The Ten Commandments Lesson 8: No Five Finger Discount | Devin LaBay

It is good to see y'all this morning.

Again, if you're visiting with us, we are so glad that you are here.

Chase, man, I that was great, great communion devotional this morning.

I think that's the first time I've ever heard advocating for a shorter sermon by taking an extra dose of the communion.

That's pretty creative.

Very good thoughts this morning.

I can remember being um nine years old.

And this was the this intermediate time between when my mother passed at eight and my dad remarried when I was nine and a half, near nearly ten years old.

And I went the third grade year of my life without a mom in the house.

And you know, when when you don't have enough parental coverage, you know, I was a latch key kid during that time.

And when you don't have enough parental coverage, kids tend to find ways to get into trouble.

And so I met this kid in the third grade, and um he and I became pretty good friends.

He lived right down the street.

Uh, didn't know him at the time.

And uh on Saturday mornings, uh after Saturday morning cartoons, you know, and our cereal fruit loops, that's what you did when I was a kid.

You eat your Fruit Loops, watch your Bugs Bunny, watch your cartoons until all the boring stuff came on after that.

Uh, and we would we would get together after you know going through the the the sofa and looking underneath for loose change, and we'd ride our bikes to the convenience store down at the far end of the street.

And we went in and uh we started, you know, we counted up our change and whatnot, and I had mine and he had his.

And and we go in and we start picking out you know pieces of candy and stuff, and uh we went up to the counter and and you know, we laid out our candy and laid out our nickels and dimes.

If we were lucky, we found a quarter.

Okay.

Uh never seemed to find any foldable money though when we looked for that.

I don't know if y'all had you know good luck with that or not.

Um, but anyway, we got our stuff and we walked out and we were going into our bikes and we were just kind of looking over our stuff, and then he reaches into his pocket and he pulls out an astropop.

You know, Astro Pops, right?

They're you know about like that, and they had just different colors, and it was kind of like in the in a triangular point to it.

And uh they were a little bit more on the expensive side, okay.

And I said, Where did you get that?

I didn't see that on the counter.

And he just holds it out and says, Devin, that's what you call a five-finger discount.

I said, What?

He said, Yeah, that's uh that's a five-finger discount.

I said, You mean you mean you stole it?

He said, Yeah, okay.

I learned a little bit more about what stealing was about.

And the thing about it is, God commands us in the eighth commandment, don't take something from somebody else that doesn't belong to you.

Now, again, I mean an astrop in 1979, that might not seem like a big deal, but to God it is a big deal.

When we take something from someone else that doesn't belong to us, and God just lays that there do not steal, you shall not steal.

And so we're gonna take a little deeper dive and take a look at this commandment, the eighth commandment, uh, you shall not steal, and explore what God means by this and how we can apply it to our life today.

Because I think there's application maybe in places that we never thought before.

And so before we get into the message this morning, let's join together in prayer and invite the Spirit to bless our message.

Lord, thank you for the beauty of this day and and the opportunity to and the blessing to come together.

We we thank you so much for the songs of praise that that Matt has led us in and the prayers that that have been led.

We thank you for uh the reading of your word this morning.

We thank you for uh the communion devotional that was so well done and put us in the right frame of mind uh to partake of the emblems that represent the body and the blood of your son that was so freely given for us.

Father, you've you've commanded us not to take things that don't belong to us.

And Father, we we pray that you will help us to understand how important that is to you, that we be honest people.

That people are always watching us, especially those who who claim to be followers of you and and followers of Jesus.

Lord, we pray that that you will help us to to always keep that in mind.

Spirit, I pray that the message today will be your message to us, that you will use me as your vessel this morning, as imperfect and foul and and completely fallible that I am, that that you will use me to to share a message from you to your people.

Lord, we love you so much because you've loved us in in ways that we can't possibly imagine.

We offer this prayer together in Jesus' name.

Amen.

I remember very clearly being five years old.

See, the the trip to the convenience store wasn't my first experience with the Eighth Commandment and the breaking of the Eighth Commandment.

I remember clearly being a five-year-old child and and standing in the checkout line in the grocery store with my father.

And he had come home from work and and uh after dinner he he uh reached into his pocket to to have his evening smoke after dinner.

That's what you did when you were a smoker.

You you always wanted to have that cigarette right after after dinner, and that was just something that most smokers did during that time.

