1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:06,480 Well, please open your bibles to Exodus 20 and verse 15 where we come this morning to the 8th 2 00:00:06,480 –> 00:00:11,200 commandment, you shall not steal. 3 00:00:11,200 –> 00:00:15,600 Now if I was to draw a picture of what comes to my mind first with this commandment, and 4 00:00:15,600 –> 00:00:19,040 some of the children might like to draw this picture this morning, here’s what it would 5 00:00:19,040 –> 00:00:20,040 look like. 6 00:00:20,040 –> 00:00:27,500 It would be a man climbing out of a window with a hooped shirt and a mask over his eyes 7 00:00:28,000 –> 00:00:32,320 and a big sack over his back with the word SWAG written on it. 8 00:00:32,320 –> 00:00:34,380 You shall not steal. 9 00:00:34,380 –> 00:00:40,139 And I can honestly tell you this morning that I have never in my entire life burgled a house. 10 00:00:40,139 –> 00:00:45,439 And so my first instinct is to think that I have kept the 8th commandment. 11 00:00:45,439 –> 00:00:48,619 I keep hoping that we’re going to get to one of these Commandments that will give us an 12 00:00:48,619 –> 00:00:51,700 easy ride, at least for one week. 13 00:00:51,700 –> 00:00:56,279 But it doesn’t seem to be happening, we’re discovering that the Ten Commandments do represent 14 00:00:56,360 –> 00:00:59,459 the ten greatest struggles of our lives. 15 00:00:59,459 –> 00:01:04,980 And we’re going to see this morning that this one speaks to our struggle for integrity, 16 00:01:04,980 –> 00:01:13,739 it touches our attitude to money, possessions, work, it speaks to our struggles with greed 17 00:01:13,739 –> 00:01:21,199 and our struggles with laziness, as well as our natural reluctance to give. 18 00:01:21,199 –> 00:01:25,760 So I want to begin by suggesting a definition of stealing that I think will be helpful for 19 00:01:25,760 –> 00:01:31,760 us to take in the challenge of the 8th Commanderment and it’s simply this that, stealing is trying 20 00:01:31,760 –> 00:01:37,360 to get as much as possible while giving as little as possible. 21 00:01:37,360 –> 00:01:43,580 Stealing is simply trying to get as much as possible while giving as little as possible. 22 00:01:43,580 –> 00:01:49,739 Remember that each commandment as we’re discovering these speaks not just to one sin, but to a 23 00:01:49,739 –> 00:01:51,220 whole category of sins. 24 00:01:51,220 –> 00:01:55,559 We know this from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus explains the inner meaning of 25 00:01:55,559 –> 00:01:57,379 several of the commandments. 26 00:01:57,379 –> 00:02:01,459 We know this from the Old Testament itself because if you read the rest of the laws in 27 00:02:01,459 –> 00:02:06,260 Exodus and in Leviticus and Deuteronomy you will find there that they are basically an 28 00:02:06,260 –> 00:02:12,580 exposition of the Ten Commandments, filling out or colouring in as it were the full meaning 29 00:02:12,580 –> 00:02:15,479 of these very short summary statements. 30 00:02:15,479 –> 00:02:21,199 I found it helpful to think about the commandments each one being like a railway track. 31 00:02:21,199 –> 00:02:28,119 And there are many stations down the line and if you go to the station at the end of 32 00:02:28,119 –> 00:02:32,320 the line of the Eighth Commandment you’ve got the burglar climbing out of the house. 33 00:02:32,320 –> 00:02:38,619 Now we may never have been to that particular station at the end of the line but we have 34 00:02:38,619 –> 00:02:44,000 all travelled on this particular line that is addressed by the Eighth Commandment. 35 00:02:44,000 –> 00:02:49,880 We’ve all been in that position of trying to get as much as possible by giving as little 36 00:02:49,880 –> 00:02:52,460 as possible. 37 00:02:52,460 –> 00:02:57,160 It’s the line of taking advantage of other people, of using other people. 38 00:02:57,160 –> 00:03:05,539 It’s the line of being a taker without being a giver. 39 00:03:05,539 –> 00:03:09,619 And as we look at that definition it will quickly become obvious to all of us I think 40 00:03:09,619 –> 00:03:14,740 that there’s a lot of stealing that goes on in marriage, if you look at that definition. 41 00:03:14,740 –> 00:03:17,460 There’s a lot of stealing that goes on in church. 42 00:03:17,460 –> 00:03:21,779 There’s a lot of stealing that goes on in our community. 43 00:03:21,779 –> 00:03:29,479 Every attempt to have much and give little is a breaking of the Eighth Commandment. 44 00:03:29,479 –> 00:03:33,139 And so this commandment speaks to two fundamental struggles within our lives. 45 00:03:33,139 –> 00:03:37,559 First the great propensity that we have towards greed and secondly the struggle that we often 46 00:03:37,559 –> 00:03:39,059 have with laziness. 47 00:03:39,059 –> 00:03:42,139 Now I want to simply to ask two questions today. 48 00:03:42,139 –> 00:03:45,380 The first is what does breaking this commandment look like? 49 00:03:45,740 –> 00:03:48,500 And the second is what does keeping this commandment look like? 50 00:03:48,500 –> 00:03:50,399 I can’t get much simpler than that. 51 00:03:50,399 –> 00:03:55,940 And then in the end we’re going to look briefly at a model or example of breaking and keeping 52 00:03:55,940 –> 00:03:57,179 the commandment. 