Security

Scriptures: Deuteronomy 5:19; 19:14; 23:15-16, 19-20, 24-25; 24:6-7, 10-15, 19-22; 25:13-16 and 1^st King 21

Video Link: https://youtu.be/voWPWYrYbm0

Structure:

• Introduction
• Generosity, not greed
• Security, not anxiety
• Trust, not threat
• Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When I was growing up in the 1970’s people didn’t lock their house during the day. You trusted your neighbours and complete strangers for that matter. If you popped down to the dairy to pick up a bottle of milk, you could leave the keys in your car, with the engine running, and not give it a second thought. You felt safe, like no one was going to pinch your stuff.

It’s not like that now. Almost every week we hear reports of ram raids and smash and grab crimes. Just two weeks ago I noticed a $200 charge on our credit card for something we had not purchased. Theft through the internet. We quickly cancelled the card to stop any further loss.

Many of you have got rid of your landline phones, partly because we use cell-phones now but also because many of the calls we get on our landline are scam artists, trying to weedle their way in our bank account.

It used to make me angry, especially when I thought of someone more vulnerable being taken advantage of. But then I thought, how desperate must someone be if they are having to resort to committing fraud for a living.

Even the post is suspect now. You take a risk sending anything of value in the mail. A number of times we’ve had things going ‘missing’ in the post.   

All these nasty little experiences breed cynicism and anxiety, undermining our sense of security and our ability to trust.

Today we continue our series in Deuteronomy. We are up to that part (in chapter 5) where Moses reiterates the ten commandments or the ten words of Yahweh. This morning our focus is the command, ‘You shall not steal’, in verse 19.

You shall not steal is perhaps one of the broadest commandments. It covers a wide range of activity. On the face of it, you shall not steal affirms the right to own personal property and provides protection for one’s material assets.

When we look at Deuteronomy as whole we get the sense that, you shall not steal is about fostering trust between people. It’s about promoting security in the neighbourhood. The kingdom of God is to be a place of generosity.

Generosity not greed, security not anxiety and trust not threat, this is the kaupapa or the purpose with the command not to steal.

Moses gives heaps of examples of how, you shall not steal, applies in daily life. Let’s start with land. The right use of land has to do with generosity. All too often human greed gets in the way.  

Generosity, not greed:

In Deuteronomy 19 we read: ¹⁴ Do not move your neighbour’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

To move a boundary stone is to take land that does not belong to you. These days moving your neighbour’s boundary stone would equate to building a fence in the wrong place, so as to disadvantage your neighbour. In ancient Israel moving a boundary stone reduced your neighbour’s capacity for growing food.

Worse than this though, it was an offence against God. You see, land for the ancient Israelites, was not privately owned by individuals. Land is owned by God.

The Lord allocated portions of the Promised Land of Canaan to the various tribes of Israel. Each tribe and clan and family were to act like kaitiaki or guardians, caretakers of the land entrusted to their care. The section of land you were responsible for was to stay in your family and be passed down from generation to generation.

You could use your allocation of land to graze your sheep or grow your grain but you could never sell the land. If a family fell on hard times they could lease their land, for a specified period of time, to someone else from their tribe (ideally a close relative) but they could never permanently sell it.

As a safe guard, once every 50 years, the allocations of land were to be returned to the original family holdings.

In first Kings chapter 19, we read how king Ahab (arguably the most evil king Israel ever had) wanted to buy Naboth’s vineyard so he could grow vegetables. Ahab basically told Naboth to name his price.

Naboth, who was a regular citizen and also a God fearing man, said ‘no’ to king Ahab. ‘God forbid’ that I ever sell my land to anyone. In Naboth’s mind, Ahab was essentially trying to bribe him to move a boundary stone.

Ahab started sulking around the palace and so his wife, Jezebel, arranged to have Naboth killed so that Ahab could seize Naboth’s field. God responded by sending the prophet Elijah to pronounce judgement on Ahab and Jezebel.

We might wonder how this story applies to us in our world today, because we buy and sell land all the time.

Well, the situation of ancient Israel is not exactly the same as contemporary New Zealand. I don’t think we should interpret the law of Moses to be saying we can’t buy and sell land ever. Selling your house to buy a new one is simply a practical necessity in the world in which we live today.

We need to look deeper than the letter of the law in order to find its spirit. The purpose (or kaupapa) of the law is generosity not greed. The land is one of God’s generous gifts to us. It is part of God’s hospitality to humanity. If we misuse the land for our own selfish gain, then we are essentially treating God’s generosity with contempt. We are stealing from God.

In practical terms, not moving your neighbour’s boundary stone, means people should not be pushed off their land. Big business interests need to give way to people’s welfare. In particular, the real estate of indigenous people needs to be respected and restored where it has been stolen.   

We do well to think of ourselves as caretakers of the land and of our neighbours. With this in view, the idea of protecting fertile land, so it cannot be turned into housing or carparks but rather used to grow crops, is a sensible one. 

