Do Not Steal
Download MP3Good morning. Still morning, right? Technically? My name
Connor Coskery:is Caleb Chancey. I'm one of the elders here at Redeemer, and we're going through a series on the 10 Commandments. Before Joel left for his trip, he took me aside and he said, hey, Caleb, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but the weekend you're preaching, I don't think there's gonna be any on staff pastors there, which is a lie because Matt Francisco is here. But this week is not about lying. That's next week.
Connor Coskery:But he said, hey, because of that, you could probably say whatever you want. So with that, we're gonna all say the 10 Commandments together and we're gonna get into it. We're state we're stating the 10 Commandments each week to let these words sink into our hearts because these words are good. And so they're gonna be up on the screen here, and if you that was like magic. They're gonna open the screen here and if you will repeat these words with me, that would be wonderful.
Connor Coskery:You shall have no Let's pray together. Father, your love for us is great, And we thank you for the time we get to be together as sisters and brothers. We ask that you would be here present with us during this time, and you would do the thing that only you can do, which is to declare forgiveness of sins, and remind us of your deep love for sinners. Finally, Lord, we ask that you'd be with the one who preaches, for his sins are many. We pray this all in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Connor Coskery:Amen. So taking Joel's words to heart, that I can say whatever I want. Let's talk about Zack Snyder's The Justice League. If you don't know what Zack Snyder's The Justice League is, congratulations. You're a normal human being, but buckle up because a nerd's about to drop some knowledge for 3 minutes.
Connor Coskery:Zack Snyder, admittedly not my favorite director, but one who has a very clear vision and style for his films, was brought on by Warner Brothers and by DC Comics to make a trilogy of films. The first was Man of Steel, the origin of Superman. The second was Batman v Superman or Batman versus Superman. A film that was teased 9 years earlier in the Will Smith movie, I Am Legend. That fact is for free.
Connor Coskery:The third film that he was set to make was the Justice League. And the Justice League was going to be the film that launched the entire DC Cinematic Universe. Well, the first two films came out. They weren't that good. You can fight me afterwards.
Connor Coskery:But, the 3rd film, that was the one we were waiting on. It was gonna make everything make sense. And it was during the production of this film that an incredible tragedy struck Zack Snyder and his family. And this tragedy I know that some of you here are going to relate to on a very specific level. But I know that all of you are probably going to relate to it on some level.
Connor Coskery:It was during the production of the Justice League that Zack Snyder's daughter, Autumn, after many years of struggling with depression, took her own life. And Zack Snyder tried to deal with this grief by throwing himself into his work, but that wouldn't work. He knew he needed to leave the project. He knew he needed to be with his family to sit in the sadness and grieve. Well, this left DC and Warner Brothers in a situation.
Connor Coskery:They had a little bit of the film left to finish. They needed to bring on another director. So what they who they brought on was Joss Wheaton. And you would be hard pressed to find somebody more polar opposite from Zack Snyder as Joss Wheaton as far as vision and style goes. And the result, after many reshoots and what I imagine was just boxes of double sided tape and crazy glue, was the worst film ever made.
Connor Coskery:And this is coming from someone who's seen Titanic 2. So, why was the movie so bad? Well, primarily it's because up on the screen was a war of 2 visions. And yes, Josh Wheaton's vision for the film included some of Zack Snyder's original scenes and some of Zack Snyder's original words. But the vision had been so corrupted that the resulting film was just a shadow of what had been promised to the fans.
Connor Coskery:And the fans saw Josh Wheaton's Justice League and they were furious. And so the nerds did what we do best, we took to the internet and started yelling. Release Zack Snyder's original vision. Hashtag release the Snyder cut rang out in the social media zeitgeist for 4 years. And a couple months ago, it happened.
Connor Coskery:Warner Brothers released Zack Snyder's original vision. Zack Snyder's original 6 hour vision. And it's not gonna be a movie I recommend from the pulpit, but as we established earlier, I could say whatever I wanted. But I will say this, it was a lot better than the first one. It was while promoting his Justice League that Zack Snyder started opening up about his grief.
Connor Coskery:He started referencing and talking about conversations that he had with his daughter, Autumn, earlier on. Those late night, hard conversations. She was always questioning her worth, he said. What is my worth? What am I supposed to do?
