July 2012: The Seventh Commandment

The seventh commandment: "Thou shall not steal."

What does this mean? Whenever we take something that does not belong to us knowing the owner does not want us to have it, that is stealing.Whenever we take something from a store or business without asking for permission, without buying it, and keep it such a way that the owner does not know about it or cannot get it back, that is stealing.

We may even think "Oh, they won't mind if I take it." They may not even care if the other person is hurt by the theft. This is bad, not only because they have broken the Seventh Commandment, but because they have purposely blinded themselves to God.

When a person steals knowingly, a part of them dies. At first when a person steals, his conscience may feel bad, but it's also fun, because you get what you want. But each time a person steaks he is making a decision to follow Satan rather than God. Each time he steals, there is a little rip in his soul. Each time he steals he does a little more damage to himself.

What eventually happens when a person continues to steal is that they lose the ability to see that it is bad. They get so used to stealing that their conscience can no longer tell that they are doing bad. And they will do it even more. Even more, they can get so used to sinning, they can't even tell they are sinning. As they move away from God they block their relationship with God. Their conscience becomes blind to God.

This is where it gets bad. As we separate from God our attitude changes. The things of God are no longer important. We forget the wonderful things which God has done for us. We forget that God is here to protect us and provide for us. And as we forget these things of God, the things of this world become more important. I start to look at what I have and I think that I do not have much. Then I want more things of this world, increasing the temptation to steal. Satan wants you to believe that having things is the only important thing in life. Satan wants you to believe that the only way to get things is to work, to fight and to steal.

But God does not want you to think that this world is all there is. You were made for eternity. You were made for greater things. God wants you to know the abundance that you live in. Because Jesus died on the cross, we have become children of God. God has promised to provide for us. God has promised to give us all we need. Anything else we just don't need. When we see that God will provide for all that we need, that God will always provide moral ways to get the things we need. When we see this there is no need to steal.

It is our attitude about life whether we think of ourselves as rich or poor, which will equip us to follow the Seventh Commandment. If you see your life as full of gifts from God, you believe you are rich and there will be no need to steal. If you are blind to the gifts of God, you will think that you are poor, and you will be tempted to steal. It is all in your attitude. God calls you to see that you are rich.

There was a book called The Little Prince. A little boy is visiting the earth from another planet. He meets a man who has crash-landed his plane in the desert. One evening the boy calls the man to look out into the desert and asks the man what he sees. The man says "Sand and more sand." The boy replies, "I see something different. I see little oases filled with water to quench the thirst of visitors." For the man the desert was a place of heat, suffering and death. But for the boy it was a place to search for and find the gifts of water hidden away in the desert.

This world is not a place where we have to fight and take the things that we want. This is a place to search and find the many, many gifts which God has provided for us in our lives. Thou shall not steal? Piece of pie.

1. God provides everything I need.
2. So if I cannot get it God's way... I don't need it.
3. In fact, God provides me more than everything I need.

I am rich. Praise the Lord!

March 2011: What is an Elder?

Strictly Speaking, the word "elder" in the Bible, episcopos, means overseer. The present day equivalent of the episcopos is the pastor. What we commonly call "elders" today are members who have been appointed to serve the congregation in its temporal affairs and to assist the pastor in ministry. According to the Constitution of Immanuel First Lutheran, the Elders, together with the Pastor, shall be concerned with the spiritual welfare of the congregation.

What do the Elders do?

The Elders do more than just read scriptures during the Sunday worship service. They are responsible for overseeing all the aspects of the service, making sure that the proper elements are available, the altar properly prepared and that the worship liturgy leads the people into proper worship of God. Elders also oversee worship attendance. Primarily they analyze communion attendance and call upon those who are lax.

Elders also oversee the baptisms of newborn children in the congregation, and the proper instruction of new members and youth. In order to foster this, the elders, with the Pastor, provide adult and youth confirmation classes.

Some of the more enjoyable tasks of an elder is the care of shut-ins, members who are unable to come to Sunday worship either due to inability to drive or due to illness. Elders will frequently visit shut-ins, helping with personal needs and with the pastor, serve communion. (Sometimes we get bags of oranges.) In addition to the care of members, Elders are also responsible for the pastoral care of the pastors, praying for them and assisting them with difficult problems of ministry.

One of the tougher responsibilities of an elder, with the pastor, is that of church discipline. Matthew 18:15-17 and 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 state that if a person consistently lives in rebellion to Scripture, they are to be denied the sacrament of communion and removed from the fellowship. The is called excommunication. The process of excommunication is never done vengefully or unilaterally, but in love. The goal is that "the [person's] sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved." The ultimate goal of excommunication is reconciliation, between the erring member and the church, and the erring member and God.

What kind of person becomes an Elder?

1 Timothy 3:1-20 outlines the requirements for an Elder, some of which is the following: "...must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money..."

When the Board of Elders of Immanuel First look for new Elders, several other criteria are used in addition to 1 Timothy 3. Active membership for at least five years and regular worship and Bible study is a sign of a commitment to the church. It is also important that they are familiar with the Bible and have had training in the Lutheran confessions. In order that they have enough life experiences, we expect them to be at least 30 years old.

The position of elder is a great honor and also a great responsibility. We have been blessed by the men who have served our congregation and we owe them our love, respect and support. God bless our Elders.