53 00:03:57,179 –> 00:04:00,619 First then, what does breaking the commandment look like? 54 00:04:00,619 –> 00:04:08,059 Let me give five practical areas in which we may too easily fall into breaking the Eighth 55 00:04:08,059 –> 00:04:09,820 Commandment. 56 00:04:09,820 –> 00:04:12,199 The first is in the whole area of work. 57 00:04:12,199 –> 00:04:17,440 I’m going to say something that’s addressed, both to employees and to employers, and I 58 00:04:17,440 –> 00:04:21,980 know that this is one of these issues where it’s much, much easier to hear the other side. 59 00:04:21,980 –> 00:04:26,100 It’s like when you talk on marriage, and you get to the bit on wives, and the husband 60 00:04:26,100 –> 00:04:27,559 gives her a dig in the ribs. 61 00:04:27,559 –> 00:04:29,140 This is for you. 62 00:04:29,140 –> 00:04:31,859 And then you get to the bit on husbands and it goes the other way. 63 00:04:31,859 –> 00:04:33,559 This happens in church. 64 00:04:33,559 –> 00:04:36,880 So we don’t hear what God has for us. 65 00:04:36,880 –> 00:04:39,760 Let me ask you the question, are you employed? 66 00:04:39,760 –> 00:04:45,059 This bit is for you and for me. 67 00:04:45,059 –> 00:04:47,160 Working. 68 00:04:47,160 –> 00:04:52,899 If stealing involves trying to get as much as possible while giving as little as possible, 69 00:04:52,899 –> 00:04:59,019 then we have to conclude that there is a lot of stealing that goes on at work. 70 00:04:59,019 –> 00:05:07,019 If you have a job, as I have a job, your calling is to give value to your employer. 71 00:05:07,019 –> 00:05:13,579 You earn your living from a person or from a company that values what you do and pays 72 00:05:13,579 –> 00:05:16,540 you to do it. 73 00:05:16,540 –> 00:05:19,679 That involves a relationship of trust. 74 00:05:19,679 –> 00:05:26,320 That you will give this value to the organization or the person who hires you. 75 00:05:26,320 –> 00:05:33,980 And so the question I have to ask as one who is employed is, how can I give such value 76 00:05:34,000 –> 00:05:39,540 to the one or ones who employ me, that he or she, or they will think that they are receiving 77 00:05:39,540 –> 00:05:43,480 great value? 78 00:05:43,480 –> 00:05:47,459 Now, here are just some very obvious ways in which we can steal from an employer. 79 00:05:47,459 –> 00:05:51,739 Arriving late, that’s stealing if you’re employed. 80 00:05:51,739 –> 00:05:56,239 Leaving early, stretching lunch or break times. 81 00:05:56,239 –> 00:06:01,640 Expanding the work to be done, to fill the space available. 82 00:06:01,640 –> 00:06:03,100 Ever done that? 83 00:06:03,160 –> 00:06:04,160 That’s stealing. 84 00:06:04,160 –> 00:06:06,519 It’s not giving full value. 85 00:06:08,420 –> 00:06:14,059 Doing what you like in your work and consistently avoiding tasks assigned that you don’t like, 86 00:06:14,059 –> 00:06:16,859 that’s stealing. 87 00:06:16,859 –> 00:06:20,720 Using work time to do your own thing, that’s stealing. 88 00:06:20,720 –> 00:06:27,559 By the way, be very careful about evangelism on work time. 89 00:06:27,600 –> 00:06:29,640 Your employer didn’t pay you to evangelize. 90 00:06:29,640 –> 00:06:34,500 Well, actually mine did, but I’m serious. 91 00:06:34,500 –> 00:06:39,000 If your employer paid you to evangelize, go ahead and do it on work time. 92 00:06:39,000 –> 00:06:43,059 If you can speak in conversation while you’re giving full value in your work, that’s just 93 00:06:43,059 –> 00:06:44,839 fine. 94 00:06:44,839 –> 00:06:49,040 But sloping off your work in order to do what you call evangelism is not actually honoring 95 00:06:49,040 –> 00:06:55,040 to God if what you’re doing is taking work time for which you are paid and subverting 96 00:06:55,119 –> 00:06:56,640 it to another cause. 97 00:06:56,640 –> 00:07:03,640 I’ll never forget one summer when I was a student, I had a job as a night shift cleaner. 98 00:07:04,679 –> 00:07:11,059 I worked with a team cleaning the David Hume Tower in Edinburgh, about a 20-story building 99 00:07:11,059 –> 00:07:13,279 that’s used by the university there. 100 00:07:13,279 –> 00:07:15,600 It was a fascinating experience. 101 00:07:15,600 –> 00:07:21,320 The city has a whole other life that goes on through the night, and I worked with a 102 00:07:21,339 –> 00:07:26,119 team of men who could hardly ask you for milk and sugar in their tea without using the foulest 103 00:07:26,119 –> 00:07:27,839 imaginable language. 104 00:07:27,839 –> 00:07:33,040 Well, we had three breaks in the tea room as they called it each night, and over the 105 00:07:33,040 –> 00:07:36,420 weeks, I had some opportunities when we’re sitting in the tea room, in these breaks, 106 00:07:36,420 –> 00:07:37,959 to talk about the gospel. 107 00:07:37,959 –> 00:07:43,079 They knew that I was a theological student, and you can maybe imagine that this gave plenty 108 00:07:43,079 –> 00:07:48,279 of scope for what I could only describe as over-ripe jokes. 109 00:07:48,459 –> 00:07:52,920 Well, after tea, we would spread out over the building. 