Sermon
Thou Shalt Not Covet
October 30, 2005
Pastor Leighton Sheley

I'd like to invite you to take your Bibles and open to Exodus Chapter 20. America has enjoyed relative peace and prosperity over the years as being the result of being founded as a Christian nation upon biblical principles including these Ten Commandments, which are also known as the Decalogue. But in recent decades we as a nation have begun to experience the results of the moral depravity as succeeding generations drift farther and farther from God, from the God of our fathers, from God's holy Word, and from these Ten Commandments.

A few years back I was at a conference some place and I heard a pastor who, it was my first time with him, his name is Pastor Erwin McManus, and he observed something...how people, many people, look on the Ten Commandments. He says that many people look on the Ten Commandments and use it as evidence of yet again how unfair God is. You know, I mean, obviously people can't live up to the Ten Commandments, and they are just so radical and extreme and so demanding no one can live up to them, and when you can't live up to them then God gets angry and sends you to hell. Well that's just another example of why God is so unfair, and that's what some people believe.

And I have to confess there was a time when I bought into that lie, but in reality, the Ten Commandments are the minimum standards that distinguish humans from animals. Animals steal from each other. Animals kill each other. To not live by the Ten Commandments is to live like animals. The Ten Commandments are the minimum standards that distinguish humans from animals.

Now our attention today is drawn to the tenth commandment, which is found in Exodus 20:17, it reads: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."

You know although we may not be aware of it we live in a world system that is designed to encourage us to covet. In fact, the economy of America is built on the ability of Madison Avenue to manipulate the masses into being discontent with something; discontent with their existing car, or their house, or their job, or their income, or the color of their hair, or their body odor, or their wardrobe, or whatever it can that can be marketed. And the corporations that are most effective at stirring discontent tend to be the most prosperous. Now just think about it, how much sales would Clairol have if everybody was contented with the color they were born with of their hair?

You know one the essential ingredients to coveting is discontentment, and discontentment is usually related to comparison and usually associated with complaining. And as we shall see later, contentment is the antidote to coveting. Now America's discontentment is stirred year-round but the moguls of media send us into overdrive during Christmas season. Christmas season is the season of flagrant coveting.

Now the word in the original language is chamad, which means to delight in or lust. It means greed or a strong desire for, and it can be applied to anything. The word itself does not always refer to something that is wrong or evil. It can be used in reference to something that is good. For instance we find this passage in Psalm 19: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." Now would we all agree that these are all good things? "More to be desired (coveted, chamad) are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold."

So you see the word covet in and of itself is not always related to something that's bad. I've heard people say things like I covet your prayers. Now what they are really saying is I seriously desire for you to pray for me. You know what makes coveting right or wrong is what is being coveted, the object of one's affection. To love anything or anyone more then God or God's will is to fall into the sin of covetousness.

And Paul the apostle declares that coveting is a form of idolatry. In Ephesians 5:5 he writes, For this ye know that no covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of God and of Christ. He says the covetous man is an idolater. Now one can covet several things - one can covet something that belongs to a neighbor or someone can covet something that belongs to them self, and we can covet something that belongs to God. We can covet something that belongs to self. One can covet something that belongs to self by placing a higher value on that object or subject than they place on God.

Now Abraham loved his son dearly, Isaac, but he loved God more, and when he was put to the test and God asked him to sacrifice his son, he did not hesitate because God was more important to Abraham than even his beloved son, Isaac.

Now people can value, can choose to value all kinds of things higher than God. They can value their family or their wealth or their reputation or their plans for life, whether they're tangible or intangible they can make them more important than God, and anything that we make more important than God is a form of idolatry. It is coveting. We can covet something that already belongs to us.

Now we can also covet something that belongs to God. Achan is an example of one. The story is found in Joshua chapter 6 and following. It is the story of the nation of Israel who marched once around the city of Jericho for six days and on the seventh day they marched seven times around it, and Joshua gave instructions to the nation of Israel and amongst these instructions were these: the silver and the gold and everything made of bronze and iron belonged to the Lord. Who do they belong to? The Lord. And must be put in His treasury. Be careful to follow these instructions because if you see anything you want and take it, the Lord will destroy Israel and it will be your fault.

Now Achan didn't follow God's instructions. Israel's next battle was with a little city called Ai and Israel lost, and 36 men lost their lives as the result, and Joshua asks God to reveal who it was who had brought evil into the camp, and God pointed out Achan's family. And when Achan was questioned this is what he said, Joshua 7: "I sinned and disobeyed the Lord God of Israel. - While we were in Jericho, I saw a beautiful Babylonian robe, two hundred pieces of silver, and a gold bar that weighed the same as fifty pieces of gold. I wanted (coveted, chamad) them for myself, so I took them. I dug a hole under my tent and hid the silver, the gold, and the robe" there.

