THE EIGHTH OF THE BIG TEN: HONORING OTHERS’ POSSESSIONS
Exodus 20:15
Rev. Paul Wrightman 10/8/23
WE CONTINUE OUR SERMON SERIES ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS,
FOLLOWING THE LEAD OF OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
WHO HAVE ALWAYS LOOKED AT WHAT WE CHRISTIANS CALL
THE “TEN COMMANDMENTS” AS TEN ESSENTIAL WORDS-OF-LIFE,
GIVEN TO US BY GOD OUT OF LOVE.
CONTEMPORARY WESTERN CULTURE
TENDS TO SEE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN A NEGATIVE LIGHT,
AS LIMITATIONS ON OUR FREEDOM.
THIS IS BECAUSE CONTEMPORARY WESTERN CULTURE
DEFINES FREEDOM AS “FREEDOM TO,”
FUNDAMENTALLY, FREEDOM TO DO WHATEVER I WANT.
THE JUDAEO-CHRISTIAN DEFINITION OF FREEDOM
IS “FREEDOM FOR,” FREEDOM FOR THE DEEPEST GOOD
OF THE OTHER, FREEDOM FOR THE DEEPEST GOOD OF MYSELF.
THE WORD-OF-LIFE THAT WE’RE CONSIDERING THIS MORNING
SOUNDS DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE: “YOU SHALL NOT STEAL.”
AS WE SHALL SEE SHORTLY, WHEN WE LOOK AT
THIS TEACHING OR INSTRUCTION IN ITS ORIGINAL SETTING,
IT IS ANYTHING BUT SIMPLE,
BEING MUCH MORE LIKE A HEFTY ROCK
THROWN INTO THE MIDDLE OF A LAKE WHICH CREATES
A CROWD OF CONCENTRIC CIRCLES,
EACH CIRCLE, IN THIS METAPHOR,
STANDING FOR AN ADDITIONAL RANGE OF MEANING
RADIATING FROM THIS BASIC WORD-OF-LIFE: NO STEALING.
I’M MAKING THE ASSUMPTION THAT NONE OF US
HERE IN CHURCH THIS MORNING ENGAGES IN
ONE OF THE BEGINNING CIRCLES OF MEANING OF THEFT:
TAKING SOMETHING THAT WE CAN SEE
THAT DOESN’T BELONG TO US.
BUT I SUSPECT THAT ALL OF US ARE GUILTY
OF DISREGARDING THIS COMMANDMENT
FURTHER DOWN THE LINE OF CIRCLES OF MEANING;
NAMELY, TAKING FROM ANOTHER
THE OPPORTUNITY TO LOVE DEEPLY.
AND SINCE THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS SERMON SERIES
IS TO HELP US TO FACE OURSELVES PRECISELY AT THOSE POINTS
WHERE WE NEED TO BE CHALLENGED,
WE WILL BEGIN WITH ONE OF THE FURTHER REACHES OF MEANING
AND THEN WORK OUR WAY BACK TO WHERE
THE HEFTY ROCK OF “NO STEALING” FIRST HIT THE WATER.
DR. RACHEL NAOMI REMEN, M.D.,
WHO CREDITS MUCH OF HER WISDOM
TO LEARNING TO WALK IN THE WAY OF HER RABBI-GRANDFATHER,
SHARES THE FOLLOWING STORY IN HER BOOK,
MY GRANDFATHER’S BLESSINGS.
YOU MAY RECOGNIZE THIS ILLUSTRATION,
WHICH I'VE USED BEFORE, BUT IN A DIFFERENT CONTEXT.
IT IS THE BEST ILLUSTRATION OF THE DEEPER MEANING
OF STEALING THAT I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS.
SHE WRITES:
“LONG AGO, THE LITTLE SON OF MY FRIENDS AND I
BECAME QUITE GOOD FRIENDS OURSELVES.
