TEN WORDS FOR A HAPPY CHRISTIAN LIFE
TEN WORDS FOR A HAPPY CHRISTIAN LIFE
Sermons on The Ten Commandments by Rev. Ken Behnken
8. HONESTY AND BEYOND. Philippians 2:4
Stuffed with self
– A universal problem
At war with faith and love
– Humanism's failure
– Christ's victory
The simplest Commandment?
– taxes
– offerings
– value given for value received
- at work / as an employer
- the question of gambling
Competition and the interests of others
Be filled with the Spirit of Jesus
A little item in a religious periodical said, "When a person comes to the Lord, the Lord never sends him away empty – except when he comes stuffed with himself."
Selfishness – being stuffed with self – is a universal problem. In many respects it is the essence of sin, for in its full expression selfishness breaks relationship with God and insists on going its own way, and in its everyday expression it breaks relationship with the neighbor as the selfish person uses and abuses his neighbor to serve his own ends.
Selfishness wars against Christian faith and love and, in turn, Christian faith and love war against selfishness. You can't receive and trust Jesus as Savior when you are stuffed with yourself. Accepting his gifts of forgiveness and eternal life requires that you come to him with empty hands and hearts so he can fill you with himself. That's why the humanistic emphases of our society make it so hard for people to deal personally with Jesus. Humanism, by definition, puts man at the center and, for good or bad, makes people the masters of their own fate, the captains of their own souls. Humanism can only stuff people with themselves.
But when the need for something more in your life becomes clear, Jesus is ready and willing to enter your life with his love – and you find an assurance about life that comes from his love, his forgiveness, his acceptance. In that assurance you live day by day in the knowledge that you are not just on your own in life but are a child of God. And as a child of God you find power to get beyond your selfishness. Selfishness and pride are brought under control and melt away under the life-changing influence of the One who calls you and empowers you to deny yourself and follow him. You can't follow Jesus as Lord and continue to be just stuffed with yourself.
The Seventh Commandment addresses the problem of human selfishness in a very pointed way. It says, "You shall not steal" what belongs to your neighbor. It is God's Word that aims at protecting human society from the results of its own dishonesty and selfishness and greed. God knows, and you and I know, that this command will not change hearts and produce obedience. But we also know that when we look at the command through the filter of our faith in Jesus, our Lord and Savior, it is given the dynamic it needs to be one of God's Ten Words for a Happy Christian Life.
"You shall not steal" may appear to be the simplest of all the commandments, and we might tell ourselves that as long as we don't rob or burglarize or shoplift we have satisfied its requirements. But there are some finer shades of meaning in this subject that a person who wants to be fully honest will want to take into consideration.
Let's begin with the unpopular subject of taxes. We like to think that through taxes the various levels of government steal from us – and this may indeed be the case when politicians line their own pockets and the pockets of pet projects, and when an already overgrown bureaucracy grows to larger and larger proportions. But those abuses do not eliminate the need for taxes to support the proper functions of government – nor do they negate our responsibility to pay our taxes. Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's."
A poll taken by a local radio station asked about cheating on taxes. Over 50% of those responding admitted to cheating – and didn't seem to have any moral discomfort as a result. Now, tax avoidance is one thing; the government directs citizens to pay no more in taxes than required. But the laws of the land – and God's Commandment – say that tax evasion, cheating on taxes, is a crime. St. Paul, writing to Christians about their responsibility toward governing officials, said, "Give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor." And he said we are to do this "not only because of possible punishment, but also because of conscience." It's part of the happy Christian life!
The Bible also warns against stealing from God. Jesus concluded his "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's" with "and give to God what is God's." Through his prophet Malachi God once bluntly accused his Old Testament people of robbing him because they were not bringing their tithes to his storehouse. This is not a word to the world in general, for those who have not been led to receive from God through Jesus will not be concerned about giving to him in return. But we who know that God loves a cheerful giver will surely not want to be guilty of robbing him of the offerings he equips us to bring. Instead, we will joyfully worship and praise him with our gifts and in the process enable the Gospel ministry in the world. It's part of the happy Christian life!
