Corollary Duties

Sermon, February 27, 2000

Texts: Exodus 20:15, Ephesians 4:17-28, Mark 2:13-17

We are now taking a look at the eighth commandment. "Thou shall not steal," the commandment says. It's refreshingly direct, clear and absolute. There's no need to comb the concordances and Bible reference books and commentaries to figure out what God really meant. (I think I mentioned the statement posted on a church bulletin board: "What part of 'Thou Shalt not' do you not understand?") The command says "Thou shall not steal." Period. End of commandment. It doesn't say, "Thou shall not steal, unless thou really needest the money and the person you are taking from has more than enough." or "Thou shall not steal, unless thou feelest thy need is greater than the owner's need." 0r "Thou shall not steal, unless thou can outwit the cable company or the satellite dishes or the IRS." Or, in a word, it does not say, "Thou shall not steal unless thou can get away with it."

Although the Ten Commandments are meant to be followed by individuals, they were originally and primarily given to a fledgling nation. This code of social, moral and spiritual taboos, if obeyed, was meant to help bind a society together; if disobeyed or disregarded, a society will become unglued. These commandments are not only for our own good, but for the good of our society. (At this point I referred to the Sermon Supplement insert, the final paragraph; see attached for the full draft) Alistair Cooke wrote in his book, Alistair Cooke's America: "As for the rage to believe that we have found the secret of liberty in general permissiveness from the cradle on, this seems to me a disastrous sentimentality, which, whatever liberties it sets loose, loosens also the cement that alone can bind society into a stable compound -- a code of obeyed taboos. I can only recall the saying of a wise Frenchman that `liberty is the luxury of self-discipline.' Historically, those peoples that did not discipline themselves had discipline thrust on them from the outside. That is why the normal cycle in the life and death of great nations has been first a powerful tyranny broken by revolt, the enjoyment of liberty, the abuse of liberty -- and back to tyranny again. As I see it, in this country -- a land of the most persistent idealism and the blandest cynicism -- the race is on between its decadence and its vitality." The eighth commandment in particular is not only a necessary part of the Christian ethic; it is a necessary part of any agreement to live together. Without it, a cooperative society would be impossible.

The prohibition is against taking away that which rightfully belongs to others. Last week I mentioned to the fifth/sixth grade Sunday School class a tool I learned years ago which I've found helpful for better understanding the scope of the commandments. That little tool, that principle, is this: If something is being prohibited, the corollary duty is being commanded; if something is being commanded, the corollary is being prohibited. For example, if I give the prohibitive command to a class of students, "Don't go outside!", what corollary positive am I telling them TO do? I am telling them to stay inside. Apply this principle to the commandments: "Don't misuse God's name" is a prohibition. The implied corollary command is to do all we can to hallow God's name, to bring honor to His name, and so on. "Do not murder." Is a prohibition. The corollary duty: Thou shalt do all thy can to preserve and protect and cherish life. "Honor thy father and mother." Implied corollary: Don't do anything which would express or bring dishonor to thy father or mother. "Don't commit adultery." DO seek to preserve, promote, protect and cherish fidelity and loving faithfulness.

What would be the corollary of "You shall not steal"? You shall do all you can to protect, preserve, and cherish the property and rights of others. This commandment presupposes a divine right to private property and ownership, and that right must be respected. The Bible does not condemn private ownership, acquisition of possessions or the production of wealth. We often warn about the excesses of Materialism, and rightfully so; but the strive for more and better is not all bad! The strive to acquire, the desire to go for more and better is the fuel that fires ingenuity, hard work and creativity. Human beings are always seeking to advance their well-being and comfort by purposeful activity, and that is good. The acquisition of property is forbidden, though, when done by dishonest means, such as force or fraud. Stealing is a violation of the individual and of human society. Let's be clear, though: honest business and honorable acquisition of wealth is not theft. Honest business is marked by this characteristic: both parties benefit from the transaction. If I go to the shoemaker with a shoe that needs resoling, and he resoles the shoe, and I give him twenty dollars, who profits? We both do! We both have had a need met, we both profited, and there is nothing inherently wrong with this sort of honorable profit-making and production. Honest capitalism benefits society and the individual. Taking goods by force or by fraud, however, is theft. Swindling, extortion and so on is theft. A person can steal through dishonest business enterprises which may be technically legal; however, just because something may be legal does not necessarily mean it is right. Which brings us back to those darn "Publicans."

