They’d been running every day, but this was something else. Sure, this was the physical training stage of the U.S. Army Ranger school, but this was no morning PT run in T-shirts. This was something out of a nightmare. They ran in full field uniform. Loaded packs. Helmets. Boots. Rifles. The works. The word was “You go out together, you stick together, you work as a unit, and you come in together. If you don’t come in together, don’t bother to come in!” The sun seared down on helmets, burned the metal on the weapons, and drove hot needles in the exposed skin at the back of necks. They ran kicking up clouds of powdery dust that stung our eyes and coated our throats. Somewhere along the way, through the fog of pain, thirst, and fatigue, something strange happened to the formation, one of the men was out of sync. A big, rawboned redhead named Sanderson. His legs were pumping, but he was out of step with the rest of the men. Then his head began to loll from side to side. This guy was struggling. Close to losing it. Had anyone else noticed? Yes, someone had. Without missing a step, the Army Ranger on Sanderson’s right reached over and took the distressed man’s rifle. Now one of the Rangers was packing two weapons. His own and Sanderson’s. The big redhead did better for a while. The platoon kept moving, jaws slack, eyes glazed, legs pushing like pistons. But then the head began to sway again. This time, the Ranger on the left reached over, removed Sanderson’s helmet, tucked it under his own arm, and continued to run. All systems go. The boots thudded along the dirt trail in heavy unison. Sanderson was hurting. Really hurting. He was buckling, going down. But no. Two solders behind him lifted the pack off his back, each taking a shoulder strap in his free hand. Sanderson gathered his remaining strength, squared his shoulders, and the platoon continued to run. All the way to the finish line. They left together. They returned together. And all of them were stronger for it. Together is better.
The church is like a platoon of Army Rangers. Together is better. There are no lone Rangers in the church. We are called to be a team, a spiritual Army working together as a united people to advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And it is in that context of unity that Paul writes the verse we have before us. In this chapter specifically Paul has been arguing for us to live out the unity of the body of Christ that already exists. Remember verse 4: There is one body, one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism? These verses are not simply individually applicable commands but commands for us as we live in community with one another. A command like “Stop stealing” seems quite simple if we only think of it as applying to us as individuals. Am I stealing “yes, okay I need to stop” or “no, okay, I got that covered.” But Paul is not talking just to individuals but to the body. We are a team and as such this command to stop stealing is directed at the team. It’s like Sanderson getting ready to collapse on a training run. It’s not an individual problem; it’s a platoon problem. Likewise, stealing is a whole church problem.
With that in mind, I want to examine 3 differences that this verse should make in our lives, not just as individuals, but as a team, as a unit, as the church.
The first difference this verse makes is because we are united we should treat thieves graciously. True, this particular verse does not mention directly how thieves are to be treated. Instead, Paul tells the thieves in the church to stop stealing. Look at verse 28: Let the thief no longer steal! The word steal in Greek is the word “klepto” from which we get our word kleptomaniac. Literally Paul says “The one kleptoing, no longer klepto.”
Well that sounds reasonable. After all, stealing is prohibited by the eighth commandment. Exodus 20:28: You shall not steal. It also makes sense that stealing would be prohibited seeing that stealing is a behavior that would damage unity in the church. Imagine the disruption that would take place if when you pulled into the parking lot you thought to yourself “Should I lock my car? Well, I’d better. I’m at Cornerstone.”
But Paul does not simply say “Do not steal.” Paul really says “The one stealing needs to stop stealing.” It’s going on right now. And these are not people who went to jail for stealing, were converted in prison, and now are in the church. Paul says those who are stealing should stop, not those who prior to conversion stole should just not do it again. Maybe Paul is speaking in an exaggerated sense, like those who covet are guilty of stealing or those who do not claim all of their tips or wages on tax forms are stealing. This is certainly true, but this does not eliminate the possibility and probability that he also means actual criminal theft. Paul is also not suggesting that there happen to be non-Christian thieves who are simply visiting the Ephesian church on the day this letter is read. Paul addresses this entire book in chapter 1 verse 1 to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. He is writing to Christians; Christian theives.
And these thieves are in the church! Paul assumes that right now, at the very moment he is writing, there are people in the Ephesian church who are currently stealing. The form that Paul uses actually says “The one who continues to steal should no longer steal.” This was not simply an isolated incident but a pattern. There are habitual thieves, kleptos in the truest sense, in the Ephesian church!