And this was a time before we really realized how bad smoking was for you.

And so he f he he reached in and his it was empty.

There weren't any more cigarettes left.

And he went and checked uh in in the cupboard there where he kept uh the cartons, and it was it was empty too.

Um and so he said, Well, I guess I've got to go to the store and get some more.

And said, Come on, son, we'll go.

And so we jumped into our 1967 Chevrolet and Palace station wagon.

It's a big old white uh huge thing uh that just kind of floated down the road, you know.

Uh, and we we headed to the grocery store.

And we lived in a place called Hooks, Texas.

You've probably never heard of it in your life before.

It's a little small community just west of Texarkana, where I was born.

And this was a small place where everybody knew everybody else.

In fact, they they knew things about everybody else that they probably shouldn't have known about everybody else.

But you know how that is if you come from a small community.

You know everything and about everybody.

And so here we are, we're in the checkout line, and he's purchasing his Winston Reds and talking to the store manager because he knew the guy.

He coached Little League with the guy, they were friends, and so they're talking and we're standing in line, and I am mesmerized by a big clear jar of chocolates that are wrapped in tin foil and shaped like footballs.

And I thought to myself, wow, candy you can play with.

I thought that was pretty cool.

So we check out of the store, we get in the car, and we're heading home.

I got that piece of chocolate in my pocket.

And I thought, if I don't take that chocolate football out of my pocket, it's gonna get all messed up and melted, and I won't be able to play with it when I get home.

So I pull that thing out and I'm kind of holding it in front of the air conditioning vent, trying to cool it down, and my dad sees me doing that, and he says, son, where did you get that?

Because he knew good and well that he had not paid for it when we checked out at the grocery store.

And I had quite possibly my first deer in the headlights moment.

Because he knew good and well where I got that from, and he knew good and well that he had not paid for it.

And so he turned that station wagon around, and we headed right back to the store.

And he made me apologize to the store manager for stealing a one cent piece of chocolate shaped like a football.

Family, I learned a valuable lesson that day as a five-year-old.

I learned that stealing is wrong.

I learned that taking what doesn't belong to you, even if it's a one cent piece of chocolate wrapped in foil that looks like a football.

And the reason why, family, that it's wrong, it's it's not because of a one cent piece of chocolate.

It's not about a$65 billion Ponzi scheme, if you've ever heard the name Bernie Madoff.

Family, it's the significance of living biblical principles and developing Christian character.

And those lessons begin at a very young age.

Now, to most people in the world, that's not a big deal.

What went on with me and swiping that one cent piece of chocolate is not a big deal.

In fact, a lot of parents today will just overlook it, just let it go.

The attitude of many people today is this I'm entitled to what I want.

And if I don't get what I want, well then I should be given something else.

Church, this attitude is reflected in a story from Mark Twain in his childhood.

He says, When I was a boy, I was walking along the streets and I happened to spy a cart full of watermelons.

And friend, let me tell you, I was fond of watermelons.

So I sneaked quietly up to the cart and I snitched one.

Then I ran to the nearby alley and sank my teeth into that melon, and no sooner had I done so, a funny and strange feeling came over me.

And without a moment's hesitation, Twain says, I made my decision.

I walked back to that cart, I replaced that melon, and I took a ripe one.

And we're going to take a closer look this morning at the positive and the negative side of the eighth commandment.

The positive side of the eighth commandment, family, is manifested in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 28.

Ephesians 4:28

Listen to what Paul says.

He says, 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.

Church, in that scripture right there, we see two positive principles.

First, God tells us we must be productive.

From the very beginning, God intended us, he intended for you and for me to live productive lives.

His will for us is to work.

His will for you and for me is to be productive people who are contributing to the success and to advancement of the kingdom.

In other words, we haven't been called to be bleacher believers.

We've been called to be an integral part of his work in this world, in this community, in this county.

Because when we choose to get involved, church, what we find is that our life is much more rewarding if we are involved with the meaningful work of the kingdom.

And the individual who is actively involved in building up the kingdom and making the world a better place, that person is a contributor.

The person who steals is not.

Church, we also see this from Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, verse 22.

Ecclesiastes 3:22

He says, There's nothing better, nothing better than for a man to enjoy his work.

This is from a guy who had everything.

This is from a guy who could want for nothing.

