Father, open our eyes to your word and open our hearts and all these things we ask in the name of Jesus, your son and our savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So many of you probably know that I was in Angola for a total of 15 days.
I was gone for three weeks, basically, but I was in Angola for 15 days.
And I'm not very brave. I'm a basically I'm a chicken.
And I found one of the things I found very hard about Angola, the part of Angola that I was in, Lubangu, was that it was very, very African.
You know, you would see nobody who was my skin color on the street.
And I found that intimidating. I really it gives you a great appreciation for immigrants coming to this country.
And just some of the things that they the great courage that an immigrant has.
You know, I'm a child of immigrants, but my parents immigrated from Ireland.
And anyway, you know, just everything.
The you know, the city was very broken and very crowded.
And I didn't want to just be one of those people who was trapped in a safe house.
I wanted to get out and walk around the streets.
And that required some work on my part, some courage on my part.
But that's just because I'm a scaredy cat.
For many of you people, you would have just done it naturally.
But I for me, it was hard.
And but one of the things that I was a bit worried about was just I'd been to Nairobi twice before.
And some of you might know that the nickname for Nairobi is Nairobbery.
And and I so I was just you know, I just wasn't sure walking around the streets, you know, what my safety would be like,
what were safe parts of the city, what were dangerous parts of the city.
And so one of the things that all of the missionaries told me was that especially during the day,
La Bangu is very safe.
And that, in fact, Angolans are not other than the fact that they had a civil war,
which went on for almost 40 years where they did horrific things.
Some of you might have seen my blog where I talked about I saw the spot where the government would take rebels
when they caught them and take them to the edge of a big cliff,
shoot them in the knees to watch them stumble and then fall backwards to their death.
But apart from the thugs like that, that Angolans are very, very family friendly and it's very safe.
But one of the things they shared with me was that if you're not careful, if you leave something,
if you're somewhere and, you know, it could be a book or my phone or just anything,
if I leave it and then maybe just take my eyes off of it for a few seconds, it'll probably be stolen.
But I'll never have to worry about anybody trying to take anything off me, but it would be stolen.
And if I'm wrong about this, this is what the missionaries told me.
And the missionaries said that it's almost as if for Angolans that that's not stealing.
Because if I'd really cared about it, I would have kept it on my possession or watched it.
So that the fact that I left it unattended, it sort of meant that it was I didn't care about it,
so it's not really stealing.
Now, we roll our eyes at that.
We roll our eyes at that.
But what it shows us, though, is that what I'm going to suggest is today we're looking at the 10th commandment,
the 8th commandment, which is you shall not steal.
In fact, I'll read it for you from the Bible, but it's only those few verses.
It's not something that requires us to all, you can just sort of take my word for it.
But it's Deuteronomy 5, verse 19, and you shall not steal.
That's the commandment.
And my guess is that every single culture, including Canadian culture,
has ways where we write off certain types of stealing as not really being stealing.
That every culture has this problem.
And that we ourselves as human beings have this problem where there's certain things that aren't really stealing.
I mean, technically, stealing is taking something that belongs rightfully to another.
We're cheating them out of something which is rightfully theirs.
How many of us Canadians think it's stealing if we leave work five minutes early?
Well, George, don't be a nitpicker, but a moment, you left work early.
You know, you've been paid to work for a certain number of hours, and you leave early.
How many of us, when it comes time for a yard sale and somebody asks us how old the couch is,
how many of us shave two or three or five years off the age of the couch
so that we can get a few extra dollars for the couch?
And how many of us feel guilty afterwards that we've shaved two or three or four or five or eight years
off the age of the couch so that we can get a few more dollars out of it?
How many of us even asked about the couch, what asked as if we'd always owned it,
when maybe we bought it secondhand?
Why? Because we want to make a couple of extra dollars.
Do we see that as stealing?
We probably don't see that as stealing.
So here's the thing.
We're going to spend, I'm not going to keep giving you time, example after example after example
about different ways that we might get around this basic commandment,
but I want to just try to have it drilled into our house.
So, Andrew, if you could put up the first point.
Here's the first point, which is, it'll be there in a second.
