. And grossing

commodities to enhance the price. And grossing

commodities to enhance the price. Supply and

demand. Maybe we can limit the supply of this

so that we can increase our pocketbooks. Unlawful

callings and all their unjust or sinful ways

of taking or withholding from our neighbor what

belongs to him, or of enriching ourselves, covetousness,

inordinate prizing and affecting worldly goods,

distrustful and distracting cares and studies

in getting, keeping, and using them, and being

at the prosperity of others, as likewise idleness,

prodigality, wasteful, I actually had to look

at that, prodigality, wasteful over -adulgence.

excessive extravagance, wasteful gaming, so a

type of gambling, and all other ways whereby

we do unduly prejudice our own outward estate

and defraud ourselves of the due use and comfort

of that estate which God has given us. That's

a lot, isn't it? I mean, in so many ways, you

can see how it doesn't apply just to the 17th

century in England. with the 21st century here

in the United States. And of course, I could

go on, and the Bible could go on, and so we will.

No, but not with the same kind of way. Okay,

I mean, thinking about this, in some of the ways,

what's the way that people steal so much in our

day? I mean, think of time. How often time is

stolen? An employee has a contract to work a

certain amount of hours in a given time frame,

and that lunch break extends another 15 minutes

here and there, and the coffee break extends

here around the copy machine, and just this taking

of what has been agreed upon. Filling out false

time cards in the rare places that those still

exist. I remember, so I had a great job in college.

I loved it. I worked for Seattle City Parks Department.

My first summer at the beginning of the day,

I would walk along Alki Beach and pick up trash,

and I loved it. And then the next couple of summers,

I walked along the beach at Lincoln Park in West

Seattle. It's just a great way to begin the day,

trim trees throughout the day. I love that job.

Well, I mean, there were a couple of people that

I worked with who I got along with very well,

and I'm not going to name, even though I don't

think they're ever going to watch this sermon.

But I remember very clearly how they would just

joke about how they would lie about sick days

because, man, it was a nice day out and their

buddies were going for a motorcycle ride and

they wanted to go too. They'd steal time. Stealing

time. This is wild to me, but I looked it up.

Time theft costs U .S. employers between 450

billion dollars and 550 billion dollars annually.

Time theft. That's how much it costs employers.

For an individual business, it accounts for one

to eight percent of payroll. So up to eight percent

of payroll is just lost because of time theft.

Of course, it's not just the employee. Employees,

employers can do that too, right? Demand that

which is beyond actually what was agreed upon.

It's a way of theft, right? That the employers

are doing to the employees and they can take

advantage of it because, hey, no one paying.

You need to show up all this other time even

if we didn't agree to that. Get this, this is

pretty wild. I read about this hotel that reported

that in the first year of business, it had to

replace 38 ,000 spoons. Why is everybody taking

the spoons? And 350 coffee pots, and 100 Bibles,

which I was like, oh, praise the Lord, somebody

took the Bibles. That's great, take the Bibles,

y 'all, if you need to take a Bible today, you

can have one of our Bibles, okay. But it's just

so pervasive. Stealing someone's reputation.

is an application of this commandment. That's

something that's talked about in the Bible, and

it's something that happens. It's a good deal.

Destroying somebody's character, right? Gosping

about somebody, trying to talk about them bad

so that you can maybe get the promotion for somebody

else, you know, and cut down somebody else. Taking

credit for somebody else's work so you can look

good, right? It's just applied so much. Even

if the villain Lago, right? Jed and Shakespeare's

Othello said it, it's true and Shakespeare wrote

it, he who steals my purse steals trash but he

finches my good name makes me poor indeed. Somebody's

good name is an important part and we can actually

steal that from them. That is wrong and that

is breaking the eighth commandment. And of course,

this is what we do towards God. We steal his

honor. his glory. We do not give him the worship

that he is due. We steal what is rightly his.

We believe that our goods and our wealth and

our honor and our jobs and our children are all

ours. Our time, Lord, is ours. We work hard for

it. It's not just the kind providence of God

that you have it and somebody else doesn't. Should

all good gifts come from our Heavenly Father

above? They're all His. He bestows them on who

He will. We steal from Him when we do not acknowledge

Him as the giver of all good things. So it's

true, like I said last week, that so often what

the commandments are doing is they're giving

you the most bold kind of part of the command,

but there are so many things that follow from

it. Murder is not just manslaughter, but it's

not preserving the life of the other, right?

