Ten Commandments: Coveting
Exodus 20:1-17
July 5, 2009
SCRIPTURE READING
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How many of you remember when Hula-Hoops first came upon the scene?
The year was 1958 and they were the first really big fad to sweep through the U.S. Kids wanted one, but anyone who had a fun streak gave them a try. Between January and October of 1958, over 100 million Hula-Hoops were sold. Then sales plummeted. But Wham-O was ready, because they then introduced a flying disc called a frisbee.
Why did so many people want Hula-Hoops? Simply put, everyone else had one, it was the thing to have and do. The fact is, we want what everyone else wants.
Think about what has come out in the decades since the Hula-Hoop.
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In the 60’s we needed lava lamps, mood rings, and bell bottom pants.
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In the 70’s we had to have CB radios, play-doh and 8 tracks.
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In the 80’s we couldn’t go without an Atari computer games, rubik’s cubes, Chia Pets and if you had a little girl in the mid - 80’s, you would wait in line to get a Cabbage Patch Doll.
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In the 90’s we couldn’t wait to get Tickle Me Elmo, or Barney and friends, Beanie Babies, and if you were a real Christian we had to ask ourselves ‘what would Jesus do?’
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In this decade, we’ve got to have our I-pods, Bratz dolls, low carb diets, Energy drinks and a different colored wrist bands to show we believe in or support something.
Why do so many of these fads catch on? Because we have to have what we think everybody else has. And all this stuff I just showed you was produced for the sake of making money and none was ever made because we needed it.
For the past 9 weeks, we’ve been looking at the 10 commandments and their relevancy for us in our lives. Today, we’re going to look at the last of the 10 commandments. In it’s entirety, the 10th commandment states,
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You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Okay, this seems pretty simple. I don’t want my neighbor’s home, his wife, their servants or their animals, so I’m safe. But I love the way God words His Word. God adds that last line, “or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.” And that is what gets us.
So, what does it mean to covet? Coveting is not simply wanting what someone else has. It goes deeper and further - -
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Coveting is an inordinate desire to possess what belongs to another person. It is to feel a blameworthy desire for another’s possessions. It is to wrongfully desire, without regard the rights of others.”
You see, when we covet we do not just want something; we want it at the expense of another. Coveting is sinful because it focuses on our greed, as we want what is not ours. We forget that all we have is a gift from God and when we covet another person’s possessions, we are wanting the blessings God has given to another person. A second aspect of coveting is that it deals with trying to secure something which is not yours. It also involves begrudging anther person for what they have.
In essence, when we covet we are justifying our actions. We are justifying that it is acceptable to feel no blame for lusting, craving, yearning and desiring what we do not have. This shows we really don’t care about the owner, we simply want what we want and we will do anything to get it. We will even go into debt to satisfy our wants. We aren’t concerned with our needs, it’s our desires and wants that lead us to covet. It’s an all consuming desire to have what we don’t or can’t have.
When we think of coveting, we can go all the way back to the days of Adam and Eve. The Hebrew word used for Eve’s desire for that piece of fruit offered to her by the serpent is the same word used in this passage. In other words, Eve coveted that fruit.
So, what’s the problem with coveting? Why isn’t it good for us?
When we covet it shows our heart is not focused where it should be focused. It means we’re moving in the wrong direction. When we covet something, we plot and plan ways to get what is not ours. We may not take our neighbor’s goods, instead we push ourselves to work more hours so we can get that new toy, or we make up our own rules so we can get what we want, or we hurt others so we can obtain our prized possession.
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Jesus reminds us - 19Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
You see, possessions and even wealth aren’t bad. God never condemns them. God is against our greed, envy, jealousy and convetousness. It’s what we do with what we’ve got and what we want with what we’ve got, that gets us into trouble. When our possessions and desire for possessions becomes the focus of our lives, we’ve moved into dangerous territories. Jesus’ simple point is that whatever you treasure, your heart will follow. We need to understand what it really is that we treasure, so we can better understand our heart.
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Our desire to have more stuff, coveting what our neighbor has, will keep us from having a great relationship with God and with our neighbor. If we’re focused on something another person owns and we’re consumed with getting it, do you really think we are going to have a healthy love for our neighbor? I don’t think so.
Think about how our relationship with God plays out. If we’re demanding that God provides us with only what we want and crave, then God becomes nothing more than a genie whom we seek to manipulate for our own good pleasure. Add to this the fact that when God does not give us what we want, how will we feel about God when that great new item we’re working overtime for is suddenly out of stock, or is recalled, or becomes unattainable? What happens to our relationship with God when the great genie in the sky does not give us what we want?
