Contentment Pt. 1. Exodus 20:17.

We began this summer series by comparing some of the aspects that contribute to good physical health with those that make up good spiritual health.

We now come to the last command which in some ways ties the second half of the Ten Commandments together and strikes at the heart of our pursuit of vital spiritual health.

The straightforward meaning of this command means that we must not be greedy. The word translated covet in this passage means to have an "illegitimate, uncontrolled , selfish desire" for something or someone. It further means to set your heart on having something or someone that either does not belong to you or that you really don’t need.
Like the other second half commands covetous raises a number of issues that I’ll touch on just briefly.

Covetousness like anger, lust, selfishness and lying can become a life dominating sin. Your desire for things, money, people or whatever can dominate your life and actually trap you into a vicious cycle of wanting and getting more and more while never satisfied.

Covetousness like the other sins in the second half can cause you to view the community not as a place and people to serve but a group to envy, compete with and outdo.

Covetousness is a sin that like the others can be committed in the privacy of our own hearts and minds.

Like the other sin issues these commands highlight covetousness reveals issues of the heart that must be dealt with and transformed if we’re to live a life of true spiritual health. The issue that lies behind covetousness is greed. To be greedy is to have a constant craving, lust and desire for more and more and more. It means having strong desires to have and get with the idea of using things or people just for yourself. Moreover the greedy person acquires more and more and more and yet never seems to be satisfied.
The root issue with greed however is idolatry.

For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Eph. 5:5.

Idolatry in this sense means going beyond just bowing down before an image. It is an attitude that believes and convinced that having more and more things or having what someone else has is the pathway to true satisfaction, wholeness, healing, joy, meaning, hope and contentment. In that way you can actually covet someone else’s life. You can look at their life and begin to wonder, become intrigued, start to believe and then grow to be obsessed with the conviction that if only you had their situation, their home, their education, their spouse, their looks, their job or their whatever that then you could achieve the life you’ve always wanted. You could finally enjoy a full life of authentic satisfaction, wholeness, healing, joy, meaning, security, hope and contentment.

That’s idolatry because it moves the focus of our hearts off of the Lord who and who alone can provide those things and onto something that belongs to someone else or things in an of themselves.

Which leads to the final consideration concerning the sin of covetousness. Unlike many of the other commands in the second half covetousness is the one sin issue that is accepted, promoted, elevated and glorified in our society with few real exceptions. By God’s grace we still live in a society that for the most part frowns on parental disrespect, outright murder, marital adultery, out and out stealing and lying. However that’s not true of covetousness. In fact this sin issue is one that we’re actually encouraged to cultivate.

Moreover it is the sin of covetousness that many in the church have not only broken but have actually taught that it is God’s will and plan to live by. Many in the Christian church today teach, promote and believe that covetousness is the sum and substance of God’s character, will, gospel, salvation and Son Jesus Christ. In effect thousands of pulpits are teaching and preaching the vice of greed as if it were the chief virtue of the Christian life. Now when they do this not only are they giving a false witness of the true God and His gospel but they are actually preaching idolatry and should not be listened to at all. That goes for any t.v. program or station you watch that promotes this kind of idolatry under the guise of biblical truth. There is really no reason or cause to watch and poison your heart, mind and soul with that. Let me say it again. They are not only preaching a false gospel, but are actually peddling idolatry. It would be the same if you turned on those stations and people and listened to them promote adultery as the true way to love your spouse and serve the Lord with your body.

There false representation of the gospel witness is especially damage to our witness in a society that worships money, things and a successful lifestyle. Our society expects that people will orient their souls around the pursuit of lavish living. People in our society are surprised to find those individuals who live for something else other than getting more and more money and bigger and better things.

Since we can never find true wholeness, meaning, security, hope and contentment in But things, money, power and even relationships it is therefore both foolish and futile to spend our lives chasing after them. God’s word here in Exodus and throughout the rest of Scripture calls us to refuse the enticing trap of covetousness and instead to find rest, contentment, security, wholeness, healing, joy and meaning in our Lord Jesus Christ.

So what is contentment and why should we pursue that instead of the sin of covetousness?

To be content in the biblical sense is to have a strong sense of sufficiency such that more things won’t add to your happiness or well-being. From there it moves into a state of being in which we are complete, fulfilled and satisfied. That’s how Paul uses the term in 1 Tim 6 when he wrote to Timothy and said

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 1 Tim. 6:6-10.

Contentment liberates us to invest ourselves in pursuing God’s kingdom.

Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?" And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God." Luke 12:13-21.

To begin with, this man’s focus was all wrong. Jesus is talking about discipleship which is perhaps the most important thing in this life and the life to come. Yet this man’s mind was solely focused on an earthly inheritance. His mindset is one that can all too easily affect us.

Jesus makes it clear that this man’s earthly wealth was not his focus. He then turns to the crowd and warns them to be careful of all forms of greed, dissatisfaction and discontentment. We will always be tempted to believe that if we just had a little bit more or if things were just a little bit different then we’d be really living. Remember Jesus’ clear statement in vs. 15 regarding materialism. Simply put, having more things doesn’t translate into a better quality of life. It’s also important to note that being blessed with abundance doesn’t mean you’re highly favored by God. The man in the parable was blessed with profitable crops but died and went to hell.

The point of the parable is that we should not be fixed, focused and worried about having things. Instead we should hold things loosely and occupy our thoughts and energy with expanding God’s kingdom.

How much time do you think about things or the lack of things? Are you content with what you have now? By that I mean can you be satisfied with the place God has for you, serve Him in that place and take joy in delighting in Him now or do you believe that that won’t happen until you get something? Are you convinced that what you need to really begin living is another house, car, promotion or whatever.

Finally, how are you planning to invest your life?

To Him Who Loves Us…
Pastor Lance