Lutheranism 101 - Part 17 - The Ninth and Tenth Commandments

I knew a guy in college that always had to have what everyone else had. If you bought a watch he would buy one just like it. If you bought a camera, he would buy a camera, even if he never used it. He coveted everything that everyone else had. He was a big breaker of the Ninth Commandment.
Both the Ninth and Tenth Commandments have to do with coveting. Coveting is having a sinful desire for anyone or anything that belongs to your neighbor. It is not wrong to want things and even to get things. But it is wrong to try to get things from your neighbor that you don't need. Coveting also involves a sinful desire. You just have to have it, even though you really don't need it and you will do illegal or immoral things to get it.
God wants us to be content with the things that he has given us and he wants us to help our neighbor keep his own stuff.
The Ninth and Tenth Commandments although talking about the same sin, stress different things that we covet. The Ninth Commandment which says, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house", has to do with material possessions. It has to with things like our neighbor's house, his car or anything materially he owns.
The Tenth Commandment which says, "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor", has to do with living things that belong to your neighbor. You should not look for ways to have an affair with your neighbor's wife, or to steal his employees or other people that help him.
We also have to remember who our neighbor is here. It is not just the guy living next door, but everyone that we come into contact with in life. Everyone is our neighbor. God tells us to be satisfied with what we have and if we want more to ask him, and seek it in good moral and legal ways.

Here are some verses for you: Romans 7:8; Matthew 15:19; Micah 2:1-2; 1 Timothy 6:8-10; Philippians 4:11; 1 Timothy 6:6; Hebrews 13:5; 1 Kings 21:1-16; Acts 20:32-35; Luke 12:5; Colossians 3:5; 2 Samuel 11:2-4; 2 Samuel 15:1-6; Philippians 2:4; Genesis 3:6; James 1:14-15; Psalm 37:4; Psalm 119:35-36; Philippians 4:8

Pastor Fred

Lutheranism 101 - Part 16 - The Eighth Commandment

A professor once told my seminary class that Lutherans have a particular way of writing the 10 Commandments. To demonstrate he began to write the numbers 1 through 10 on the black board, yes when I went to seminary they still had black boards! So the professor begins to write the numbers on the board and the first five numbers representing the first five commandments are normal size then the number six is written three times the size of the other numbers, seven is normal size and then eight is written so small you can barely read it. He then finished up with nine and ten as normal size. He explained that most of the commandments were looked upon as equal except for the Sixth Commandment. If you broke that one that was big, real big! On the other hand if you broke the Eighth Commandment and spread gossip about your neighbor that was no big deal. Another unfortunate joke about breaking the Eighth Commandment is that in church we don't gossip, we just share prayer requests.
The Eighth Commandment is one of the most abused commandments. Simply stated it says, "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." In other words don't ruin your neighbor's reputation. That means you can't tell lies about your neighbor in a court of law or any where else. We see many examples of this being broken in Scripture. For instance false witnesses testified against Jesus and Naboth. The result was both of their deaths.
The commandment also requires that we not tell people our neighbor's secrets. If they tell us something in confidence we are to keep it that way. It also requires that we be truthful with our neighbor and that we speak well of him and put the best construction on all of our neighbor's actions.
The Eighth Commandment is the Second Table's version of the Second Commandment. Remember the First Table has to do with how we treat God and the Second Table has to do with how we treat others. The Second Commandment forbids us to drag God's name through the mud and the Eighth Commandment forbids us to drag other people's names through the mud. It is a very important commandment because once someone's reputation has been ruined it is hard to fix it. It is like the guy who was accused of the Atlanta bombing in the 96 Olympics. Later they found that he was completely innocent. After he was released he said, "So now where do I go to get my name back?"
Like I said this commandment is abused like on other. The lesson to be learned is that before we say something negative about a person we better make sure we have our facts straight and we better make sure we really need to say it.

Here are some Scripture verses for you: Proverbs 19:5; Ephesians 4:25; Matthew 26:59-61; 1 Kings 21:13; 2 Kings 5:22-25; Proverbs 11:13; 1 Samuel 22:6-19; Matthew 26:14-16; Matthew 18:15; Luke 6:37; James 4:11; Proverbs 31:8-9; 1 Samuel 19:4; Luke 7:4-5; Mark 14:3-9; 1 Corinthians 13:7; 1 Peter 4:8

Pastor Fred

Lutheranism 101 - Part 15 - The Seventh Commandment

A pretty basic commandment, "You shall not steal." In other words, don't take your neighbor's stuff. Okay next! Wait a minute it is not quite that simple. Obviously taking someone else's physical property violates this commandment, but it is not the only way that it is broken. For instance a man was arrested and fined thousands of dollars the other day because he was sitting outside a coffee shop somewhere illegally using the establishment's wireless connection without paying for it. Was he stealing? Yes he was. Some college students were recently sent bills in the thousands of dollars from music companies because they illegally downloaded music without paying for it. Were they stealing? Yes they were. A few years ago a lawyer went to a scheduled medical appointment and spent so much time in the waiting room before he saw the doctor that he then billed the doctor for his time. The doctor laughed, the lawyer sued and won. Was the doctor stealing from the lawyer? Yes he was, in the law profession time is money and the doctor didn't keep the appointment time and wasted the lawyer's time. I included that last story because of years of frustration sitting in doctor's offices sometimes for close to two hours before seeing my doctor.
What are some other ways that people steal? Students cheating on tests are stealing from others and themselves. Workers not doing their work to the best of their ability are stealing from their employer. Christians not giving financially to God their first fruits are stealing from God. Christians not giving of their time and talents are also stealing from God. There are all kinds of way to steal. You can even legally steal from people. I knew of a church organization one time that existed to give out scholarships to seminary and college students. They had promised one guy four years worth of tuition. They paid the first three years but as he was about to go into his fourth year they didn't want to pay anymore so they just dissolved the organization, renamed themselves and stated back up again. They said they didn't have to pay the fourth year because the organization that promised the money didn't legally exist anymore. They were actually legally right and protected, but they were morally wrong and were stealing from God and the student. By the way I was not that student.
The basis of this commandment is simple. God gives other people their stuff and he gives you your stuff and he expects everyone to be satisfied with their own stuff. So be content with what you have and keep your hands off other's stuff.
There is a positive aspect of this commandment as well. We are to help our neighbor keep his stuff and when he doesn't have enough stuff to keep going we are to give him some of our stuff. After all at the end of the day all stuff is God's stuff.

Here is some Scripture: Leviticus 19:35; Psalm 37:21; Ephesians 4:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:10; Joshua 7:20-22; John 12:6; 2 Kings 5:20-24; Matthew 7:12; Philippians 2:4; Matthew 5:42; Hebrews 13:16; 1 John 3:17; Luke 10:29-37; Luke 19:8

Pastor Fred