49 Sermon Illustrations on Stealing

Ken Adelman (former US Ambassador to UN, director of Arms Control and Disarmament Agency) had a cousin, Alby, who was a compulsive gambler. Ken's father was close to Alby, always said, "He'll be all right. I know he will." In gambling he had fleeting triumphs ($10,000 one day, $7,700 one race) but he went through $1 million before he was 30. He craved money. He charmed people, then ripped them off. Bad checks, schemes, jail. Tried to stop. Ended up stealing the treasury money of Gamblers Anonymous, gambled it in Vegas. Stole and sold uncle's prized stamp collection and WWI medals. Uncle later died. Alby now out of jail, claims to be straight, is engaged to prison psychologist. Ken Adelman has his doubts, but says Alby owes it to his dad.

The experience of Rev. W. P. Nicholson in Belfast, Ireland, at the turn of the twentieth century is needed today. The old evangelist would preach to the dock workers powerfully, causing conviction, and insisting on repentance. Many men accepted Christ and started to bring back everything they had stolen from the shipyards. In the end the authorities had to make a public announcement:

“Will all those attending the meetings of Mr. W. P. Nicholson please stop returning stolen goods. We have nowhere to store them.”

[see also HolwickID #5014]

Swindoll illustration on honesty:

I love the story of the well-respected British pastor who, many years ago, took the trolley early Monday morning from his home in the suburbs to his church in the downtown section of London. He paid the driver as he got on, preoccupied with his busy schedule and the needs of his large congregation. It wasn't until he was seated that he realized the driver has given him too much change. Fingering the coins, his first thought was an alien one, "My, how wonderfully God provides!" But the longer he sat there, the less comfortable he became. His conscience telegraphed a strong signal of conviction within him. As he walked to the door to get off near his parish, he looked at the driver and quietly said, "When I got on, you accidentally gave me too much change."

The driver, with a wry smile, replied, "It was no accident at all. You see, I was in your congregation yesterday and heard your sermon on honesty. I just thought I'd put you to the test, Reverend."

========

Another version that is circulating on the internet:

Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, “You’d better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.” Then he thought, “Oh, forget it, it’s only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a ‘gift from God’ and keep quiet.” When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, “Here, you gave me too much change.”

The driver, with a smile, replied, “Aren’t you the new preacher in town?”

“Yes” he replied.

“Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. Ill see you at church on Sunday.”

When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, “Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter.”

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to the test! Always be on guard -- and remember -- You carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself “Christian.”

Security Pacific bank heist. The "perfect" crime.

The short, balding man moved briskly through the lobby of the Security Pacific National Bank in L.A. and into the elevator. His name was Stanley Rifkin, and he was not challenged as he got off and walked into the wire transfer room. From this highly-guarded room hundreds of millions of dollars passed every day from Security Pacific, through the Federal Reserve system, and on to other banks around the world. Posing as a consultant, the chubby computer expert interviewed a worker in the room and found out the routing instructions, transfer routines and the day's security code.

At 3:00 he walked outside, found a phone and called the wire room. "This is Mike Hansen on International."

"Okay, and the office number?" a friendly female voice asked.

"286."

"286. Okay. What's the code?"

"4739." A pause. If the code was wrong, she would hang up.

"Okay."

Rifkin calmly told her, "The bank is Irving Trust in New York City. It's to pay Wozchod Bank, Zurich, Switzerland. Amount: ten million two hundred thousand even."

"Okay, and what's the interoffice settlement number?" Rifkin was stumped. He didn't know the number. "Let me check. I'll call you right back." He phoned a different number at the bank. Pretending to be from the wire room, he asked for the settlement number. They gave it to him, and he called the wire room back. The clerk typed his order into the system. It was as simple as that.

On October 25, 1978, Stanley Rifkin pulled off one of the largest bank thefts in United States history. Two days later in Switzerland, he picked up $8,000,000 worth of diamonds from a representative of the Soviet Union. He knew that raw diamonds were easily sold and couldn't be traced. He would have bought more, but that's all they had. After picking up the diamonds, Rifkin bought a ticket to Luxembourg. He knew the customs inspectors were very lazy there. The next day in his Luxembourg hotel room Rifkin looked in disbelief at his bed. More than 250,000 diamonds were poured on top of it. Almost 9,000 carats. Nearly four pounds. And the Security Pacific bank didn't have a clue that anything was wrong.