The command to not steal also applies to paying a fair price for things. If land is being sold under a mortgagee sale, that is no excuse to drive the price lower in order to get it for a steal (as the saying goes). As believers we need to pay what it is worth. That is what it means to be generous and not greedy.

So, generally speaking, as long as no one is being taken advantage of, it’s okay to buy and sell land in New Zealand today. In any property transaction though, we need to be thinking of how that transaction will affect others.

For Christians, the Promised Land of Canaan is a symbol or a metaphor for the Kingdom of God. Through faith in Jesus we get a share in God’s kingdom. As believers in Christ we are meant to be more attached to Jesus than we are to land. God is our eternal home, our place to belong.

So, not moving a boundary stone (in a spiritual sense) means not abandoning our faith in Jesus. It means not selling out for some temporary short term gain. It means staying loyal to God, like Naboth did.      

Security, not anxiety:

Closely related to this principle of generosity is the idea of security. In Deuteronomy 23 we read…

²⁴ If you enter your neighbour’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. ²⁵ If you enter your neighbour’s grain field, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to their standing grain.

These verses help us to see where the line is drawn between reasonable use and theft. The spirit of the law here is to encourage land owners to be generous, not stingy. At the same time, the law provides a measure of food security for the poor. Generosity and security are held together in these verses.  

In a by-gone era people who were starving in Europe got sent to jail (or to Australia) for stealing a loaf of bread or a handful of potatoes. This kind of hard line punishment against the poor, who are already in a vulnerable position, is not condoned by the Bible. 

That said, I don’t think you can help yourself to grapes and apples when you are walking through the fresh produce section of the supermarket.

It is Moses’ intention to promote security, not anxiety. In Deuteronomy 24 we find another example of food security…

¹⁹ When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 

The Lord Almighty (Yahweh) was generous to his people up front, without them having to do anything to earn his favour. The farmers were to pay Yahweh’s generosity forward by leaving plenty of produce in the field for the poor to collect. Boaz famously did this for Ruth.     

I guess we do something similar when we leave garage sale items outside for the wider community to help themselves to.

When the principles of generosity and security are practiced, the poor do not need to be anxious. Of course, being poor or in need is not the only cause of stealing. Some people will steal anything, without any good reason.

Here, at church, we’ve had brass door latches taken, small shrubs stolen out of the garden and copper pinched off the roof. I’m not sure why people would steal from a church? What I do know is that the cost of those thefts was far greater than the value of the items stolen.

Quite apart from the physical damage burglars do to a building, on forcing entry, there is also the damage a burglary does to one’s soul. I’m talking about the erosion of trust, the heightened anxiety you might experience going into an empty building at night and that feeling of being violated in some way.

Thieves don’t just take your stuff; they can potentially rob you of your peace of mind. Who wants to live in a society where you are always looking over your shoulder, always second guessing your neighbour’s motivation?   

By the same token, when someone takes care of your stuff, it has a restorative effect on your soul. It helps you regain some capacity to trust. It makes you feel more positively connected, more at home in the neighbourhood.

In Deuteronomy 22, we read…

If you see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to its owner… 

It is not enough simply to avoid stealing. We need to actively protect our neighbour’s stuff. This is about being your brother (or sister’s) keeper. It’s about providing security and reducing anxiety in the neighbourhood.

Probably the worst kind of theft is kidnapping. Taking another human being against their will in order to exploit them in some way. This is also known as people trafficking or slavery.

Literally hundreds of thousands of people are trafficked throughout the world each year. Some are forced into the sex trade and others are made to do manual labour for next to nothing. People trafficking is revolting to God.  

In the case of stolen goods, the law of Moses stipulates that what was stolen be replaced at least two fold. But for the one who steals other people, the prescribed punishment is death. That is how serious it is.   

I don’t expect anyone here is a slave trader as such but we have probably all purchased an item of clothing made by an exploited worker at some point. Perhaps the least any of us can do is buy fair trade goods whenever we can.

The problem is we are disconnected from the supply chain. So it is often impossible to know if we are making ethical purchases.

The slave trade is the opposite of God’s law. Kidnapping for exploitation is greed in an extreme form. It threatens the life of those who are enslaved and it creates anxiety in those who wish to do the right thing.

No one is beyond God’s redemption though. Although Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, Joseph was (in the end) able to forgive his brothers saying: What you intended for harm, God intended for good.    

Trust, not threat:  

Okay, so the purpose of God’s command to not steal is to encourage generosity not greed, to promote security not anxiety and to foster trust not threat within the neighbourhood.

Poverty was a real threat for some in ancient Israel. God’s concern and practical care for the poor is seen again and again in Deuteronomy.

For example, in chapter 24, verses 14-15, we read: ¹⁴ Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy… ¹⁵ Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it.