A LOT OF THE TIME WE PLAYED WITH HIS TWO TINY CARS,
RUNNING THEM FROM WINDOWSILL TO WINDOWSILL,
PARKING THEM AND RACING THEM
AND TELLING EACH OTHER ALL THE WHILE
WHAT WE IMAGINED WE PASSED “ON THE ROAD.’
SOMETIMES I WOULD HAVE THE ONE WITH THE CHIPPED WHEEL.
SOMETIMES HE WOULD HAVE IT.
IT WAS GREAT FUN, AND I LOVED THIS LITTLE BOY DEARLY.
AT THAT TIME THESE LITTLE HOT WHEELS CARS
WERE AVIDLY COLLECTED BY MOST SIX-YEAR-OLD BOYS.
KENNY DREAMED OF THEM AND I YEARNED TO BUY HIM MORE,
BUT I COULD NOT THINK OF A WAY OF DOING THIS
WITHOUT EMBARRASSING MY FRIENDS.
KENNY’S FATHER WAS AN ARTIST AND A LAY PREACHER,
AND HIS MOTHER WAS A HOUSEWIFE
WHO BROUGHT BEAUTY TO EVERYTHING SHE TOUCHED.
THEY LIVED VERY RICHLY INDEED BUT THEY HAD LITTLE MONEY.
THEN ONE OF THE MAJOR GAS COMPANIES
BEGAN A HOT WHEELS GIVEAWAY: A CAR WITH EVERY FILL-UP.
I WAS DELIGHTED.
QUICKLY I PERSUADED THE ENTIRE CLINIC STAFF
TO BUY THIS BRAND OF GAS FOR A MONTH,
AND ORGANIZED ALL TWENTY OF US WITH CHECKLISTS,
SO THAT WE WOULD NOT GET TWO FIRE ENGINES
OR PORSCHES OR VOLKSWAGENS.
IN A MONTH WE ACCUMULATED
ALL THE HOT WHEELS CARS THEN MADE,
AND I GAVE THEM TO KENNY IN A BIG BOX.
THEY FILLED EVERY WINDOWSILL IN THE LIVING ROOM,
AND THEN. . .HE STOPPED PLAYING WITH THEM.
PUZZLED, I ASKED HIM WHY HE DID NOT LIKE HIS CARS ANYMORE.
HE LOOKED AWAY AND IN A QUIVERY VOICE HE SAID,
‘I DON’T KNOW HOW TO LOVE THIS MANY CARS, RACHEL.’”
(REPEAT)
DR. REMEN CONCLUDES THIS PART OF HER STORY BY SAYING:
“I WAS STUNNED.
EVER SINCE, I HAVE BEEN CAREFUL TO BE SURE NOT TO HAVE
MORE HOT WHEELS THAN I CAN LOVE.”
(Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., My Grandfather’s Blessings, pp. 43-44)
THE INCREDIBLE IRONY OF THE SITUATION DID NOT ESCAPE HER.
DR. REMEN REALIZED THAT IN OVERWHELMING
HER SIX-YEAR-OLD FRIEND WITH TOO MANY TOY CARS,
SHE HAD ACTUALLY ROBBED HIM OF THE EXPERIENCE
OF LOVING A FEW CARS DEEPLY.
AND SHE WAS WISE ENOUGH TO TURN THIS EXPERIENCE
INTO A TEACHING – AND LEARNING – PARABLE FOR HERSELF:
“EVER SINCE, I HAVE BEEN CAREFUL TO BE SURE NOT TO HAVE
MORE HOT WHEELS THAN I CAN LOVE.”
METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING,
HAVING MORE HOT WHEELS THAN WE CAN LOVE,
IS, I BELIEVE, ONE OF THE MAJOR WAYS
IN WHICH WE CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS
DISREGARD GOD’S FOUNDATIONAL TEACHING
“YOU SHALL NOT STEAL.”
IN GIVING OTHERS,
OFTEN OUR OWN CHILDREN AND GRANDSHILDREN,
MORE HOT WHEELS THAN THEY CAN LOVE,
WE ARE ROBBING THEM OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO LOVE DEEPLY.