At one of the churches I was at this summer on my holidays,
they had the scripture text up on the side on the screen,
and it was sort of interesting the way the minister did it.
He'd keep pointing to the screen.
You could tell it rather than reading from the Bible, he was reading from the screen, but it was neat.
So here's the first thing.
You shall not steal.
That's what the commandment says.
It's crystal clear, but I do not always recognize stealing.
I think that you can, I mean, you shall not steal is, it's so simple.
You couldn't word it clearer.
But the question is, are there things in my heart,
or are there culturally acceptable forms of stealing or theft
that blinds our eyes to when we're stealing?
And I think that there just is.
And we see it the best when we look at other cultures,
and we can listen to how they would reason,
and we'd say, oh, that's just so stupid.
Of course that's stealing.
Of course, if you just leave your iPhone or something just there for,
you know, 20 seconds, and you walk away,
and you take it, that's stealing.
But my guess is that that's true of every single culture,
that there's ways that we blind our eyes,
our eyes are blinded to what we do.
How many of us, when it comes time to do our income tax,
and if you use one of those computer programs that up on the corner,
it can tell you what your rebate's going to be or how much you owe,
after we see the number, say, that's not a very good number,
I wonder if I can go through all of this a little bit and pad it
or change in a little bit of a way to try to get that number to be a different number.
And I don't mean just going through to get something you missed.
I mean, you know what, maybe I gave a little bit more to this than I thought.
Or maybe if I just make this,
I remember talking to one accountant,
and he was a Christian,
and he told me all of this with no hint
that he was doing something wrong.
And he knew the dollar amounts for deductions,
that if you claim just under it,
they wouldn't in effect,
I mean, I don't know if it's still the case anymore,
this was a few years ago,
the government wouldn't look for receipts.
So that when he did his income tax form,
for every single one of those categories,
he took that amount of a deduction,
even if he hadn't made it,
just a little bit under,
so he could claim all of these deductions,
none of which he'd made,
most of which he hadn't made.
If he'd actually made it,
he'd take the right amount.
But he knew how the system worked,
and he did that with no sense whatsoever.
He grew up in the church,
he was a devout Christian,
went to Bible studies,
did all of that stuff.
He could tell you what the four spiritual laws were.
He probably had about 30 or 40 or 50 Bible verses memorized.
But he told me that with no hint of guilt
that what he was doing was stealing.
Like not even slight.
Now once again, in all of these cases,
we might think,
well, these people are really bad,
but we're different.
But I'm just going to suggest that this is true,
that I do not always recognize stealing.
One of the things,
when I went to Angola,
on the way to Angola,
I had to have two overnight flights.
And on the way back,
I had to have one overnight flight.
And I wasn't in business class,
so that meant I was in the working class seats.
And trying to sleep on a plane
when the seats aren't designed for sleeping
is very, very difficult.
I was really blessed on my way back.
The overnight flight,
I actually happened to be in the middle section
with three seats
and there was nobody in either one of the other seats.
So I was actually able to sort of lie down.
And that's a way better than trying to fall asleep sitting up.
But let me tell you,
there's these little ridges
and other types of things.
And it was a lot easier to fall asleep.
I'm not that big,
but I'm big enough that I had to be curled up
in a fetal type of position
with my feet sort of jammed into the armrest on one end.
And there's all still these pointy things banging into me.
And that's what angular means.
If you could put up the next point,
you shall not steal
is absolute and angular.
And I'm making this point
because it's part of all of these commandments
that they're absolute and angular.
Angular means they're pointy.
They jab you.
That if you meditate upon,
you shall not steal.
If that commandment,
if God's word does its work
and starts to be conscious in your mind
that you shall not steal,
it's going to be angular.
If you said to your coworkers,
well, you can't leave 15 minutes early.
That's stealing.
What would they do?
These religious fanatics.
You know,
but you shall not steal.
In many ways,
it's a good commandment.
Most of us,
none of us really disagree.
Nobody disagrees with this commandment.
Buddhists don't disagree with this commandment.
Hindus don't disagree with this commandment.
Jewish people,
secular people don't disagree with it.
But the statement's made in an absolute sense.