Let’s make this even more personal. There is a possibility, even a probability that at Cornerstone at this very moment, sitting in this very sanctuary, there is at least one Christian who continues to steal. I’ve been a part of the church of Jesus Christ as long as I can remember and in that church of Jesus Christ I have come across true Christians who commit adultery, who murder, who steal, who are child molesters, rapists, defrauders, perjurers, liars, cheats, and so on. The fact is that you are sitting in these pews right now with sinners. Sure, Paul mentions those who steal specifically, but how does it make you feel to know the kind of sinful people you are sitting with? (PAUSE)
Maybe you are scratching your head right now and thinking “Okay, this passage is supposed to build community?” How would telling me that I’m worshipping with a bunch on sinners on Sunday morning build unity? Now I want to get as far away from these people as I can!
First, it builds community because it’s real. We come here to church, we walk in those doors, and we pretend like we are okay. We act as though we haven’t sinned all week, there are no problems in our homes, we have the perfect children, and life is perfect. In reality, we are sinful people who need to acknowledge who we are. Rather than coming in and saying “Hi, I’m Kyle and I’m perfect.” We need to say “Hi, I’m Kyle and I struggle with sin.” I’m one who steals who needs to stop stealing. I’m one who gets angry who needs to control my temper, and so on. We need to be real with each other, creating a community built on the authenticity of who we really are rather than a superficiality of spiritual superiority.
(Pause)
Second, it builds community because it reminds us of our calling as a community. Remember verses 1-3 of chapter 4. Paul calls us to “be humble and gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love as we wait for the Holy Spirit to work in another’s life.” We must remember that we all belong, despite behavior. The one who steals belongs to the body of Christ . None of us is perfect, but the message of Ephesians is that we all belong, regardless of behavior, because of the grace of God poured out on us in Christ. And remember verses 15-16 of chapter four? We are to speak the truth in love, truthing the truthing to one another. Rather than withdrawing from those around us who steal, we come alongside those are stealing, like the platoon of Rangers. Rather than withdrawing, we embrace them as a community to help them by proclaiming the truth of the gospel to them.
Several years ago I was on a mission trip to Romania and attended a church made up mostly of ethnic Romanians, but with a few Gypsy families. If you do not know much about Gypsies, the stereotype is that they tend to steal. I had Romanian Christians coming up to me and warning me “Watch out for the Gypsies.” “Don’t set anything down or the Gypsies will take it.” After just a few minutes in that church, I was quite disgusted. These were Christian Gypsies, Gypsies with whom we were united in the body of Christ, and who were met with hatred and prejudice by another group of Christians. The body of Christ was hurt that day, and as it says in verse 30 of chapter 4, the Holy Spirit who dwelt among the believers in that church hurt and grieved by that disunity. The devil was given a foothold. They might as well have ripped chapter 4 of Ephesians out of their Bibles because it was certainly being ignored.
Are there those who steal at Cornerstone? Probably, as well as all of those other sins I mentioned. But we are a community, a team, and a spiritual platoon. This is not just an isolated command “Okay you who steal, knock it off.” Instead, it’s also a call to us to embrace those who struggle with theft, to come alongside them like the platoon came alongside the collapsing Ranger and encourage and empower them with the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to stop stealing. Stealing in the church, sin in the church is not just an individual problem, it’s a whole church problem. Thus Paul calls us to get involved as a church, to deal graciously as the body of Christ with those who steal, and empower them with the gospel to overcome their thieving.
The second difference Paul says this verse should make is that because we are a community, stealing by individuals in the body hurts the entire body. Remember again that the context of this passage is as a list of commands to grow the unity of the body. We are a team. So don’t tear down others with your speech in verse 29, don’t allow anger to fester in verse 27, do speak the truth to one another in verse 25. Paul says here don’t steal, not only because it is prohibited in the ten commandments but also because such behavior tears down the body.
Many commentators have suggested that those who are stealing in Ephesus may have literally been stealing from others in the church. That obviously hurts the body. But there are other ways that our so-called “personal” sins hurt the body. When we steal from the government and do not pay our taxes, often by not claiming all of our tips and wages, the money for many of our civil services has to come from somewhere, oftentimes the pockets of others in the church. When do not give our tithes as we should God says in Malachi 3 that we are actually stealing, robbing Him of His money. It hurts the whole body because others have to give over and above their own tithes in order to make up financial shortfalls. Even as I was writing this sermon I walked out of the office with our church secretary, Sue Korb’s pen. I’m sure you are thinking “Oh come on Kyle, it’s just a pen.” Sure it’s a pen, but I can tell you from experience she was not very happy that I took it. Little things, such as stealing crackers out of the primary praise room, taking books out of the library and never returning them, taking an energy drink out of the church’s refrigerator and not paying for it, all of those things, while maybe little, hurt the body. New crackers have to be purchased, the youth fund has to be docked for the missing soda, and the library is now short a book. The body has suffered from what seemed so little.