Why can't all Christians be more like Stanley Rifkin? Jesus wants you to be! [Luke 16:8]

#2119

*

Two slick con men boarded a train that runs between New York and Boston and singled out a prosperous-looking man. Sitting down next to him, they invied him to join them in a game of cards. It wasn't long until the unsuspecting victim owed one fo the other players several hundred dollars. The winner agreed to take a check, but once he had it in his hands he acted conscience-stricken and tore it up. "I never thought you'd lose so much money," he said. "Let's call the whole thing off." Impressed with his apparent generosity, the loser insisted on writing out a new check. Later, when he received his bank statement, he discovered that both checks had been cashed. The crook had apparently slipped the first one into his pocket and torn up a blank one instead. His seeming generosity was a clever scheme of deception.

Seems that a year ago, some Boeing employees on the field

decided to steal a life raft from one of the 747s. They were

successful in getting it out of the plane and home. When they

took it for a float on the River, they were quite surprised by a

Coast Guard helicopter coming towards them.

It turned out that the chopper was homing in on the emergency

locator that is activated when the raft is inflated.

They are no longer employed there.

Years ago a Southern woman was in one of my workshops. When asked to tell a story that impacted her character, she described an incident when she was only five. She was at her grandfather's house all dressed up in a white dress with a crinoline and new gloves, proud as she could be.

Her granddaddy told her she could go into the kitchen and get herself a special cookie. Next to the cookies was a stack of quarters. Sure that no one was looking, she took a quarter.

When she returned with her cookie, her granddaddy asked her to show him her gloves. She held out only her left hand and he said, “Show me the other hand.” When she reluctantly did so and revealed the quarter, she immediately saw disappointment in her grandpa's eyes. He paused a moment and then he “hugged me up” and said, “Darlin', you can have anything in the world that I have, but it breaks my heart that you would ever steal it.” Some 50 years later, this story of how her granddaddy gave her the gift of conscience still brought tears to her eyes.

Few things have as large an impact on shaping the values of a child as the sting of lovingly administered shame. It helps define right from wrong and gives a powerful emotional dimension to issues of ethics and character.

Kids, and adults for that matter, learn from their mistakes. Parents, teachers and coworkers can hold others accountable and remind them of their moral obligations without humiliating or condemning them.

What we can't do is just let it go, unless we want to send the message that it's OK. What we allow we encourage and we should never encourage anything other than moral excellence.

________

Copyright 2006 Josephson Institute of Ethics; http://www.charactercounts.org

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #8992]

According to Paul Harvey, recently CBS sent a camera crew to Ft. Worth, Texas to do a special story on big city crime. As the crew was unloading its equipment, their $30,000 camera was stolen. That sounds like a good introduction for their story.

-- Paul Harvey

Any thief knows that the easiest way to steal gasoline from a car

is to siphon it from the other guy's tank into your own. Stick a

rubber hose in his gas tank suck on the other end of the rubber hose

until you get a mouth full of the gas, then spit it out. From then on

the gasoline will flow into your tank. A thief decided to siphon gas

from Dennis Quiggley's motor home in Seattle. When Dennis, inside the

motor home, heard the noises outside he investigated to discovered the

thief curled upon the ground violently vomiting. Intending to suck up

the contents of the gas tank the thief had put his hose into the wrong

hole--and had sucked up the contents of the sewage tank instead. The

thief, a boy 14 will not be prosecuted, Dennis and the police agree

that he has suffered enough. --Associated Press

Letter received at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden from a youngster in the Bronx:

Dear Brooklyn Botanic Garden,

I took a quarter out of the wishing well. So I feel so bad that

I am returning your quarter back to you.

Thank you, Chris

Letter sent by the president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden:

Dear Chris,

We are very glad to have your letter and the 25-cent piece enclosed

with it. Clearly, you have learned how important it is to be an

honest person. I hope that you will enjoy the book enclosed and

that you will visit the garden again soon.

Sincerely, Donald E. Moore

________

New York Times, 17 June 1987

*

[Original illustration at this number was added to HolwickID #11761]

SATAN

There is a haunting photo by Alain Keler in the October 1993 issue of Life magazine. It is of a boy playing a flute. The boy, named Jensen, is only ten years old, but he probably can play some very sad songs. For when you took at his eyes-or where his eyes should be beneath his long, dark bangs-you see only redness, empty sockets. Jensen lives in a charitable institution in Bogotd, Colombia.

Blindness is always tragic, but the cause of blindness in this case only multiplies the sorrow. In the caption next to the photo, Robert Sullivan explains that the boy was likely the victim of "organ nappers." Eye thieves.

When Jensen was ten months old, reports his mother, she took him to the hospital with acute diarrhea. The next day when she returned, bandages covered Jensen's eyes. Dried blood was spattered on his body. Horrified, she asked the doctor what had happened.

He answered harshly, "Can't you see your child is dying?" and dismissed her.

She rushed Jensen to another hospital in Bogotd. After examining him, the doctor gave chilling news: "They've stolen his eyes."

