NOVEMBER 2010
PASTOR’S COLUMN
Brothers and sisters,
As I began considering the intertwined and related Eighth and Tenth Commandments for this installment of our study, I thought back on my time as a security guard while I was in seminary. I saw a great many things that truly astounded me and came to the conclusion that we people are “interesting critters” who continually provide our own proofs of original sin.
To refresh our memories, the Eighth and Tenth Commandments, as recorded in Deuteronomy 5:19 & 21 are, “And you shall not steal. And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. ... or desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male or female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”
A case-study in the total violation of both the “letter and spirit” of these commands came for me in the form of one particular fellow security guard with a kleptomaniacal fixation with office supplies. He always arrived at work looking neat and trim in his uniform, working through his eight-hour shift. But invariably, when he “punched-out” at 7:00 A.M., he appeared seven to 10 pounds heavier around the middle than he did eight hours earlier. Short of starting his own Staples’ franchise, I don’t know what he planned to do with all that stuff. . . or how this guy with “bulges and rolls” in all the wrong places escaped detection for six months. By the time he was “laid off”, he must have “creatively acquired” five to six dozen boxes of ball-point pens and a case or two of 20-pound bond copier paper from supply stocks he was supposed to protect.
My time as a dockhand with a Pittsburgh-area tourist-boat company also provided “grist for my mental mill”. For most of my tenure there, enormous quantities of food were squandered — left to spoil. And, while this may not have been the obvious theft occurring in the first example, it was equally dishonest and repulsive. You see, meat (generally, prime rib or chicken) was weighed before it was loaded aboard the boats’ galleys for dinner cruises. It was then re-weighed when the boats were off-loaded. This meat was then left to sit and spoil overnight in open warming trays. Then it was “re-”re-weighed in the morning. If any of the meat was missing, some employee would be fired and grand theft charges filed against him or her.
Food was never given to employees, a food bank or soup kitchen. That is, it was never given away until someone in the Front-office discovered that donating food to one of the city’s food banks would net a big public relations benefit for company. This theft was the “theft of trust and of human responsibility”. The meat had never before been donated or used, but always left to rot.
I'm not saying that donating food is a bad thing — I thought it was great that Pittsburgh’s hungry would be fed. But the motivation for the donation was all fouled up: “We'll just let the food rot, unless, of course, we get some sort of tangible double-return on it!”
Both of these examples point out the real-life problems people get themselves into when they violate the related commandments against stealing and coveting. This is God’s message, warning and command to us from scripture and catechism. And it's all so simple, so basic. Yet, all-too-frequently we assume that so long as we haven’t “knocked over” a bank or gotten busted stuffing VCRs under our jackets and jumpers at Wal-Mart that we've somehow obeyed these commands.
But, if we look at these commandments, we see that while they forbid outright theft or robbery, they also forbid us from longing for the possessions, affections and goods belonging to other people.
Simple, straight-forward and easy to follow, right?!? One would think so, but then that's where we run into the answer to Heidelberg Catechism Question 110 and the prophet Micah's words of challenge and warning:
In short — Rampant Immorality! In practical contemporary terms: this would be like going to the grocery store and buying 5 lbs of potatoes for the price of 10 lbs. because the manager “fixed” the scales. Or, conversely, it’s like switching the price tag on a 10 lb. bag with one from a 5 lb. bag so you don’t pay full price. . . . Or, swiping company office supplies because the “big execs have too much money already;” . . . or, letting left-over food rot until “we figure out how to make double profit from it.”
Regardless how we try to square it, it still amounts to covetousness and theft. And when we succumb to the temptation to covet or desire things that we haven't earned or that don't belong to us, then, Micah warns us, God will give us over to our evil desires.
But when He does, God ensures that, even if we get what we ever coveted, we'll never be satisfied by it. The leaders and common people of Micah's time didn't listen to him then, and, even now, many, many people still fail to listen to these words of correction and warning. Today, we tend to be attuned to glitzy commercial advertising, to the lottery and sweepstakes and to a culture that truly believes that because we’re “modern and civilized and sophisticated” we’re somehow entitled to get “something for nothing”.