110 00:07:52,920 –> 00:07:55,000 And each of us would work on a different floor. 111 00:07:55,000 –> 00:07:59,480 We would normally take two floors’ responsibility in each of the sessions, and so work the length 112 00:07:59,480 –> 00:08:04,000 of the building in a fairly systematic fashion. 113 00:08:04,000 –> 00:08:10,540 And I, in one of these sessions, got my couple of floors done in particularly good time, 114 00:08:10,540 –> 00:08:17,859 and so decided that I’d use the time until the next tea break to read a few pages I 115 00:08:18,200 –> 00:08:23,839 carried, as I often do, a little book in my pocket and thought I’d read. 116 00:08:23,839 –> 00:08:28,859 So I found myself a nice little perch in one of the windows with feet up on the laboratory 117 00:08:28,859 –> 00:08:37,700 table that we’d just cleaned for that laboratory and not a soul within two floors, and stuck 118 00:08:37,700 –> 00:08:40,119 deep in the book the supervisor walked in. 119 00:08:40,119 –> 00:08:44,539 I mean, he never, never did that. 120 00:08:44,760 –> 00:08:48,400 But he did that night, and I’ll never forget it. 121 00:08:48,400 –> 00:08:52,979 All he said was, is that a good book? 122 00:08:54,760 –> 00:09:02,239 I muttered something about getting finished the job early, but it was no use. 123 00:09:02,239 –> 00:09:05,739 My credibility was shot to bits. 124 00:09:05,739 –> 00:09:10,179 I’d finished my work, truly, but there was more than I could have done. 125 00:09:10,179 –> 00:09:12,460 I could have offered to help someone else on another floor. 126 00:09:12,460 –> 00:09:15,479 I could have come back to the tea room and undertaken another task. 127 00:09:15,479 –> 00:09:20,359 I wasn’t paid by that company to read the book. 128 00:09:20,359 –> 00:09:23,239 I was stealing. 129 00:09:23,239 –> 00:09:27,039 See, having a job involves a relationship of trust. 130 00:09:27,039 –> 00:09:34,479 And the trust is that you give full value in what you were hired to do. 131 00:09:34,479 –> 00:09:37,440 Here’s a second area, the whole area of paying. 132 00:09:37,440 –> 00:09:39,979 Now many of us, of course, are on the other side of this. 133 00:09:39,979 –> 00:09:41,859 We are employers. 134 00:09:41,859 –> 00:09:47,520 We run small businesses or we are in positions of considerable responsibility in larger companies. 135 00:09:47,520 –> 00:09:49,520 We have responsibilities to a company. 136 00:09:49,520 –> 00:09:52,599 We also have responsibilities to the people that we employ. 137 00:09:52,599 –> 00:09:57,299 And there is as much stealing that goes on amongst employers as there is stealing that 138 00:09:57,299 –> 00:09:58,960 goes on among employees. 139 00:09:58,960 –> 00:10:05,080 So if you employ someone or have responsibility in this area, this now is for you. 140 00:10:05,080 –> 00:10:08,520 When we read the Eighth Commandment, we tend to think that it’s all about poor people stealing 141 00:10:08,559 –> 00:10:12,919 from the rich, but actually, it’s equally about rich people stealing from the poor. 142 00:10:12,919 –> 00:10:16,380 And if you read the Old Testament, you may find that there is a compelling argument to 143 00:10:16,380 –> 00:10:24,000 say that the Old Testament prophets primarily applied this commandment to the obscenity 144 00:10:24,000 –> 00:10:30,659 of those who have much, showing meanness toward those who have little. 145 00:10:30,659 –> 00:10:33,799 The Apostle James speaks about it in the New Testament. 146 00:10:33,799 –> 00:10:38,260 And you may find, as he says, in James 5, four that you failed to pay. 147 00:10:38,260 –> 00:10:42,880 The wages you failed to pay your workmen, who mowed your fields are crying out against 148 00:10:42,880 –> 00:10:46,919 you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord. 149 00:10:46,919 –> 00:10:51,919 Here are these harvesters, they’ve worked hard, day after day, it’s been back-breaking 150 00:10:51,919 –> 00:10:52,919 work. 151 00:10:52,919 –> 00:10:53,919 They’ve given full value. 152 00:10:53,919 –> 00:10:58,559 They’ve brought in the harvest and the value of the harvest is fantastic. 153 00:10:58,559 –> 00:11:03,619 And the landowner is living in the luxury and the blessing of what has come to him, 154 00:11:03,619 –> 00:11:08,659 but he has not shared this benefit with those who brought it to him. 155 00:11:08,659 –> 00:11:10,919 He has kept it to himself. 156 00:11:10,919 –> 00:11:15,780 And he has sent them home with scarcely enough to sustain their families. 157 00:11:15,780 –> 00:11:21,000 And God says, that cries out to me. 158 00:11:21,000 –> 00:11:25,780 He would not have what he enjoyed apart from these harvesters, but instead of asking the 159 00:11:25,780 –> 00:11:33,260 question what is their value to me, he just asked the question what can I get away with 160 00:11:33,320 –> 00:11:36,140 paying them. 161 00:11:36,140 –> 00:11:42,500 So you see, as we go back to our definition employers also face the temptation of trying 162 00:11:42,500 –> 00:11:52,659 to get as much as possible by giving as little as possible and that is stealing. 