WEBVTT 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:19.759 Welcome to our family service. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:23.519 This morning we are talking about one of the Ten Commandments. 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:26.399 So this whole year we have been following the Ten Commandments. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:29.519 This week we are talking about the seventh commandment. 00:00:29.759 --> 00:00:31.519 You shall not steal. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:35.439 Hear now the word of the Lord. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:39.839 First, as it is written in the book of Genesis, part of chapter 44. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:01:01.840 And Joseph commanded him that was over his house, saying, Fill the men's bags with food, as much as they can bear, and put a man's silver in his bag's mouth, and set my goblet, the silver goblet, in the bag's mouth of the youngest, and the silver of his rations. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:06.000 And he did according to the word of Joseph that he had spoken. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:10.480 The morning gave light, and the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:25.280 They were gone out of the city, not yet far away, and Joseph said to him who was over his house, Arise, pursue after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, Why do you repay evil in return for good? 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:30.799 Is not this it in which my Lord drinks, and in which foretelling he foretells? 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:33.840 You have done evil in what you have done. 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:38.400 And he overtook them, and he spoke to them these words. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:44.320 And they said to him, Why does my lord speak according to these words? 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:47.760 Far be it from your servants to do according to this word. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:53.280 Behold, the silver which we found in our bag's mouth, we returned to you out of the land of Canaan. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:57.840 And how should we steal out of your Lord's house silver or gold? 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:06.000 And with whomever of your servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be to my Lord for servants. 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:11.919 And he said, Even now, according to your words, so shall it be. 00:02:12.239 --> 00:02:17.599 He with whom it is found shall be to me a servant, and you shall be innocent. 00:02:18.239 --> 00:02:25.759 And they hastened, and they made each man his bag come down to the earth, and opened each man his bag, and he searched. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:34.000 He began at the eldest, and completed at the youngest, and the goblet was found in the bag of Benjamin. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:41.120 And they tore their clothing, and loaded up each man his donkey, and they returned to the city. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:47.919 And Judah and his brothers came into Joseph's house, and he was yet there, and they fell before him to the earth. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:52.080 And Joseph said to them, What is this deed that you have done? 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:56.800 Did you not know that a man who is such as I, foretelling, foretells? 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:01.840 And Judah said, What shall we say to my Lord? 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:03.759 What shall we speak? 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:06.240 And how shall we be justified? 00:03:06.640 --> 00:03:10.400 God has found out the iniquity of your servants. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:18.319 Behold, we are servants to my Lord, both we and he in whose hand the goblet was found. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:20.240 Amen. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:26.240 Reading further from the Gospel of John, part of chapter 10. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:39.840 Jesus said, Amen, Amen, I say to you, he who enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:44.319 But he who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:52.319 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:58.319 And when he lets out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:05.759 But a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:11.759 This parable Jesus told to them, but they did not know what things they were which he spoke to them. 00:04:12.640 --> 00:04:19.919 Then Jesus said again to them, Amen, Amen, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:24.159 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers. 00:04:24.479 --> 00:04:26.560 But the sheep did not hear them. 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:28.560 I am the door. 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:35.199 By me, if any one enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:42.079 The thief comes not, except that he may steal and slaughter and destroy. 00:04:43.039 --> 00:04:48.879 I am come that they might have life, and might have it more abundantly. 00:04:49.679 --> 00:04:50.319 Amen. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:58.479 Reading finally from Arcana Celestia, part of number 57, 47. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:06.399 Joseph's brothers are accused as if they had taken Joseph's cup. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:15.199 The reason why they were so accused, although the cup had been placed there, is plain from the internal sense, which is this. 00:05:16.239 --> 00:05:22.879 The truth which is given by the Lord is first received as if it were not given. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:28.479 For before regeneration, a person supposes that he procures truth for himself. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:33.919 And so long as he supposes this, he is in spiritual theft. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:43.599 To claim good and truth to oneself, and to attribute them to oneself for righteousness and merit, is to take away from the Lord that which is his. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:50.159 Before he has been regenerated, a person's belief about how he acquires truth cannot be any different. 00:05:50.479 --> 00:05:58.399 He may, it is true, say with his lips, because of what he has been taught, that the truths of faith and the good of charity come entirely from the Lord. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:04.319 Nevertheless, he does not believe it until faith has become implanted in good. 00:06:04.799 --> 00:06:08.879 Only then does he begin to acknowledge it in his heart. 