And it's made in an absolute sense.
When I say it's angular,
it means it's pointy
and it jabs us.
And that as the commandment
starts to have a bigger role in our lives,
we'll realize that there's different ways
that we break it.
And it's an absolute statement,
not only in the sense that it's just,
you shall not steal.
But if you think about it,
it's really sort of an interesting way.
Because the way we normally think as Canadians
is we would try to give you an argument
as to why you shall not steal as wise.
You shall not steal because you'll get caught.
You shall not steal because nobody likes a thief.
You shouldn't steal because you're hurting people.
You shouldn't steal because.
Or you try to derive it from something.
In other words,
you say we have this basic thing,
you should love your neighbors.
And if you want to really love your neighbors
and you try to figure it out,
it means you shouldn't steal.
But it's an absolute statement.
God doesn't argue for it.
He doesn't say,
these are the 15 reasons
why you shall not steal as wise.
He just says it.
You shall not steal.
It's an absolute statement.
And what that means
is it's a statement
that we don't think our way to,
but we think from.
We don't think our way to this
as smart.
It's part of the way that you think.
It's an absolute statement
and an angular statement.
Could you put up the next thing, Andrew, please?
One of the things,
one of the easy,
one of the simple ways
that probably in every culture
and including in Canadian culture
that we steal
without thinking that we're stealing
is we think there's exceptions.
It's all right to steal from the government
because they,
a bunch of yahoos,
they're,
they waste our money.
It's all right to steal
from an insurance company
because they're making huge profits.
It's all right to steal from,
and then you fill in the blank.
But this doesn't give any exceptions.
It shows no favoritism.
You can't steal from gays
because they're gay.
You can't steal from the rich
because they're rich.
You can't steal from the poor
because they're poor.
You can't steal,
you just,
there's no favoritism in it.
It cuts across all social classes,
all of the normal ways.
Because you see,
in most cultures,
they would have this view
that you can't steal,
but in most cultures,
they also have,
in a sense,
exceptions.
You can't steal from your family
or your tribe,
but it's all right to steal
from another tribe.
Or in our culture,
you can't,
it's sort of,
you know,
it's sort of all right
to steal from the rich.
Give you a good example.
How many of us
would be upset
if we found out
that somebody stole
from Donald Trump?
Trump?
In fact,
most of the editorialists
in the country
would go,
way to go,
that person deserves a medal.
Right?
Because we've created
an exception.
It's all right
to steal from Trump.
See, once again,
this is how the thing
is supposed to be
to get at us.
We carry these things
around in our culture,
just like our culture does.
We carry around
these exceptions.
And this text,
it's like a healthy virus
to try to change our DNA.
That's why every one
of these points,
except the last one or two,
I'm going to keep saying
you shall not steal,
you shall not steal.
And we need to guard our heart
because our heart
allows exceptions,
but the Bible
doesn't allow an exception.
Next point.
You shall not steal
is unchanging,
yet dynamic.
What that means is this.
You shall not steal.
It was true
when it was written.
Maybe it was written
1500 BC.
Maybe it was written
1200 BC.
There's some debate
about when Moses existed.
Christians can disagree
on trying to figure out
the archaeological evidence.
It's true
when Jesus was alive.
It's true today.
It was true in feudalism.
It's completely
and utterly unchanging.
Yet it's dynamic
because you know what?
It's not always simple
to figure out
how to apply it.
Cultural things change.
It's one of the really
interesting things
if you go back
in the bulletin
and I have the
growing in grace.
No, going deeper.
And if you go into
going deeper
and you look at
some of the Bible passages
which I send you to,
the way the book
of Deuteronomy
is written
is that there's a part
later on in Deuteronomy
where there's a variety
of commands
that help you
to understand
a little bit
about what the commandment
means.
And so one of the commandments,
one of the laws
that's developed
from this
is giving a man
who's just been married
one year
that he doesn't have
to serve,
do any government service
or military service
after his marriage.
You see,
that's very,
very interesting
because if you think about it,
it's very easy
for the state
to say,
we have these,
I have these
expectations of you
and if you don't
fulfill them,
it's like you're robbing me.