163 00:11:52,659 –> 00:11:59,320 God will hold Christian employers responsible for our stewardship in paying appropriate 164 00:11:59,320 –> 00:12:07,000 salaries to those who generate the wealth and the blessing that we enjoy. 165 00:12:07,000 –> 00:12:10,859 Then while we’re thinking of paying there’s the whole issue of late payment, bills that 166 00:12:10,859 –> 00:12:16,359 hang out there either from the home or from the business long beyond the time that they 167 00:12:16,359 –> 00:12:19,159 were due to be paid and the Bible speaks to this. 168 00:12:19,159 –> 00:12:24,760 We are to give, Romans 13 verse 7, to everyone what we owe them. 169 00:12:24,780 –> 00:12:29,640 If you owe money on a bill it’s no good to say, well this is a big company and they won’t 170 00:12:29,640 –> 00:12:30,640 miss it. 171 00:12:30,640 –> 00:12:34,599 It is what you owe and your responsibility is not the company, your responsibility is 172 00:12:34,599 –> 00:12:37,039 your bill. 173 00:12:37,039 –> 00:12:46,219 If someone gives you a loan and you do not repay it, that is stealing. 174 00:12:46,219 –> 00:12:49,140 It’s no use saying, oh, he doesn’t need the money back. 175 00:12:49,739 –> 00:12:54,039 Whether or not they need the money back is none of your business. 176 00:12:54,039 –> 00:13:00,299 Your responsibility, my responsibility is to pay what we owe. 177 00:13:00,299 –> 00:13:03,880 Then as we try and turn this definition in our minds and say where else does that take 178 00:13:03,880 –> 00:13:06,659 us, there is the whole issue of charging. 179 00:13:06,659 –> 00:13:14,400 The Bible speaks about false weights and measures and Dr. Jim Packer points out, I think, helpfully 180 00:13:14,400 –> 00:13:18,580 that the modern equivalent to that would be what we call overpricing goods and services. 181 00:13:18,760 –> 00:13:21,200 That’s stealing. 182 00:13:21,200 –> 00:13:25,760 If stealing is trying to get as much as possible while giving as little as possible then the 183 00:13:25,760 –> 00:13:31,059 Eighth Commandment does speak to this issue of overpricing goods and services. 184 00:13:31,059 –> 00:13:36,140 It also speaks to cutting the quality of our work. 185 00:13:36,140 –> 00:13:39,200 You’re paid to do a certain job. 186 00:13:39,200 –> 00:13:43,539 It may often be the case that folks don’t really know if you cut corners or not and 187 00:13:43,539 –> 00:13:47,299 there’s other work to do, so the pressure is on you to say, this will be good enough. 188 00:13:47,580 –> 00:13:50,299 They’ll never know the difference. 189 00:13:50,299 –> 00:13:54,099 But my calling as a Christian believer, in the light of the Eighth Commandment, is to 190 00:13:54,099 –> 00:14:00,479 provide the best value for a fair price. 191 00:14:01,679 –> 00:14:04,219 Fourthly, there’s the whole issue of copying. 192 00:14:04,239 –> 00:14:10,460 Boy, here you come to a sin that I have to say is to common among pastors. 193 00:14:10,520 –> 00:14:12,179 Plagiarism. 194 00:14:12,179 –> 00:14:18,340 Taking other people’s material and speaking it as if it were your own. 195 00:14:19,179 –> 00:14:26,460 Then, of course, there is the whole issue of copyright in relation to computer software, 196 00:14:26,460 –> 00:14:33,400 or copying a music CD from your friend at high school so you don’t have to buy one. 197 00:14:33,400 –> 00:14:37,719 That is taking what is due to the artist. 198 00:14:37,719 –> 00:14:40,299 You say, well, the artist doesn’t need it. 199 00:14:40,299 –> 00:14:44,580 He’s already a millionaire, which is probably true. 200 00:14:44,580 –> 00:14:46,580 But think about that. 201 00:14:46,580 –> 00:14:51,539 What you’re then saying is that it’s okay to steal from someone who has more than you 202 00:14:51,539 –> 00:14:55,020 do if you think they’ve already got enough. 203 00:14:55,020 –> 00:15:00,000 And if you go with that logic, that would mean that most of the world has the right 204 00:15:00,000 –> 00:15:05,739 to steal from every one of us, including our high school students, because half the world 205 00:15:06,039 –> 00:15:12,940 owns less than a high school student in America. 206 00:15:12,940 –> 00:15:15,780 Copying. 207 00:15:15,780 –> 00:15:17,780 Stealing. 208 00:15:17,780 –> 00:15:18,799 Then think of this. 209 00:15:18,799 –> 00:15:21,460 I’ve called the last one shallow Christian living. 210 00:15:21,460 –> 00:15:25,020 If stealing is about trying to get as much as possible by giving as little as possible, 211 00:15:25,020 –> 00:15:29,119 I think that the eighth commandment speaks very powerfully to the way that many people 212 00:15:29,119 –> 00:15:31,179 approach the Christian life. 213 00:15:31,260 –> 00:15:38,340 Remember the question that a very rich person once asked Jesus, what must I do to get eternal 214 00:15:38,340 –> 00:15:39,340 life? 215 00:15:39,340 –> 00:15:42,080 You see the whole tone of that question? 216 00:15:42,080 –> 00:15:46,099 What’s the minimum I’ve got to give, to make sure I get in? 217 00:15:46,099 –> 00:15:49,440 How can I get eternity’s blessing at the minimum price? 218 00:15:49,440 –> 00:15:53,760 Doesn’t that show a whole attitude of heart? 