Though technically "legal," stealing and corruption was rampant among the publicans. Their job was to collect the taxes imposed by Herod the Great. You remember him; he normally "comes up" during Advent or Christmas. One main reason he was called Herod the Great is that he conducted an enormous building campaign during his five-decade reign. He also kept a relative measure of peace with the occupying Roman armies, because he kept up with paying substantial tribute to them. To do this he taxed the people very heavily, but he also "helped" the people in hard times by retaining some reserves of their goods and grain; not everything went to the Romans and his building projects. Herod had a governmental knack for forcibly stealing from the people and then making them grateful when he returned a morsel of their own food and goods. All the building, the tribute to Rome, and the great supply reserves of grain and goods cost the people a great deal. It's quite possible that everybody loved what he could do, but they hated the cost. It was robbing them of so much. You may remember that Herod was paranoid about hanging on to power: over the years he murdered his brother-in-law by drowning, he had his mother-in-law imprisoned and eventually executed, he had his first wife executed, he killed two of his own sons by strangulation as well as a few of his nephews...all because of perceived threats to his throne. Remember that he killed all the children in Bethlehem trying to find the Child who was born as the new King; many believe one of his illegitimate sons, Antipater, was among those slaughtered. His reign exacted an exceedingly costly and bloody toll on the people. The people hated him, yet they loved him...he stole so much from them, yet they hailed him as Herod the Great.

I would venture to say that in many of our lives, there is a Herod that has gained some power. Herod is the name of whatever it is that offers you something you crave at a price you cannot afford. We are seduced into calling it great, because it does so much for us. But it takes so much, it steals so much, in return. Perhaps our Herod makes us feel secure and helps us cope with how it "is" in our everyday lives. Again, Herod is the name of whatever it is that offers you something you crave at a price you cannot afford. You love what it does, but you hate what it costs. You hate what it steals from you and from those you love; still, as taxing as it is, you just keep right on paying. For some, "Herod" is the name of our workaholic drive to succeed in spite of it sucking away our lives and all of our most cherished relationships. For others, Herod is the name of the cynicism and the anger that have driven us for so long; in fact, it may have become our most trusted companion. For still others, it is the alcohol or the cheap thrills or the drugs or the people we use and abuse. "Herod" does so much for us, and "Herod" has been with us so long, we can't imagine life without "Herod." But you have to confront the issue - Don't you see what Herod is stealing from you and from those around you? Won''t you see what he is costing?

Herod doesn't have to be your king! Not any more. Look hard into your old broken hopes and realize that you are free in Jesus Christ. Remember the words of Jesus, read at the outset of this sermon: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Herod is a thief; Jesus wants to give you life full and free. There is a new King in our lives, a King that wants to set you free to be a human being again. Free to make changes in your life, free to make better use of your time, free to make positive and wholesome changes in your world. You may remember that after the wise men bowed before King Jesus, we are told that they went home a different way. They walked away from Herod. We must follow their lead. Once we have bowed our knee to the new King, we must not, we dare not, keep reporting back to Herod. He doesn't have to be our king anymore.

There's much more that could be said, but time won't allow. Obviously, the eighth commandment doesn't just address material theft from others. There are other things less tangible that can be stolen, things less tangible but no less real or valuable. In fact, this kind of theft can be the most serious theft of all, for material things can be replaced, but some of these intangibles are irreplaceable. Intangibles like irreplaceable energy that could have be used for wholesome and constructive and good pursuits; intangibles like precious, irretrievable time which could have been better spent with our families, our children, our loved ones; intangibles like our reputation, our honor and our public integrity....all of these intangibles and more can be readily sapped away by our Herods. As Paul admonished the church in Ephesus, "He who has been stealing must steal no longer..." and, I'm sure he would agree with this addendum "...from others as well as from himself." May the God who lovingly gave these commandments enable us to stop stealing ...from others, from ourselves, and from those we love. May we depose our individual Herods which have been sapping so much from us, and may we go on to better serve the true King who came that we might have life full and abundant.

(Bulletin insert as Sermon Supplement:)

"Liberty is the Luxury of Self-Discipline"

Sermon Supplement, February 27, 2000