AND IN GIVING OURSELVES
MORE HOT WHEELS THAN WE CAN LOVE,
WE ARE ROBBING OURSELVES
OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO LOVE DEEPLY.
NOW LET’S GO BACK IN TIME A FEW THOUSAND YEARS
AND TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT THIS COMMANDMENT,
WHAT THIS WORD-OF-LIFE-FROM-GOD,
MEANT IN ITS ORIGINAL TIME AND PLACE,
WHAT IT MEANT IN ITS ORIGINAL CONTEXT.
I WAS SURPRISED AND SHOCKED TO LEARN
THAT IN THE BEGINNING THE COMMANDMENT AGAINST STEALING
WAS NOT ABOUT STEALING STUFF, BUT ABOUT STEALING PEOPLE.
WITH THE WISDOM OF HINDSIGHT, WHAT WOULD ONE EXPECT?
AFTER ALL, BEFORE THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT,
THE HEBREWS HAD BEEN SLAVES,
A PEOPLE WHOSE FREEDOM HAD BEEN STOLEN,
A PEOPLE WHO, IN A VERY REAL SENSE, HAD BEEN STOLEN
BY A STRONGER GROUP OF PEOPLE.
GOD WAS DETERMINED TO GIVE THESE RECENTLY-FREED SLAVES
A VISION OF A RADICALLY DIFFERENT WAY
OF CONSTITUTING THEMSELVES AS A PEOPLE.
THIS VISION CONSISTED, IN LARGE PART,
OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, OR TEN LIFE-GIVING WORDS,
WORDS THAT, IF FOLLOWED,
WOULD TEACH THE PEOPLE HOW TO BE TRULY FREE,
FREE AS A SOCIETY,
AND FREE AS INDIVIDUALS WITHIN THAT SOCIETY.
AND AN ESSENTIAL COMMANDMENT, AN ESSENTIAL TEACHING
FOR THE FOUNDING OF THAT NEW SOCIETY WAS:
NO MORE STEALING PEOPLE.
THROUGHOUT THE TORAH,
THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES,
GOD IS CONSTANTLY REMINDING
THE PEOPLE OF THEIR PAST AS SLAVES IN EGYPT.
BECAUSE THEY KNOW THE HORROR OF SLAVERY FIRSTHAND,
THEY ARE NEVER, EVER, TO ENSLAVE OTHERS.
THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF THIS COMMANDMENT,
NEVER, EVER, TO MAKE SLAVES OF OTHERS,
GIVEN MORE THAN THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO,
IS SURPRISINGLY RELEVANT TODAY,
ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE OF US WHO LIVE IN FIRST-WORLD NATIONS
AND LARGELY LIVE OFF THE ECONOMIC SLAVERY –
INCLUDING THE ECONOMIC SLAVERY
OF MILLIONS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN --
OF THOSE WHO LIVE IN THIRD-WORLD NATIONS
AND WHOSE DIRT-CHEAP LABOR ENABLES US TO ENJOY
OUR HIGH STANDARD OF LIVING.
VERY EARLY ON – WE CAN SEE THE EXPANSION
IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES THEMSELVES –
THE ORIGINAL COMMANDMENT AGAINST STEALING PEOPLE
TAKES ON ADDITIONAL CIRCLES OF MEANING TO INCLUDE
NOT STEALING SOMETHING – SUCH AS A HORSE OR AN OX –
THAT WAS ESSENTIAL TO THE LIVELIHOOD OF ONE’S NEIGHBOR.
MORE CONCENTRIC CIRCLES OF MEANING SOON FOLLOWED
IN THE FORM OF EMPLOYERS BEING COMMANDED
TO GIVE THEIR WORKERS A LIVING WAGE,
AND NOT ENSLAVING OTHERS ECONOMICALLY
THROUGH THE CHARGING OF INTEREST.