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:10.159 Amen. 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:12.639 Here end our lessons. 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:16.079 Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it. 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:17.039 Amen. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:29.439 So we have been talking this year about the Ten Commandments, about one commandment every month, and this week we are talking about the seventh commandment, you shall not steal. 00:06:30.719 --> 00:06:37.679 Now, in the most basic sense, stealing means taking something that doesn't belong to you. 00:06:38.159 --> 00:06:39.519 This is something all of us know. 00:06:39.679 --> 00:06:44.639 From the time we're little, we learn you shouldn't take something that doesn't belong to you. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:49.199 Over and over and over, we get this message: don't take that, it's not yours, please give it back. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:55.359 So we have a lot of practice from the time we're young with not stealing. 00:06:56.239 --> 00:07:01.439 And so it might seem like this commandment is one of the easiest ones to follow. 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:03.599 Maybe we think, well, this one I don't have to worry about. 00:07:03.679 --> 00:07:04.559 I already know that one. 00:07:04.799 --> 00:07:06.399 Learned that one when I was little. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:08.239 Probably not stealing. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:13.119 Thing is, stealing is sneaky. 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:22.319 And when I say stealing is sneaky, in one sense it's because uh you you you act sneaky in order to steal, right? 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:25.839 You imagine a burglar sneaking into someone's house at night. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.559 They're sneaking in, they don't want to get caught. 00:07:29.039 --> 00:07:34.799 Or uh imagine someone who is cheating to get something that they don't deserve. 00:07:35.039 --> 00:07:41.119 Whether that's at a game or in business or in taxes, they're cheating to get something that isn't theirs. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.559 That's another form of stealing, and it's sneaky. 00:07:45.119 --> 00:07:50.479 So stealing involves uh deception, sneakiness, trying not to get caught. 00:07:51.599 --> 00:08:01.679 But stealing is sneaky in another way as well, in that we can steal without realizing we're stealing. 00:08:03.599 --> 00:08:07.439 This is part of what the story we read in Genesis is all about. 00:08:08.559 --> 00:08:11.439 In that story, it's a story of Joseph and his brothers. 00:08:11.679 --> 00:08:15.839 So Joseph was the eleventh of twelve brothers. 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:18.319 And his older brothers didn't like him very much. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:24.319 And so one day they caught him and they um put him in a pit, and he was sold to be a slave in Egypt. 00:08:24.479 --> 00:08:26.000 So he goes to Egypt. 00:08:26.719 --> 00:08:29.119 Well, he's in Egypt, he's thrown into prison, even. 00:08:31.119 --> 00:08:33.039 But then the Lord raises him up. 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:37.200 The Lord lets him interpret a dream for Pharaoh. 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:44.159 That there will be seven years where there's plenty of food, followed by seven years where there's not enough food. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:51.360 And because Joseph has interpreted this dream, Pharaoh raises him up and makes him second in command of all of Egypt. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:56.720 And sure enough, they store up food during those seven years of plenty. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:58.559 And then there's the famine. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:02.000 Not enough food anywhere, not just in Egypt, but anywhere. 00:09:02.319 --> 00:09:07.519 And so Joseph's brothers back in the land of Canaan come to Egypt to get food. 00:09:08.079 --> 00:09:11.039 And it's Joseph who's giving out the food, but they don't recognize him. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:13.360 He's been in Egypt so long, they don't know who he is. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:19.759 And he gives them food, sends them back home, but he says to them, I'm not sure I believe your story that you're all brothers. 00:09:19.839 --> 00:09:20.959 I think you're spies. 00:09:21.199 --> 00:09:27.679 If you're gonna come back again, you have to bring Benjamin, your youngest brother, with you. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:32.000 Now, Benjamin had not sold Joseph to be a slave. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:42.079 So years go by, time goes by, and the famine is still bad, and they need to come back, and they bring Benjamin, even though their father is really reluctant to let him go. 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:46.079 And they come back and they get food again, and they're sent on their way and they go on their way. 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:55.679 But as we read, Joseph has the one of his servants take Joseph's own silver cup, put it in Benjamin's bag. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:03.600 So they're walking along, and then someone comes from Joseph's household and says, Wait, wait, wait, you've stolen Joseph's cup. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:08.079 They say, if we've stolen his cup, let the person who has it be put to death. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:09.519 We'll be your servants. 00:10:09.839 --> 00:10:13.039 He says, No, I'll make you, I'll make whoever stole it be a servant. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:15.279 They don't think anyone's taken it. 00:10:15.439 --> 00:10:20.639 They all empty their grain, and sure enough, there's the cup in Benjamin's bag. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:26.879 They tear their clothes, they go back, Joseph says, What have you done? 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:29.360 And they admit we have been evil. 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:37.759 And when they admit that, they're not really just admitting about the silver cup, which they actually didn't even know about, but they know what they did to Joseph years earlier. 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:52.319 And later on in the story, Benjamin is, they say, We're going to take Benjamin, you guys go home, and Judah says, No, I want to take his place, and Joseph realizes that they have changed, and he reveals himself, and there's a reunion. 