Do you remember flipping through the Sears Catalogue as a child? Which were your favorite pages? The toy section – especially the page which pictured the doll house the size of a dog house? I was always partial to the sports equipment pages. I would have loved to own every baseball mitt pictured in that catalog. A little boy, a first-time browser of the thousand-page catalogue, exclaimed: “Wow. There are so many things in here I didn’t even know I wanted!” That was the problem with those catalogs. It was hard to go back to playing with your old “boring” toys after seeing what other toys were available if only you had all the money in the world.
I don’t think Sears prints a thousand-page catalog anymore but we now receive weekly flyers from Best Buy and IKEA that continue to make us feel as if we don’t quite have everything we should. What does God think about these feelings of dissatisfaction? He’s very clear. In the Ninth and Tenth Commandments he declares: “You shall not covet.” Like all the other commandments, these last two are meant to be a blessing; they protect God’s gift of a peaceful heart.
So what exactly does it mean to covet? To covet is to desperately desire something God hasn’t given to you. So am I guilty of coveting if I’m thirsty and want a drink of water? No, but I would be coveting if I’m not content with the bottle of water I have and wish instead that Mom would buy me Gatorade because that’s what my friends drink. Feelings of unhappiness and jealousy are sure signs that we’re coveting. A heart that does not covet is a heart that is content – no matter what the circumstances. Is such contentment possible? Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote. “… I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I 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” (Philippians 4:11b, 12). Paul expressed these cheerful words while he was imprisoned in Rome and facing a possible death sentence.
Wouldn’t you love to have a heart that is at peace no matter what the situation? What was Paul’s secret? Paul simply trusted that God would give him what he needed. Sometimes that was a lot and other times it was very little, but Paul believed that it was always the right amount. Indeed, isn’t this what we petition in the Lord’s Prayer when we ask: “Give us this day our daily bread”? If you remember the sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer last year, you’ll recall that what we’re really saying with the Fourth Petition is, “I’ll have the chef’s special!” In other words, “Lord, you know what I need and I trust that you will give it to me.”
Unfortunately what we’re usually thinking when we pray the Fourth Petition is “Give us this day Bill Gate’s bread…or the riches of any other billionaire and then I’ll be content, Lord.” But keep in mind that God first spoke the Ninth and Tenth Commandments to the Israelites in the wilderness. What did they have? They had the clothes on their back, a tent to sleep in, and graham cracker-like manna to eat…every day for forty years. That was about it. Still God told those people not to covet. As far as God was concerned they had everything they needed…and so do we who are so much more well off than those wandering Israelites.
Oh the Ninth and Tenth Commandments call for a lot of soul searching for us 21st century North Americans. Advertisers are good at getting us to think we need something when it’s really just more of a want. For example new 3-D enabled TVs are coming out now. Would it be cool to have one? Sure. Do I really need one? I don’t think so. For that matter do I really need a big-screen TV? I don’t. I know my heart and am convinced that if I were to go out and buy something like that now it would be because I’m not content with the TV I currently own. Should that TV break, I might consider upgrading to a bigger and better model. But even then I would want to question my motivation for doing so. Is it simply to keep up with the rest of St. Albert and to show off that I can afford something like that? If so, that doesn’t seem to be a God-pleasing reason.
Am I saying that if you own a big-screen TV, you were once guilty of coveting? Not necessarily. You see the Ninth and Tenth Commandments deal with matters of the heart. I know my heart but I can’t read yours. Therefore I have to be careful not to judge what motivates your purchases. If you showed up next Sunday driving a new car, for example, it would be wrong for me to conclude that you had given in to a covetous heart. Perhaps buying that new car was a matter of good stewardship. You traded in your old one for something more fuel efficient. The only thing my judgmental thoughts about your purchase reveals is that I have a covetous heart, for instead of being happy for you, I’m jealous and upset that I don’t have the funds to buy a new car.
Still, Brothers and Sisters, before you make that next purchase whether it’s a car, a laptop, or a pair of shoes, ask yourself: “Why am I buying this? Do I really need it or is this just a frivolous want? Is there a better way I can spend the money God has given to me? Do I realize that this new purchase really won’t make me happy for very long?” Notice how God does not say, “Don’t covet too much.” He said, “Don’t covet, ever, at all!”
Another way the sin of coveting can show itself is in gambling. Now there is no command in the Bible that says, “Thou shalt not gamble.” Having said that, why do people gamble? Some say that it’s just a form of entertainment and it’s no different than spending $20 to go see a movie. OK, I can buy that if you’re playing cards and have set a $20 bet-limit, but how is it entertaining to hand $5 to the gas station attendant for your lottery ticket? What makes that exciting is the thought of becoming even richer than you already are. (According to globalrichlist.com, if you make $50,000 a year, you’re richer than 98% of the world’s population!) So what’s motivating you to buy that lotto ticket? Isn’t it the lack of contentment with what God has given you? And if you are in the habit of playing cards for money, you need to watch yourself. What may have started out as entertainment and a way to pass an evening with friends can become a way for you to get your hands on more money. Sure, I suppose some card sharks have made this their profession and the way they earn their daily bread. OK, but does that really describe you? Again, only you know your heart. Scrutinize that heart with God’s clear command: “Don’t covet!”
Now if God has blessed you with a good job and a healthy bank account, you shouldn’t feel guilty about this. It’s a gift from God. But ask yourself, “Why has God blessed me with much? Is it so I can have the latest and the best?” No, it’s so that you can provide for your family and for others. The Apostle Paul made that point to the Corinthian Christians who had been blessed with wealth. He encouraged them to support the Christians in Jerusalem who were in need. Paul wrote, “Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality” (2 Corinthians 8:13, 14).
There’s quite a bit to think about in regard to these last two commandments, isn’t there? One thing is certain; I break these commands as often as I break all the other commandments. I prove it by the way I grumble when eating leftovers or when I grouse about the kind of house I live in. I’m also rarely genuinely happy for those God has blessed with more than I have. Instead I find fault with the way they use their gifts.
Can you imagine if Jesus was like us? You would hear him saying, “What car? What central heating? What computer? What cell phone? I never had any of those things. Why should you enjoy them?” But he doesn’t say that. Instead he blesses us with these gifts and delights in doing so. (Jonathan Werre)
What’s more, Jesus could have said: “Heaven for free? Must be nice. I wish I could have had that.” (Jonathan Werre) Jesus, of course, could have had heaven for free. He didn’t need to suffer and die because he was without sin. But like the secret service agent who jumps in front of the assassin’s gun and takes a bullet for the Prime Minister, Jesus threw himself in front of God’s anger over our sins. That happened at the cross, and there all of our covetous desires, all of our sins of jealousy and complaining were punished and cleared from our record.
Because God went to such great lengths to give us forgiveness and eternal life we can trust his promise to give us everything else we now need. The writer to the Hebrews said, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ 6 So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5, 6) Through faith in Jesus you already have everything that leads to lasting peace.
It may have been a while since you flipped through a Sears Catalog, and you may recycle Best Buy and IKEA adds without looking at them. That doesn’t mean you don’t struggle with the sin of coveting. Perhaps even just this morning you grumbled about how many are waking up to the sound of surf pounding a beach in Mexico somewhere while you’re “stuck” here for spring break. But you’re not stuck here. You’re on your way to basking in the Son’s eternal love in heaven! No, you might not make it to Mexico on the way, but so be it. God knows what you need and will give it to you at the right time and in the right measure. Find contentment in the love of this all-wise and ever-loving God. He is your peace. Amen.
