Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost – A Review of the 7^th Commandment – August 30, 2009

 

Give Glory to God With All You Have!

Joshua 7

 

Some years ago, a few men went far into the wilderness of Alaska in search of gold.  There they came upon an abandoned miner’s cabin and upon entering it, found the skeletons of two men surrounded by a large amount of gold.  A letter was also found next to them that spoke of their successful hunt for gold and how they had become so obsessed with getting more that they ignored the early coming of winter.  Suddenly one day a fierce snowstorm struck.  Because of blizzard conditions they could not escape, their food ran out, and finally they lay down and died – surrounded by all that gold.

Of course, that wasn’t the first time someone lost their life on account of being in love with earthly stuff.  Remember Lot and his wife.  By the grace of God, they literally were dragged safely out of Sodom and Gomorrah.  They were commanded to flee for their lives and not look back!  But the appeal of what was left behind was too much for Lot’s wife and she looked back.  When she did, she became a pillar of salt.  She ended her life longing for something temporary and worthless.

It is a similar story we hear this morning in one of those lesser known Bible lessons of the Old Testament.  A man by the name of Achan tried to take what wasn’t his, and it also ended in his death.  Here’s what happened…Joshua had just finished the famous battle at Jericho—you know—the one where they marched around the city once a day for six days and on the seventh day they marched around it seven times.  After the seventh time they sounded the trumpets and gave a great shout and watched the walls “come tumblin’ down.”  And just like that, the city of Jericho was theirs!  Well, technically it was God’s.

All of the people in Jericho (except Rahab and her family) were killed and all of the silver, gold and plunder were to be devoted to the Lord.  The victory was God’s and so were the spoils.  They were to be devoted to the treasury of the Lord or be destroyed as a sacrifice to him.  Joshua had even warned the people, “Keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them.  Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it.  All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury” (Joshua 6:18-19).

But one man didn’t listen – that man was Achan.  He took some plunder and kept it for himself.  And I can only imagine his thoughts: What’s the big deal?  There is so much!  The people are dead.  It’s not like anyone’s going to miss it!  But the items he took were devoted to the Lord and so the results were devastating.  When the Israelites went to attack the city of Ai, which should have been an easy task, they were routed. 36 of their men were killed in battle and “the hearts of the people melted and became like water.”

“What went wrong?!” Joshua wondered.  And when he cried out to God this is what God said: “Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep.  They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. ^{ 12 That} is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction.  I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.”

The next day, when Joshua assembled the Israelites, God revealed which tribe was the guilty party.  It was Judah.  Next he revealed which clan of Judah, then which family of that clan.  Finally, God revealed which person of that family had taken the devoted things for himself - it was Achan.  And while he could have spoken up and confessed at any time during this lengthy process of revealing who the culprit was, he remained silent.  Only did he confess after Joshua finally said, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give him the praise. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”  Did he really think he could hide what he had done from God!? 

A swift and thorough justice was soon delivered. “Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan… the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.  Joshua said, ‘Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.’ Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them… Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger.”  And that day the made a memorial so all of Israel would learn from Achan’s bad example: as Luther put it, “A person who willfully ignores this commandment may indeed get by with it and evade the hangman, but God’s wrath and punishment he will not escape…Now, whoever is willing to listen, let him know that here is the commandment of God and that it is not meant for a joke.”  So learn today that this commandment is not to be taken lightly, but instead we are to give glory to God with all we have.

If you could go back and ask Achan as they were dragging him off to stone him, was it all worth it, I’m pretty sure he would tell you, “NO”!  What a vivid lesson this was for Israel concerning God’s commandment – You shall not steal!  And what a vivid lesson it is for us!  Yes, you heard me correctly.  What a vivid lesson for us!  You might like to think that you are nothing like Achan, having never broken into anybody’s home or tried to shoplift any items from any store without paying for it, but we are more like Achan than we would ever like to admit.  Martin Luther is still right on the button with his assessment, “When humankind is analyzed at all its levels, it turns out to be simply one great, wide warehouse full of superthieves.” 

You see, maybe we haven’t shoplifted, robbed a little old lady, or held up a bank, but in more subtle and just as serious ways we have.  We say we wouldn’t even think about stealing a DVD or CD from the store, but we don’t have any problems downloading it off illegal internet sites without paying for it.  We wouldn’t ever think of taking someone’s credit card number and using it to buy things we want, but we tell ourselves we can have a clear conscience even though we purposefully overcharge someone when selling something.  We wouldn’t even dream of taking petty cash from work, but we convince ourselves it won’t hurt anything to take a few office supplies.  No one will ever notice anyway, right?  Oh how much like Achan we really are!