And he says, There is no greater thing.

There is nothing better than for a man to enjoy his work.

The operative word there is enjoy.

But the imperative is work.

God says we must work.

But the natural question that people ask is, but why must we work?

We work so we can share.

Church, God did not create you.

He did not create me to accumulate, but to share.

Why?

So that you and I can be in a position to help someone else.

God gives us blessings.

Have you been blessed by God?

I hope so.

In every little way, we've all been blessed by God.

God gives us blessings so that we can be, so that you and I can be a blessing to someone else.

It was a bitterly cold night in New York City in 1935.

And the story goes that the eccentric mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, whom after LaGuardia Airport is named, walked into Night Court in East Harlem.

It was known during that time as Italian Harlem, which was considered the poorest city in the area.

And he dismissed the judge that was on the bench for the evening, and he took over the bench of Night Court.

Later that night, an old woman was led into the courtroom, and she was charged with stealing a nine-cent loaf of bread.

When asked why she stole the bread, she said, My daughter's husband has left.

She's sick, and my grandchildren are hungry.

The grocer, whom she stole from, refused to drop the charges because he said an example had to be set to dissuade other people from doing the same thing.

LaGuardia turns to the old woman and says, It is the law.

And the law makes no exceptions.

Ten dollars or ten days in jail.

And then he says, Which I now remit.

Furthermore, I'm gonna fine every person in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a city where a person has to steal a nine-cent loaf of bread so that her grandchildren can eat.

Then he took his hat, he put his ten dollars that he said he would pay to cover her crime in the hat and pass the hat around.

That ten dollars in 1935, believe it or not, is the equivalent of$245 today.

You can buy a lot with$10.

And he instructed the bailiff to continue passing that hat around the courtroom so that everybody in the courtroom could put their 50 cents in.

50 cents in 1935 was the equivalent of about$12.

And then he said, give it to the old woman.

Church, the point of the story is not just to discourage stealing, but also that those who are able to work should be willing to share with those in need.

And family, a Christian shouldn't have to be fined to help someone in need or vote for or against a federal program to help the needy.

A Christian should be looking for opportunities to help those who are in need.

If all Christians would do that, family, would there ever be a need for legislation to enforce it?

Church Christians are to be people who use the blessings that we have to make a difference in the world that we live in.

And this is a huge part of our witness of Christ to the world around us.

Remember, people are always watching.

That's the positive side of the eighth commandment.

Working with the abilities, working with the blessings that we've been given so that we can bless the lives of others.

So what about the downside?

What is the bad side of the eighth commandment?

What is the downside of it?

Why is stealing so bad?

First, stealing is bad because when we steal from someone, we're devaluing them as a person.

When we steal, we're stealing from someone.

And so many times the focus is on the candy, the focus is on the car, the focus is on the money rather than the person who owns the candy, who owns the car or the money.

Family, if something belongs to someone else, we have no right to take it from them.

The only thing That any of us are entitled to is the fruit of our own labor.

And when we take anything, even if it's a one cent piece of chocolate, when we take anything from anyone else, it's important for us to realize that it's not about the thing that we want.

Church, it's about the person we're taking it from.

People are never to be treated as a means to an end.

Second, stealing is bad because stealing is destructive to relationships.

Church, the entitlement or the or the taker mentality drains the life out of a relationship and it undermines trust.

The person who's always taking and never giving, family, that's a person who violates the concept of respect and violates the concept of dignity in a relationship.

And until it finally comes to the point where the person on the other side of the equation, the person who is being taken from, who's being stolen from in the relationship, they're the giver.

And when the giver finally crosses a threshold where they can't give anymore, then they begin to build walls of protection around them.

Have you ever known that to happen?

Maybe that's happened to you.

Somebody just takes and takes and takes and finally just say, okay, I'm done.

I've had enough.

And you begin to throw up that wall that says, no more.

Family stealing is destructive because we all pay a price when one person steals.

And what does that look like in the world we live in today?

If a house is broken into on your street, we're all robbed of our security in our own home.

When a car is stolen, all of our insurance rates go up.

And those five-finger discounts that I talked about on the front end, okay, I'm guilty.

I did my own little five-finger discount when I was five.

All of those five-finger discounts affects everyone with higher prices to cover the loss.

It's called shrinkage.

