The Park Road Pulpit

  Sermons from Park Road Baptist Church 

      Russ and Amy Jacks Dean, Pastors

The Have’s and The Have-Not’s

Exodus 20:15 and Luke 12:41-48

Amy Jacks Dean, July 28, 2002

            Another set of Disclaimers: First, it is painfully obvious that one should not take anything that does not belong to him or her. One should not cheat, lie, scheme, or conspire to steal anything from anyone. What more could possibly be said about this? To be honest, last week’s adultery was almost an easier subject. We are all unfaithful in some way or another within our committed relationships. But stealing? Am I too naïve to think that, for the most part, in this room, we do not steal? I mean out and out steal. Shoplifting, robbery, burglary are probably not high on our to do lists. At least I would hope not. As a part of this first disclaimer, let me for the record say that stealing is bad, not good, and we should not participate in such things.

            For my second disclaimer, let me remind us all that the Ten Commandments should, if followed, step on all of our toes. The Ten Commandments, when properly read and studied, should meddle in our lives. We should squirm a little as we delve into each commandment - and today’s eighth commandment should be no different. We should realize that in some form, no matter how minor, we have all been guilty of stealing.

            My final disclaimer is that what I have to say today, I acknowledge as ideal. And I wonder what else is the church supposed to preach but the ideal? So don’t call this naïve. Don’t call this wishful thinking. Don’t call this too hopeful or too unrealistic or too simple. The truth that we will talk about today is not the economics we learned in school, but it is the economics of Jesus.

            As I have racked my brain over the last week to think of something that I have stolen, I can only come up with one occurrence. I must have been about 7 years old. I was shopping in the grocery store with my mother. We were in the produce section and there were the green grapes. My mom never bought grapes. And when she was not looking, I took one and ate it. I felt so guilty - guilty enough that that is the only recollection that I have, some thirty years later, of my life of crime.

            I fancy myself a “rule follower.” Trying to do the right thing, lead an honest life, following the rules. And one of the main rules of any civilized society is to respect the property of others - individuals as well as businesses. Do not take what is not rightfully yours. And yet some folks steal without ever having a get-away car, without ever putting a pair of panty-hose on their head, no ski mask and black gloves, and no gun-point hold-up. We steal in more subtle, more sophisticated ways.

            We cheat on our income taxes. We pass along a piece of software after we download it onto our computer. We say that our child is 5 when she is actually 6 in order to get her in for free or at a reduced fee. We get a refill when the sign clearly posted on the drink machine reads “No Refills.” We take post-it notes and tape and staples from the office for personal use. We make unauthorized copies on the office copy machine. And we copy copyrighted material without permission of the author or publisher. Whenever we get something for nothing, and that was never the intent of the owner, we have stolen property. The way I see it if the cashier gives you back too much change at the grocery store and you do not correct her and return the extra money – that isn’t your lucky day - that is stealing. The only time that is not stealing is when you realize that you received too much change AFTER, and only after, you have strapped both children into their carseats! Then, and only then, is it NOT stealing. It is then perfectly permissible and understandable to leave well enough alone, keep the extra change, and drive away! Whenever we estimate deductions very liberally, whenever we manipulate long distance telephone calling to send a message without having to pay, whenever we do not pay an honest wage - we are stealing.

            “Personal property was a valued commodity in Israel-of-old as it is today, perhaps even more so then in light of the general scarcity of wealth in the ancient world.” (Interpretation, “Exodus,” James D. Newsome, page 91) The people of Israel understood property to be an “extension of the self of its owner, so that theft of property was a violation of person, not just a person’s wealth.” (Interpretation, “Exodus,” Terence E. Fretheim, page 235) And anyone who has been robbed can attest to that. When your house has been broken into, the thought of someone of ill-will rummaging through your things makes you feel violated - not just because your things are missing, but you the person, now knows that uneasy feeling of being robbed of privacy and safety.

            When I have preached this summer in this series on the Ten Commandments, I have been especially indebted to John Shelby Spong, and his book The Living Commandments, for a deeper and richer understanding of these 10 seemingly simple commands. Once again, Spong has proven helpful in my own understanding, and I hope that will be reflected in these thoughts today. Spong says that on it’s simplest level, this eighth commandments means, “You shall not take what is not your own.” But on a deeper and more profound level, he says that “this Commandment raises searching questions about how define, in mass society, what constitutes that which is our own, raising the whole area of tension and conflict between that which is in the private domain and that which is in the public domain. It forces us to examine the meaning of private property and the issues of our stewardship over the physical resources and the means of production in our world. It brings into focus the whole question of an equitable tax structure in a just society. All of these issues [says Spong] are the legitimate domain of one who would search out the depth of meaning behind the Commandment `You shall not steal.’”