Our sin does not just hurt the body financially, it hurts the body by association.
When I was in high school, members of my soccer team thought it was pretty funny to steal anything they could when we stopped at MacDonalds on the way home from games. The last time they did it, and the time my coach caught them, they stole everything in the restaurant that was not bolted down. All of the ketchup packets, salt, sugars, napkins, napkin dispensers, fake flower arrangements, newspapers, serving trays, booster seats, trays off of the high chairs, wet floor signs, everything in the restaurant ended up on our team’s bus. The silly thing of it was that the employees knew exactly who we were because we were still in our soccer uniforms which proudly said “Northeastern Wisconsin Lutheran High School.” Our school’s reputation was hurt by the actions of the individuals. The body of believers, of which Lutherans are a part, was hurt by the actions of those individuals. I was hurt by those individuals. I did not steal a single thing. I did not approve it; I did not laugh at it; in fact, I was disgusted. But it did not matter, the people at that MacDonalds still thought I was a thief. I was part of the team; I was wearing the team uniform, I was guilty by association. I was a part of the stealing Lutheran high school soccer team whether or not I ever stole anything.
Our individual stealing hurts everyone in the church because we are all a part of the team. Just like those Rangers, the actions of one person hurt everyone. We are all guilty by association. Oh, you are a part of THAT church. Oh, you are a Christian. One person’s actions taint the perception of all Christians in the mind of people who know they steal. It is becomes assumed that all Christians steal. Everyone is affected. That’s not walking worthy of our calling as Paul says in verse 1 of this chapter. We are not serving the church as in verses 15-16. Our theft steals from others within in the church, and hurts affects how the entire body is viewed because we are all apart of the same team. When one part suffers, we all suffer. In the context of community, stop stealing because it is a sin against God and against your fellow brothers and sisters in the church.
Finally, Paul says the third difference it should make is that because we are in a community, we should actually do the opposite of stealing. Paul says in verse 28 “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” In essence, stop taking from others. Instead, make your money honestly so that you can give to others.
This verse is quite unique. Throughout Paul’s epistles he frequently deals with theft and honest work, but his most common reason for hard work is self-sufficiency. He commands young widows to work, rather than being a burden to the church. He commands the lazy to work, saying otherwise they should not eat. He repeatedly calls upon the churches to work to support themselves, sometimes using his own tent making profession as an example. But here, the motivation for work is others focused.
Paul commands the thief to not just to stop stealing but to work with the goal of sharing with others. Just as a person’s identity with the body of Christ should be part of the motivation to stop stealing, so also one’s belonging to the church is the motivation to work. We are to work, not just to support ourselves, but to share with others.
In just a few moments we are going to have a congregational meeting to discuss the state of the 2009 budget. You are going to hear a wide variety of numbers and figures, statistics and the like. Let me sum all of that up for you. Cornerstone needs you to work so that you can support the ministry financially. Cornerstone has no income. Cornerstone does not have a job. Instead, Cornerstone needs, in fact depends upon its members working in order to share and tithe their finances here at Cornerstone. I know nobody likes to hear pastors asking for money. I’m not asking for money; I’m stating the facts which Paul was well aware of. We all need to support of the work of the church with our prayers and with our wallets. Even I, who receive a salary from Cornerstone, tithe back a percentage of income, giving back from the money I make to support the work at Cornerstone. I wish we could survive as a church in a thatch hut with no running water and electricity and I could run the local scuba shop and Chris could be a starving artist who spends his days on the beach sculpting pottery and writing sermons. But, the reality is, it would be quite cold in here if this was a thatch hut. Cornerstone needs money to pay for heat!
So Paul says, quit stealing. Quit taking from the community and instead give to the community. Don’t rob God and your fellow church members of your tithe. Instead, work hard, honestly so you can give to support the work of the community. We must be others focused in our definition of work. Does work support us as individuals? Absolutely, but it also supports the community. Within the context of Ephesians we must remember that Paul is speaking to us as a community. Quit stealing, it hurts the body of Christ. Get to work in an honest job so you can actually give to the body of Christ. And all of you, as the body of Christ, bear with those patiently, gently, in love as we minister through the power of the gospel to those who struggle with stealing.