See, all of this results in higher taxes, to pay police officers, to cover court cases, as well as construction and maintenance of facilities.

However, sometimes it works the other way around.

I remember about 25 years ago, Kimmy and I were, we were actually going to church.

Pulled out on a Sunday morning, and this car just pulls right out in front of us, and we T-boned them.

And it damaged the front end of our car.

And so we exchanged insurance cards like you're supposed to.

And I called this person's insurance company.

And they said, Yeah, sure, no problem.

We'll fix the car.

But we're going to put aftermarket parts on it.

I said, No, you're not.

Well, they're just they're they're just as good.

I said, I don't care if they're just as good.

They're not they're not the parts that were that were messed up.

We drove a Mazda at that time.

I said, they're not Mazda parts.

I ain't I ain't putting them on my car.

You're going to replace what your client messed up.

And so we went we went round and round about this for, I don't know, two or three weeks.

I can be stubborn about things like that.

And so finally got down to the point, well, okay, we will replace everything with genuine Mazda parts except for the front bumper.

I'm like, what?

Yeah, we'll do it, but the front bumper is going to be aftermarket.

I said, no, it's not.

You messed up a Mazda bumper, you're going to put a Mazda bumper back on.

Well, it's not that big a deal.

Yeah, it is a big deal.

Because here's the thing you're going to make a little money off of me and a little bit more money off somebody else, and that's how it all adds up.

I said, that's not right.

That's not fair.

I want a Mazda bumper.

I got my bumper.

But see, it happens the other way around.

People will try and nickel you and dime you to death to get an advantage.

In my opinion, that's theft.

Church, there's a serious deficiency of the golden rule in the world we live in.

If everyone would simply treat others the way that they want to be treated, what a difference that would make.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, hey, that's all well and good.

But this doesn't apply to me because I'm not a thief.

I'm not trying to rip anybody off.

I haven't stolen anything from anybody.

Okay.

What about God?

Family, anytime we fail to worship as we ought to, we've robbed him of the glory he deserves.

Church, when we can't come together to lay aside the worries and the cares of the world and to dedicate ourselves completely to offering the sacrifice of praise that is duly his, church, we've robbed God.

When we fail to share Jesus with others, church, as we know, as we know that we should, as his disciples, we rob him of the recognition that he deserves.

And we rob others of the savior that they need.

In the workplace, if our performance feedback from our employer reveals that we're wasting time or we're wasting resources, we're not producing results or meeting expectations, what eventually happens to us?

We get fired.

Question, if God were to conduct a spiritual performance feedback with us, what would he say?

Would he say, Well done, my good and faithful servant?

Or would he say, depart from me?

I never knew you.

Church, there are some things the Father is going to want us to give answers for.

Such as, I gave you life and blessings and salvation.

Did you use it to make me known?

I gave you health.

Did you use it to serve others?

I gave you a home.

Did you open it to the lost, to the suffering, or even to your brethren?

I gave you food and clothing.

Did you mention it at any time other than a repetitious prayer at mealtime?

I gave you a place to worship.

Did you feel it?

I gave my son's body and blood for you.

Did you observe it in communion together?

That's where it starts.

Communion.

It's what this service is all about.

It's what this day is all about.

Do this in remembrance of me.

This is the first congregation I've ever been a part of where Bible class comes after worship.

Everywhere else I've worked before as a minister, Bible class came before worship.

I can remember shaking hands after service and watching the majority of folks go on to Bible class, but I see some folks heading for the door.

And I'm like, where are you going?

We're about to go into worship.

Oh, well, I've been to Bible class.

That's not the same.

It's not the same.

Did you take communion in Bible class?

Well, no, but we studied scriptures.

Well, that's great.

That's a good thing.

But it's not what Sunday's all about.

The Lord's day is about recognizing what the Lord has done in the body, in the blood, in the bread, and the fruit of the vine.

Chase was talking earlier about the youth group studying the different elements of Sunday and about Bible class.

Did you know Bible class didn't get started in this country until about the 1930s?

As we know it.

In the 1870s, it was going as a separate afternoon program in Britain to help children learn to read and write.

They would teach kids the Bible and they would teach them to learn to read and write with the scriptures.

And that was pretty pretty good thing to do, but it was separate and apart, and it was an all-day thing.

But in the 1930s in the United States, when schools actually got a little bit more efficient and competent in teaching literacy, it became a point of where it is today.

