Mid-Lent 4 Seventh
and Eighth Commandments
3/17/21
In
considering how to group the commandments for these homilies during Lent, I
have placed the Seventh and Eighth Commandments together because the breaking
of these commandments takes something from our neighbor. Obviously, stealing takes some possession
from a person. But breaking the Eighth
Commandment also takes something – it takes away their reputation. Indeed, while items that have been stolen can
be replaced relatively easily, a person’s reputation is a different matter.
Once taken away, it is far more difficult to put in place again.
The
Seventh Commandment says, “You shall not steal.” The Small Catechism explains the Seventh
Commandment by saying that are not to “take our neighbor’s money or
possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and
protect his possessions and income.” As
we consider the Seventh Commandment and those that follow, there are two
Scripture texts to keep in mind. First, Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount,
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is
the Law and the Prophets.” Our Lord
teaches us that we are to treat others the way we want to be treated.
The other
text is found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians where he writes, “Let each of
you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of
others.” As those who are in Christ, our
concern is not to be focused only on ourselves.
Instead, we are to be actively seeking to help others in their various
affairs.
Of all the
commandments, the Seventh Commandment seems like it is the most straightforward
and easily understood. We know what
stealing is – it’s taking something from another person. And while the Seventh
Commandment certainly forbids this, it also includes more as well. The Small
Catechism’s language of “get them in any dishonest way” takes in all our
dealing with others – especially business interaction. Luther says in the Large Catechism, “For as I
just said, stealing is not just robbing someone’s safe or pocketbook but also
taking advantage of someone in the market, in all stores, butcher shops, wine
and beer cellars, workshops, and, in short, wherever business is transacted and
money is exchanged for goods and services.”
The
Seventh Commandment teaches us to be fair in our dealings with others. We are to treat others just as we would want
to be treated. We are not to seek opportunities to sell something for far more
than it is worth, or to buy things for far less then they are worth. This may
be considered “good business” by the world, but God’s Word calls it what it
really is: stealing. And in a similar way, when we are being paid for work, we
are to do that work as we would want others to do it for us. Doing shoddy work
or wasting time at work is stealing.
As with
all the commandments that occur as statements forbidding something, the Seventh
Commandment also teaches what we are to do. The Small Catechism says
that we are help our neighbor “to improve and protect his possessions and
income.” We are to help and assist our neighbors to keep what is theirs. Beyond that we are to do what we can to help
them improve their situation. Luther comments in the Large Catechism that “we
are commanded to promote and further our neighbor’s interests, and when they
suffer want, we are to help, share and lend to both friends and foes.” The last part of that statement reminds us
that the keeping of the Seventh Commandment does not only apply to the people
we like. It takes in all people –
even our enemies.
The Eighth
Commandment is, “You shall not give false witness against your neighbor.” This commandment poses a continual challenge
in our life, even though we find it easy to ignore. The Small Catechism
explains this by saying that we are not to “tell lies about our neighbor,
betray him, slander him or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of
him, and explain everything in the kindest way.”
We are not
to tell lies about our neighbor. We are to speak the truth, but as we will see
one can also break this commandment by speaking the truth to the wrong person
for the wrong reason. We are not to
betray our neighbor. Those things that our neighbor entrusts to us in confidence
are not to be revealed to others.
The Eighth
Commandment deals with a person’s reputation – with their good name. We are not
to slander our neighbor or hurt our neighbor’s reputation. This brings us to
the subject of gossip, and a truth about fallen human nature. Luther says in the Large Catechism, “It is a
common pernicious plague that everyone would rather hear evil than good about
their neighbor.” As fallen people we
enjoy hearing and sharing information about our neighbors that reveal negative things
about them. Good news does not make for
good gossip.
The
question here is not whether the information is true. The determining factor is whether the sharing
of it will help or hurt my neighbor’s reputation. In the Large Catechism Luther makes the
important distinction between the possession of knowledge and the authority to
judge sin. He says, “To avoid this vice,
therefore, we should note that none has the right to judge and reprove a
neighbor publicly, even after having seen a sin committed, unless authorized to
judge and reprove. There is a very great
difference between judging sin and having knowledge of sin. You may certainly know about a sin, but you
should not judge it. I may certainly see
and hear that my neighbor sins, but I have no command to tell others about
it.” Only those who are in an office – a
vocation in life – where they are charged to judge sin is to speak in a public
way about it.
