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The Message for Aug 20, 2017Radical Discipleship - Learning To Be Content Exodus 20:17Rob Miller, Pastor

Let’s have a little fun. I love cartoons. They help us laugh at ourselves. They can point out the obvious in a fun way. Here is Dennis the Menace (picture) looking at a catalog and says, “This catalog’s got a lot of toys I didn’t even know I wanted.”

Here is one from The Wizard of Id (picture). One monk is putting up a sign on the bulletin board in front of his church while a neighboring monk watches. The sign reads, “Thou shalt not covet.” The neighboring monk says, “Boy, I wish we had a signboard like that at our church.”

Here’s one more (picture). It’s a picture of a guy confessing to his pastor. The pastor says, “It’s a tricky theological point, you say, you covet your neighbor’s humility?”

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Today we wrap up our 10-week worship series on the 10 Commandments. We’ve called this series, “Radical Discipleship – Living by God’s Top Ten List.”

I hope it has been an interesting and inspiring journey for you. It has been for me. This last commandment, the tenth one, seems to be the least threatening of them all -- not very dangerous or destructive. Simply stated, “You shall not covet.”

This commandment is from Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Many of us probably think, “This one doesn’t bother me.” Or perhaps, “Even if I covet, what’s the big deal? Who’s hurt by it?” It obviously bothers God. According to God it’s wrong to covet. It’s a sin.

Consider this definition for the word Covet - The uncontrolled desire to acquire. When we covet we focus on nothing else except what we want. We will do whatever it takes to get what we covet.

We’re not talking about the ordinary desire to have things. We all want things. Material possessions by themselves are not the problem. They are neutral. The issue or the question is this Can we be content without desiring things uncontrollably?

Coveting can lead to corruption. It’s really a matter of the heart. Some people have a heart that Covets and other people have a heart that is Content.

A coveting heart is not an innocent heart. In God’s eyes, a coveting heart is corrupt and corrosive or God would not have included it on the list of The Big Ten.

Now -- just because this commandment is last on the list, that does not mean it is the least. As a matter of fact, I can see how this last commandment has an effect on all the others. Coveting motivates us to break all the others. For instance:

If you covet money and possessions putting them ahead of God, you are breaking the first commandment…

If you bow at the altars of materialism and greed while refusing to bow before the altar of the Lord, you are breaking the second commandment…

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If you misuse the name of the Lord in order to acquire something - that’s blaspheming. You are breaking the third commandment…

If you decided to skip worship because you had a chance to work in order to make more money that you really don’t need. You are breaking the fourth commandment…

If you treat your children poorly and cast them aside because you were too busy with something and couldn’t be bothered with them. You are teaching them to break the fifth commandment…

Many people are dead today because somebody wanted something that belonged to them so they took their life too. They broke the sixth commandment…

Many marriages have been torn apart because -- as one pastor said, “He was so caught up in earning his salt, he neglected his sugar!” A coveting heart is behind adultery. Coveting and lust are first cousins. They lead to breaking the seventh commandment…

It goes without saying that stealing is the result of a covetous spirit that went too far. That leads to breaking the eighth commandment…

More often than not, people will lie about another person, gossip about them because they are envious and covet that person’s life. They break the ninth commandment…

That is why coveting is such a big deal to God. Coveting is the motivation that leads to breaking all of God’s Commandments. That’s probably why Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments in this way – Love God and Love Others.

So what are we to do? In Philippians Paul writes,

And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

God provides what we need, not what we want, but what we need. That leads to contentment. Contentment is learned over time. It comes with spiritual maturity. Here are five ways that can help us learn to be contentment:

1. Resist comparing yourself to others

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In 2 Corinthians we read…

We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. (2 Corinthians 10:12)

We are talking about houses, cars, jobs, looks, clothes. We need not compare ourselves to each other…

Quotable quote -- Learn to admire without having to acquire.

Why do we compare anyway? Because that’s how society keeps score, with possessions. But, your possessions have nothing to do with your significance or importance. You can be a millionaire and still be a jerk without morals, or you can be poor and still be living a life of faithfulness and happiness.

Second way to learn how to be content…

2. Rejoice in what you have

We read in Ecclesiastes, Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God. (Ecclesiastes 5:19)

When it comes to contentment we slip into playing the game of “When and Then”

“When I get married, then I’ll be happy.”

“When I get divorced, then I’ll be happy.”

“When we have kids, then we’ll be happy.”

“When I get a better job, then I’ll be happy.”

Quotable quote -- Happiness is not getting whatever you want. Happiness is enjoying whatever you have.

God has richly given us everything we have for our enjoyment.

Story: A rich business man saw a man lounging by his boat one day. “Why aren’t you fishing?” asks the rich business man. “Because I’ve caught enough fish for today.” The fisherman answered.

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“Why don’t you catch more fish than you need?” the rich man asks.

“What would I do with them?” the fisherman asked.

“You could sell them for money. You could buy a bigger and better boat, go into deeper waters, catch even more fish and make lots of money. Soon you could have a fleet of fishing boats and be rich like me.”

The fisherman asked, “Then what would I do?”

“You could sit down and enjoy life.” The rich man said.

To which the fisherman replied -- “What do you think I’m doing now?”

The third way to learn how to be content…

3. Release what you have to help others

Consider this advice Paul gave to Timothy…

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

Those are words to live by…

We are among the rich in the world. All Americans are rich no matter how much you make. We are in the top 2% of the world’s income.

Consider these four things that Paul teaches us in these verses:

1. Don’t be proud of your wealth and don’t think you are better than anybody else.

2. Don’t put your trust in money. Security is not your bank account.

3. Use your money to do good things. Don’t waste it. Don’t blow it.

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4. Give cheerfully. Giving is a cure for materialism. The opposite of getting is giving. The benefit is a treasure for a lifetime and beyond.

Story. A guy dies and goes to heaven. When he gets there he saw a friend driving around in a Mercedes. “What’s that?” The guy asks. St. Peter said, “The transportation you are given here in heaven is based on how much you have given – you know – sent on ahead. That guy in the Mercedes was very generous.”

So the man asked St Peter, “What about me?” “Well,” Peter said, “You weren’t so generous -- you get a Moped.” He was pretty sad until he saw his former pastor come by on roller skates.

We can all do a much better job when it comes to giving instead of getting. Present company included…

Quotable quote - Our standard of giving shouldn’t be determined by our standard of living; our standard of living should be determined by our standard of giving.

Fourth way to learn how to be content…

4. Refocus on what’s going to last

Listen to how St. Paul put it in his letter to the Corinthian church…

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

We are always looking to the future with the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus. With him anything and everything is possible.

Story There was a funeral in Beverly Hills, CA. A wealthy widow who was worth millions died. People gathered around her grave.

Someone said, “It’s a shame, she had so much to live for.” Somebody standing nearby said, “No, she had so much to live on. She had nothing to live for.”

What about you? Are you focused on -- what you have to live on or are you focused on what you have to live for?

Covet not. Instead live for the greater good that we share in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen

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