Jensen is somewhat fortunate. He is alive. The organ traffickers usually kill their victims, excise body parts, and broker them to those willing to pay for healthy kidney or cornea transplants.

Organ thieves in Bogotd, Colombia, are not the only ones stealing eyes. There is someone who steals a person's ability to see in an even more tragic way: Satan.

Blindness, Greed, Satan, Stealing

John 10:10; 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 John 2:11

Contemporary Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers, & Writers

Editor Craig Brian Larson, Baker Books, p. 240.

The Christian and the Decalogue — Property — Exodus 20:15 «Leaders’ material shown in these braces»

2 I am Jehovah thy God, … 15 Thou shalt not steal. — ASV

For the Christian, living a life of faith, as for the Israelites, this command does not merely cover the taking of property that belongs to someone else. There are much deeper implications.

A. Let us look at what the Israelites were told about property

1. Psalm 24:1 and Psalm 115:16 «The earth and everything in it belongs to God; yet He has given this to men — not just the people of Israel, but all mankind»

2. … concerning real property (”land”)

a. Deuteronomy 4:1 «The land of Canaan was given to the Israelites upon their obedience to God»

b. Deuteronomy 15:1–11 «The inheritance of this land by the people of Israel — as individuals — was not to be jeopardized by poverty that might come to them; God had given it as an everlasting inheritance»

c. Deuteronomy 23:19–20 «Since what a person possesses is from God, then to exact usury when it is lent to another is unjust — that is a form of stealing»

d. Deuteronomy 28:1, 11-12, 15, 58, 63–65 «Yet, at all times the land remained God’s; His giving has to be understood as a giving in trust for if they were to desert Him, then He would leave them and the land — the mark of His blessing — would be taken from them»

e. Numbers 33:54, Deuteronomy 27:17, Proverbs 22:28 «The allotment of land down to each individual was considered to be directly from God, and moving the landmarks to alter God’s gift was an abomination.»

f. Psalm 16:6 «So gratitude to God for what He had given was essential»

3. … concerning the land’s produce and labour’s result

a. Deuteronomy 26:1–11 «What the land produced, even though it took human effort, still was God’s as would be acknowledged by the giving of the firstfruits»

b. Malachi 3:8 «To deny this acknowledgment to God was robbery, stealing from God»

4. … concerning our abilities and their results

a. Exodus31:1–3 «The skill of the hands comes from God»

b. 1 Kings 3:6–14 «Discernment comes from God»

c. Proverbs 2:6–7 «The Lord gives wisdom and knowledge»

5. Proverbs 6:30-31 «There may be an excuse for stealing which is acceptable to people but retribution is still applicable»

6. So what have we learned about property

a. «It belongs to God but is entrusted to mankind»

b. «God can take away what He gives; how I use it matters»

c. «a person’s right to their property — that it should not be stolen — arises since ultimately it comes from God»

d. what about when we belittle a person’s ability?

B. So what are some other implications for the Christian, in living a life of faith, that come from this commandment?

1. Lessons from 1 Timothy 6:17 (NAS) “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”

a. «property is an uncertain commodity even for Christians»

b. «but its enjoyment should recognize its Source»

2. Lessons from Ephesians 4:28 (NAS) “Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labour, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need.” are

a. «a past manner of life, if wrong, does not prevent one becoming a Christian, but should not be continued»

b. «work is the legitimate path to owning property»

c. «property is entrusted to us not just for our own enjoyment but for the good of others»

d. what does this verse suggest to you about gambling, lotteries, and the like?

3. and what are the lessons of

a. 1 Timothy 6:10

b. 1 Corinthians 16:2?

c. Matthew 6:19

C. Discussion: what are some forms of stealing that people often do not consider to be stealing?

1.

2.

3.

4.

The common denominator among shoplifting addicts is a sense of victimization, of having been unfairly taken from in their lives. Shoplifting from a store is their attempt to regain lost power, to get even for a lifetimes of unjust deprivation.

Researcher Terry Shulman has found a handful of commonly held beliefs among the thousands of compulsive shoplifters he has met or counseled over the years: “Life is unfair.” “The world is an unsafe place.” “I’m entitled to something extra for my suffering.” “Nice people finish last.”

Stealing is as old as humanity, but there’s always a new twist we can put on it. Especially if you have a computer.

A 22-year-old broke Californian named Michael Largent wanted to do his banking online, so he linked his local bank account to an online brokerage firm. This allowed him to transfer funds back and forth. Lots of people do this. When you set it up, the bank sends two small deposits to the online broker account to make sure the transfers will work. The micro-deposits are between 2 cents and a dollar.