When you
hear or learn something negative about another person, you are not to share this
with others. You are to remain
silent. The only thing you may do, if
you are in a position to do so, is to go and speak to that person about it privately.
You can address their sin and errors in a way that seeks their good. But it
must be done, just between the two of you.
This is
hard. The old Adam in us wants to share juicy information – information
that is interesting because it says something bad about a person. Yet
before we speak, we must consider whether this information will help or harm our
neighbor. We must ask: If this information were about me, would I want others
sharing it? When put to this test, the
answer is very often is a clear no.
The Eighth
Commandment also guides the way we receive information. Luther says in
the Large Catechism, “Let this be your rule, then, that you should not be quick
to spread slander and gossip about your neighbors but admonish them privately
so that they may improve. Likewise, do
the same when others tell you what this or that person has done. Instruct them, if they saw the wrongdoing, to
go and reprove the individual personally otherwise to hold their tongue.” When
people want to tell you gossip – bad information about your neighbor – as them
whether they have spoken to that individual. If the answer is no, tell them to
shut up.
We do this
because the Eighth Commandment leads us to defend our neighbor, speak well of
our neighbor, and to explain everything in the kindest way. Our goal must be to protect our neighbor’s
reputation and speak well of our neighbor in every way we can. We don’t lie in order to do this. Instead we
share only what is true that helps our neighbor. We seek opportunities to build
up our neighbor’s reputation by saying what is good about them.
And when
we hear things about our neighbor, or learn information, we explain everything
in the kindest way. We put the best
possible construction on things. We assume the most benign explanation until
facts clearly prove this wrong. And even then, this is not something we share
with others. Instead, where possible, we
speak privately to our neighbor about it.
Most
likely, we don’t struggle all that often with the overt act of stealing. But
there are certainly times we get things in a dishonest way. We do not always work in the way we should. And there are many occasions when we ignore
the opportunity to help our neighbor improve and protect what they have.
And when
it comes to the Eighth Commandment we find that we sin all the time in this
way. What James wrote is true of us: “For every kind of beast and bird, of
reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no
human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly
poison.” We slander our neighbors and
gossip about them.. We hurt our neighbor’s reputation under the cover of claiming
that we are only saying what is true. We
believe the worst about our neighbor, and don’t seek to defend him or her.
During
Lent we prepare to remember that because we do this, Jesus Christ the Son of
God, allowed false witness to be spoken against him. We heard about it in last week’s reading from
the Passion of Our Lord according to St. Mark.
Mark tells us, “For many bore false witness against him, but their
testimony did not agree.” In the face of these charges, Jesus remained
silent. He did because his purpose and
mission was to die on the cross. After predicting his death for the third time
in the Gospel, he then went on to say, “For
even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give
his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus came in order to accept the worst deal that has
ever been made – one which completely benefitted us and cost him
everything. Martin Luther called it “the
great exchange.” Jesus received our sin
and God’s judgment against it on the cross.
We received Jesus’ righteousness so that now we are the forgiven
children of God.
Jesus willingly submitted to this in obedience to the
Father. But then on Easter, God
vindicated Jesus as the Christ by raising him from the dead. He demonstrated that our Lord had carried out
the great exchange in order to redeem us from sin, and that by his resurrection
he had defeated death. Now we live in the confidence that through faith and
baptism we are saints in God’s eyes, and that we will also be raised from the
dead when Christ returns in glory.
This means that we are forgiven for the ways we fail as
we break the Seventh and Eighth Commandments.
Yet it also means that through the work of the Spirit we follow Jesus’
example by seeking the good of others in what we say and do. Because of what
Jesus has done for us, we seek to do unto others as we would have them do unto
us. Because Jesus gave everything to
help us, we now also look to the interests of others as we provide help and
assistance.
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