219 00:15:53,760 –> 00:15:57,659 See, this commandment is like an x-ray of the soul. 220 00:15:57,659 –> 00:15:59,659 It shows us what we are really like. 221 00:15:59,659 –> 00:16:07,400 We want to get much, and we want to give little. 222 00:16:07,400 –> 00:16:14,260 As I’ve looked into my own soul, and I guess as you look into yours this morning in the 223 00:16:14,260 –> 00:16:19,900 light of the word of God, maybe we’ll confess that this is indeed one of the 10 greatest 224 00:16:19,900 –> 00:16:24,020 struggles of our lives. 225 00:16:24,020 –> 00:16:28,000 That’s enough about breaking the commandment. 226 00:16:28,039 –> 00:16:30,119 Our aim is to encourage keeping the commandment. 227 00:16:30,119 –> 00:16:34,919 But let’s move on quickly to the question, what is keeping the commandment look like? 228 00:16:34,919 –> 00:16:38,820 Remember the best way to avoid a wrong road is always to choose the right road and to 229 00:16:38,820 –> 00:16:40,960 go down it as fast as you can. 230 00:16:40,960 –> 00:16:47,400 So let’s turn over to Ephesians 4, Verse 28, where Paul gives us the New Testament 231 00:16:47,400 –> 00:16:51,080 exposition of the eight commandment. 232 00:16:51,080 –> 00:16:55,799 Notice that Ephesians 4, Verse 28, he gives us the negative and then the positive on which 233 00:16:56,179 –> 00:16:57,179 we’ll focus. 234 00:16:57,179 –> 00:16:58,179 First, the negative. 235 00:16:58,179 –> 00:17:02,099 He who has been stealing must steal no longer. 236 00:17:02,099 –> 00:17:04,619 But what are we to do instead? 237 00:17:04,619 –> 00:17:06,160 Notice what he says. 238 00:17:06,160 –> 00:17:12,180 But must work doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something 239 00:17:12,180 –> 00:17:15,900 to share with those in need. 240 00:17:15,900 –> 00:17:19,979 So if I ask the question, what does it mean to keep the eighth commandment? 241 00:17:20,119 –> 00:17:28,920 The very obvious answer is going to be that it means working, and it means giving. 242 00:17:28,920 –> 00:17:30,180 Working and giving. 243 00:17:30,180 –> 00:17:31,180 Don’t steal. 244 00:17:31,180 –> 00:17:32,680 Instead, this is what you do. 245 00:17:32,680 –> 00:17:38,979 To keep the eighth commandment you work, and to keep the eighth commandment you give. 246 00:17:38,979 –> 00:17:40,979 The opposite of stealing is working. 247 00:17:40,979 –> 00:17:48,699 The word that Paul uses for work here means, labor to the point of fatigue. 248 00:17:48,699 –> 00:17:51,079 Isn’t that interesting? 249 00:17:51,079 –> 00:17:54,959 He commends labor to the point of fatigue. 250 00:17:54,959 –> 00:17:57,319 That’s the meaning of the word that he uses. 251 00:17:57,319 –> 00:18:02,680 So if you know what it is to flop into your bed at night and feel pretty well spent Paul 252 00:18:02,680 –> 00:18:04,959 is saying that’s a good thing. 253 00:18:04,959 –> 00:18:07,099 You’ve given yourself. 254 00:18:07,099 –> 00:18:09,619 It’s a worthy thing. 255 00:18:09,619 –> 00:18:12,739 The Bible always takes a positive view of work. 256 00:18:12,739 –> 00:18:19,140 This is a good gift from God, tracing the times when the Apostle Paul speaks of working 257 00:18:19,140 –> 00:18:24,459 harder than those who wanted to have an easy life in ministry. 258 00:18:24,459 –> 00:18:25,979 It’s very significant. 259 00:18:25,979 –> 00:18:29,300 He speaks about this in 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Corinthians 11. 260 00:18:29,300 –> 00:18:33,199 He talks about laboring and struggling. 261 00:18:33,199 –> 00:18:39,060 These are the kind of words that reflect what authentic work ministry actually looks like. 262 00:18:39,060 –> 00:18:43,579 In everything that I did, he said, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must 263 00:18:43,579 –> 00:18:44,979 help the weak. 264 00:18:44,979 –> 00:18:48,040 Work with your hands, he says. 265 00:18:48,040 –> 00:18:52,300 So the Bible commends to us the value of working hard. 266 00:18:52,300 –> 00:18:55,540 I think that’s a note that we need to hear. 267 00:18:55,540 –> 00:19:00,300 It’s a fundamental biblical principle. 268 00:19:00,300 –> 00:19:05,680 So the New Testament encourages us to approach our work, which after all is the largest part 269 00:19:05,680 –> 00:19:11,160 of our time, of the largest part of our lives, with a positive attitude. 270 00:19:11,160 –> 00:19:16,060 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart. 271 00:19:16,060 –> 00:19:19,500 Working as for the Lord, not for man. 272 00:19:19,500 –> 00:19:22,939 Remember that work was given before the fall. 273 00:19:22,939 –> 00:19:27,380 Work is not just some kind of necessity that you have to do. 274 00:19:27,380 –> 00:19:31,439 It is an opportunity to contribute. 275 00:19:31,500 –> 00:19:37,479 You will be a contributor for all eternity. 276 00:19:37,479 –> 00:19:44,579 God has built the desire to contribute into the very fabric of creation. 