Connor Coskery:What am I even about? When we come to the giving of the law to the children of Israel in Exodus, it's a good idea to remind ourselves who the children of Israel are at this point in the story and what they've been through. In Genesis 15, God tells Abram what's going to happen to his descendants. He says, know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, And they're gonna be servants there. They will be afflicted for 400 years.
Connor Coskery:And in Exodus 12, we get the exact number of years. The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. See, if we just open our bible to the 10 commandments, and we wanna try to just apply them to our lives as a moral code to just be better people, or use them as some divine measuring stick to see how close we are to God, essentially what we would be doing is rewriting the story leading up to it. We'd be casting our own vision of why God gave the 2 commandments. And, yes, our vision would have some of the same scenes, and some of the same language maybe.
Connor Coskery:But the vision we would be living would be just a shadow of what God is calling us to here. The Israelites were not hunting in the desert for a moral code to measure themselves against. They weren't looking for a system to compare themselves to others. They are an oppressed people who have been afflicted for 430 years. When they're freed from Egypt, they have no idea how to be a free people.
Connor Coskery:They've been abused and beaten and crushed. And if someone equates you and your worth to nothing for 430 years, that sinks in. The children of Israel are at the base of Mount Sinai, and they are confused, terrified, and free. What is our worth? What are we supposed to do?
Connor Coskery:What are we about? Who is this God who freed us? And what does freedom even mean? God gives the 10 Commandments to a broken people to show them how to be God's people. Yes.
Connor Coskery:To show them how they should act like a free people. Yes. But the giving of the law also reveals a deeper and incredibly harder truth about the human condition. See, the children of Israel were slaves for over 400 years. But the Egyptians and the children of Israel, And in fact, the entire world had been slaves to something much larger for much longer.
Connor Coskery:And it all started with the first theft in the Garden of Eden. So the bible talks about the different types of theft and stealing. And we get a good list of laws that are really practical to the Israelites in Exodus 22. And these laws are things like, what happens if someone steals my goat? What happen if someone steals my ox?
Connor Coskery:What if somebody breaks into my house during the night? What about during the day? What if I light a campfire and I set my friend's field on fire? It's a page turner. You should check it out.
Connor Coskery:It's great. And these these laws concerning theft are all concerning this primary definition of what it means to steal. And it's this, to steal is to take someone else's property unjustly. The unjust taking of somebody else's possessions. And this is the primary view that I think, much like murder, we kind of get behind in some ways.
Connor Coskery:We kind of get. If you were to ask a kid, like, what does it mean to steal? He would basically tell you that. If you ask a kid, like, hey, what is a thief? You know, she'll say she'll basically describe like a cat burglar or whatever.
Connor Coskery:There's just like a sneaky person that steals things and not what I thought when I was a kid, which is that it's a cat that steals jewels, or it's a burglar who just steals cats. A very specific burglar. But as the Bible is revealing its definitions of what it means to steal and what theft is, it's also revealing to us something else. It's showing us what does it mean to actually possess something. What is the heavenly view to possess?
Connor Coskery:And I think that if we were to act self righteous, we're gonna jump to, oh, well, we just shouldn't have known anything. Should we? We should just give it all away. Should just give it all away. And if we jump to that, we're gonna do the same thing we talked about earlier.
Connor Coskery:We won't be seeking the Lord as to what he says. We'll just be making up our own story. And one of the stories that God tells us in later in the New Testament, in the books of in the book of Acts, in the early chapters, is is concerning what it means to possess things. And so in the early chapters of Acts, the church is selling their possessions to make sure that no one has any lack. And that kind of sounds like that monkish type don't own anything.
Connor Coskery:Right? But in the middle of that story, we get a story of a couple named Ananias and Sapphira. Ananias and Sapphira had a piece of property, and they sold it. And they gave some of the money to the church, which is good. But Ananias and Sapphira wanted to be seen as really, really good and righteous people.
Connor Coskery:So what they did was they told everyone that they gave all of their money to the church. And before God strikes them down dead for lying to his face, Peter says these words, while the property remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man, but to God.