THE MOST BASIC CIRCLE OF MEANING OF “NO STEALING,”
WAS THE UNDERSTANDING THAT GOD
WAS THE ULTIMATE OWNER OF EVERYTHING.
ALL THAT IS GIVEN TO US IS, IF EFFECT,
GIVEN TO US “ON LOAN” FROM GOD,
WHO TRUSTS US TO BE GOOD STEWARDS
OF THE GIFTS WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN,
VERY MUCH INCLUDING THE GIFT OF THE EARTH ITSELF.
AS AN EXPRESSION OF THANKSGIVING TO THIS GOD
WHO HAS BLESSED US SO ABUNDANTLY
FROM GOD’S OWN ABUNDANCE,
IN THE HEBREWS SCRIPTURES
THERE WAS ALSO SOME STRONG TEACHING TO THE EFFECT
THAT PEOPLE WERE EXPECTED TO IMAGE, OR REFLECT,
GOD’S OWN ABUNDANCE
BY GIVING BACK TO GOD ABUNDANTLY.
IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES, A GIFT OF TEN PERCENT
WAS CONSIDERED TO BE THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM
IN TERMS OF SUPPORTING GOD’S WORK IN THE WORLD.
ANYTHING ABOVE THAT TEN PERCENT MINIMUM
WAS CONSIDERED TO BE THE REAL THANK-OFFERING.
GIVEN THE RADICAL SCOPE OF THE ORIGINAL COMMANDMENT,
AND THE EQUALLY RADICAL EXPANDING CIRCLES OF MEANING
RADIATING FROM IT,
IT SHOULD BE QUITE CLEAR
THAT ALL OF US IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER,
MOST OF US IN MULTIPLE WAYS,
ARE LIVING IN DISOBEDIENCE
TO THIS LIFE-GIVING WORD FROM GOD.
INDEED, THE SHEER MAGNITUDE OF OUR BROKENNESS
IN REGARD TO THIS TEACHING CAN OVERWHELM US
AND LEAD US TO THROW UP OUR HANDS
IN RESIGNED HELPLESSNESS.
THIS IS WHERE THE PRACTICE OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
CAN COME TO OUR RESCUE.
SPECIFICALLY WITH REGARD
TO THIS EIGHTH LIFE-GIVING WORD FROM GOD, “NO STEALING,”
THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES OF DETACHMENT AND SIMPLICITY
CAN BECOME FOR US A PATH BACK TO LIFE.
INDEED, THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
OF DETACHMENT AND SIMPLICITY ARE SO CRITICAL
THAT MANY SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS IN OUR DAY
WOULD SAY THAT THERE IS NO WAY FROM THEFT TO GENEROSITY
EXCEPT BY WAY OF DETACHMENT AND SIMPLICITY.
THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE OF DETACHMENT
IS GROUNDED IN THE DESIRE TO NURTURE IN ONESELF
THE SPIRIT OF TRUST THAT IS ATTACHED TO GOD ALONE.
IT CAN BE DESCRIBED AS THE PROCESS
OF LETTING GO OF SELF-SERVING GOALS AND AGENDAS
FOR SUCCESS, MONEY, POWER, EGO, PRODUCTIVITY, AND IMAGE.
ONE OF THE SIGNIFICANT SCRIPTURE TEXTS
THAT INSPIRED DETACHMENT AS A SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE
IS LUKE 12:15, WHERE JESUS WARNS:
“TAKE CARE! PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST THE LEAST BIT OF GREED.
LIFE IS NOT DEFINED BY WHAT YOU HAVE,
EVEN WHEN YOU HAVE A LOT.”
AS WITH ALL SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES,
THE ONLY POWER GREAT ENOUGH TO OVERPOWER
A DESIRE THAT HAS BECOME DESTRUCTIVE
IS TO DESIRE SOMETHING THAT IS EVEN MORE POWERFUL.