Adultery is not just that, but it's also so many

other things, and we know it is. Of course, the

same is true for stealing. That's what we could

say what it is, so many ways that we can apply

it. But why does this matter? Okay, so just a

few things. Why does it matter? One, and this

might seem like a strange thing to start with,

is that you're made for work. You're made to

work. And a lot of times what ceiling is doing

is it's saying, you know, there's an easy way.

If I can just take it, if I can kind of, you

know. Work the system so that I can get the upper

leg instead of actually acting justly in the

world and maybe I can get ahead and not have

to work so hard. But God actually made you for

work. He works six days and he rests on seven

days. He said, go and do likewise. In fact, one

of the things he first thing he tells is to be

fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it,

have dominion over it. Work, cultivate a life.

in this world that reflects me and I like to

work and create and you are made to do so as

well. We are placed in the garden to tend to

it and often stealing is a form of laziness.

Stealing can take the honor or the reputation

of another away because we want to get ahead

of them, right? We want to look better in our

own eyes from who they are. taking that which

is not ours is simply saying, I deserve it without

the hard work. Lifting ourselves up is often

putting others down. And so actually, you know,

you can think of what Melias read for us in Ephesians

chapter four, where Paul is instructing them,

how do we live this Christian life? And there's

all kinds of things like, don't be angry, you

know, don't let this thing go down in your anger

and stuff like that. But one of the things that's

said is, let the thief no longer steal. He's

like, that is part of your old self that has

been put to death. Just put on the new self.

Put on this new life in Christ. And part of that

new life is, do not steal any longer. Let the

thief no longer steal. Instead, it says, but

rather let him work. Why does it matter? Because

we're made for work. And then Paul actually goes

on to say, doing honest work with his own hands

so that he may... have something to share with

anyone who's in need. Part of your work is so

that you can give to others. We were made to

work and we were made to work in such a way that

we are not taking what is not properly ours,

but we have something to offer the life of the

world. And that in some ways actually brings

me to the second reason why I think it matters.

And the second reason is that, so we were made

for work, but we were also made for trust. We

were made for faith. We were made for dependence,

right? So our first parents, again, were placed

in the garden with God under his delight, his

goodness, right? He says, this is very good.

But also under his shelter, his protection. and

we're to live with Him in a relationship of trust,

to believe that His words to us are good and

right, and actually the boundaries in which He

puts us in are good and right. And so, you know,

there's this command, don't take of this tree.

And of course, understandably, you're like, well,

why would God do that? And there's all kinds

of thoughts about that. But at the very least,

one of the things is that from the very beginning,

they were to trust. that God's provision for

them is enough and that His words for them are

good and right and that they might not even know

why that is. And yet His words for them are good.

And of course, that's why among other things,

why the first sin is not just the sin of lying,

which it is, but it's also stealing. It wasn't

theirs. God had not given it to them. Instead,

they were to live this life of trust and dependence

that what God has given them is enough that He

will provide for them in their need. And so when

we steal, it matters because it actually goes

against what we're made for, this life of work,

but also this life of trust and dependence on

God and His love and care for us. And so this

brings me to the third thing of why I think it

matters. And this is kind of simple too, is that

it matters because our stuff is from God. This

matters because our stuff is from God. Interestingly,

in Malachi, Malachi chapter 3, God talks about

Malachi 3 · chapter mention

how we rob from God when we don't tithe, but

what's the point of that? The point of the tithe

is actually saying, all that I have is yours,

right, as we sing. And when we actually take

that, which is not ours, we're actually fighting

against this idea that God is the giver of gifts.