Connor Coskery:See, God is fine with us having honest ownership over things. In fact, it is one of the reasons God created us to be caretakers and co rulers. And when used rightly, possessions can give dignity to people in so many ways. If you've ever been treated to a nice meal, or if you've ever received a gift that is so perfectly you, and you see how you feel known and loved and seen, You know what I'm talking about. Another extreme of this would be thinking about prisoners of war who will smuggle in small possessions to hold on to at great risk.
Connor Coskery:Why? Because they need to be reminded of who they are. God says that when we go to heaven, we are going to be given treasures that have been stored there. And in Revelation 2, we get a beautifully cryptic and wonderful verse that is confusing, but so powerful and beautiful. It says, to the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows, except the one who receives it.
Connor Coskery:When we use possessions well, we grow when we flourish one another. And when we do that, we're pointing to our heavenly father who gives his children good things. And this representing him, this pointing to him when we use our possessions well, that's actually the heartbeat of that definition of what does it mean to possess something. And we read it earlier in Psalm 24. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and all those who dwell within.
Connor Coskery:Ultimately, God owns everything, including us. And we're meant to be caretakers of all of his possessions and of one another. And I don't think we like this fact. I don't think we like knowing that everything isn't fully our own, that I can't spend my life exactly the way that I only want to spend it. And, when we have that mindset, that my life is totally my own, or my possessions are only mine, and only I get to decide what I do with them, The Bible defines that as stealing as well.
Connor Coskery:Stealing isn't only the unjust taking of something that isn't yours. It's often the unwise keeping of something that isn't only yours. And the way that we see this over and over again in scripture, and over and over again in our own lives, is in the abuse of the poor. In Deuteronomy 24, God is telling Israel how to harvest their fields, which is strange, because shouldn't you just harvest it the way that, you know, harvest agriculture? You should just do what you should do.
Connor Coskery:Right? But he's giving them that heavenly mindset of what it means to own something. In Deuteronomy 24, he says this, when you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf or a tool in the field, you shall not go back for it. It shall now be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. That the Lord your God may bless you in all the works of your hands.
Connor Coskery:And when you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. And when you gather the grapes of your vineyards, you shall not strip it afterwards. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. And he tells us exactly why he wants the children of Israel to do this.
Connor Coskery:You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore, I command you to do this. When the Israelites broke this command, they weren't guilty necessarily of the stealing that is someone who has nothing, who takes to have something, which is wrong. No. They were stealing in the way of someone who has much or everything, and they want more.
Connor Coskery:It's been said that when the poor steal, they're put in prison. When the rich steal, it either goes unnoticed or it's applauded. And if we search our hearts, we are the ones that beat the olive branches bloody. And we shave the edges of the fields. And we've been this way since the Garden of Eden.
Connor Coskery:In the garden, Eve and Adam had everything. Everything. They walked with God. They ate succulent fruits. They rode tigers.
Connor Coskery:I don't know. It was great apparently. And God created them to rule with him. And he told them not to eat of 1 tree. And this was not God being cruel or manipulative.
Connor Coskery:This was God teaching his children wisdom. The fear of the Lord to trust him. He was teaching them that just because something looks good and you desire it, does not mean you can just take it. And then in Genesis 3, we read that when Eve saw that the tree was good for food, and it was a delight to her eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Connor Coskery:And with this one theft, we as humans enslaved ourselves to sin and to a law that we could not keep. And this pattern of the abundant life not being enough, believing, but believing that I can take what I want, that my life has value, but I'm the one that defines it. I'm the one who says how I can spend it. That rhythm would eventually build a song that would lead to countless murders, sexual disorders, unthinkable abuses, and the stealing of whole peoples. This world was broken at the fall.
Connor Coskery:Just this past couple of weeks, we've had a neighbor's son suffer a seizure. I had a coworker be the victim of domestic abuse. We had a shooting in our neighborhood. And if I were to go around this room right now, all of you could tell me stories of cancer and depression and crippling loneliness and anorexia and addictions and stillborn children and shattered relationships and broken homes. We welcomed in sin at the garden, and it has been the cruelest master.
Connor Coskery:God gives the law to call sin sin. And that is good. Because just like the children of Israel, apparently, we don't know how to act free either. But though the law tells us how we're supposed to act as free children of God, It does not have the power to free us. The law did not give the children of Israel manna and water in the desert.