I love the way Eugene Peterson paraphrased 1 John 2:15-17 –
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Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world — wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important — has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out — but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. [The Message]
Isn’t that a great statement from Peterson? When we are after what the world wants us to go after, it squeezes out our love and dependance upon the Father. All of our wanting has nothing to do with God’s will and plan in our lives, and it leads to our destruction. We may not recognize it at first, but it leads us down a path which is going to take us further and further away from God.
And speaking of taking us further from God, when you think of coveting, just think about how many other commandments we will have to break in order to get what we want. We will end up stealing, lying, cheating, committing adultery, worshiping other gods, and more, just to get what we covet and crave. Last I heard, this will not help your relationship with God grow.
So, how can we protect ourselves from being a person who covets? Look at what Paul has to say concerning the opposite of coveting -
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11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Paul had lived a life as a Jew when he had plenty. He had all of the pleasures as an up and coming rabbi. As a believer in Jesus, there were times when he didn’t have much and he had need. Either way, Paul explains he learned the secret of being content. He learned it, and that is crucial for us to understand, because contentment is not a natural thing in our lives, we need to learn it. I believe there are two main keys which lead us to be content.
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Firstly, we’re thankful for what we have. We look at our blessings, and we may have to start with the basics, as we thank God for our shelter, our clothes, our food, our church, our faith, our lives, His presence. Those are just the basics. Then we can expand from there to name all of the items, material and nonmaterial ways God has blessed us, and we give thanks to Him for these blessings as we move along.
If you’re content with what you have, getting more won’t make you happy. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to improve what you have in life, but if you’re banking on stuff to make you happy, then you’re sadly mistaken. I’ve done a lot of funerals, and let me tell you something, whatever you accumulate here, ain’t going there.
Imagine Thanksgiving dinner, surrounded by turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables, rolls, pecan pies, pumpkin pies, cakes, cookies, and more. You sit down at that meal and you eat your share of the food, but you don’t over eat, you eat just the right amount until you’re satisfied, or content. You’re full, but you haven’t moved the needle to being stuffed. And when you push back from that table, you don’t want any more, for now.
You’re content, but the coveting person, looks at the food at the table, and sees more and sees something they want, even though they are full, so they eat more and more and more, until they’re stuffed. They can’t move and they’re uncomfortable. They finally get up from the table and waddle over to the couch and plop down, while the contented person is playing a game with others and enjoying themselves. Do you get a glimpse of the difference between covet and content?
So, the first point is we are thankful for what we have.
Secondly, we believe and trust that God is the One who strengthens us. That great Philippians 4:13 verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” And it’s true. We can do things through Christ, who is our strength.
It is God who gives you and I the strength to do what we never thought we could do. It is God who believes in you so much that He sent His Son, His one and only Son to this world so that He could suffer and die for you, so that you could have hope and you could have His strength to pull you through the good and not so good times.
The Bible tells us that something similar happens to us when we overload on “stuff.” It makes us spiritually numb. Our priorities get turned upside down. Things become more important than people. God gets put on the shelf so we can get, get, get! God should be the priority in our lives, but it no longer happens. We want more because we aren’t satisfied with what we have, so we covet and desire; and that simple fact pulls us further away from the God who seeks to give us the greatest blessing of all, Himself.
The last comment I’ll make, and it can be a difficult one for so many people, is this, learn to be happy for other people when they’re blessed. When we can learn to give thanks to God that someone else received a blessing, it will be a signal to us and the world that we are growing in our relationship with God, that we are being changed more and more into His image, and that is what this is all about.
As we’ve studied the 10 Commandments, we can turn these commandments into positives, so that we can see not just what sins we should avoid, but what positive qualities God wants us to develop.
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1. Instead of worshiping false gods, we worship the only God.
2. Instead of worshiping idols,
3. Instead of misusing the name of God, we learn the names of God
and praise Him.
4. Instead of ignoring the Sabbath, we find rest in God.
5. Instead of dishonoring our parents, we honor them.
6. Instead of murder, we seek to protect and enrich life.
7. Instead of adultery, we should cultivate faithfulness.
8. Instead of stealing, we learn to be a blessing to others.
9. Instead of false testimony, we seek and speak the truth
10. Instead of coveting, we learn contentment.