Michael knew a little bit about computers and so he wrote an automated script that opened multiple accounts. He gave each account a fake name, often that of a cartoon character. He ran the scam for seven months. In that time he made tens of thousands of fake accounts, and collected over $58,000.

His defense was that they never said he couldn’t open more than one account. And he is absolutely correct. But the Secret Service says you can’t create fake identities, and so he was convicted. The judge gave him 15 months in prison and ordered him to pay $200,000 in restitution. I suppose he is more broke than ever now.

Police patrolling at 1:00 a.m. in Canton, Illinois, noticed a car parked at the First Church of the Nazarene. The keys were in the ignition, and the engine was warm. Then they found a door of the church was broken in, and went inside to investigate. They caught a burglar red-handed as he was trying to pry open a safe in the office. Police identified the burglar as David R. Utt, 39 — the minister of the New Hope Community Church in town.

“He needed money because he was behind on his church’s rent,” police Sgt. Josh Wages said. On the other hand, Utt, who used to be a pastor at another Church of the Nazarene, was able to post $6,000 cash bail to be released the next day.

________

Peoria Journal-Star

Italy’s highest court has ruled that the theft of a sausage and piece of cheese by a homeless man in 2011 did not constitute a crime because he was in desperate need of nourishment.

The high court judges in the court of cassation [appellate courts] found that Roman Ostriakov, a young homeless man who had bought a bag of breadsticks from a supermarket but had slipped a wurstel – a small sausage – and cheese into his pocket, had acted out of an immediate need by stealing a minimal amount of food, and therefore had not committed a crime.

The case, which drew comparisons to the story of Jean Valjean, the hero of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, was hailed in some media reports as an act of humanity at a time when hundreds of Italians are being added to the roster of the country’s “hungry” every day, despite improvements in the economy.

One columnist writing in La Stampa said that, for supreme court judges, the right to survive still trumped property rights, a fact that would be considered “blasphemy in America”.

But others commented that the case highlighted Italy’s notoriously inefficient legal system, in which the theft of food valued at about $5.00 was the subject of a three-part trial – the first hearing, the appeal, and the final supreme court ruling – to determine whether the defendant had in fact committed a crime.

“Yes, you read that right,” an opinion column in Corriere della Sera said, “in a country with a burden of $65 billion in corruption per year, it took three degrees of proceedings to determine ‘this was not a crime’.”

Ostriakov, who was described as a homeless 30-year-old from Ukraine, had been sentenced to six months in jail and a $109 fine by a lower court in Genoa, but that punishment was vacated by the supreme court.

“The supreme court has established a sacrosanct principle: a small theft because of hunger is in no way comparable to an act of delinquency, because the need to feed justifies the fact,” said Carlo Rienzi, president of Codacons, an environmental and consumer rights group, told Il Mesaggero.

“In recent years the economic crisis has increased dramatically the number of citizens, especially the elderly, forced to steal in supermarkets to be able to make ends meet.”

Rienzi said that in such cases the real offence was caused by the state because of its abandonment of the poor, which it turned into food thieves.

The decision will likely please Italy’s most vociferous champion of the homeless: Pope Francis. The Vatican announced this week that the Argentinian pope would be welcoming thousands of homeless people and others who live on the margins of society to Rome in November, which will mark the closing of the jubilee year of mercy.

The European Festival of Joy and Mercy will include about 6,000 vulnerable people, who will be treated to an audience with the pope, a papal mass, and a tour of Rome.

Recent studies found that one in four people in Italy risk poverty or social exclusion. Caritas Europe, a unit of the Catholic charity group, found that 28.4% of Italians were at risk, compared with 24.5% of people in the European Union.

In 2005 the chief ethical policy advisor to President Bush was Claude Allen. Allen was a staunch conservative and an Evangelical Christian. In January 2006, Claude resigned his position. He said it was so he could spend more time with his family.

But a short time later it was revealed that he had been arrested for shoplifting at Target. He stole various stuff and then returned it for refunds. People were incredulous - Claude had a salary of $160,000 a year and lived in a million-dollar house.

Claude went to his pastor and was put through a process of repentance. When he stood before the judge, much to his lawyers’ chagrin, he confessed in detail to what he had done. He made no plea with the government, except to ask for mercy.

The judge was flabbergasted. He said, “You know, in some thirty years on the bench, I have never heard someone confess to a crime like this.” It was only because Claude Allen knew he would one day answer to a Higher Judge.

________

Adapted from the sermon "Defiled" by Dr. Ligon Duncan III, First Presbyterian Church; Jackson, Mississippi; Kerux Sermon #63147, dated February 7, 2007. Additional details were gathered from "Claude Allen" at Wikipedia.org.