That's how we could
think about it.
But this text says,
one moment,
there's limits
about what the state
can demand.
Another really important,
interesting thing
if you go back
and look at that list
is it said
that if you,
somebody owes you money,
you can't take
their upper millstone
to get them
as part of the
repayment of the debt
and the way that
you needed two,
you need two stones
to grind grain
and it says
you're not allowed
to take the top one
and that's a very,
very interesting thing
because what it's
showing us
is that
property rights
and stuff matters
but people matter more
and even though
technically
they owe you
that money,
you can't take
the money away
from them
if it means
they're going
to die.
You see what I mean?
You have this
very simple commandment
and on one hand
it's unchanging
but as it starts
to come into our minds
and we start
to try to think
of what does it mean
in terms of downloading?
What does it mean
in terms of this?
What does it mean
in terms of our culture
with this?
You realize
it forces you
to think
and to talk
and to pray.
Not in terms of
there's some simple ones,
obviously you don't have
to be much thinking
about whether you should
go into a bank
and rob it
but there's so many
different commandments
that this sort of
has a bit of an impact on
that on one hand
it's unchanging
but it doesn't stop thought,
it propels thought
as you realize
how important it is.
Next point.
You shall not steal
means that private property
is good.
You know,
I'm going to be
a little bit politically
incorrect in Canada
but that's exactly
what it means.
It means that
private property
is good.
It in effect
says that communism
at least in its
theoretical form
of the state
owning everything
is probably sinful
because it would imply
that if the state
or the tribe
owns everything
and individuals
never own something
that's probably
stealing going on
but by the same
part in time
to our libertarian
friends
if everything
is just owned
by individuals
and there's no group
that owns anything
there's probably
stealing that's going on.
I steal
from somebody
by taking
what is properly
theirs
and taking it
for myself.
And I have
private property
in quotes
because as Christians
we always have to
remember something
important.
If you want to
turn your Bibles
to 2nd
1st Chronicles
I hope I wrote it down
1st Chronicles
29.14
1st Chronicles
29.14
This is very
simply put
and very
powerfully put
Solomon
has just
dedicated the temple
and it's part of
his
sorry
David
David is
praying
over all
of the offerings
that he's made
so that when
Solomon comes along
he'll be able
to build the temple.
Look at 1st
Chronicles
29.14
But who am I
and what is my
people
that we should
be able
thus
to offer
willingly
and listen to this
for all things
come from you
and of
your own
we have
given you.
for all things
come from you
and of
your own
have we
given you.
So what this
text is saying
is that God
is ultimately
the one
who owns
everything
I own
nothing
neither do you.
And when I was
part of the
Anglican Church
of Canada
often texts
like this
would somehow
slide into
an argument
for socialism
but that's not
what the text
is saying.
What this text
is reminding us
is that we're
sub-owners
we're stewards
but it really
is ours
to care for.
The government
can't take it
the bank
can't take it
an individual
can't take it
there's things
which we
properly
own
in the sense
of it
ultimately
belonging to
God
but he's
put it
under our
care
to use it
in a way
which is
for common
good
and for his
glory
but this text
you shall not
steal
means that
private property
with the quotes
is good.
Next point
Andrew please
you shall not
steal
is a great
protection
for the poor
and the weak.
Last night
my wife and I
and Emma
we watched
a movie on
Netflix
it came out
two years ago
I think it's
called Lady in
Gold
is that what
it's called
Louise?