In our everyday human interaction this Commandment calls for an honesty that will move us to make it our goal to give value in return for value received. The world may applaud the person who puts together a sharp deal by which he defrauds the unwary – but Christian honesty aims at giving value in return for value.
This begins, I believe, with conscientiously giving ourselves, our time and our effort, as employees. Full value in return for the pay we receive surely means putting ourselves energetically into the work we are hired to do and doing it to the best of our ability. When St. Paul wrote about this it was to slaves, who had no choice in their work situations. But he said to them that as Christians they had a unique reason for developing a unique attitude toward their work. He said, "Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men." It's a good word for our day, when too many think it's smart to get by with the least possible effort in their work. As Christians we still have that unique reason for having a unique attitude toward our work. We're not working just for the company or for our bosses. We're working for our Lord. How good to be able to look at ourselves in the mirror and to look up to our Lord Jesus and be able to say, "I am doing my best in my work." It's part of the happy Christian life!
Paul did not neglect the other side of the equation. Employers are not to steal from their employees. To employers Paul said, "Provide your workers with what is right and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven."
I believe this subject of giving full value in return for value received is not complete without some thought to something that has become so commonplace in our society that it is almost never questioned from a moral standpoint: gambling. Gambling is big business – as the rapid growth of Las Vegas attests. Nowadays, governments and even churches promote gambling as a source of income.
I know that an argument can be made in defense of a person's spending a limited amount of money on gambling as a form of recreation. I know Christian people who are able to do this – and have done it myself. But gambling can also be a problem for individuals and for the society that promotes it. For some it becomes an addiction that takes over and rules – and can ruin – their lives. Gamblers Anonymous would not be needed if gambling did not have its harmful side.
Gambling and losing what God has given you for other proper purposes has to be a waste and a shame – a contradiction of a Christian's stewardship of life. But gambling and winning may pose its own problem for a Christian, and possibly be a greater problem than gambling and losing. It can encourage an attitude of covetousness that is intent on getting without giving value in return – and that attitude also is a contradiction of a Christian's stewardship of life.
A minister friend and I found a solution to the situation of golfing with people who invited us to bet on the outcome of the game. We would tell them that we would be happy to gamble with them – but only in the Christian way. Since Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive," we would compete with them for the privilege of buying the drinks at the end of the game. You get some funny, puzzled looks when you suggest that – and few takers.
In his explanation of this Commandment Luther properly focuses on the things that belong to our neighbors: "We are to fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor's money or possessions, nor get them in any dishonest way – but help him to improve and protect his property and his way of making a living." Protecting our neighbor's property may be as simple as putting the neighbor boy's bike under cover and out of the rain. It may mean helping a neighbor with a home-improvement project. It may mean joining in the Neighborhood Watch program in which you combine with other residents of your neighborhood in keeping an eye on everyone's things to protect them from burglary. It may mean becoming a volunteer worker for the Police Department to assist it in protecting the whole community.
Probably the bigger challenge comes in Luther's including our neighbor's way of making a living in what we are to help improve and protect. In our free market society, competition is the name of the game – competition between businesses and stores, competition between workers for jobs. It's not very comfortable to be told to look out for the interests of others when, in many ways, we are in competition with them. Yet, that is exactly what St. Paul urges in Philippians: "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." I guess, in the final analysis, that is exactly what Jesus advised us to do regarding all of life: "Seek first the Kingdom of God." That advice, you remember, was accompanied by his promise, "and all these things, all your earthly needs, will be yours as well." So as we consider this Commandment, its challenge is: "Look out for the interests of others" – and the implied promise is: and God will look out for your interests. That kind of faithful attitude – and the experience of blessing that results – surely make this part of the happy Christian life!
You don't have to go through life stuffed with yourself. If you do, that's all you'll end up with: yourself and all the temporary earthly things you can get – but can't take with you. Instead, be filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ and you will have his own assurance of everlasting life with him – and while on the way to that heavenly life you will enjoy the blessing of his guiding you to honesty and beyond. And you will learn from your own experience that this Seventh Commandment is indeed one of God's Ten Words for a Happy Christian Life.
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