The underlying problem, however, is the same one Jesus addresses in His commentary on the Eighth and Tenth Commandments in Matthew 6:19-24 as He shows us that such desires actually rot away our souls and leave emptiness and corruption behind.
“If then the light in you is darkness -- how great the darkness”?!?! We come to expect “getting something for nothing” and find, instead, that Micah’s promise and Jesus’ words come true in real life. We get “nothing for something” as we exchange our health, wholeness, prosperity and God's providence for endless desires that are never satisfied and lead us to ever-greater emptiness and eventually Hell.
We will have falsely weighted our own scales and God will say to us, “Sorry, but that's the full measure.” In practical terms, God may forgive us for our covetousness and evil desire, but He will not excuse us from the consequences of our actions. That’s why so many compulsive gamblers and “quick-scheme operators” are miserable. They have mislaid the real prize and don't know where it is.
But, in a more positive fashion, Jesus also reminds us that if we are faithful and seek God's good gifts we will never be disappointed. We may never own the way cool Porsche, or win the lottery or have as may CDs or DVDs or clothes as we want, but we won't suffer by our own hands, either.
If we, who are too often inclined to give false measure — to play with the scales to even the score — are willing to do well for our children, how much more, then is our loving Father willing to give to us if we'll only rely upon Him?
I challenge all of us to consider how our personal scales measure up? Are we trusting our heavenly Father, or watching the scale's balance needle on our own? Let's all remove the excess weight, the desire that kills us and trust God to provide full measure of what we need rather than what we may want. So then, “How are our scales measuring up”?
Grace & Peace,
PASTOR RUSTY ✠
PASTOR’S COLUMN
Brothers and sisters,
As I began considering the intertwined and related Eighth and Tenth Commandments for this installment of our study, I thought back on my time as a security guard while I was in seminary. I saw a great many things that truly astounded me and came to the conclusion that we people are “interesting critters” who continually provide our own proofs of original sin.
To refresh our memories, the Eighth and Tenth Commandments, as recorded in Deuteronomy 5:19 & 21 are, “And you shall not steal. And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. ... or desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male or female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”
A case-study in the total violation of both the “letter and spirit” of these commands came for me in the form of one particular fellow security guard with a kleptomaniacal fixation with office supplies. He always arrived at work looking neat and trim in his uniform, working through his eight-hour shift. But invariably, when he “punched-out” at 7:00 A.M., he appeared seven to 10 pounds heavier around the middle than he did eight hours earlier. Short of starting his own Staples’ franchise, I don’t know what he planned to do with all that stuff. . . or how this guy with “bulges and rolls” in all the wrong places escaped detection for six months. By the time he was “laid off”, he must have “creatively acquired” five to six dozen boxes of ball-point pens and a case or two of 20-pound bond copier paper from supply stocks he was supposed to protect.
My time as a dockhand with a Pittsburgh-area tourist-boat company also provided “grist for my mental mill”. For most of my tenure there, enormous quantities of food were squandered — left to spoil. And, while this may not have been the obvious theft occurring in the first example, it was equally dishonest and repulsive. You see, meat (generally, prime rib or chicken) was weighed before it was loaded aboard the boats’ galleys for dinner cruises. It was then re-weighed when the boats were off-loaded. This meat was then left to sit and spoil overnight in open warming trays. Then it was “re-”re-weighed in the morning. If any of the meat was missing, some employee would be fired and grand theft charges filed against him or her.
Food was never given to employees, a food bank or soup kitchen. That is, it was never given away until someone in the Front-office discovered that donating food to one of the city’s food banks would net a big public relations benefit for company. This theft was the “theft of trust and of human responsibility”. The meat had never before been donated or used, but always left to rot.
I'm not saying that donating food is a bad thing — I thought it was great that Pittsburgh’s hungry would be fed. But the motivation for the donation was all fouled up: “We'll just let the food rot, unless, of course, we get some sort of tangible double-return on it!”
Both of these examples point out the real-life problems people get themselves into when they violate the related commandments against stealing and coveting. This is God’s message, warning and command to us from scripture and catechism. And it's all so simple, so basic. Yet, all-too-frequently we assume that so long as we haven’t “knocked over” a bank or gotten busted stuffing VCRs under our jackets and jumpers at Wal-Mart that we've somehow obeyed these commands.