Pronab Adhikary was a low-level government official near Calcutta, India. His salary was $173 a week. Neighbors said he lived frugally, buying inexpensive food at the local grocery store and riding his motorcycle to work.

Private building contractors complained that Pronab’s office was harassing them for bribes before he would approve their building plans, so police investigated. Pronab’s six-room house contained money hidden under the floor, in the ceiling, the cupboards, under the bed, and even stuffed in an (unused) toilet. The man earned under $10,000 a year but police discovered $31 million in his humble house.

Apparently this is not unusual in India. The year before, a city engineer’s house near Delhi contained $15 million. Government jobs are always the best.

Corruption in America doesn’t quite measure up. Back in 2014 an IRS agent was arrested for accepting a bribe from a medical marijuana storeowner in Washington state. The agent told the owner he would cut him a deal that would save him a million dollars in taxes. In return, the owner could slip him $20,000 to pay off his student loans.

The owner went to the police, who rigged him with a wire, and the agent was arrested. There is no word on how much tax the store owner ended up paying.

Corruption can be lucrative. The Bible’s description of Zacchaeus was that “he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.” Those who study ancient tax collection say that is a redundancy - high officials in that business always made a lot of money. Zacchaeus’s promise to give away half his wealth was very generous but his vow to pay back anyone he had cheated four-fold (the highest penalty for this crime in the Old Testament) may have been even more expensive for him. He had found something that was far more valuable to him - eternal salvation through Jesus.

________

Adapted by Rev. David Holwick from these articles: "House of cash: police find $31m inside home," 19 August 2015; , and "IRS Agent Arrested for Accepting Bribe," by Michael Patrick Leahy, 24 Sep 2015; .

A New York City couple received through the mail two tickets to a smash Broadway hit. Oddly, the gift arrived without a note, and they wondered who sent it. But they still attended the show and enjoyed it immensely. Returning to their apartment, they discovered that their bedroom had been ransacked. Valuable furs and jewelry were missing. On the pillow was this simple note: "Now you know."

What were you hoping for this Christmas? Well, Helen Johnson was just hoping for five eggs; but she got much more. I’ll tell you her story.

Friends, we’re coming to the close of a dark year. We’ve witnessed the brutality and barbarism of ISIS overseas and watched violent clashes between police and protesters in the Heartland. All around we see death, anger, and despair. I’m sure you’ll agree there is much about the human condition we wish weren’t true.

Yet as we approach Christmas, we’re reminded once again that the darkness gathering around us does not have the final word. John the Apostle opens his Gospel with timeless words of hope regarding the Word of God: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Earlier this month, in Tarrant, Alabama, the beautiful light of hope shined into one woman’s family. Let me tell you their story.

As reported at AL.com, Helen Johnson stood in the store aisle in despair. She and her two daughters, a niece and two grandchildren, had not eaten for two days and now she was 50 cents short for the dozen eggs she was hoping to buy. Out of options and hope, Helen stuffed five of the eggs in her pocket and tried to walk out. Fortunately, as it turns out, they broke. “I’m not a good thief at all,” she said.

When confronted by store employees, she admitted her crime and waited for police. Yet, when Officer William Stacy got there, the story didn’t go as she expected. Instead of escorting her to the back of his squad car, Officer Stacy bought the dozen eggs for her and let her know the store was not pressing charges. When asked how she could repay him, Stacy told her not to shoplift again.

When I heard about this, I kept thinking about the touching scene in Les Miserables where Bishop Myriel presses the silver candlesticks into the criminal Jean Valjean’s hands. Your life has been spared for God, he told him. Kindness, rather than retribution, and mercy instead of justice, is what makes these stories great.

But Helen Johnson’s story did not end there. A man filmed the incident at the store and posted it online. The video went viral and offers of help began pouring in. Three days later, police officers were helping Mrs. Johnson sign up for a toy drive and the following day, officers returned with two truckloads of food. For a family with virtually nothing, a stocked pantry was unbelievable. “My heart is wide open right now,” she said.

The small acts of kindness by the store’s management and Officer Stacy sparked a wave of compassion and charity.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” This, as much as any other, is the message that gives us hope at Christmas.

Every year, we take time to wonder at the kindness of a God who would descend from eternal bliss to live in squalor among us. His acts of kindness, and above all the gift of his own life for us, continue to work their way through history, inspiring countless acts of mercy throughout every land and age. The stories of Jean Valjean and Helen Johnson inspire us because they are our story, too. We are all condemned before the Lord, but rather than mete out justice, He offers forgiveness and new life.

Most of us may never know what it’s like to be 50 cents short of providing a meal for hungry children. But our Lord does: He came to serve the poor and the wretched, the “miserables” among us.