Let me read a little bit of that for you. Malachi

3, 6. For I the Lord do not change therefore

you a children of Jacob are not consumed from

the days of your fathers You've turned aside

from my statutes and have not kept them return

to me and I'll return to you says the Lord of

hosts But you say how shall return well man Rob

God Yet you are robbing me you say how have we

robbed you and your tithes and contributions

Your curse with a curse for your robbing me the

whole nation of you He's going to keep going

in that. But there's this way in which we actually

rob God. We can actually take from him. Of course,

it's kind of wild to me that Abraham gives a

tithe in Genesis 14, and it predates this Old

Testament tithing kind of idea. But why is this

going on? Like, why does the Old Testament talk

about this? And why is this a good Christian

practice to give? One reason, okay, we can say

this. It's not like God needs it, right? Does

God need our stuff, our money, our tithe? Psalm

50 says kind of famously that he owns the cattle

on a thousand hills, right? It's not like he's

a need. He speaks and things just come into being.

But why this matters is because we have to remind

ourselves again and again that all that we have

and all that we are is ultimately God's. He doesn't

need it. But he commands us to give even the

tithe and these kinds of things because he wants

to reinforce this again and again that all Everything

belongs to him And again, let me get back to

this. Okay, we think that our property The property

the stuff that we own can be disposed of as we

will right Meaning we can use our time we can

use our resources and we can use our minds and

everything that we have as we will they are ours

But actually at the heart of this command is

that they're not ours, is that they are God's.

Stealing is not just an affront to your neighbor,

it is also an affront to God. What the Bible

says is that everything that we have is not our

own. In fact, it tells us that we ourselves were

bought with a price. It says that our bodies

are not our own. You don't just get to do whatever

you want. It says they are to be offered up to

the Lord as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing

to Him. Everything that we have, all of it belongs

to God. He gives them to us. You simply hold

them as a trustee, tending to them. But also,

as the parable of the talent says, you will have

to give an account to the Lord for how you used

all of what you have. Okay, so anyway, what is

stealing? It's quite simply, in the shortest

way, it's taking what is not yours to take. But

it encompasses so much. Why does it matter? Because

it robs us of actually what we are made for.

We're made to work. We're made to trust. We're

made to have faith. But it also robs God of what

is rightly His because He's the one that gives

gifts, gives talents. And He also says, you're

going to have to give an account for how you

dealt with them. So stealing is not just stealing

from the other, but in a way it's also stealing

from yourself and it's stealing from God. Which

is to say that when we sit with all of this,

we can't write it off as the command for the

guy that's walking down the street, checking

the handles of the door, like the car doors.

We can't write it off as like, oh man, Bernie

Madoff, Bonnie and Clyde, the cute lady with

the flowery hat, the butcher. this is a command

for you and for your pastor and For your children

and for your friends and for your roommate for

your spouse Okay, so I'm gonna leave you with

an assignment today I'm gonna give you an assignment.

You do not have to bring this back to me. But

actually I'd be really interested if you did

Here's what it is. It's kind of simple. I would

like you Maybe as an individual but more like

it would actually be better if you did this with

somebody else to get a roommate or your friend

Or your children or whatever or your spouse.

I want you to take a pen and a paper and I want

to I want you to actually write down together

and think together. How do I steal? I've given

you so many categories Like I mean this if you

need help get out the larger catechism question

141 and 142 Get out the Heidelberg Catechism.

Get out Luther's Catechism. It's got lots of,

it's great too. And just ask, like, how do I

break this, right? And then I also want you to

ask, how am I tempted to steal? Because what

the Lord invites us to do is see that these are

not just commands for our external appearances,

but commands for our hearts. And after you do

that, okay, after you do that, I want you, listen

to me. None of you are writing this down, so

listen attentively, class. After you do that,

I want you to get out of Bible and I want you

to turn to the Gospel of John, Matthew, Mark,

Luke, John. It's the fourth book in the New Testament.

I want you to get it out and I want you to read

what were our words of forgiveness and peace

this morning, which is John chapter 10, verse

John 10:10

10. And it says this, the thief comes only to

steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come

that they would have life and have it abundantly.

And as you write down those stealing acts, as

you write down those stealing temptations, I

want you to give it to Lord and receive His new

life. Let me pray. Lord. Again, these commands

just seem so utterly applicable to us. I pray

that we would not stop our ears and harden our

hearts, that today we would hear your voice,

and we would run to you, and we would love you,

and we would live for you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Please consider subscribing to this podcast and

joining us in person each Sunday at 10 a .m.

You can find us online at SecondCityChurch .org

and on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks

again for listening. God bless.