Robbery & Forgiveness
The church was broken into the other night.
Whoever did it had to be skinny; they busted in a small window and then broke into Pastor’s office. The only thing stolen was a large jar of quarters - around $120 worth.
It’s tempting to be angry. That money was designated to send our teenagers to youth camp. It’s not like any of us are rich, and some of our kids come from extremely poor families. If the church doesn’t foot the bill, they won’t go.
It’s tempting to be angrier because - given the size of the window and the size the person must have been, to fit through - it may well have been a teenager that did it. Might’ve even been one of the very kids we’re sending to youth camp.
But we’ve got to get angry for the right reasons. It’s just money. God says not to worry about it.
Matthew 6:25-33
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.“
God’s already got the money situation for youth camp worked out - He will supply the need. We don’t have to worry about it.
The right reason to be angry over this situation is that there is a precious soul - maybe a teenager, maybe not (doesn’t matter) - who is going to hell. “The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy” (John 10:10). The person-thief didn’t steal our money so much as the thief, satan, is attempting to steal that person’s soul.
Now this is personal. Whether they know it or not, we’re going to pray for them. They need to know Christ’s love and forgiveness and the tangible act of us forgiving them, too. I have know that sooner or later they will have an encounter with God (we all will!); I pray that it will be on this side of eternity, before it’s too late.