God’s ongoing blessing to us, if we choose to receive it, is to share His works of mercy in the world. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Jesus said, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And blessed are the rest of us, who’ve been given opportunities to serve them.

________

Copyright © 2014 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Security Pacific bank heist. The "perfect" crime.

The short, balding man moved briskly through the lobby of the Security Pacific National Bank in L.A. and into the elevator. His name was Stanley Rifkin, and he was not challenged as he got off and walked into the wire transfer room. From this highly-guarded room hundreds of millions of dollars passed every day from Security Pacific, through the Federal Reserve system, and on to other banks around the world. Posing as a consultant, the chubby computer expert interviewed a worker in the room and found out the routing instructions, transfer routines and the day's security code.

At 3:00 he walked outside, found a phone and called the wire room. "This is Mike Hansen on International."

"Okay, and the office number?" a friendly female voice asked.

"286."

"286. Okay. What's the code?"

"4739." A pause. If the code was wrong, she would hang up.

"Okay."

Rifkin calmly told her, "The bank is Irving Trust in New York City. It's to pay Wozchod Bank, Zurich, Switzerland. Amount: ten million two hundred thousand even."

"Okay, and what's the interoffice settlement number?" Rifkin was stumped. He didn't know the number. "Let me check. I'll call you right back." He phoned a different number at the bank. Pretending to be from the wire room, he asked for the settlement number. They gave it to him, and he called the wire room back. The clerk typed his order into the system. It was as simple as that.

On October 25, 1978, Stanley Rifkin pulled off one of the largest bank thefts in United States history. Two days later in Switzerland, he picked up $8,000,000 worth of diamonds from a representative of the Soviet Union. He knew that raw diamonds were easily sold and couldn't be traced. He would have bought more, but that's all they had. After picking up the diamonds, Rifkin bought a ticket to Luxembourg. He knew the customs inspectors were very lazy there. The next day in his Luxembourg hotel room Rifkin looked in disbelief at his bed. More than 250,000 diamonds were poured on top of it. Almost 9,000 carats. Nearly four pounds. And the Security Pacific bank didn't have a clue that anything was wrong.

Why can't all Christians be more like Stanley Rifkin? Jesus wants you to be! [Luke 16:8]

#2119

*

SATAN

There is a haunting photo by Alain Keler in the October 1993 issue of Life magazine. It is of a boy playing a flute. The boy, named Jensen, is only ten years old, but he probably can play some very sad songs. For when you took at his eyes-or where his eyes should be beneath his long, dark bangs-you see only redness, empty sockets. Jensen lives in a charitable institution in Bogotd, Colombia.

Blindness is always tragic, but the cause of blindness in this case only multiplies the sorrow. In the caption next to the photo, Robert Sullivan explains that the boy was likely the victim of "organ nappers." Eye thieves.

When Jensen was ten months old, reports his mother, she took him to the hospital with acute diarrhea. The next day when she returned, bandages covered Jensen's eyes. Dried blood was spattered on his body. Horrified, she asked the doctor what had happened.

He answered harshly, "Can't you see your child is dying?" and dismissed her.

She rushed Jensen to another hospital in Bogotd. After examining him, the doctor gave chilling news: "They've stolen his eyes."

Jensen is somewhat fortunate. He is alive. The organ traffickers usually kill their victims, excise body parts, and broker them to those willing to pay for healthy kidney or cornea transplants.

Organ thieves in Bogotd, Colombia, are not the only ones stealing eyes. There is someone who steals a person's ability to see in an even more tragic way: Satan.

Blindness, Greed, Satan, Stealing

John 10:10; 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 John 2:11

Contemporary Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers, & Writers

Editor Craig Brian Larson, Baker Books, p. 240.

In 2005 the chief ethical policy advisor to President Bush was Claude Allen. Allen was a staunch conservative and an Evangelical Christian. In January 2006, Claude resigned his position. He said it was so he could spend more time with his family.

But a short time later it was revealed that he had been arrested for shoplifting at Target. He stole various stuff and then returned it for refunds. People were incredulous - Claude had a salary of $160,000 a year and lived in a million-dollar house.

Claude went to his pastor and was put through a process of repentance. When he stood before the judge, much to his lawyers’ chagrin, he confessed in detail to what he had done. He made no plea with the government, except to ask for mercy.

The judge was flabbergasted. He said, “You know, in some thirty years on the bench, I have never heard someone confess to a crime like this.” It was only because Claude Allen knew he would one day answer to a Higher Judge.

________

Adapted from the sermon "Defiled" by Dr. Ligon Duncan III, First Presbyterian Church; Jackson, Mississippi; Kerux Sermon #63147, dated February 7, 2007. Additional details were gathered from "Claude Allen" at Wikipedia.org.

