Lessons in the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther For the Senior Department of Lutheran Sunday-Schools and for General Use · George Mezger
LESSON 8.
The Seventh Commandment. Which is the Seventh Commandment? _Thou shalt not steal._ What does this mean? _We should fear and love God that we may not take our neighbor's money or goods, nor get them by false ware or dealing, but help him to improve and protect his property and business._ 1. _We should not steal;_ that means, _we should not take our neighbor's money or goods._ Our neighbor's, our fellow-man's, money and his goods do not belong to us, but to him _They are his property._ It is God's will that men should have property, money, and goods that belong to them. All the goods in the world come from Him, they are His gift. He gives to every one as much earthly goods as He pleases, as much or as little as is best for him. There always will be rich people and poor people among us. _The property of our neighbor should be sacred to us because it is given him by God, our heavenly Father._
2. _We should not take our neighbor's money or goods._ It belongs to him according to God's will; therefore we should not steal, that is, not take his property away from him. He may give and present it to us, if he so chooses, but we should not take it. We may buy his goods at a fair price, if he is willing to sell, but we should not take it against his will. This may be done in various ways. Think of the _thieves_ into whose hands the Jew fell who came down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Luke 10,30. They stripped him of his raiment; _openly_ and _by force_ they took his clothes and all that he had. We call such men _robbers._-- Others do not take their neighbor's property by force, they sneak into their neighbor's house and take his money and valuables _secretly,_ without his knowledge, or they pick his pockets when there is a chance. _Achan_ took some of the spoils of the city of Jericho secretly and hid the goods in the earth under his tent, in order that nobody might know what he had taken. Josh. 7,21. Such men are called _thieves;_ their sin is called _theft._ Also to-day there are many robbers and thieves in the world.--Beware of taking your fellow-pupil's property, be it ever so small, a pen or a pencil, etc. That would be theft. Remember that your heavenly Father, whom you fear and love, will see you. Our Lord says: _"Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good."_ Eph. 4,28.
3. _We should not get our neighbor's money and goods by false ware or dealing._ That is another way of taking our neighbor's property. Taking our neighbor's property in this manner is generally called fraud or cheating. _"Let no man go beyond_ [what belongs to him according to the will of God], _and defraud his brother in any matter_ [in his trade and business], _because that the Lord is the avenger of all such"_ (the Lord will punish all that commit such frauds). 1 Thess. 4,6. We should not take our neighbor's money _by false ware,_ that is, by selling bad, poor wares to him in place of good ones for which he pays. We should not take his money _by false dealings,_ that is, by using short weights and measures, and in this way keeping back what belongs to our neighbor, by taking too much profit when buying or selling anything, and thus cheating our brother, by borrowing money or other goods and not returning them, etc. _"The wicked borroweth and payeth not again."_ Ps. 37,21. There are many ways of taking our brother's money or goods. A child of God will shun them all, he will be _honest_ in all his dealings with his neighbor.
4. _We should help our neighbor to improve ... his property and business._ We should help and assist our neighbor as much as we can, by _word and deed,_ that his property and business, by means of which he earns his living, may be _improved,_ become better. If our neighbor is poor and suffers want, we should help him by _giving_ him of our money, or other goods which he may be in need of. _"He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He pay him again."_ Prov. 19,17 We should lend him our money if he is in need, until he may be able to repay it. _"Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away."_ Matt. 5,42. _Zacchaeus,_ after having joyfully received the Lord into his house, was ready to give half of his goods to the poor. Luke 19,8. How _well-pleasing_ it is to our Lord when we help the poor and needy! _"To do good and to communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."_ Heb. 13,16. 5. _We should help our neighbor to ... protect his property and business._ Our neighbor's property and business sometimes is in danger, in danger by water or fire, or by wicked men who try to harm our brother. We should _warn_ him against these dangers, we should give him _good advice how to overcome them._ But we should not only warn and advise but also assist him as much as we can that his property may not be lost or come to harm. Our love to God should prompt us to serve our brethren. _"This commandment have we from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also."_ 1 John 4,21.
_1. All our property has been given us by God. God bestows these goods as He pleases. Rich and poor will always be among us. The property of our neighbor should be sacred to us because God has given it to him._ _2. We should, therefore, not take our neighbor's money and goods against his will, neither by robbery and theft, nor by defrauding him by poor wares or crooked dealings. Always be honest!_ _3. We should rather help him to improve his property and business and to preserve it from danger and harm._ _Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away._ Matt. 5,42. _He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He pay him again._ Prov. 19,17. _To do good and to communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased._ Heb. 13, 16.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.