Lady in
Gold
it's a really
really good
movie about
a woman
who
decided to
take the
Austrian
government
to court
to get
back the
artwork
that the
Nazis
had stolen
from her
and the
Nazis
after they
stole it
from her
gave it
to an
Austrian
museum
and she
decides to
go after
them in
court
to try
to get
her
property
back
and I
didn't
know
of course
I didn't
watch it
thinking I
was going
to talk
I mean
I knew
I was
going
to talk
about
this
but I
didn't
watch
the movie
for a
sermon
illustration
but the
Nazis
just
stole
the
property
this
text
this
commandment
you shall
not
steal
is a
powerful
protection
for the
poor
and the
weak
the
government
cannot
take
your
money
the
rich
cannot
take
your
money
or
your
possessions
or
your
house
or
your
farm
you
shall
not
steal
it
doesn't
become
not
stealing
because
the
Supreme
Court
of
Canada
says
it's
all
right
doesn't
become
not
stealing
because
the
government
passes
a
law
if
you
go
back
in
going
deeper
you'll
see
I
give
two
Old
Testament
examples
how
the
Old
Testament
very
clearly
sees
that
the
government
can
steal
this
isn't
an
anti
government
rant
it's
just
that
this
commandment
the more
that it
becomes
part of
our
consciousness
and our
cultural
consciousness
is a
powerful
protection
for the
poor
and the
weak
and we
as
Christians
should
always be
concerned
for
that
it's
also a
powerful
thing
we can't
steal
from
another
country
just because
it's another
country
and we have
a more
powerful
military
it is a
powerful
break
on
imperialism
just as a
bit of an
aside
one of the
things which is
more and more
important for us
as a congregation
is for
Christians
a congregation
of Christians
is to be
concerned for
the poor
I think
the left
in Canada
has largely
forgotten
the poor
the left
is
I'm not
putting down
civil
servant
unions
making no
comment about
it
but the
left is
primarily
made up
now of
public
service
unions
that are
concerned
with
upper
middle
class
and
middle
class
issues
and there's
a decreasing
concern about
the poor
in a country
like ours
and that's a
very powerful
moment for
Christians to
always remember
the poor
the working
poor
the people
who work
at McDonald's
the people
who work
at places
where there's
no benefits
we have to
have a heart
for them
and a great
concern for
them
next point
you shall
not steal
applies to
individuals
churches
governments
and every
other social
group
one of the
things which
the Bible
hates
and we
have to
you know
the state
church in
Germany
turned
fundamentally
a blind
eye to
Nazism
we all
know that
in the
southern
United
States
and South
Africa
the churches
turned
many churches
not all
but many
churches
turned a
blind eye
to the
type of
racism
and destruction
of property
actually this is a bit
of an aside
one of the things
which is really
interesting
remember I said
if you go back
to that other
part in
Deuteronomy
that gives
you some
that Moses
unpacks
you shall
not steal
there's only
one
property
only one
type of
stealing
which deserves
the death
penalty
one of the
things which is so
powerful about the
Old Testament
and you think of
how in some
cultures thieves
in fact
lamentably in our
own culture
they would hang
I mean hundreds
of years ago
they would hang
thieves
in some parts
of the world
they'll cut off
the hands
of thieves
but in the
Old Testament
people who
stole
they were
required
to give
the stuff
back
they couldn't
cut off
their hands
or kill
them
there's only
one exception
only one
type of
theft
had a
capital
punishment
kidnapping
somebody to
put them
into slavery
that was a
capital
offense
if that
text
had grasped
Christians
earlier
the entire
slave trade
would have
been seen
as being
completely
wrong
one of the
things
I learned
when I was
in Angola
is that
Angola
was one of
the hardest
countries
in Africa
hit
by the
slave trade
not only