Achan and his family paid the ultimate price for coveting something that belonged to God. God established the tithe. Tithe means ten or tenth. God says a tenth is mine. We can covet something that belongs to God. We can also covet something that belongs to a neighbor - Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house - this passage begins. And someone can ask, and it's a reasonable question, who is my neighbor?

Jesus was asked that question and He gave a response in Luke chapter 10; the response is what we know as the Good Samaritan. Basically, a man was on his way on the road, he was mugged, he was left for dying or dead, a priest went by walked by the other side of the road and did no help, a temple helper walked by on the other side of the road and did not help, and finally a Samaritan came.

And the story is: "A man from Samaria then came traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, "Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return." Then Jesus asked, 'Which one of these three people was a real neighbor to the man who was beaten up by robbers?' The teacher answered, 'The one who showed pity.' Jesus said, 'Go and do the same!'"

Now this Samaritan had very little to do in common with this injured man. They didn't live near each other; in fact, they were from entirely different nations. They didn't have the same religion; in fact, the only thing they really shared was a chance meeting on an obscure road somewhere in the Middle East. You see, our neighbor is whoever we come across on the road of life, on the path of life.

It says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house." Now house is a reference to property, and one of the most common comparisons people make is keeping up with the Joneses...how nice their home is and how well they have it decorated - keeping up with the Joneses. It's been said somewhere that Americans spend money they don't have to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't know, or don't like in some cases. I have heard that an average American spends $1300 on credit for every $1000 they bring in in income. God says don't covet another person's property.

Then, "thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife." Now though it specifically references the wife, it could also equally apply to neighbor's husband. You remember that coveting is related to discontentment, related to comparison, and related to complaining.

As an example - recently I was on Route 5 and I was going along on the weather was beautiful and the car was running wonderful, and I've got a nice car, and we were making time and I was totally content until somebody in a red Ferrari blew by me at 100 mph, and then I started comparing. It was a convertible. I didn't even have a hacksaw in the trunk. So when I started comparing then I started complaining because I was discontented. You know I was saying, why can't my car be more like that car?

Has anyone ever heard a woman say to her husband, why can't you be more like...and you fill in the blank. Okay? In effect she is coveting another man. She's breaking the tenth commandment. She is sinning against God. And you're saying, pastor, you're picking on women this morning. I'm going to suggest that men do the same thing. They usually don't do it with their wife. They do it with their buddies who also compare and complain. The bottom line - don't compare, don't complain, and don't covet your neighbor's wife or husband.

"nor his manservant, nor his maidservant." Now here's a reference to lifestyle. Only the richer members of society had servants. The common people had to serve him or herself. After a long, hard day at work, and believe me they were long and they were hard, a person had to come home and make their own meal, clean their own house, and wash their own clothes - and this was long before Maytag. It was a long, hard day.

Richer members of society had servants to take care of the more mundane issues of life, and so they enjoyed certain freedoms and other benefits of an opulent lifestyle. God says don't covet another person's lifestyle. "nor his ox, nor his ass." And this is a reference to a person's business or occupation; their way of bringing home the bacon. And ox or ass was used in the field by a farmer to produce crop, and surplus crops were traded for tools and clothes and whatever else the land owner would desire.

Now let's face it, all oxen are not created equal. Okay? Some are stronger than others, and two farmers can go into their field and put in the same amount of time in the same amount of effort, but the one with the strongest ox is likely to bring home more surplus.

Two Americans can go and they can put in the same amount of time, eight hours or whatever it is, they can put in the same amount of effort and one of them can bring home more surplus. God says don't covet another person's income or surplus.

Now just in case somebody might be looking for a loophole, God wraps it up with the all-encompassing no loopholes allowed: "nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." Don't covet anything that belongs to someone else.

Now I'd like to invite you to turn in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 5. Most scholars believe Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon who was known as the wisest man who ever lived, and perhaps the wealthiest man who ever lived, and this is what we find him writing in Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 10 and following: "Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness!" Solomon says that people who love money will never have enough. They'll never be satisfied.

I think it was J.C. Penney who asked, you know, what does it take to make someone happy? He said always a little more than they have. Never quite satisfied. And in the drive to be satisfied with something that cannot satisfy, many people end up working overtime, taking second and third jobs, and wearying themselves out breaking their health.

Proverbs 23:4 says, "Don't weary yourself trying to get rich. Why waste your time?" The ancient book of wisdom says it's a waste of time - it's stupid - to weary yourself trying to get rich. And it says, "For riches can disappear as though they had the wings of a bird!" You'll be chasing it, all of a sudden your health breaks, and everything you were saving up is gone for health reasons, or something else will happen. Wealth is fleeting.

