Saturday, August 20, 2016

MAKING RESTITUTION


The 3 Rs Of Accountability- Repentance, Restitution, and Personal Responsibility


Restitution: The act of making amends; the act of returning or restoring to someone what is his; restoration of a thing to its proper owner or its original state; reparation for injury or damage ;  a balancing of the accounts ; compensation for loss, damage or injury; the act of returning or restoring to a person some thing or right of which he has been unjustly deprived, restitution is made by restoring a specific thing taken away or lost; the act of making good, or of giving an equivalent for any loss, damage, or injury; indemnification.


There’s a passage in the Holy Bible that goes thusly:  “A thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft. If the stolen animal is found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double”.


What do we definitely know about the above passage?  What do we think we know about the passage?   Shall we study it together?

Biblical Fact:

In the Bible, the Lord instructs us to make restitution to those we have wronged.  The Biblical model for restitution is returning what we have taken from another, and ADDING to it as well.  In Leviticus 6:1-7, we are taught: THE LORD SAID TO MOSES: "if anyone sins and is unfaithful to the lord by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do- when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or whatever it was he swore falsely about.  he must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it, and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering.   and as a penalty, he must bring to the priest, that is, to the lord, his guilt offering…..and he will be forgiven for any of these things that made him guilty."  We should also note that this passage specifies restitution not just for theft of material goods, but for offenses such as deception, swearing falsely and any other such sins.  So, we thus far have learned that - -

  • Restitution is a biblical concept; and there are passages in both Old and New Testaments that reveal the mind of God on this subject. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were under the Law, which specified restitution in a variety of circumstances: “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. . . . A thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft. If the stolen animal is found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double. If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in another man's field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard. If a fire breaks out and spreads into thorn bushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution. . . If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies . . . he must make restitution” (Exodus 22:1, 3-6, 14).

  • Leviticus 6:2-5 covers other situations in which the stolen property is restored, plus one fifth of the value. Also of note in this passage, the restitution was made to the owner of the property (not to the government or any other third party), and the compensation was to be accompanied by a guilt offering to the Lord. The Mosaic Law, then, protected victims of theft, extortion, fraud, and negligence by requiring the offending parties to make restitution. The amount of remuneration varied anywhere from 100 to 500 percent of the loss. The restitution was to be made on the same day that the guilty one brought his sacrifice before the Lord, which implies that making amends with one’s neighbor is just as important as making peace with God.

And, if we were to look further in the New Testament, we will find a magnificent example of Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Jesus is visiting Zacchaeus’s home, and the people who know the chief publican to be a wicked and oppressive man are beginning to murmur about His associating with a sinner (verse 7). “But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost’” (verses 8-10).

From Zacchaeus’s words, we learn that:

1.    He had been guilty of defrauding people.
2.    He was remorseful over his past actions.
3.    He was committed to making restitution.

From Jesus’ words, we learn that:
    1.    Zacchaeus was saved that day and his sin was forgiven. The evidence of his salvation was both his public confession (Romans 10:10) and his relinquishing of all ill-gotten gains. Zacchaeus repented, and his sincerity was evident in his immediate desire to make restitution. Here was a man who was penitent and contrite, and the proof of his conversion to Christ was his resolve to atone, as much as possible, for past sins.

Friends, the above continue to hold true today for anyone who truly knows Christ. Sincere repentance leads to a yearning to redress wrongs. When someone becomes a Christian, he will have a desire born of deep conviction to do good, and that includes making restoration whenever possible. The idea of “whenever possible” is crucially important to remember. There are some crimes and sins for which there is no adequate restitution. In such instances, a Christian should make some form of restitution that demonstrates repentance, but at the same time, does not need to feel guilty about the inability to make full restitution. Restitution is to be a result of our salvation—it is not a requirement for salvation. If you have received forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ, all of your sins are forgiven, whether or not you have been able to make restitution for them

I believe that restitution is an unfamiliar and often uncomfortable concept to many of us.  It comes as quite a surprise to offenders to be told that they are expected to undo the damage that they did.  It often comes as a surprise even to the victims, who for some reason don’t really believe they have the right to expect someone who did them wrong to fix what he/she did.

So, as we grow in Christ, it ‘must’ become an important part of our lives to be accountable and began the process of making amends.  Making amends includes "making it up to" the one who was hurt.  It means undoing as much of the damage that you did as possible.  It means making every effort to make the victim whole again, just like she was, mentally, physically, and emotionally, before the offender did whatever he did to her.  It might include making her whole financially- the offender paying back anything he borrowed, stole, or scammed the victim out of.  It might include restoring the victim’s reputation if he gossiped or lied about her, which would mean swallowing his pride, personally going to each person he gossiped or lied to, and setting the record straight.  The idea is that the victim should not have to suffer the consequences of the abuser’s actions.  The abuser needs to be willing to suffer the consequences of his own actions in order to make it right for the victim. 

Friends, if we truly love the Lord, then we hide in our hearts HIS WORD that we might not sin against HIM.  King David wrote in Psalms 91: “against you only have I sinned”. When we sin against our brother and our sister, we sin against God. When we repent and make restitution, we are being obedient to God, pleasing God, and making right with our brother or sister. Isn’t it all about GOD?  When we begin walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we walk righteous and holy in the sight of God, and the Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance those things we have done to offend; thus we seek out those person (s) and make restitution.


In closing, we see that a mere apology in not sufficient.  Making restitution is an important part of God’s formula for restoration of relationships.  If it is impossible to undo all the damage, then we need to require to undo as much as possible.  God’s justice is a perfect justice.  He requires restitution, and so should we.  Amen.




In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts



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