In fact, even if you’ve never actually taken anything that wasn’t yours, you and I are still thieves.  You see, we break this commandment not only by what we do, but also by what we don’t do.  Tell me, do you always work your hardest at your job?  Or do you sometimes take a little extra break?  Do you ever take care of personal business while you’re on the clock?  Then you’ve stolen from your employer!  They are paying you to work, not to be lazy or do your own thing.  The money they paid you for the work you didn’t do really belongs to them. 

And if you are still feeling pretty good about yourselves, just wait, there’s more.  This commandment is also broken when you waste or mismanage the blessings that God has entrusted to you.  After all, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1).  So, you can break this commandment if God has given you the gifts and abilities to work, and has made work available to you, but you do not use your gifts and abilities to work.  In fact, elsewhere in Scripture God has said, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).  This commandment is broken when in selfishness we spend our money, never looking out for others and failing to help those in need.  And we know how easy it is to break this commandment when it comes to our offerings to God.  How often aren’t we guilty of setting aside our offerings with a me-first heart instead of joy filled willing heart longing to give proportionate firstfruits to the Lord? 

And finally, this commandment is also broken simply by attitudes – when we are dissatisfied, unhappy, or discontented with the blessings God has given.  After all, this commandment, like the rest, is kept or broken in the heart.  We must understand that greed is one of the most dangerous poisons known to man.  It tells us that the secret to happiness is having more stuff.  If a little is good, then a lot must be better!  But like saltwater, money and stuff can’t really ever satisfy.  They leave us craving more and finally kill – not the body, but the soul.  When we refuse to be content with the blessings God has given us, we really steal from God.  We may be able to hide our theft from everyone else, but we can not hide any sin from God!  He knows!  He knows our every sin!  So give glory to God and confess your sin to him.  Don’t try to hide them!  Don’t try to soft-pedal them!  Don’t try to excuse them!  And give glory to God, trusting that he has taken that sin away!

And he has!  He has taken every one of our sins against the seventh commandment away through Jesus.  Our gracious heavenly Father sent his only Son Jesus, who is true God, to be born as a human being and take on human flesh, so that he could also be true man.  As true God and true man, Jesus lived perfectly in our place.  Although he had no earthly wealth, no house or home, no land, he remained perfectly content.  When Satan tried to tempt him with the riches and wealth of the world, Jesus said, “Away from me.”  Then Jesus, determined to win our forgiveness, walked to Mt. Calvary and died on the cross with the world’s sin laid on him and God’s justice burning against him.  And there, as the Son of God, he paid for all our sin and guilt, and rose from the dead to declare us innocent.

And do you remember that Good Friday?  Do you remember who was crucified next to him?  It was a thief!  And do you remember what Jesus said to that thief?  “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 24:43).  In other words, Jesus said: “Every one of your sins has been paid for!  Every theft, every crime, every attitude of greed is erased and gone!  This forgiveness is yours by faith in me.  Through me you qualify to enter into my paradise of heaven!”  Friends, he has said the same to you and to me!  That’s why he came: to forgive the sins of thieves like that man on the cross, like me, like you.  Now, you will never experience the hell that you deserve for your sin and for your foolish attempts to cover it up!  Paradise is yours!

So, how can we thank Jesus for what he’s done for us?  Well, first of all, we will realize that Jesus didn’t die so that we can just keep on sinning.  Instead, he died so that we can learn to be content with what our Savior has given us.  When we understand that we are the richest people in the entire world because we have forgiveness through Jesus our Savior, we can be content.  When we understand and appreciate the paradise that he gives us even though we don’t deserve it, we can sing with all sincerity, “Take the world, but give me Jesus!”  He’s given us forgiveness!  He’s given us salvation!  He’s given us heaven! And on top of all that he’s given us shelter.  He’s given us clothes.  He’s given us more than enough food.  And he’s given us so much more on top of all of that.  So, why fill our days with chasing after more stuff we can’t take with us anyway! It’s like Paul said, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” (1 Timothy 6:7)  

And since the Lord has given us so much—especially that inheritance of glory in heaven—we can thank him by being generous with the blessings and possessions that he’s letting us manage.   Don’t be greedy and hoard it.  Use it to help and serve others.  Generously give your time and your offerings to his church to help others hear of his grace.  Cheerfully give of your wealth to support your family and those in need.  Don’t be wasteful, but good managers of God’s gifts.

And be content with what you have.  Because finally, when our life is over, when our good Lord has summoned us to heaven, it won’t matter how much stuff or fun you had, or how pleasant your retirement was.  It won’t matter to you how much you were able to leave to your kids.  But it will matter that through faith in Jesus, your every sin has been forgiven!  It will matter that the riches of heaven are yours!  It will matter when he says to you, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 24:43)  Rejoice, dear friends in the wealth that you have in Jesus and give glory to the Lord with all you have!  Amen.