A sermon on stealing

 

1.    Most of us have seen the large iron lids that are commonly called “man hole covers.”

2.    These covers are fairly common in places like streets and gas stations.

3.    An average man hole cover is said to weigh 100-200 pounds.

4.    We probably walk by these covers or drive over one and think nothing of it.

5.    We are not in the habit of looking down to see if a cover is where it is supposed to be.

6.    In the future, we may want to pay a little more attention to these covers.

7.    Thieves are now stealing man hole covers and selling them as scrap metal.

 

8.    This form of theft is being called the “New Street Crime.”

9.    Within the last three months the state of California has lost hundreds of these covers.

10.  When a thief takes a man hole cover, he can probably make $10 to $15 for each one he junks.

11.  Replacing a cover can cost as much as $500.  California is not the only place where this is happening.

12.  Other places like Philadelphia have the same problem.

13.  In this city 2 children have fallen into holes because man covers had been stolen.

14.  Cars on the street are obviously severely damaged when a tire plunges into an uncovered man hole.

 

15.  This is one form of theft that is pretty unique, but it is by no means the only one.

16.  Have we heard about rental cars being returned by dishonest people?

17.  When a rental car is returned, the gas gauge needs to register full or some extra fees are tacked on.

18.  Due to the price of gas, some who rent cars are topping off the tank with water.

19.  Since water is basically free, it is used in place of gas and people save a few dollars

 

20.  There are many good illustrations of theft, but I will list only one more.

21.  A thief steals a woman’s purse and hopes to find a cell phone inside.

22.  The woman is upset and it takes a little time (maybe 20 minutes) to make contact with her husband.

23.  When she finally reaches her spouse and tells him she was robbed, he is a bit perplexed.

24.  The husband says, “I am confused.  I received a text message from you 15 minutes ago.”

25.  “You said you could not remember our pin number for our ATM card and I sent it via a text message.”

26.  Some text messages asking for important information are coming from crooks.

 

OUR WORLD IS FULL OF THEFT.  SOME OF IT IS VERY CREATIVE, SOME OF IT IS NOT, BUT STEALING IS A COMMON PART OF LIFE.  STEALING IS ALSO AN EXAMPLE OF IMMORAL BEHAVIOR.

 

1)      When we turn to God’s word we find that theft is nothing new; the scriptures have much to say about it.

2)      Time and time again we are reminded that theft is an immoral activity and it is common.

3)      One of the things we find in the Bible is that men have tried to steal just about anything.

a)      Consider the story recorded in 1 Kgs. 3.

b)      At this time Solomon was king; he had asked God to give him a “wise and understanding heart.”

c)      A person may be powerful, but not wise.  Solomon wanted to be blessed with wisdom.

d)     God answered this prayer and we see in this chapter just how wise this king was.

 

4)      We may remember many of the details of this story, but there is one detail we may not recall.

5)      Solomon did not just have two women come to see him one day.

6)      The Bible says two women who were harlots came to see him (1 Kgs. 3:16).

a)      Both of these women lived in the same house – they were familiar with one another.

b)      Both had babies that were born about the same time and one of the children died.

c)      The story about the death is found in verse 19 – READ

7)      The women bickered back and forth for a while in the presence of the king.

a)      Both women were making the same basic claim.

b)      Each said the other was the guilty party.

c)      Solomon was faced with a situation where someone was trying to steal a child.

d)     One woman was the real mother and the other was a baby thief.

 

8)      This type of things is still going on today—people try to steal children. 

9)      It may be an infant or a school age child—child abduction has been and continues to be a problem.

10)  Theft involves people as well as possessions.

 

11)  Another Old Testament story involving theft is found in Judg. 17.

a)      Here we read about a man named Micah.

b)      This name is somewhat ironic; Micah means “who is like Jehovah.”

c)      This man did not resemble God in too many ways.

d)      Judg. 17 is short and it tells us this man stole from his mother—he stole quite a bit of money from mom.

e)      His mother wanted the thief to be cursed and the curse apparently troubled her son.

12)  He did not want to be cursed so he finally confessed the theft and returned the money.

13)  A son stole from his mother.  Do people today steal from their relatives?

a)      Yes.  A husband may steal from his wife, or a wife may steal something from her husband.

b)      Brothers and sisters (even in their adult years) may steal one from another.

c)      Other relatives may shaft and cheat each other.  There is fraud and deception in families.

d)     Some use the court system to take what is not rightfully theirs.

e)      Theft among family members was a problem in the past and a problem now.