Sometimes the rich and middle class don’t have too many clues about how the poor live day to day. We may be completely unaware of the realities our neighbours face. God’s law requires us to put ourselves in other people’s shoes and consider things from their perspective.

We need to be thinking, how can I promote security in my neighbourhood? How can I alleviate my neighbour’s anxiety? How can I promote trust? Paying a fair rate in a timely way helps with all three.   

Sometimes, when it is difficult to make ends meet, people may be forced to borrow money. The law of Moses prohibited charging interest on loans to fellow Israelites, although they could charge interest to foreigners.

This might seem like a double standard to us but in all likelihood the foreigners Moses had in mind here were probably not poor. They might be merchants who bought and sold goods for profit. 

So the distinction is between commercial loans and compassionate loans. It is okay to charge a reasonable rate of interest on commercial loans because the borrower is not hard up and they are using your money to make a profit.

But it’s not okay to charge interest on compassionate loans to the poor because that would be profiting from someone else’s misfortune. That would be like stealing from the poor.

A compassionate loan lets people keep their dignity because they are going to pay it back, it’s not charity. At the same time, an interest free loan is generous not greedy. It promotes security and reduces anxiety in the neighbourhood.

Whether the lending is commercial or compassionate, these verses warn against loan sharking and charging unfair rates of interest.

But there is also an encouragement, for those who can afford it, to offer small interest free loans to help family members or fellow believers who are in need. Of course, common sense dictates that you should never lend more than you can afford to lose.       

In verse 6, of Deuteronomy 24, Moses talks about security for debt and how lenders are to relate with those who have borrowed from them. That is, in a trusting way, not in a threatening way. Moses says…

⁶ Do not take a pair of millstones—not even the upper one—as security for a debt, because that would be taking a person’s livelihood as security.

And, in verses 12-13 we read:¹² If the neighbour is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession. ¹³ Return their cloak by sunset so that your neighbour may sleep in it… 

To take someone’s millstone as security for a debt was like taking their fry pan or their bread mixer. It was a threatening thing to do, because without a millstone the poor borrower couldn’t make bread.

Taking a poor man’s cloak as pledge was also a threatening thing to do. Without their cloak they might be too cold to sleep at night.

Moses wants to prevent the haves from intimidating the have nots. He wants people to use their power (their money) to help the poor. This requires lenders to trust God and not threaten people by taking things that are vital for their survival.

Yes, there will be times when you lend to someone and they won’t repay you. Nevertheless, God will act as guarantor for the financially vulnerable. If you loan money in good faith to help someone in need and they fail to repay you, the Lord will see that and credit it to you as a righteous act.

Trust, not threat is the purpose or the kaupapa at work in the law here.  

Another form of theft (which undermines trust) is the use of dishonest weights. Scales that disadvantage the buyer. In Deuteronomy 25, Moses says: ¹⁵ You must have accurate and honest weights and measures… ¹⁶ For the Lord your God detests anyone who deals dishonestly.

In today’s terms that means more than just having accurate scales. It means not winding the odometer back when selling a second hand car. It means not misleading people about the discount they are getting by inflating the retail price. It means not skimping on the meat in a steak and cheese pie. It means not pumping chickens with water to make them heavier. It means being honest with nutritional information on labels.   

Honest weights support trust. Dishonest weights threaten trust. 

Conclusion:

This morning we have heard how the command not to steal applies in a variety of areas of life. The purpose with this command is to promote generosity and discourage greed. The intention is to create a sense of security in the neighbourhood and reduce anxiety. You shall not steal is also about fostering trust between people and preventing threat.

When we look at the life and ministry of Jesus, we notice the Lord was not really that attached to material possessions. His main concern was for eternal life with God the Father. Following this train of thought, our greatest love needs to Jesus, for it is in and through Christ that we have eternal life with God. 

When we are more attached to Jesus than things like money, cars, clothes, houses and furniture, then material possessions will hold less sway over us. It’s not that material things are bad. They are useful and we still need them in this world. But at the end of the day we will lose all that stuff anyway. You can’t take it with you. But nothing invested in God’s kingdom is ever lost.

Let us pray…

Gracious God, thank you for your generosity to us. May we be generous like you. Forgive us for the times we have threatened the poor, through our own ignorance and self-interest. Forgive those who have stolen our stuff, robbed our peace of mind and undermined our trust. Holy Spirit, strengthen our attachment to Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

• What was the world like when you were growing up as a child? How is it different today?

• Have you been through the experience of being robbed? What happened? How did you feel / respond? Conversely, have you ever stolen from others? Why did you do this? How did stealing affect you?

• How might the command not to move your neighbour’s boundary stone apply to us today?

• In what ways did the law of Moses provide security for the poor? What can we do to strengthen security and reduce anxiety in our neighbourhoods today?

• Why is the slave trade (kidnapping) so offensive to God?  When is it okay to charge interest on loans and when is it not okay?

• What practical things can we do to strengthen our attachment to Jesus?