How many of you have ever had something stolen from you? How many of you have ever stolen from someone else? Hmm – I wonder!

Let’s read Commandment 7 and Luther’s explanation from the back of the bulletin. You shall not steal. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

In the Large Catechism Luther says: to steal is nothing else than to acquire someone else’s property by unjust means. These few words include taking advantage of our neighbors in any sort of dealings that result in loss to them. He goes on to give examples such as a servant or worker who does damage or permits damage to happen, who wastes or neglects. He lists artisans, workmen and day laborers who overcharge while at the same time doing careless or unreliable work. He speaks of those in business who sell defective merchandise, use false measures, dishonest weights, bad coins ( I suppose for us that would be counterfeit money or bounced checks). Luther includes people who use underhanded tricks, sharp practices, crafty dealing. He adds what he calls "gentlemen swindlers, big operators" who with a great show of legality are actually robbing and stealing.

Pastor Arthur Graf’s sermon on this commandment begins by remembering that all things in this world really belong to God, because He made it all. He writes: Even though we might have towels marked "his" and "hers" we do know or should know that every towel, every bathroom, every car, every acre of land, every hog or steer, every board in the house, and every dollar which ever comes into our possession is still God’s." {Graf, No Other Name, p.136} With this in mind, I sub-titled this sermon "Holy Possessions." All the stuff, every single thing in this world is holy in this sense – it belongs to God. We need to recognize this truth, and respect the way He has chosen to distribute His possessions, into our hands and the hands of others.

The 7^th Commandment serves as a CURB. God gave it to us, as Luther says: in order that they may be restrained in their wantonness and that the wrath of God always be kept before their eyes and impressed upon them. I think it is easy for us to remember that stealing is wrong when someone else steals from us. We know that commandment is there to limit the damage in our world that would take place if no one had a conscience that forbade stealing. We know it is bad now, but imagine the cut-throat world if every single person were constantly trying to steal everything they needed all day long. The commandment, battered and bruised, still exists in most hearts, if only in a selfish protection mode. This is the commandment as a CURB.

Secondly, the 7^th Commandment is a MIRROR for our sin. Pastor Graf reminds us that the breaking of this commandment is one of the reasons we have to insure and lock up our possessions, our homes and vehicles. He says: No excuses will ever give us the right to take the property of another whether that be a pencil at school, a ball on the playground, or cash that belongs to another. {Graf, p.137} He goes on to list a variety of activities that break this commandment. Many of these come under the phrase get them by false ware or dealing, or the new translation: get them in any dishonest way. Do you see any of these following possibilities in your mirror?

-Misrepresentation of products – stretching the truth or hiding the truth when we sell something – car, land, animal, whatever. The old saying: "Let the buyer beware" is smart business sense in a sinful world, but God does not excuse a seller of any amount of dishonesty.

-On the other side, paying what might be called "sweatshop wages" – that is to pay less than the value of the work and to use the low wage to keep people under your control, that is stealing. Jeremiah 22:13 says: Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor. Many of the other prophets of the Old Testament echo the problems of people taking advantage of the poor, and God’s wrath against those who oppress the helpless.

-Destruction of other people’s property. Obviously, this is a form of stealing from someone, even though the thief ends up with no financial gain.

-Borrowing and not paying back. Psalm 37:21 says: The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously. Not repaying what you have borrowed – is stealing.

Pastor Graf writes of one other kind of stealing – stealing from God. He quotes God’s accusation in Malachi 3:8-9, Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, "In what have we robbed You?" In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Pastor Graf continues: What would the prophet say today when the people of our country do not give even one percent of their income for church purposes, spend 4 times as much as they give on cigarettes, six times as much on liquor, 99 percent of their income on themselves? … What percentage of your income do you bring to your Lord for the extension of His kingdom? Is it firstfruits, in proportion to His blessings or are you just bringing Him leftovers? {Graf p.139-140} Forgetting the Maker and Giver of all things, or returning to Him only what amounts to table scraps of the bounty He gives us – this too is stealing.

In our court system there are different names for different levels of stealing: misdemeanor, petty larceny, grand larceny – based on the dollar amount of the items stolen or damaged. In Scripture – there is the principle of just restitution – a thief must pay back to the victim based on the value of what was stolen. Generally, the value was to be repaid FOUR times! But in God’s eyes the sin involved is the same, whether one sin or many, whether tiny thefts or huge. The soul that sins, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4) No dollar amounts vary this verdict! Stealing is deadly, whether it is big or little, whether it is obvious or hidden from public view.

Paul echoes this in Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but immediately he continues with these Gospel words: But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Pastor Graf says: When Christ died on Calvary He died for all sins, also for your sins of cheating, misrepresentation, laziness, and failure to give God the firstfruits of all your income to help and save others. Jesus died for all our sins. Our verdict is "Acquitted, by reason of His sacrifice as our Substitute." In His death, our guilt is removed. In His resurrection, new life is given back to us. Now, as His people, we have the Holy Spirit giving us the desire and the ability to live in thanks for that gift of forgiveness and new life. In this new life the 7^th Commandment serves as a GUIDE for our thanks and obedience to God.

Luther says: Anyone who seeks and desires good works will find here more than enough things to do that are heartily acceptable and pleasing to God. In the Small Catechism he uses the words help him to improve and protect his possessions and income. That is the love of Christ at work in us, causing us to look beyond protecting our own stuff, and to see how we can help someone else with their managing of God’s holy possessions.

Pastor Graf says: God blesses us that we might be a blessing to others. {Graf, p.140} St. Paul 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. (Ephesians 4:28)

Jesus says in John 15:5, I am the Vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. Jesus is the power for us to do good in the keeping of the 7^th Commandment.

Let’s read the Commandment and meaning once more: You shall not steal. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

Probably we all have had something stolen from us, whether it be prized possessions, or a child being robbed of precious time and attention by a selfish, self-absorbed parent. Today God’s Word reminds us that we are all guilty of stealing, especially since every sin breaks the 1^st Commandment, stealing from God His rightful honor and respect.

May we cling to the forgiveness and new life Christ has poured out on us through His Word and Sacraments. May the new life of Christ in us help us to recognize all things as Holy Possessions, all belonging to God the Maker. May this new life help us to see ourselves and others as managers of God’s Holy Possessions, taking nothing in any dishonest way, but seeking to use all things in the best way we can to do the Father’s Will. May we follow the call of the Old Testament prophets – to Do Justice, Show Mercy, and Walk Humbly before your God. May we use the bounty God has placed into our hands to bring the love of Jesus to fill people’s needs, both in body and in Soul! Amen.