were there
some tribes
working with
the Portuguese
to capture
and kidnap
other people
from other
tribes
but they'd
sell them
into slavery
so in
Brazil
a large
number of
Brazilians
are more
like they're
from Africa
they all
came from
Angola
for Angolans
it's a
very very
slavery
is something
which is
deeply still
part of
their
consciousness
because
so much
of their
history
was consumed
with the
slave trade
but if
people had
read the
book of
Deuteronomy
if they
had grasped
you shall
not steal
and saw
how Moses
helped to
unpack it
the worst
type of
thievery
was to
capture
somebody
for slavery
one other
tiny little
thing I'm
going to get
in trouble
maybe for
this by
some people
and I
don't I
know for
some people
our culture
has turned a
blind eye
to this
this is an
example I
think of how
our culture
allows a
certain type
of theft
without us
realizing it
is theft
but in
vitro
fertilization
means that
you get
fertilized
eggs and
you freeze
them and
you keep
them
how is
that different
than slavery
if you have
fertilized
eggs
Louise and
I decided
before we
got a bit
too old
that we
were going
to get a
whole pile
of embryos
fertilized
embryos
together and
freeze them
and we
keep that
for years
and years
how is that
not like
slavery
how can I
own another
human life
how can I
own a human
life and
just decide
whether or not
I will have
that life
put to
death
or sold
for profit
I know
this can be
very painful
for people
who are
trying to
get pregnant
but is
this in
fact a
way that
our culture
has turned
a blind eye
to slavery
to theft
Portuguese
are terrible
but we're
not
next point
we need
to sort
of wrap
this up
one of the
things that
came to me
immediately
when I was
thinking about
this you
shall not
steal
is of course
Jesus
there's I
think about
ten times
in the
New Testament
it says
Jesus will
come like
a thief
in the
night
and
it's
very true
Jesus
will come
like a
thief
in the
night
but he
is not
a thief
this
text
in closing
helps us
to think
of two
things
which helps
to also
bring this
whole text
of you
shall not
steal
closer to
home
to us
because
the fact
of the
matter
is
is that
for every
human
being
including
Christians
one of
the worries
that we
have
is that
Jesus
as he
gets
closer
to us
will
steal
from
us
how
will he
steal
from
us
he'll
steal
our
time
he'll
steal
our
money
he'll
make
a
demand
upon
me
in terms
of how
much
money
I
should
be
giving
he'll
make
a
demand
upon
me
in terms
of
my
time
he'll
make
a
demand
upon
me
in
terms
of
how
I
should
treat
my
wife
or
how
I
should
treat
my
kids
and
that's
completely
separate
from
conversion
a long
time
ago
there
was a
young
woman
I
was
part
of
a
Christian
fellowship
group
and she
became a
Christian
and she
came
she was
pretty
messed up
and
she
started
to get
sorted
out
but
then
one
of
the
things
was
and I've
seen
this
many
times
since
then
her
family
put
profound
pressure
on her
to stop
being
connected
with
us
even
though
she'd
stopped
sleeping
around
even
though
she'd
stopped
drinking
I mean
getting
drunk
even
though
she'd
stopped
doing
her
drugs
the
fact
that
she
was
getting
close
to
Jesus
profoundly
worried
them
and
they
put
unrelenting
social
pressure
and
familial
pressure
on
her
to
not
have
anything
to do
with
this
and
they
eventually
were
successful
at
it
and
not
that
just
that
people
who
come
to
Jesus
can
instantly
stop
doing
all
of
those
bad
things
we
struggle
with
all
of
them
but
she
eventually
went
back
to
all
of
those
things
but
they
were
worried
that
Jesus
was
stealing
her
from
them
so
Jesus
will
come
like
a
thief
in
the
night
but
he
is
not
a
thief
final
second
to
last
point
Andrew
if
you
could
put
it
up
if
you
turn
in
your
Bibles
to
John
chapter
10
there's
a
very
wonderful
text
here
that
connects
thievery
to
who
Jesus
is
it's
the
text
of
Jesus
being
the
good
shepherd