IN THE CASE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS,
THE ONLY POWER, THE ONLY DESIRE
STRONG ENOUGH TO ENABLE US TO KEEP THEM
IS OUR WHOLEHEARTED DESIRE TO BE IN A
LIFE-GIVING RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
NOTHING LESS WILL DO.
ASKING FOR AND RELYING ON THE POWER
OF EMMANUEL, GOD-WITH-US,
ASKING FOR AND RELYING ON THE POWER
OF GOD’S SPIRIT IN US,
WE WILL MAKE AN ATTACHMENT INVENTORY,
NAMING AND LISTING ALL THE THINGS,
ALL THE THOUGHTS AND ATTITUDES,
AND ALL THE RELATIONSHIPS
THAT, IN ALL HONESTY,
WE ARE ATTACHED TO MORE THAN GOD.
THEN WE WILL FACE THESE ATTACHMENTS ONE-AT-A-TIME
AND ASK GOD FOR THE DESIRE TO REALIGN OUR PRIORITIES
SO THAT GOD COMES FIRST AND EVERYTHING ELSE COMES SECOND.
THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE OF SIMPLICITY
HELPS US TO PUT THE DISCIPLINE OF DETACHMENT INTO PRACTICE.
THE DISCIPLINE OF SIMPLICITY IS BASED ON THE DESIRE
TO UNCOMPLICATE AND UNTANGLE OUR LIVES
SO THAT WE CAN FOCUS ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS.
SIMPLICITY CULTIVATES THE ART OF LETTING GO.
IT AIMS AT LOOSENING INORDINATE ATTACHMENTS
TO OWNING AND HAVING.
SIMPLICITY CREATES
MARGINS AND SPACES AND OPENNESS IN OUR LIVES.
SIMPLICITY BRINGS FREEDOM AND WITH IT GENEROSITY.
A FEW PLACES WHERE THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE OF SIMPLICITY
WOULD HELP TO UNCLUTTER AND UNCOMPLICATE
OUR CLUTTERRED AND COMPLICATED LIVES
WOULD BE TO PRACTICE SPEAKING THE SIMPLE, UNADORNED TRUTH,
TO TAKE AN INVENTORY OF ALL OUR POSSESSIONS
AND TO GIVE AWAY ALL THOSE THAT WE NO LONGER
NEED OR USE,
AND TO TAKE AN INVENTORY OF ALL THE WAYS
IN WHICH OUR PREOCCUPATION
WITH POSSESSIONS, POWER, AND PRESTIGE
HAS ROBBED THE PEOPLE IN OUR LIVES WHOM WE LOVE,
INCLUDING GOD, OF OUR TIME, COMMITMENT, AND FOCUS.
I’D LIKE TO FINISH THIS SERMON BY RETURNING TO THE WISDOM
OF DR. RACHEL NAOMI REMEN.
THE SERMON BEGAN WITH HER STORY ABOUT
HER OVERWHELMING HER YOUNG FRIEND
WITH SO MANY HOT WHEEELS
THAT HE WAS PUSHED TO SAY TO HER:
“I DON’T KNOW HOW TO LOVE THIS MANY CARS, RACHEL.”
THAT WAS ONLY THE FIRST HALF OF THE STORY.
DR. REMEN CONTINUES:
“MANY PEOPLE HAVE TOO MANY HOT WHEELS TO LOVE.
IT CAN MAKE YOU FEEL EMPTY.
A WOMAN WHO FOUND A NEW LIFE AFTER HAVING CANCER
ONCE TOLD ME THAT BEFORE SHE BECAME SICK
SHE HAD ALWAYS FELT EMPTY.
‘THAT’S WHY I NEEDED TO HAVE MORE AND MORE THINGS.
I KEPT ACCUMUMATING MORE AND MORE GOODS,
MORE AND MORE BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS,
MORE AND MORE PEOPLE,
WHICH ONLY MADE EVERYTHING WORSE
BECAUSE THE MORE I ACCULUMATED
THE LESS I EXPERIENCED.
HAVE EVERYTHING, EXPERIENCE NOTHING.