 

14)  Theft has also been a problem between employer and employee.

a)      Jesus gave an example of this in Lk. 16.

b)      The Lord pictured a “rich man” who had someone managing his wealth.

c)      The wealthy man said his financial manager was going to be fired (verse 2).

d)     His employee needed to get the books in order because he was going to pass out a pink slip.

e)      The finance guy began to think about his future – verse 3- READ

 

15)  This employee stole quite a few assets from his boss before he was terminated.

16)  Verses 5-7 – READ  

a)      By reducing the amount of debt that people had, this man gained favor with his master’s suppliers.

b)      He got that favoritism by theft.

c)      Today there are still employees who steal from their employers.

d)     When it comes time for children to go back to school, some employees don’t go to Wal-Mart.

e)      They go to the office supply section of their workplace and load up on what their children need.

f)       This is a form of theft.  It is probably not going to be grand theft.

g)      It may not be of a big enough dollar amount to qualify for a felony.

h)      It is a form of stealing and it is immoral.

 

17)  Others steal from their employers by an improper use of time.

18)  What would we say about a man who is paid for 8 hours a day but only works 6?

19)  The world might think he was a pretty sharp guy, especially if he could keep his job.

20)  That is not God’s view of the matter.  We can steal time just as well as we can steal pens and pencils.

a)      Both actions are immoral.

b)      Both actions are contrary to New Testament Christianity.

 

21)  When we think of people who steal and commit theft, we may think of the unsaved.

a)      We may think it is always the godless who are involved with this type of sin.

b)      If this is our thinking, we need to turn back in our Bibles to Mt. 21.

 

22)  Jesus was making His triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem.

23)  People knew who the Lord was; some were calling Him a prophet.

a)      Jesus came into the temple of God and made some changes.

b)      He met up with some people who were surely religious.

c)      These men were selling sacrifices.

d)     The Lord’s actions are described in verse 12 – READ

 

24)  Jesus was not pleased with the transactions taking place in the temple.

25)  His objection to what was taking place is specifically given in verse 13 – READ

26)  The temple was to be a place of worship; a place of prayer.

a)      People who sold animals for sacrifice had turned the process into a money making venture.

b)      Perhaps a modern parallel would be a payday loan company.

c)      These companies often have interest rates that are 400% or more for a short term loan.

 

27)  This type of thing may be legal, but it hardly moral.

28)  It is possible to overcharge people; when this is done, Mt. 21 says this is a form of robbery.

29)  In Mt. 21, it seems religious people who were guilty of fleecing people.

30)  It would be like someone saying, “Hey Brother, I can help you buy an appropriate sacrifice.”

31)  It was the chosen people who were engaging in a form of robbery.

32)  Today when people are not fair when they deal with others, they commit a form of theft.

a)      Christians want, therefore, to be fair with all people.

b)      We want to be just in our business dealings with others.

c)      We can be shrewd and a good negotiator, but we must be fair.

 

33)  Religious people can commit robbery in other ways as well.

a)      We can rob God.

b)      Many would never think of taking a gun or a club and robbing a fellow human being.

c)      Some, however, are willing to steal from God.

d)     There are those who have talents that could be used for God, but some say “I will keep my talents for myself.”

e)      This is an immoral choice and we will be held accountable for it.

f)       Another may have some time that could be dedicated to God, but that time is spent elsewhere.

g)      This is also wrong because it is a form of theft.

h)      Others may have money that could be devoted to the kingdom of God, but it is put somewhere else.

i)        God says that is also wrong.

 

34)  In Mal. 3:8 a prophet asked some people, “Will a man rob God”?

35)  This prophet believed this was happening.

36)  God’s prophet then said this in verse 9:  “Ye are cursed.”

a)      If we rob people in the world, that is bad.  We can go to prison for that.

b)      If we chose to rob God in one way or another, the prophet said, “buckle up.”

c)      God will curse you.

37)  When a man is cursed by God, things are not going to go to well for him.

a)      We can point a finger at the guy who is taking man hole covers and say that is bad thing.

b)      Topping off rental cars with water will make us shake our heads at how low people have sunk.

c)      Texting someone to get access to a bank account is an outright slimy activity.

d)     Let’s not forget that we really need to focus on ourselves when we think about this area of life.

 

38)  Are we also guilty of theft – either towards our fellow man or towards  God?

39)  We do not want to be someone that God classifies as a thief.

40)  God went on to say (Mal. 3:10) that we are to bring to Him what we have.

 

41)  Jesus once said thieves (Jn. 10:10) want to “kill and destroy.”

42)  God’s people are to be givers instead of robbers.

43)  We want to help instead of hurt.

44)  Our life should stand in stark contrast to the people who commit theft.

45)  We act properly towards others and especially towards God.

46)  If this is not our choice, we are guilty of immorality and God will be opposed to us.

47)  Are we a Christian and a Christian who is trying to live a moral (a Godly life)?