and
it's
a
very
wonderful
text
and
it
goes
like
this
Jesus
is
speaking
truly
I
say
to
you
he
who
does
not
enter
the
sheep
bull
by
the
door
but
climbs
in
by
another
way
that
man
is
a
thief
and
a
robber
but
he
who
enters
by
the
door
is
the
shepherd
of
the
sheep
to
him
the
gatekeeper
opens
the
sheep
hear
his
voice
and he
calls
his
own
sheep
by
name
and
leads
them
out
when
he
has
brought
out
all
his
own
he
goes
before
them
and
the
sheep
follow
him
for
they
know
his
voice
a
stranger
they
will
not
follow
but
they
will
flee
from
him
for
they
do
not
know
the
voice
of
strangers
now
John
comments
this
figure
of
speech
Jesus
used
with
them
but
they
did
not
understand
what
he
was
saying
to
them
so
truly
I
say
to
you
I
am
the
door
of
the
sheep
all
who
came
before
me
are
thieves
and
robbers
but
the
sheep
did
not
listen
to
them
I
am
the
door
if
anyone
enters
by
me
he
will
be
saved
and
will
go
in
and
out
and
find
pasture
the
thief
comes
only
to
steal
and
kill
and
destroy
I
came
that
they
may
have
life
and
have
it
abundantly
I
am
the
good
shepherd
the
good
shepherd
lays
down
his
life
for
the
sheep
now
here
Jesus
is
talking
specifically
about
his
death
on
the
cross
you
know
if
it
was
taken
literally
as
an
advice
to
shepherds
the
second
the
shepherd
dies
the
sheep
are
all
toast
but
he's
getting
at a
very
important
point
that
when
Jesus
comes
into
a
person's
life
he
doesn't
come
as
an
invader
or
as
a
thief
he
comes
to
his
own
remember
earlier
I
said
all
things
come
of
you
and
of
your
own
have
we
given
you
so
when
Jesus
comes
into
any
person's
life
he's
coming
to
what
is
his
own
and
in
this
text
Jesus
very
powerfully
says
I
don't
know
how
many
of
you
have
been
robbed
but
it's
it can
be very
destructive
I don't
know how
many of
you have
had a
house
broken
into
but it
can feel
like a
profound
violation
to have
had somebody
come into
your house
and to
rob you
I
remember
back
when
Louise
and
I
hadn't
been
married
very
long
and
I
was
a
student
and
we
had
no
money
and
I
remember
there
was
this
time
we were
at the
corner of
bank
and
fifth
and
I
think
we
had
Jesse
or
something
in
the
stroller
and
I
had
Tosh
by
the
hand
and
we
just
turned
our
eye
away
for
a
second
and
somebody
took
Louise's
purse
you
know
I
don't
know
what
it
was
might
have
been
a
hundred
bucks
but
that
was
a
lot
of
money
especially
when
you're
poor
like
and
in
those
days
you
know
for
many
years
I
wasn't
able
to
get
a
credit
card
or
anything
like
that
and
I
didn't
have
a
line
of
credit
so
when
you're
out
money
you're
out
money
like
it's
really
hard
it's
destructive
and
Jesus
here
uses
a
very
powerful
image
when
he
says
up
here
the
thief
comes
only
to
steal
and
to
kill
and
the
word
there
kill
it's
a
perfectly
good
word
but
it's
sheep
right
in
other
words
the
thief
steals
the
sheep
to
kill
it
and
eat
it
that's
what
the
word
kill
there
means
and
to
destroy
we
all
probably
have
seen
houses
that
have
been
broken
into
and
part
of
the
things
that
and
it's
very
easy
for
us
to
think
that
when
we
get
closer
to
Jesus
he's
going
to
mess
up
our
lives
he's
going
to
make
us
poorer
and
many
non-Christians
have
that
fear
and
if
we're
honest
many
of
us
Christians
have
that
fear
but
Jesus
says
I
have
come
I
came
that
they
may
have
life
and
have
it
abundantly
I
am
the
good
shepherd
the
good
shepherd
lays
down
his
life
for
the
sheep
and
if
you
go
down
and
read
a
little
bit
later
you'll
see
that
in
four
more
verses
Jesus
repeats
it
to
make
sure
that
we
get
the
point
lays
down
his
life
for
the
sheep
the
thief
kills
the
sheep
Jesus
dies
for
the
sheep
he
dies
for
the
sheep
to
give
us
abundant
life
it
can
be
very
easy
to
think
if
disobey
the
commandment
about
stealing
and
do
things
on
my
income
tax
form
so
I
get
more
money
everybody
does
it
it's
just
the
government
they
won't
miss
it
they
just
waste
it
and