YOU COULD HAVE PUT THAT RIGHT ON MY FRONT DOOR.
AND ALL THE TIME I THOUGHT I WAS EMPTY
BECAUSE I DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH.’
THE CHANGE HAD STARTED WITH A BATHROBE,
ONE OF THE FEW THINGS SHE HAD TAKEN WITH HER
TO THE HOSPITAL FOR HER CANCER SURGERY.
EVERY MORNING, SHE WOULD PUT IT ON,
REALLY ENJOYING HOW SOFT IT WAS,
ITS BEAUTIFUL COLOR,
THE WAY IT MOVED AROUND HER WHEN SHE MOVED…
‘ONE MORNING AS I WAS PUTTING IT ON
I HAD AN OVERWHELMING SENSE OF GRATITUDE,’ SHE TOLD ME.
SHE LOOKED AT ME, SLIGHTLY EMBARRASSED.
‘I KNOW THIS SOUNDS FUNNY,
BUT I FELT SO LUCKY JUST TO HAVE IT.
BUT THE ODD PART, RACHEL, IS THAT IT WASN’T NEW,’ SHE TOLD ME.
‘I HAD OWNED IT AND WORN IT NOW AND THEN
FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS.
POSSIBLY BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF
THE FIVE BATHROBES IN MY CLOSET,
I HAD NEVER REALLY SEEN IT BEFORE.’
WHEN SHE FINISHED CHEMOTHERAPY,
THIS WOMAN HELD A HUGE GARAGE SALE
AND SOLD MORE THAN HALF OF WHAT SHE OWNED.
SHE LAUGHS AND SAYS THAT HER FRIENDS
THOUGHT SHE HAD GONE ‘CHEMO-CRAZY,’
BUT DOING THIS HAD ENHANCED HER LIFE.
‘I HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS IN MY CLOSETS
OR WHAT WAS IN MY DRAWERS OR ON MY BOOKSHELVES.
I DID NOT REALLY KNOW HALF THE PEOPLE
WHOSE HOME NUMBERS WERE IN MY PHONE BOOK EITHER…
I HAVE FEWER THINGS NOW AND KNOW FEWER PEOPLE,
BUT I AM NOT EMPTY.
HAVING AND EXPERIENCING ARE VERY DIFFERENT.
HAVING WAS NEVER HAVING ENOUGH.’”
DR. REMEN CONCLUDES:
“WE SAT TOGETHER FOR A FEW MINUTES,
WATCHING THE SUN MAKING SHADOWS ON THE OFFICE RUG.
THEN SHE LOOKED UP.
‘PERHAPS WE ONLY REALLY HAVE AS MUCH AS WE CAN LOVE,’
SHE SAID.”
(Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., My Grandfather’s Blessings, pp. 44-45)
(REPEAT)
I CAN’T HELP BUT THINK THAT THE BEST WAY
TO HONOR GOD’S EIGHTH LIFE-GIVING WORD, “NO STEALING,”
LIES PRECISELY ALONG THESE LINES.
IF WE LIMIT WHAT WE HAVE TO WHAT WE LOVE,
AND LOVE GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART, MIND, SOUL, AND STRENGTH,
NOT ONLY WILL OUR PRIORITIES BE STRAIGHT,
BUT OUR LIVES WILL BE FILLED TO THE BRIM
WITH MEANING AND FULFILLMENT.
OUR LIVES WILL SIMPLY BE TOO FULL
FOR US TO WANT THE MEANING AND FULFILLMENT
THAT RIGHTFULLY BELONG TO OTHERS.
INSTEAD OF BEING TEMPTED TO STEAL WHAT IS THEIRS –
I’M THINKING AGAIN OF HOW WE
EXPLOIT WOMEN AND CHIILDREN IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES –
INSTEAD OF BEING TEMPTED TO STEAL WHAT IS THEIRS,
WE WILL WANT TO SHARE FROM THE SIMPLE ABUNDANCE
OF WHAT IS REALLY OURS.
AMEN.