Ferguson lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, and has had 10 break-ins in a short period of time. She feels violated and thinks there is too much justice for criminals. The full article:

They’re back ... I’ve been hit again. Another break-in. This time, as I was leaving my home I saw my three-foot cerebral palsy puppet, which I use in an educational program, hanging upside down from a tree. I looked around my car. Other things were missing. Immediately those familiar feelings of surprise, fear, anger, revenge and then, as always, helplessness came over me. When is it going to stop? As I retrieved Mark from the tree, it occurred to me how like Mark I am – a helpless puppet.

After experiencing 10 break-ins or attempted break-ins over the last six years, I have had it! But then comes the helplessness. I had “had it” after the first break-in, but what can I do? I have a sophisticated security system that automatically calls the sheriff. I keep serial numbers on all the “popular” items (TV, stereo, VCR, etc.) I write STOLEN FROM FERGUSON on all our lawn and garden tools. I keep a loaded gun. I had a dog, but even she was stolen. I feel like a hostage in my own home.

The sum total of all the goods stolen over the years and the damage done probably equals, monetarily, less than what we donate to charities in two or three months. But that isn’t the issue. Anyone who has had even one attempted burglary can testify to the personal violation they feel.

I am a gentle, giving person. I am your typical WASP stay-at-home mom who spends a lot of time volunteering away from home. I teach a free dance class twice a week for the city Recreation Department, but my tape player and all my dance tapes were stolen in this last break-in. I plan and cook Wednesday night meals at our church, but the proceeds from our last dinner were stolen in the burglary. I am a volunteer puppeteer with The Kids on the Block organization, but Mark, my puppet, was left hanging from a tree, and his storage bag and part of his wheelchair were stolen. So much of the “giving” me was taken with this last burglary.

What if I were able to confront one of the guilty? Once I interrupted a teenager breaking in. I was so enraged all I could do was chase him into the woods. But if I had caught him, I might have been the guilty one and the “victim” would have been a “young, disadvantaged teenager who should have been in school.”

When your privacy has been violated as often as mine your attitude is also affected. The “gentle and giving” me goes beyond seeing these people as the tragic result of a bad home life. They are members of an ever-growing group of criminals who are allowed to victimize entire communities, yet receive little or no punishment if caught. I don’t fault our law enforcers. Each one who has been in my home has been a caring, supporting person, as equally enraged as I. And as impotent.

As a society we teach our children that a “community” (be it a family, a classroom or a town) can exist only if we follow the rules, and when we break rules, certain consequences will follow. I asked my 9-year-old why she doesn’t throw food in the school lunchroom. “I’d get in trouble!” she responded. And so she should.

What’s happened? Where are the rules of society we work so hard to teach our children? How did we evolve into a society that protects a criminal’s rights to the extent that private citizens are held hostage? I cannot disagree with the presumption that a person is innocent until proven guilty, but I do believe the pendulum of “justice” has swung too far in that direction. It’s only when a person becomes a habitual criminal, or when the crime is such that society is totally outraged, that just punishment is even considered. In my community first- and second-time burglary suspects are released – there is just no room in jail. They are back on the street in three or four hours ready to strike again, with even greater motivation, knowing their risks are small.

Sense of community: Many of these “smaller crimes” are committed by teenagers or young adults who seem to have gotten lost, who seem to have slipped through the cracks during those all-important impressionable years. And we are producing more lost souls every year in many of our educational systems. In this world of “bigger is better” and money-saving cuts, we have traded our small neighborhood schools for large, broader institutions. While it may save money and provide a wider scope of academic experiences, in the process one’s identity and self-esteem are often sacrificed. How can a child who has little or no home support be expected to develop a sense of worth, a sense of belonging, amid the confusion that is rampant in elementary schools of 500+ students and high schools with campuses as large as many colleges? In a neighborhood school, teachers know every child and every child’s parents, or lack of parents. A supportive sense of community naturally evolves and a child grows up believing he is a viable part of a whole.

To crack down on “smaller” crimes, we have to start with smaller people – our children. Raise them and educate them in an environment that doesn’t allow so many to get lost in the crowd. If we start here, perhaps we could alter the recognized route of habitual criminals. The dust of petty crimes is being swept under our carpets and is growing larger and spreading the eventual filth of major crimes throughout the country. It’s time for some house cleaning, America.

Did writing a “My Turn” column bring to light any new solutions? Not really. Will it reduce the number of break-ins? Probably not. Did it help diffuse any of my rage? Perhaps a little – until the next break-in, and then the cycle will begin again. I just hope next time it’s not me they leave hanging from a tree.