00:10:53.279 --> 00:11:06.559 But for this part of the story, where there's this seeming uh theft of the cup, the passage we read from Arcana Celeste says that this tells us something about the way stealing can work in our spiritual lives. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:19.039 Because early on in our regeneration, while we are still first trying to follow the Lord, whether we like it or not, we are going to be stealing. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:23.199 We can steal without even meaning to. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.799 And this is true even in the natural level. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:36.000 We've probably all had the experience of you walk somewhere and you take something out of your pocket and you're like, I did not mean to take that with me. 00:11:37.199 --> 00:11:38.079 And that's okay. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:43.120 It's not your fault you've taken something, but the question is, what will you do next? 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:47.519 Joseph's brothers immediately came back. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:51.039 There can be sort of an embarrassment, right, when we've accidentally taken something. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.480 I don't have to admit I took this, that's embarrassing. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:59.839 So we can choose to just hold on to it and hope they don't notice, or we can choose, I'm going to give it back anyway. 00:12:00.959 --> 00:12:03.120 Sometimes it's just that embarrassment embarrassment. 00:12:03.199 --> 00:12:05.839 Other times it's we really want to keep the thing. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:14.240 Uh maybe when you were younger, you've had the experience of uh you pick up a toy, you start playing with it, so much fun. 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:18.799 Then someone comes and says, uh, that's mine, can I please have it? 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:22.240 Now you didn't intentionally take it. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:25.199 You didn't know it was theirs. 00:12:25.439 --> 00:12:32.559 But there's a reaction when they say, That's mine, can I have it back, that if we're really enjoying it, that makes us want to say, no, I had it first. 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:36.319 I want to keep this thing. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:40.959 And suddenly this accidental stealing becomes something more intentional. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:42.720 That's how it's sneaky. 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:45.919 And it's not just with things either. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:48.240 It's not just with stuff. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:50.559 You can steal attention. 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:55.519 Maybe someone's talking and you jump in and not interrupt and want to share your story. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:58.559 And you don't do it trying to hurt them or trying to do anything wrong. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:00.720 You're just excited about your story. 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:03.199 But what do you do when you realize you've done it? 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:09.360 Do you say, sorry, you go ahead, or do you just keep going because you've got to finish your thing you're saying? 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:18.079 That's where the choice is with stealing, often, is what do we do once we've realized we've started stealing? 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:21.600 Another example, credit, taking credit. 00:13:21.839 --> 00:13:28.559 Maybe someone comes to you and says, Oh, you did such a great job on this project, and you realize you didn't actually do much of the work on the project. 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:31.279 That was actually your partner who did more of the work. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.799 Do you just let it be, or do you give your partner credit? 00:13:35.199 --> 00:13:38.319 Do you let go of that, oh, that does feel good to be acknowledged? 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:43.279 Or do you say, no, you know, I did some work on it, but my partner actually did a lot of work too. 00:13:44.079 --> 00:13:48.240 And that gets more to the spiritual and the celestial sense of this commandment. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:55.519 Because in the highest sense of this commandment, it's about taking credit for what actually belongs to the Lord. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:57.919 Which is everything. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:01.679 Every single good idea we have is an idea from the Lord. 00:14:01.839 --> 00:14:05.759 Every single good intention we have is a gift from the Lord. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:10.079 And again, we can't help the fact that it feels like it's our own stuff. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:11.759 It is going to feel like this. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:14.720 We are going to think, hey, I had a great idea. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:16.799 And that's okay. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:26.559 As long as when we realize, ooh, I've been taking credit for something that is actually the Lord's, we're willing to let go of that. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:30.159 We're willing to act like Joseph's brothers and say, oh, you know what? 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:33.039 I've been taking credit that isn't actually mine. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:37.039 I've been saying this good thing comes from me when actually it's just a gift. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:39.439 I happen to receive it from the Lord. 00:14:40.319 --> 00:14:48.319 It's a hard thing to do, but when we make that choice to do that, every time we realize, oh, I've been accidentally taking something, I'm going to give it back. 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:50.480 I'm going to say that's a gift from the Lord. 00:14:50.720 --> 00:15:06.559 We can form a habit that replaces that habit of sort of wanting to hold on to things with a desire to give back, to act in integrity and in sincerity, to not need to be sneaky anymore. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:35.919 Just as there's reconciliation with Joseph and his brothers, as we practice more and more fighting the temptation to hold on to things, to take things, and instead let go of them, give them back, give the credit to the Lord, we can be filled with a sense of joy and gratitude that is far greater than any joy we could ever get from taking things for ourselves. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:37.360 Amen.