I
can
do
whatever
I
want
and
if
I
do
it
I'll
have
more
money
and
if
I
don't
my
life's
going
to
be
a
little
bit
tighter
harder
it's
going
to
be
a
little
bit
harder
but
this
text
is
saying
to
us
that
when
we
hear
the
voice
of
Jesus
and
follow
him
even
commandments
like
this
that
seem
at
times
that
are
going
to
crimp
our
lives
it's
actually
part
of
the
process
by
which
our
lives
will
get
abundance
from
God
even
if
it's
abundance
of
being
able
to
sleep
at
night
you
know
there's
that
a
clean
conscience
is
the
softest
pillow
you
know
you
get
a
thing
from
the
government
later
on
you're
not
worried
that
they've
caught
your
cheating
on
your
taxes
but
however
it is
that
Jesus
does
it
abundant
life
doesn't
mean
that
if
you
follow
do
not
steal
you're
going
to
be
richer
it
just
means
that
you're
going
to
have
a
life
which
is
far
more
abundant
and
unexpected
in
terms
of
things
which
ultimately
really
matter
the
most
and
the
other
thing
about
this
text
which
is
so
powerful
that
is
as
it
gets
as
it
grips
us
that
Jesus
isn't
a
thief
that
Jesus
is
the
good
shepherd
that
lays
down
his
life
for
the
sheep
as
this
image
grips
us
as
the
cross
grips
us
it
starts
to
make
us
understand
that
the
way
we
are
to
live
our
lives
is
to
care
for
people
that
as
the
good
shepherd
lays
down
his
life
for
the
sheep
becomes
more
powerful
in
our
lives
it
helps
to
form
the
way
a
dad
should
be
a
dad
or
a
mom
should
be
a
mom
a
pastor
a
pastor
a
teacher
should
be
a
teacher
a
banker
should
be
a
banker
a
friend
should
be
a
friend
it
sort
of
paints
a
picture
for
us
as
to
what
we
should
be
moving
towards
and
as
the
reassurance
that
we
have
become
Jesus
is
because
of
what
he's
done
for
us
not
because
of
what
we
can
do
for
him
the
text
doesn't
say
if
you
do
not
steal
you
will
become
my
disciple
but
Jesus
dies
for us
so that
we
will
be
his
and
as
this
grips
us
as
well
it
starts
to
make
reasonable
and
make
sense
a
completely
different
way
of
living
put
up
the
final
point
please
you
know
I
like
to
do
this
often
is
to
end
with
a
prayer
I'm
going to
ask
you
to
stand
in
some
ways
the
whole
summary
of
the
sermon
is
caught
up
in
this
I'll
read
it
out
first
and
then
I'll
enjoy
and
ask
you
to
join
with
me
please
help
me
to
recognize
stealing
is
stealing
I
mean
that's
just
the
thing
any
one
of
the
Ten
Commandments
it's
one
of
the
reasons
if
we
do
the
Ten
Commandments
liturgically
I think
after every
one of the
commandments
we say
something
about
write
this
law
in
our
heart
and
writing
the
law
in
our
heart
means
that
we
know
it
that
we
remember
it
that
it
starts
to
have
an
impact
in
our
heart
but
stealing
opens
up
to
us
not
just
that
we
shouldn't
steal
that
we
start
to
recognize
stealing
but
we
ask
Jesus
to
help
us
so
that
we're
gripped
by
the
gospel
and
as
we're
gripped
by
the
gospel
from
that
context
we
don't
steal
but
instead
that
we
pursue
a
productive
and
generous
life
as
we
live
for
his
glory
we
die
to
our
own
glory
we
die
to
just
viewing
life
as
accumulating
as
much
as
we
can
we
understand
that
a
type
of
dying
for
others
and
so
I
invite
you
to
join
with
me
in
praying
this
prayer
heavenly
father
please
help
me
to
recognize
stealing
is
stealing
please
pour
out
your
holy
spirit
upon
me
and
make
me
a
disciple
of
Jesus
gripped
by
the
gospel
who
does
not
steal
but
pursues
living
a
productive
and
generous
life
as
I
live
for
your
glory
in
Jesus
name
Amen
father
we
ask
that
you
would
write
this
commandment
do
not
steal
in
our
hearts
and
we
ask
even
more
than
writing
this
commandment
do
not
steal
in
our
hearts
we
ask
that
you
write
the
story
of
the
good
shepherd
in
our
hearts
that
might
be
what
grips
us
that
as
we
even
think
upon
these
commandments
we
think
upon
you
our
good
shepherd
who
laid
down
your
life
for
us
all
these
things
we
ask
in
the
name
of
Jesus
your
son
and
our
savior
amen