Verse 11: "The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it." You know the writer is saying, you know, if you have a lot of money you never really know if your friends are there for you or your money. Rich people are amongst some of the loneliest people that you'll ever come across in your life. I mean what are prenuptial agreements all about? A marriage is supposed to be the most intimate relationship humankind can enjoy. There is supposed to be a level of trust that is unique in our worldly experience there, and the prenuptial agreement is saying, well I trust you, but I don't trust you. And why is that? Because they are having to protect them self as a wealthy person in case the person whose affections they are pursuing is not really returning affections, but rather has ulterior motives. You know, being a wealthy person can be a very lonely place. My wife didn't marry me for my money.

"People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich are always worrying and seldom get a good night's sleep." You know hard-working people usually sleep better, not only because they are tired after a long hard day, but because they don't have to worry about losing what little they have. A rich person, on the other hand, has to constantly be thinking about taxes and theft, and all of these kinds of things and trying to figure out how they can protect what they think they have. And you know there's a study that says insomnia increases with income.

Verse 13: "There is another serious problem I have seen in the world. Riches are sometimes hoarded to the harm of the saver." Hoarding is giving evidence that a person really doesn't trust in God. You know often we pray the Lord's Prayer and one of the phrases that we were taught by Jesus Christ to pray is, give us Lord our daily bread. Give us daily our daily bread.

In the Old Testament there is the story of the nation of Israel going through the wilderness. Now this was a big wilderness. It was a great big desert and there are millions of people, and there is very little food, and there was a legitimate concern about starving and so there was a prayer sent up to God, and God says I'm going to answer your prayer. I'm going to provide for you manna, but I only want you to collect enough manna for that day. And why did God do that? Because God wanted people every day to collect what they needed for that day and not hoard, but some people didn't trust God. They said things like, what happens if God forgets us tomorrow? Or things like, what happens if God really isn't strong enough tomorrow? Or what happens if God sleeps in tomorrow? And so what they did is they didn't trust God, they hoarded up some extra and stored it, and what happened the next day? It turned into maggots. Okay? It's an evidence, hoarding is an evidence, that you really don't trust God

Verse 14, "or they are put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one's children."

Now I'm going to say something, I'm going to say that every earthly investment is risky. Some are more risky than others, but every earthly investment is risky. A few years ago the stock market was hovering around 3000 and all of a sudden it just started shooting up and people were getting into it. They were making money hand over fist. It seemed like you could not lose. There was no end to the profits in sight, and of course we know that eventually as it tipped over 10,000 many people ended up losing quite a bit. And when I did the research for this sermon I checked and as of Friday it was 7369. That was research for this sermon; I'm not invested in the stock market.

Now we are currently in a housing surge that some believe is a bubble that someday is going to burst and so they don't believe that that's a good investment. Even supposedly rock solid investments, T-bills...I'm investing in the government, as long as the government is around this thing is secure. Well guess what? Someday the government isn't going to be around. It's going to be insolvent. Any earthly investment you make is risky; some are more risky than others, but every earthly investment you make is risky.

The Bible says invest in heaven. It's the only safe investment. Now the passage continues, verse 15, "People who live only for wealth come to the end of their lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day they were born. And this, too, is a very serious problem. As people come into this world, so they depart. All their hard work is for nothing. They have been working for the wind, and everything will be swept away."

Hearses are not designed to pull trailers. We came into this world stark naked and empty-handed, and that's the way we are going to leave. Verse 17, "Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud--frustrated, discouraged, and angry." That's a generality. You see he has seen the characteristics of somebody who is wealthy, who loves wealth - who loves wealth. And then having described this person who loves wealth, the writer then sort of turns a corner here in verse 18: "Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat well, drink a good glass of wine..." And some of the tea toddlers would like to point out it says glass not bottle of wine. "And enjoy their work--whatever they do under the sun--for however long God lets them live. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life--that is indeed a gift from God. People who do this rarely look with sorrow on the past, for God has given them reasons for joy."

This wise sage concludes that being contented with the essentials in work is reason for joy and it results in a happy life - a contented life. You know being contented is a choice. Being contented is a choice and I'm going to propose to you it's not a choice that comes naturally. We are not naturally content. You go into any nursery and you're going to find ample evidence of that. One kid is going to take the toy out of another kid's hand because the toy that they had they are no longer content with. It is not something that comes natural, but it is something that can be learned.

Paul said in Philippians 4:11, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Paul said I have learned to be content no matter what my situation; choosing to be content can be learned by any person, and it's a process, and some of us will graduate faster than others, but anyone can graduate as long as they apply themselves to learning contentment.