            For example, he recalls living in NC in the late 50’s: “I could employ full-time domestic help for eighteen dollars a week. I was insensitive to what I did. For me, that was the going wage in the economic law of supply and demand, but in fact, that was part of the exploitation of the weak by the strong. It was robbery. It was stealing just as surely as it would have been if I had held up the local bank. I regard the minimum wage law as a protection against robbing a human life of its value, time, and dignity.”

            I have always thought of this commandment in terms of the question “Do you know right from wrong?” Sure I do and stealing is wrong therefore it should avoided. I should not steal, and I should not hang out with people that steal. The greater insight I have learned this week has to do with the Have’s and the Have-Not’s. It has to do with private and public property and my ethical responsibility as a part of the Have’s. When there is enough for all people - food, resources, money - and yet so many people have more than they need (or even want!) while others have nothing - is this stealing? I realize that in our economic structure, no, this is not stealing. But I’m not talking about our economic structure. I’m talking about the economics of Jesus. Spong reminded me this week that “the Gospel does not distinguish between the haves and the have-nots nearly so much as between the have-too-muches and the have-not-enoughs.” Sometimes wealth does corrupt and sometimes wealth is used in wonderful and transforming ways. I want this congregation to use its wealth in wonderful and transforming ways.

The real question is how do we use what we have? And if we have an unwillingness to see a bigger picture than just taking care of me and mine, just protecting me and mine, when we live in this larger community called the world, then we fall painfully short of the expectations in following in the way of Jesus. We are mostly today in the company of the Have’s and, by the law of the land, we have little to no responsibilities for the Have-Not’s. But we don’t just live by the law of the land, we live by the law of God. And that law is the law of love, grace, compassion, and generosity, and when our Having gets in the way of our Helping, we might as well have robbed a bank. Because for us, as a part of this community of faith, if we don’t give of what we have and who we are to those who don’t have anything and don’t know who they are as a Beloved Child of God, then we have stolen from them. It is in taking care of all of God’s children, in this community and in the places we can reach in this whole wide world, we will bring equality and balance and sacredness to life. I told you in the disclaimer this would be ideal. What else can the church preach but the ideal?

John Holbert says that “theft is something as old as the existence of the word `mine.’ The minute one person determined and proclaimed that she had something of her own, another person sought to take it from her.” Our own insatiable desire to Have is one of the main motivators of our society. Our economy thrives when the Have’s spend their money. It keeps people employed and it keeps our worlds spinning. And some of the people who are the Have-Not’s resort to stealing in order to keep up with the Have’s. Holbert goes on to say that the eight commandment “is only necessary in a society where a few have a lot and many have only a little.” And I found it interesting that every commentator on this text makes this point: This commandment does far more than protect property. It warns against taking advantage of a brother or sister in need. It stands against all exploitation of the weak and is a guide for all social and economic action and restraint.” (Holbert’s quotes and thoughts are taken from his book The Ten Commandments, Chapter 8)

As I studied these 4 simple words this week, “You shall not steal,” and plunged deeper into their meaning, one phrase kept rolling over and over in my mind, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required.” (Luke 12:48) This is known as the “principle of proportional responsibility.” (phrase borrowed from Alan Culpepper in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol IX, page 265) And when we as followers of Way of Jesus do not take seriously this principle, we fall short of the expectations associated with living the life of faith.

In the coming months, you will be hearing about a Master Plan. This plan has been formulating for the past couple of years and in the coming weeks you will be hearing much more about this plan. You will be giving much input to this plan. This plan will help to take us into the next stage of this church’s life. It is my strong feeling that a significant portion of this plan must be dedicated to the issues that face our community and our world as live in the midst of the Have’s and the Have-Not’s – it is the issue of poverty and all of the issues that surround sub-standard living. We, as a congregation, must put into practice this principle of proportional responsibility. If we Have and do not give, when there are people who Have-Not, is it too bold to say that we steal? I think not.

One commentary put it wisely: “Within the larger context, the positive side of this commandment is stressed in that each person is responsible for the preservation and well-being of the property of the neighbor, even if that neighbor is an enemy . . . The attachment to things, the extravagance in life-styles, and the mountains of waste generated, all in the face of incredibly widespread hunger and want, raise the question of theft to new levels.” (Interpretation, “Exodus,” Terence E. Fretheim, page 236)

We shall not steal – in any way, in any form, from any of God’s other children.