277 00:19:44,579 –> 00:19:51,459 So whether your work is paid work as an employee, or whether your work involves no take-home 278 00:19:51,459 –> 00:19:57,300 pay because you’re a student, that’s your work, or you’re looking for work, that’s 279 00:19:57,300 –> 00:20:01,160 your work, or you’re creating a home, that is your work, or you’re giving yourself 280 00:20:01,280 –> 00:20:03,079 as a volunteer, that’s your work. 281 00:20:03,079 –> 00:20:06,439 Whatever the nature of your work, paid or unpaid, remember there was no pay packet in 282 00:20:06,439 –> 00:20:08,920 the garden, but there was work. 283 00:20:08,920 –> 00:20:15,040 God has called us to contribute, and so find what you can contribute, the Bible would say 284 00:20:15,040 –> 00:20:19,479 and then do it with all your heart. 285 00:20:19,479 –> 00:20:26,719 Learn then to love your work and to value it as a good gift from God. 286 00:20:26,719 –> 00:20:36,800 Learn to say in the morning, thank you that I have work, thank you that somebody so values 287 00:20:36,800 –> 00:20:44,640 what you enabled me to do that they’re willing to pay me to do it. 288 00:20:44,640 –> 00:20:50,920 Thank you because this is your way of providing for me, and it is your way of allowing me 289 00:20:51,040 –> 00:21:00,599 to grow, because we grow through our work, it’s your way of allowing me to make a contribution. 290 00:21:00,599 –> 00:21:06,680 If you feel you’re beginning to outgrow your work, thank God for that, it means you’re 291 00:21:06,680 –> 00:21:07,680 growing. 292 00:21:07,680 –> 00:21:12,260 Ornn Weersbe said once, I’ve always found it very helpful do everything you can to the 293 00:21:12,260 –> 00:21:17,459 best of your ability, you never know who will be measuring you for a larger task. 294 00:21:17,459 –> 00:21:19,260 God knows all about that. 295 00:21:19,260 –> 00:21:24,939 And if you come to a point where you have outgrown your work, then thank God for it. 296 00:21:24,939 –> 00:21:29,760 He’ll lead you to something that will continue to enable you to grow even further. 297 00:21:29,760 –> 00:21:33,619 So approach your work with a positive attitude. 298 00:21:33,619 –> 00:21:37,699 And then as we seek to work, which is the way in which we fulfill the Eighth Commandment, 299 00:21:37,699 –> 00:21:40,719 we’re to offer our work as worship to the lord. 300 00:21:40,760 –> 00:21:48,880 Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 7 serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, Paul says, 301 00:21:48,939 –> 00:21:51,119 not man. 302 00:21:51,140 –> 00:21:54,160 Now I’ve been thinking about the jobs I’ve done over the years. 303 00:21:54,160 –> 00:21:57,119 A little bit of a strange selection, but never mind. 304 00:21:57,119 –> 00:21:58,300 Here we go. 305 00:21:58,300 –> 00:21:59,640 Number one. 306 00:21:59,640 –> 00:22:07,219 I worked in a grocery store stacking shelves and serving cold meat at a delicatessen. 307 00:22:07,219 –> 00:22:08,219 Number two. 308 00:22:08,219 –> 00:22:12,859 I worked as a night shift cleaner, and for the rest of the summer I never read another 309 00:22:12,859 –> 00:22:15,160 book by the way. 310 00:22:15,160 –> 00:22:16,160 Three. 311 00:22:16,160 –> 00:22:21,339 I worked as a house parent caring for mentally handicapped children. 312 00:22:21,339 –> 00:22:24,439 Number four, since that time I’ve worked as a pastor. 313 00:22:24,439 –> 00:22:26,000 Question. 314 00:22:26,000 –> 00:22:30,760 In which of these jobs was I working for the Lord. 315 00:22:30,760 –> 00:22:32,640 Answer. 316 00:22:32,640 –> 00:22:35,420 All of them. 317 00:22:35,540 –> 00:22:41,260 And that is probably the most important thing for many of us to grasp this morning. 318 00:22:41,260 –> 00:22:46,079 We often make the mistake of dividing, in a way the Bible never does, things into sacred 319 00:22:46,079 –> 00:22:48,119 and secular. 320 00:22:48,119 –> 00:22:53,339 We think that pastors work for the Lord and that this puts them all together on another 321 00:22:53,339 –> 00:22:54,339 level. 322 00:22:54,339 –> 00:23:02,780 But we say, well I just work for Motorola or District 214 or Jules Scott. 323 00:23:02,780 –> 00:23:04,859 But the Bible never makes that kind of division. 324 00:23:05,180 –> 00:23:09,920 Paul says to every Christian, serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord. 325 00:23:09,920 –> 00:23:14,599 That’s the way in which you’re to approach your whole thinking about work, offer your 326 00:23:14,599 –> 00:23:18,420 work as worship. 327 00:23:18,420 –> 00:23:25,099 Now I think the reason that we find this difficult is that we’re deeply convinced that God is 328 00:23:25,099 –> 00:23:30,020 interested in prayer and evangelism and preaching. 329 00:23:30,060 –> 00:23:36,099 But we’re not half as convinced that God is interested in microcircuitry, school lunches, 330 00:23:36,099 –> 00:23:40,199 or checkouts at the grocery store. 331 00:23:40,199 –> 00:23:46,339 And the answer to that question is of course God is interested in school lunches and microcircuitry 332 00:23:46,339 –> 00:23:48,939 and checkouts at the grocery store. 333 00:23:48,939 –> 00:23:52,319 That’s one of the first things we learn in the Bible, that God walks with Adam in the 334 00:23:52,319 –> 00:23:59,500 garden, engaging with him in his work, and there was no prayer and evangelism involved. 335 00:23:59,500 –> 00:24:03,579 In heaven, there will be no prayer, no evangelism, but there will be work. 336 00:24:03,579 –> 00:24:09,979 You will be contributing creatively, according to your gifting made perfect. 