________

Downloaded from: https://www.knoxfocus.com/columnist/hostage-in-my-home/

Ferguson lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, and has had 10 break-ins in a short period of time. She feels violated and thinks there is too much justice for criminals. The full article:

They’re back ... I’ve been hit again. Another break-in. This time, as I was leaving my home I saw my three-foot cerebral palsy puppet, which I use in an educational program, hanging upside down from a tree. I looked around my car. Other things were missing. Immediately those familiar feelings of surprise, fear, anger, revenge and then, as always, helplessness came over me. When is it going to stop? As I retrieved Mark from the tree, it occurred to me how like Mark I am – a helpless puppet.

After experiencing 10 break-ins or attempted break-ins over the last six years, I have had it! But then comes the helplessness. I had “had it” after the first break-in, but what can I do? I have a sophisticated security system that automatically calls the sheriff. I keep serial numbers on all the “popular” items (TV, stereo, VCR, etc.) I write STOLEN FROM FERGUSON on all our lawn and garden tools. I keep a loaded gun. I had a dog, but even she was stolen. I feel like a hostage in my own home.

The sum total of all the goods stolen over the years and the damage done probably equals, monetarily, less than what we donate to charities in two or three months. But that isn’t the issue. Anyone who has had even one attempted burglary can testify to the personal violation they feel.

I am a gentle, giving person. I am your typical WASP stay-at-home mom who spends a lot of time volunteering away from home. I teach a free dance class twice a week for the city Recreation Department, but my tape player and all my dance tapes were stolen in this last break-in. I plan and cook Wednesday night meals at our church, but the proceeds from our last dinner were stolen in the burglary. I am a volunteer puppeteer with The Kids on the Block organization, but Mark, my puppet, was left hanging from a tree, and his storage bag and part of his wheelchair were stolen. So much of the “giving” me was taken with this last burglary.

What if I were able to confront one of the guilty? Once I interrupted a teenager breaking in. I was so enraged all I could do was chase him into the woods. But if I had caught him, I might have been the guilty one and the “victim” would have been a “young, disadvantaged teenager who should have been in school.”

When your privacy has been violated as often as mine your attitude is also affected. The “gentle and giving” me goes beyond seeing these people as the tragic result of a bad home life. They are members of an ever-growing group of criminals who are allowed to victimize entire communities, yet receive little or no punishment if caught. I don’t fault our law enforcers. Each one who has been in my home has been a caring, supporting person, as equally enraged as I. And as impotent.

As a society we teach our children that a “community” (be it a family, a classroom or a town) can exist only if we follow the rules, and when we break rules, certain consequences will follow. I asked my 9-year-old why she doesn’t throw food in the school lunchroom. “I’d get in trouble!” she responded. And so she should.

What’s happened? Where are the rules of society we work so hard to teach our children? How did we evolve into a society that protects a criminal’s rights to the extent that private citizens are held hostage? I cannot disagree with the presumption that a person is innocent until proven guilty, but I do believe the pendulum of “justice” has swung too far in that direction. It’s only when a person becomes a habitual criminal, or when the crime is such that society is totally outraged, that just punishment is even considered. In my community first- and second-time burglary suspects are released – there is just no room in jail. They are back on the street in three or four hours ready to strike again, with even greater motivation, knowing their risks are small.

Sense of community: Many of these “smaller crimes” are committed by teenagers or young adults who seem to have gotten lost, who seem to have slipped through the cracks during those all-important impressionable years. And we are producing more lost souls every year in many of our educational systems. In this world of “bigger is better” and money-saving cuts, we have traded our small neighborhood schools for large, broader institutions. While it may save money and provide a wider scope of academic experiences, in the process one’s identity and self-esteem are often sacrificed. How can a child who has little or no home support be expected to develop a sense of worth, a sense of belonging, amid the confusion that is rampant in elementary schools of 500+ students and high schools with campuses as large as many colleges? In a neighborhood school, teachers know every child and every child’s parents, or lack of parents. A supportive sense of community naturally evolves and a child grows up believing he is a viable part of a whole.

To crack down on “smaller” crimes, we have to start with smaller people – our children. Raise them and educate them in an environment that doesn’t allow so many to get lost in the crowd. If we start here, perhaps we could alter the recognized route of habitual criminals. The dust of petty crimes is being swept under our carpets and is growing larger and spreading the eventual filth of major crimes throughout the country. It’s time for some house cleaning, America.

Did writing a “My Turn” column bring to light any new solutions? Not really. Will it reduce the number of break-ins? Probably not. Did it help diffuse any of my rage? Perhaps a little – until the next break-in, and then the cycle will begin again. I just hope next time it’s not me they leave hanging from a tree.

________

Downloaded from: https://www.knoxfocus.com/columnist/hostage-in-my-home/