Thou Shalt Not Steal
Text: Exodus 20:15
Introduction:
What
do the following have in common?
- Sleeping on the job
- Taking home supplies
from work
- Robbing a bank
- Lying on your income
tax return
- Buying stolen goods
World’s
Dumbest Criminals
- A guy walks into a
hardware store and fills out an application for a job. He does this to get an opportunity to
steal some power tools from the place.
He is apprehended when the police go to the address he put on the
application. He had used his real
name and address and left it on the application in the store.
- A guy sees the offering
plate go by and drops in a dollar or five dollar bill. He doesn’t realize he has just robbed
God, his brothers and sisters, and himself all at once. Not only that, He has done it right
under God’s nose! How dumb can you
get?
I. The Art of Theft
A.
Simple Stealing
1.
Taking something that doesn’t belong to you
a)
Examples
(1)
Walking into a bank and demanding money
(2)
Slipping something into your pocket in a store without paying
for it
(3)
Honest people must pay for these thefts by paying the
increased prices on items
2.
Stealing from employers
a)
Not giving an hour’s work for an hour’s pay
b)
Taking and/or using company goods for personal use
(1)
Many rationalize their behavior
(2)
It doesn’t really matter...they don’t care
(3)
If they paid me what they should, I wouldn’t do it
B.
Sophisticated Stealing
1.
The world has made a distinction between ‘blue collar’ crime
and ‘white collar’ crime
2.
Examples
a)
Government official charged with misappropriation of funds
b)
False Advertising
c)
Fraud in income taxes
3.
Companies who steal from their employees
a)
Broken promises
b)
Reclassification
c)
(James 5:4) "Behold, the hire of the labourers who have
reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the
cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of
Sabaoth."
C.
Spiritual Stealing
1.
Through gossip and slander we steal a person’s good name
2.
Through our failure to witness we steal opportunities for
others to be saved
3.
Through selfishness we steal from God
a)
Money
(Mal 3:8-10) “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have
robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
{9} ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.”
b)
Time
(Ep. 5:16) “Redeeming the time, because the days
are evil.”
c)
Talents
II. OT Prescriptions (Crime doesn’t pay, the criminal
does)
A.
Pay back double (Ex. 22:3)
1.
Notice the justice of this command
a)
First, it compensates the victim not only for the material
loss, but also the emotional pain and suffering
b)
Second, it makes the thief feel the damage he tried to
inflict. He loses what he tried to
steal from you.
2.
Our system should be set up more like this
B.
The sentence was lightened if one turned himself in (Nu.
5:5-7)
1.
The fine on top of the restitution was only 20%
2.
This helped to encourage the thief from turning himself in
a)
This would facilitate making sure that the victim received
back that which was stolen
b)
It would save money in litigation and prosecution
3.
It would encourage repentance
C.
Pay back more for future loss of income (Ex. 21:37)
1.
When you kill an animal you cause the victim to not only lose
the animal, but also any income from that animal’s offspring
2.
If your theft causes a future loss, then you pay back more to
compensate
D.
Compensation is not based on an ability to pay (Ex. 2:22)
1.
If you can’t pay, you become a slave
2.
The slave would stay that way until the debt was paid or the
year of jubilee or after six years
III. NT Principles
A.
Restitution
1.
Note the example of Zacchaeus
2.
Luke 19:1-10
3.
We need to make restitution to those we have wronged through
stealing
B.
Labor
(Eph. 4:28) “Let him that stole steal no more: but
rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he
may have to give to him that needeth.”
1.
Stop stealing....
2.
Start working...
3.
Start giving....
C.
Giving
D.
Honesty & Integrity
E.
Contentment
IV. Questions
A.
Black market goods?
1.
Are culpable if you buy something that you know or are pretty
sure is stolen property?
2.
The law, and rightly so, says you are
B.
Underground economy
1.
What if an independent contractor says, “I’ll do the job for
$850 cash or $1,150 otherwise?”
2.
What should you do if you KNOW a person wants cash for the
purpose of concealing it from Uncle Sam?
3.
Can you take this concept too far?
a)
Small jobs or favors which are less than $400 and the person
does not do regularly are not taxable anyway
b)
The key is motive and amount
C.
Finders keepers?
1.
What if you find money and you know whom it belongs to?
2.
What about instances when you do not know?
3.
Illus.
We found $20 at Little Caesar’s in K-Mart. While we were eating, a man came to the area
and was obviously looking for something.
What should we do? We could
ignore him and keep the $20. We could
ask him what he is looking for and if he says twenty bucks, then we could give
it to him. We did just that. It was a valuable lesson for our kids.
D.
The other guys stupidity
1.
What do you do when the cashier gives you back too much in
change?
2.
What do you do when you have been billed incorrectly and the
error is in your favor?