In the 16th century, Martin Luther wrote, “If we were to hang every thief on the gallows, especially those who do not admit it, the world would soon be empty and there would be a shortage of both hangmen and gallows.” There is little to indicate that the situation has changed much since 1529.

As we learn more and more about the diseased finance industry, we learn over and over that most people, rich and poor, want other people to pay the freight for their happiness. For example, a major factor in the mortgage crisis is the fact that in a time of low interest rates and rising real estate values, many people purchased homes at the limit of their ability to pay. Buyers speculated that real estate prices would only go up, interest rates would be static, and they would get regular increases in their personal income. Sellers assumed that once they had signatures on the dotted line, most people would pull out all the stops to pay a mortgage, no matter how high the interest rate grew. Sellers speculated that housing prices would only increase, guaranteeing recovery of the full value of the loan and maybe a profit if they had to foreclose and sell a house. Every party to these transactions hoped to make a profit on the deal and any consequences. It was not technically theft, but in the aftermath of all this speculation and fine print, we are seeing the bare bones of self-serving attitudes on both sides of desk.

Jesus said that self-serving attitudes are the real problem. He said that we are not to grasp at money, possessions and celebrity status. Instead, we are to “store up … treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19) Jesus knew that what we obtain, by theft or even by honest business dealings, is always subject to destruction or theft by others. Remember Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves? The whole point of the story is to tell what happens when thieves rob from thieves. When desire for money, jewels and property becomes a driving force in a person’s life, he can never get enough, and if he has anything, then he can be sure somebody else wants to take it away. Jesus said that the only way to avoid this cycle of theft is to drop out. If we want to serve God, which is the most important commandment of all, then we cannot serve money.

Jesus taught us not to steal by teaching us to give. He turned the commandment on its head. Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you receive.” (Luke 6:38) Jesus taught us to love and serve other people, giving generously when asked, washing feet and becoming the person nobody notices. He called on his followers to love one another, serve others and give themselves away. He taught us that the rewards we can earn by achievement or by winning the lottery or by being promoted or by duping someone into buying property in a flood plain are trivial and temporary. The rewards that matter are piling up in heaven, and they will last an eternity. We don’t need to steal anything in order to possess the greatest riches of all.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16)