The bottom line is Bible class is not a substitution for worship.

And if we miss communion, we've missed the heart of worship and the focal point of what Sunday's all about.

And when we do this, we rob Jesus of his glory.

And we rob ourselves of his sacrifice at the cross.

Church, if we have robbed God, we'll have to answer for it.

Our spiritual performance feedback session is coming.

And this is what it'll look like.

John writes in Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 to 15.

Revelation 20:11–15

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.

The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.

There was no place they could hide, no place they could go.

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.

Another book was opened, which is the book of life.

The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

If you think what we say and what we do doesn't matter, it does, because it's in the books.

The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them.

And each person was judged according to what they had done.

That one cent piece of chocolate.

And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.

The lake of fire is the second death.

And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Family, everything we say, everything we do is important.

Because according to this passage right here, and what Jesus says and what John saw, what we say, what we do, or what we fail to say, or what we fail to do, we'll be accounted for.

And here's the thing none of us are perfect.

But we can all be forgiven.

And if we are forgiven and live a life that takes a stand for Jesus, when that day comes, that day that we just read about, we have an advocate in Jesus who will stand with us.

John in 1 John chapter 2, verses 1 and 2 says this.

1 John 2:1

And he was closer to Jesus than anyone else on this earth.

Look at what he says about our advocate Jesus.

He says, My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.

But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one.

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Church, an advocate is a supporter.

An advocate is a sponsor, a believer who takes a stand with us when we need him the most.

And when we stand before God, regardless of what we've done in this life, regardless of the sins that we've committed, we're going to stand as a believer, and Jesus is going to stand right next to us.

If we've confessed Him as Lord and if we've been baptized into His name, Jesus is going to stand there with us.

And when Satan throws the book at us, the book where all the things that we've said and done is written, the sins we've committed, the people we've wronged, the things that we've done, Jesus is going to say, Hey, I got that covered.

Because he's mine.

Or she's mine.

Well, Devin stole that piece of chocolate when he was five.

Doesn't matter that he was five.

He stole it anyway.

Jesus' gonna say, you know what?

I got that covered.

Because when he was 16 years old, he confessed me as Lord, was baptized into my name, and has received forgiveness ever since.

Try again.

And Satan's gonna throw some more stuff at me.

Stuff I really don't want to share with anybody.

But the response from Jesus is gonna be the same thing.

Hey, I got that covered.

Try again.

And after a really, really, really long time, as the clock measures it, because I've made a lot of mistakes in my life.

Jesus is gonna say, What else do you got?

And Satan's gonna say, I rest my case because I got nothing else.

And Jesus is gonna say, Well done.

My good and faithful servant.

It's not because I did anything good, it's because he did good for me and for you.

Now that's for those who are gonna have him as an advocate.

But not everybody will.

Remember, when Jesus talked about the sheep and the goats, he's talking about people.

He's talking about people that are in him, he's talking about people that are outside of him.

And for the people that are in him, Jesus is going to be there with them as their advocate.

There will be people that do not have Jesus there with them.

Think about it.

Somebody's got to go to hell.

And I'm doing the best I can to make sure that it ain't me.

What about you?

Are you right with God?

I hope so.

I really do.

I hope you're right with the Lord.

And if you're not, are you willing to be?

This is a scary world we live in.

But if you think this world is scary, I got news for you.

The alternative to heaven, you don't want to go there.

You don't want to go there when that time comes, and you don't want to live there in this life worried about it.

And I tell you what, when John says, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have everlasting life, church, I'm telling you right now, Devin knows where he's going.

I'm going to heaven.

Not because I'm perfect, but because I'm not.

And Jesus covers the gap.

I can say that confidently.

That's not arrogance, that's blessed assurance.

And if you don't have that this morning, man, you are missing out.

Claim that.

Come to Jesus.

You have an opportunity to do that here in just a second.

Shepherds will be up front to receive you and to love you as well as I.

Chase?

Must have stepped out of the room.

But people will be here to love you.

And if you just can't do that, I get it.

Find somebody.

Find somebody to share that with.

If you're looking for a church home, we hope that you will be a part of our family here at Central.

Whatever you need today, please don't bear the burden, don't carry the load any further than you have to.

Respond to Jesus as the Spirit calls you while we stand and sing.