337 00:24:09,979 –> 00:24:13,540 And your work will be your worship. 338 00:24:13,540 –> 00:24:16,979 It will be the joy of heaven. 339 00:24:16,979 –> 00:24:18,219 You’ll be in that zone. 340 00:24:18,219 –> 00:24:25,500 A friend of mine calls it the sweet spot, where you’re doing exactly what God designed 341 00:24:25,500 –> 00:24:26,500 you to do. 342 00:24:26,500 –> 00:24:31,280 You’re doing it with fulfilment and freshness for all eternity. 343 00:24:31,280 –> 00:24:36,500 And his purpose in work, of course, is that there will be a little taste of heaven on 344 00:24:36,500 –> 00:24:41,819 earth and advance. 345 00:24:41,819 –> 00:24:46,319 Think of what this kind of approach will do for the quality of your work. 346 00:24:46,319 –> 00:24:50,400 Whether it be a Motorola or serving lunches, or whatever it is. 347 00:24:50,400 –> 00:24:53,339 If you do it as for the lord, it will give your work new meaning. 348 00:24:53,339 –> 00:24:55,160 It will give your work new significance. 349 00:24:55,160 –> 00:25:01,119 You will find new joy in what sometimes seem like ordinary tasks that you can offer as 350 00:25:01,119 –> 00:25:08,599 worship to the lord because it’s what he’s called you to do. 351 00:25:08,599 –> 00:25:10,459 What does keeping the 8th commandment look like? 352 00:25:10,459 –> 00:25:12,760 It involves working, it involves giving. 353 00:25:12,760 –> 00:25:18,420 He who has been stealing Ephesians 4, 28 must steal no longer, but he must work. 354 00:25:18,420 –> 00:25:20,459 Doing something useful with his own hands. 355 00:25:20,459 –> 00:25:22,199 Notice why. 356 00:25:22,199 –> 00:25:28,819 That he may have something to share with those in need. 357 00:25:28,819 –> 00:25:31,560 Something to share with those in need. 358 00:25:31,560 –> 00:25:36,920 And whatever stage of life you are at and whether you’re employed or not and whether 359 00:25:36,920 –> 00:25:39,359 you need to be working for money isn’t the issue. 360 00:25:39,359 –> 00:25:46,680 The issue here is what you can contribute to the life of other people. 361 00:25:46,680 –> 00:25:52,180 One of the joys of table conversation at home these days for us and our family is hearing 362 00:25:52,180 –> 00:25:56,420 some of Karen’s stories that she brings home from teaching young children at Christian 363 00:25:56,420 –> 00:25:57,420 Heritage Academy. 364 00:25:57,420 –> 00:26:04,239 They have what they call rug time where she sits on this chair, I nearly said throne because 365 00:26:04,239 –> 00:26:07,859 that’s what it looks like, and all the children sit on the rug round her and they engage in 366 00:26:07,859 –> 00:26:11,680 this kind of conversation and on one occasion they were talking about what they wanted to 367 00:26:11,680 –> 00:26:13,239 do when they grow up. 368 00:26:13,239 –> 00:26:21,780 And one five-year-old little girl said, first, I’m going to be a secretary. 369 00:26:21,839 –> 00:26:25,800 Then I’m going to be a nurse. 370 00:26:25,800 –> 00:26:32,719 Then I’m going to be a mother, and then I’m going to be a teacher. 371 00:26:32,719 –> 00:26:36,060 To which Karen of course said my, you’re going to be very, very busy. 372 00:26:36,060 –> 00:26:38,380 Oh yes, she said. 373 00:26:38,380 –> 00:26:43,260 And the sooner I get started, the sooner I can retire. 374 00:26:43,959 –> 00:26:53,680 Five years old. 375 00:26:53,680 –> 00:26:59,040 Now, if you think that work is just what you do to get money in order to build a big enough 376 00:26:59,040 –> 00:27:03,599 pile for you to be able to retire, you’ve completely misunderstood the biblical vision 377 00:27:03,599 –> 00:27:05,339 of work. 378 00:27:05,339 –> 00:27:08,500 The purpose of life is that we contribute. 379 00:27:08,560 –> 00:27:14,560 If you don’t have to work for pay, the question is how can I contribute in the freedom and 380 00:27:14,599 –> 00:27:18,040 the blessing that God has given to me now. 381 00:27:18,040 –> 00:27:22,079 God has trusted you with time, and with talent, and with treasure. 382 00:27:22,079 –> 00:27:28,000 The question is how are you using these as a contribution to the life of others? 383 00:27:28,000 –> 00:27:32,780 How are you saying, Lord take my gifting, take what you have trusted to me? 384 00:27:32,780 –> 00:27:38,020 You’ve given me the Holy Spirit, not to hold to myself, but for ministry. 385 00:27:38,699 –> 00:27:42,400 Don’t let me be like the servant who takes what you’ve given, and digs a hole in the 386 00:27:42,400 –> 00:27:44,920 ground and just lives my little private life. 387 00:27:44,920 –> 00:27:48,000 Give me a vision of why I am here. 388 00:27:49,000 –> 00:27:53,160 The Heidelberg Catechism, that I’ve referred to a few times, gives various dimensions of 389 00:27:53,160 –> 00:27:54,400 the 8th Commandment. 390 00:27:54,400 –> 00:27:57,140 And spelling out what it means it adds this at the end. 391 00:27:57,180 –> 00:28:03,520 In addition, God forbids all greed and all squandering of His gifts. 392 00:28:03,520 –> 00:28:09,040 See if God gave you a gift and you don’t use it, that’s stealing. 