Now I'm going to invite you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 6, Paul writes these things. Now Timothy was a protégé of Paul. He was the next generation of leadership for the church, and Paul was writing Timothy to give him instructions regarding leadership, and we are the beneficiaries of these letters. Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6: "These things you must teach and tell the people to do. Anyone who teaches something different disagrees with the correct and godly teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Now who are those people? "Those people who disagree are proud of themselves, but they don't really know a thing. Their minds are sick, and they like to argue over words. They cause jealousy, disagreements, unkind words, evil suspicions, and nasty quarrels. They have wicked minds and have missed out on the truth."

Now who are these people? These people think religion is supposed to make you rich. If you turn on religious television you are likely to come across preachers who preach a different gospel, a prosperity gospel. They will usually speak across the television and they will tell you things like, "Friend, partner, if you send in a generous contribution this week the Lord will not be a debtor to any man. He will take your gift and he will multiply it thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold! Praise Jesus, glory to God, hallelujah!

You know the Bible never promises material prosperity. And that is a contrary gospel because this is what Jesus said: If anyone would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. And according to the apostle Paul those people who preach a prosperity gospel have a wicked mind.

Continuing on, "And religion does make your life rich." Verse 6. Oh, really Paul, how? "By making you content with what you have. We didn't bring anything into this world, and we won't take anything with us when we leave. So we should be satisfied just to have food and clothes. People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them. The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain."

You know the Bible never says that money causes trouble. Money is just an object. Some of God's greatest heroes in the Scriptures were some of the wealthiest people who ever lived. Abraham was exceedingly wealthy. Moses was exceedingly wealthy. He was in the house of Pharaoh when the Egyptian nation was at its absolute zenith. He was incredibly wealthy and he was in line to the throne. Joseph was exceedingly wealthy. Some of God's greatest heroes were wealthy people, but they didn't love wealth. They used wealth for the glory of God.

It's not money that causes trouble; it's the love of money. And you know there's a philosophy that's going around that's being promoted in the media to kind of excuse attacks on America, saying, well it's the lack of money that causes trouble. We have the money, they lack it, they have a right to attack us. That's not a biblical concept.

Now who is this written for? I know some of your sitting out there, well, it's written for the rich, that's not me. But if you're an American, you're in the top 2 or 3%. I don't care if you are the poorest American, you're in the top percent of the socioeconomic ladder in the entire world. When the world looks on Americans, we are rich. This is written for us.

The apostle Paul continues in verse 17, "Warn the rich people of this world (that's us) not to be proud or to trust in wealth that is easily lost." He says don't become arrogant thinking somehow that your self-worth is related to your net worth. The more you have, the more you are worth. Our value is set by God, and the Bible says the value our soul is greater than all of the wealth that this world has to offer. You wonder how valuable you are? You are more valuable than all the wealth this world has to offer. Your self-worth is not related to your net worth.

It says, "Tell them to have faith in God, who is rich and blesses us with everything we need to enjoy life. Instruct them to do as many good deeds as they can and to help everyone. Remind the rich to be generous and share what they have. This will lay a solid foundation for the future, so that they will know what true life is like." It says God blesses us with everything that we need to enjoy life. So if there's something we don't have, is there a possibility that God knows we don't need it?

But God, I really need that red Ferrari.

What Paul said is put your faith in God, not wealth, enjoy what he provides, use what he gives you to help others and not just yourself, share generously. If you do these four things, put your faith in God not wealth, enjoy what he provides, use what he gives you to help others not just yourself, and share generously, if you do these four things you'll be living, really living, and you'll be preparing for your future.

What future? The future in eternity. Because Jesus said to not store up for yourself treasures here on earth where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven where they will never become moth eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Bible says don't covet what this world has to offer, anything that it has to offer. Anything this world has to offer is temporary. Rather invest in heaven for that's the only safe investment. In heaven there is no rust, there is no corruption. If I had a red Ferrari in heaven it would last a long time. I don't need a red Ferrari.

In heaven there's no rust, there're no thieves; it's like sending your wealth ahead. And each of us needs to periodically examine our life and ask the question, what am I living for? Where am I investing myself, and my talents, and my treasures, and whatever it is that I have? Am I investing in this world or am I investing for the future?

And you know coveting is an attitude. You can be poor and greedy, or you can be rich and greedy. You can be poor and content, or you can be rich and content. It's not an amount; it's an attitude. And the solution to coveting is choosing to be content with what God has provided. Amen? Let's pray.

Lord we thank you for your word. And Lord once again we are reminded of how often we break these Ten Commandments, each and every one of us, each and every day. And Lord if our eternal destiny somehow depended upon us keeping the Ten Commandments, everyone of us would be lost. But Lord, these Ten Commandments are not the way of salvation. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ who paid the wages of our sin.

These Ten Commandments remind us of how we should live. These Ten Commandments remind us that we need a Savior. We thank you Lord for being our Savior. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God bless.