But, if we look at these commandments, we see that while they forbid outright theft or robbery, they also forbid us from longing for the possessions, affections and goods belonging to other people.
Simple, straight-forward and easy to follow, right?!? One would think so, but then that's where we run into the answer to Heidelberg Catechism Question 110 and the prophet Micah's words of challenge and warning:
- Q] What does God forbid in the eighth commandment?
- A] He forbids not only outright theft and robbery that are punishable under law, but also cheating neighbors with schemes that are too good to be true, or through false weights and measures, false merchandising or advertising, counterfeiting, charging of excess interest (Note: call my credit card company, I've been ripped off! ) or through greed or the squandering of God's good gifts.
- MICAH 6:8-16
- 8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
- 9 The voice of the Lord cries to the city ...: “Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city! 10 Can I forget the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, the scant measure that is accursed? 11 Can I tolerate wicked scales and ... dishonest weights? 12 Your wealthy are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, with tongues of deceit in their mouths.
- 13 “Therefore I have begun to strike you down, making you desolate because of your sins. 14 You shall eat, but not be satisfied, ... you shall put away, but not save, .... 15 You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine. 16 For you ... kept Omri’s statutes and the works of the house of Ahab, .... Therefore I will make you a desolation, ... so you shall bear the scorn of my people.”
In short — Rampant Immorality! In practical contemporary terms: this would be like going to the grocery store and buying 5 lbs of potatoes for the price of 10 lbs. because the manager “fixed” the scales. Or, conversely, it’s like switching the price tag on a 10 lb. bag with one from a 5 lb. bag so you don’t pay full price. . . . Or, swiping company office supplies because the “big execs have too much money already;” . . . or, letting left-over food rot until “we figure out how to make double profit from it.”
Regardless how we try to square it, it still amounts to covetousness and theft. And when we succumb to the temptation to covet or desire things that we haven't earned or that don't belong to us, then, Micah warns us, God will give us over to our evil desires.
But when He does, God ensures that, even if we get what we ever coveted, we'll never be satisfied by it. The leaders and common people of Micah's time didn't listen to him then, and, even now, many, many people still fail to listen to these words of correction and warning. Today, we tend to be attuned to glitzy commercial advertising, to the lottery and sweepstakes and to a culture that truly believes that because we’re “modern and civilized and sophisticated” we’re somehow entitled to get “something for nothing”.
The underlying problem, however, is the same one Jesus addresses in His commentary on the Eighth and Tenth Commandments in Matthew 6:19-24 as He shows us that such desires actually rot away our souls and leave emptiness and corruption behind.
- 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
- 24 “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
“If then the light in you is darkness -- how great the darkness”?!?! We come to expect “getting something for nothing” and find, instead, that Micah’s promise and Jesus’ words come true in real life. We get “nothing for something” as we exchange our health, wholeness, prosperity and God's providence for endless desires that are never satisfied and lead us to ever-greater emptiness and eventually Hell.
We will have falsely weighted our own scales and God will say to us, “Sorry, but that's the full measure.” In practical terms, God may forgive us for our covetousness and evil desire, but He will not excuse us from the consequences of our actions. That’s why so many compulsive gamblers and “quick-scheme operators” are miserable. They have mislaid the real prize and don't know where it is.
But, in a more positive fashion, Jesus also reminds us that if we are faithful and seek God's good gifts we will never be disappointed. We may never own the way cool Porsche, or win the lottery or have as may CDs or DVDs or clothes as we want, but we won't suffer by our own hands, either.
If we, who are too often inclined to give false measure — to play with the scales to even the score — are willing to do well for our children, how much more, then is our loving Father willing to give to us if we'll only rely upon Him?
I challenge all of us to consider how our personal scales measure up? Are we trusting our heavenly Father, or watching the scale's balance needle on our own? Let's all remove the excess weight, the desire that kills us and trust God to provide full measure of what we need rather than what we may want. So then, “How are our scales measuring up”?
Grace & Peace,
PASTOR RUSTY ✠