393 00:28:09,739 –> 00:28:13,900 Because He gave it so that you should contribute to the lives of others and you should play 394 00:28:13,900 –> 00:28:15,619 your role within His Kingdom. 395 00:28:15,619 –> 00:28:19,760 And if you hold that to yourself, you’re doing what the third servant in Jesus’ parable did, 396 00:28:19,760 –> 00:28:22,459 you’re burying it in a hole in the ground. 397 00:28:23,199 –> 00:28:26,540 I’m stealing from God, I’m stealing from other people if I do that 398 00:28:26,640 –> 00:28:30,839 by withholding from them what God intended them to receive through me. 399 00:28:30,839 –> 00:28:35,599 So whenever I go into a meeting, whenever I’m in a conversation, whenever I’m sitting 400 00:28:35,599 –> 00:28:38,660 at a dinner table, the question I’ve got to carry in my mind, even if it’s with my 401 00:28:38,660 –> 00:28:43,479 own family is that I have to ask the question, what is the contribution I can make here? 402 00:28:44,660 –> 00:28:46,599 How can I contribute? 403 00:28:49,400 –> 00:28:53,219 You know, the eighth commandment means having a change of heart. 404 00:28:54,199 –> 00:29:01,359 As I look at my life, and I see just how many ways I want to be a taker rather than a giver. 405 00:29:01,359 –> 00:29:02,719 You see that yourself? 406 00:29:04,979 –> 00:29:12,400 Instead of saying how much can I give, my instinct too often is to say how much can 407 00:29:12,400 –> 00:29:13,359 I get? 408 00:29:16,300 –> 00:29:21,380 And so if I’m to fulfill the commandment, I do need a radical change of heart. 409 00:29:21,459 –> 00:29:23,079 That’s what we all need, isn’t it? 410 00:29:25,060 –> 00:29:31,719 I need to be turned from a taker into a giver, and as in this last moment, I was trying to 411 00:29:31,719 –> 00:29:37,680 think of two examples of a taker and a giver, it just came very, very clearly to me. 412 00:29:37,680 –> 00:29:40,780 Of course, that’s exactly what Jesus is talking about when he describes Satan. 413 00:29:40,780 –> 00:29:46,060 Do you remember he said, the thief has come to steal and to kill and to destroy. 414 00:29:46,760 –> 00:29:54,920 Satan is the great taker of what does not belong to him. 415 00:29:56,780 –> 00:30:02,300 He’s always trying to get as much as possible and give as little as possible. 416 00:30:02,300 –> 00:30:05,719 That’s his character. 417 00:30:05,719 –> 00:30:09,719 He pays terrible wages. 418 00:30:09,719 –> 00:30:14,760 The wages of sin is death. 419 00:30:14,760 –> 00:30:20,800 So if you do his work, you will be terribly disappointed when you get your pay packet, 420 00:30:20,800 –> 00:30:23,219 right? 421 00:30:23,219 –> 00:30:30,400 But Jesus said, I am come, that they might have life, that you might have life and have 422 00:30:30,400 –> 00:30:31,400 it to the full. 423 00:30:31,400 –> 00:30:35,420 You see, Jesus is the great giver of what already belongs to him. 424 00:30:35,420 –> 00:30:40,979 Satan, the great taker of what he does not own, the grasper after the throne of God, 425 00:30:41,040 –> 00:3:47,760 the grasper after your soul, Jesus the great giver of life that is already his. 426 00:30:47,760 –> 00:30:53,920 And you know Christ turns takers into givers. 427 00:30:53,920 –> 00:30:59,680 And the Gospel is more than good advice, it is good news, it’s not a set of instructions 428 00:30:59,680 –> 00:31:05,000 on how to change, it’s not some kind of a manual for how to be a better employee. 429 00:31:05,000 –> 00:31:08,920 It’s not how to develop a strategic portfolio for giving. 430 00:31:08,920 –> 00:31:18,800 It is a new life, a new dynamic, a new heart, a new spirit a new vision of life so that 431 00:31:18,800 –> 00:31:30,180 freely I may become ever increasingly a giver like Christ whose spirit dwells in me.” 432 00:31:30,180 –> 00:31:34,619 Pour your life out for him and you will have no regrets. 433 00:31:34,619 –> 00:31:37,619 And when you receive your reward you will not be disappointed. 434 00:31:37,640 –> 00:31:41,380 You will not look round heaven and say, was this really worth it? 435 00:31:41,380 –> 00:31:48,979 You will stand before him and you will wonder in awe why you found it all so difficult. 436 00:31:48,979 –> 00:31:56,319 Those who trust in him will never be put to shame. 437 00:31:56,319 –> 00:32:01,680 Let’s stand for a closing prayer together as we conclude our service. 438 00:32:02,680 –> 00:32:11,319 Father the world is full of takers and desperately needs givers. 439 00:32:11,319 –> 00:32:20,319 We see that so clearly yet we confess this, one of our ten greatest struggles. 440 00:32:21,359 –> 00:32:27,959 Thank you that the Great Giver has come into the world that he did not grasp onto what 441 00:32:28,020 –> 00:32:35,020 God was rightfully his own but made himself a servant and that his spirit dwells in everyone 442 00:32:35,439 –> 00:32:39,920 who comes to him in repentance and faith. 443 00:32:39,920 –> 00:32:46,920 Let the spirit of Jesus be seen in me hear this prayer and send us out that we may bear 444 00:32:49,479 –> 00:32:55,959 like light in this world, for these things we ask together in Jesus name, in God’s people 445 00:32:55,959 –> 00:32:58,160 agreeing said Amen.