Connor Coskery:The law did not part the Red Sea. The law did not deliver them from slavery. God did. And just like in the garden, when the first law was given, do not eat of the tree, when God gives us the 10 commandments, it is meant to teach wisdom, the fear of the Lord. And that wisdom was so well put years ago by Saint Augustine when he said, God gives us a law we cannot keep, so we know exactly what to seek from him.
Connor Coskery:The law was not created to make a perfect people. The law was created to make quick confessors. When we see the law, we're supposed to hit our knees and say, I can't do it. God help me. God save me.
Connor Coskery:And praise God that the story did not stop at the base of Mount Sinai, but continued to the hills of Bethlehem and to the top of Calvary. Eugene Peterson at the beginning of Romans 8 in his paraphrase, he says, with the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that faithful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ being here for us no longer have to live under a continuous low lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fateful lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
Connor Coskery:In Galatians 3, we read, but now that faith has come, we are no longer under the law. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. Jesus came into this world, and he satisfied this law we could not keep. And he does not now demand you to free yourselves. Christ does not say, you do your best and I'll do the rest.
Connor Coskery:Christ says, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. The father calls us daughters and sons now. Christ calls us sisters and brothers. And God gave the gift of the Holy Spirit, and we are now free. And please hear me with this, church.
Connor Coskery:Christ did not give us this freedom for us to put ourselves back into slavery. And while we're in this world, sin and Satan and our old selves will try to put us back under a law we cannot keep. And in those dark nights, when you are on the bathroom floor at your lowest, take these words from Martin Luther and claim them as your own. Shout into the darkness, I admit it. I admit that I deserve hell and death.
Connor Coskery:What of it? For I know one who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the son of God. Where he is, I will be also. Christ gave us freedom and we are free.
Connor Coskery:And if you're here and you don't know that freedom, I have one more story for you, and it's not about Batman. There's a priest in New York who has a get to know Christianity every Wednesday, and he has a good crowd that comes. Crowd is a strong word. It's a small group. But there was a a person that walked into this night, and he knew immediately that this person was going to be trouble.
Connor Coskery:He defined her as quintessential New York crazy crazy cat lady. And sure enough, when the q and a started, she raised her hand, and she stood up, cat hair flying everywhere, and she said this, I heard that the best way to know God is to think about him all the time. Think about him when you get up. Think about him when you eat lunch. Think about him before you go to bed.
Connor Coskery:Is that true? And the priest, no doubt full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom and patience, said this, Yes. That is true. But unfortunately, I forget God all the time. But the gospel says that no matter how much I forget God, God never forgets me.
Connor Coskery:And a man who'd been coming to this night for a long while stood up and said, oh, my God. I think I finally get it. Christ was crucified between 2 thieves. 1 of them cried out, remember me. If you're here and you feel forgotten, if you know what it's like to be broken and at your very end, hear these words, Christ remembers you.
Connor Coskery:Christ remembers you. And before he was crucified, knowing that we are people who forget, He gave us a meal that we're about to partake in. And this meal is for people who forget. It's for us. It's for thieves.
Connor Coskery:It's for sinners. And in this meal, we get a reversal of what we heard in the garden when Eve took of something that wasn't hers to take and ate and gave. At this meal, there is no stolen fruit. In John 10, he says, no one takes my life from me. I give it.
Connor Coskery:At this table isn't stolen fruit. It's given bread, and we take and we eat. The night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread and he broke it. And he said, this is my body given for you. In the same manner, he took the cup, and he said, this is the blood of the new covenant shed for you.
Connor Coskery:And as often as we get to do this together as this church family, we remember him together until he comes back, and he will, because he remembers us, and he's not going to leave us here. This table is for thieves and sinners. For liars and cheats. For people who abandoned God in the night. But Christ remembers you.
Connor Coskery:And if you are one of those people, run to this table. It's for you. When you come down these 2 aisles, you are going to hear, when you take a piece of bread and dip it, you're gonna hear, this is the body of Christ given for you. And his blood shed for you. But this is a table for a family who has been redeemed.
Connor Coskery:Come and feast. The Lord is good.
