What Does It Mean to Covet?

Well, we have found our way to the tenth Commandment.  One that is actually quite common in the American culture.

21 Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor's house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

In order not to yield to the temptation of expounding on my own sense of the word covet.  I went straight to the Greek!  I would usually try to put all this in paragraph form; however as I wrote the various words and concept down; It lead to an interesting pattern.  See if you don’t follow it.

To covet is to want more.

More in reference to power, as well as property.

By outdoing others,

by trying to be superior.

Forging ahead

at the expense of others!

          Taking advantage!

Greedily desiring things!

Which often leads to conflict.

Seeking material advantage,

often through dishonest gain.

Asserting one’s self,

by grasping for more, 

more than we are meant to have.

Which leads to destruction of yourself and others!

         The End!

To Covet is to live opposite of Jesus’ call to servanthood.  Because it manifests itself in total disregard for other's rights and needs.

I was thinking, as I read the tenth shall-not, that Jesus didn’t include it in his teaching list in Matthew five and six.  But then I reminded myself that He talked about greed more than he talked about love.  So I am sharing with you His parable of the rich fool. Where He is fairly clear about coveting.

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." 14 But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" 15 And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." 16 Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, "What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' 18 Then he said, "I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' 20 But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”(Luke 12:13-21)

The Seventh and Eighth Shall-Nots

Talking about the ten shall-nots can bring a person up short.  

I picked up my Bible to check the next Commandment.  First I read:  Neither shall you steal. Short and to the point.  So I read on: Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.  

I put my Bible down and two thoughts popped into my mind. First I recalled a little white cream pitcher. Then I thought, everyone lies from time to time.

Let me tell you about that little white cream pitcher first.  Many years ago, my husband and I were out to dinner with some of our friends from church. After dinner the waitress brought coffee to the table. On the tray was this little white cream pitcher. I loved it. I love tiny things.  I made an off had comment: “This little pitcher needs to go home with me.” And the conversation went on from there. The dare was given. I met the challenge. 

“It was all in fun!”  Right?

“Didn’t hurt or harm anyone.”

“The restaurant owner had lots of little cream pitchers!”

The pitcher came home with me.

While still thinking about the seeming harmless habit of taking what is not ours.  I remembered all the white bath towels taken from motels.  It was at a tennis tournament in Palm Desert California.  It was hot!  Really HOT!  And people had taken towel to cover their head, to reflect the hot desert sun, while sitting in the stadium. Now that wouldn’t have been so bad; but then they left the towel in the stands after the matches had ended for the day. 

“Hotels have lots of towel!”   Right?

Now I admit, I took a washcloth I kept it wet, with the ice from a plastic cup, to wipe my face, neck and arms.  But like a good girl (; I took it back to my room and put it in the pile of other used towels and washcloths.

After all this remembering, thinking and reading about these shall-nots, the question came:  How could I preach on Commandments I had clearly broken?

But I sucked up my courage and began to write.

Don’t take what is not yours.

Don’t say things that are not true.

Simple childhood lessons.  Lessons I’m quite sure that all of us learned both at school and at home.  Good little boys and girls did neither.  That was the understood truth of life.  Every child knew it.  And it wasn’t important because God said so.  It was our parents and teachers that kept us in line.

And yet, from nursery school on, those two rule got broken easily and all the time.  We told tiny little lies to protect our young pride.  We took something just because we wanted it at the time.  Neither violation hurt anyone else.  However, as children grow so do their offence's.  And we find out that the things we do and say begin to outwardly affect those around us. 

As the week wore on, I was having a difficult time deciding how to approach these two prolific habits of human history.  So I did what I often do in times of a major mind block.  I looked up what it means “to bear” in my trusty Greek dictionary.  Bearing is something that can be known by the senses.  Through human conduct.  Our outward demeanor.  A manor of speaking, or doing, that correspond to our inner reality — our feelings.  

Bearing is a witness.  Someone who relates something. Gives an account.  Attests to.  To “bear false witness” then is: To smear,  to say something untrue,  to misrepresent.  It is not telling, or living, the truth; or at least the whole truth.

The Book of James, description of this human habit, could be helpful when is comes to how we use our tongues. 

.

5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire….. 8 but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. (James 3:5f) 

These are fairly specific words for bearing false witness.

I had to laugh when I looked up the word steal.  The Greek word is klepto.  I think my husband called me that, or something like it, when we got home from dinner with that little white pitcher in my possession.  

A klepto, a popular slang word in the 1960s by the way, is one who acts with subterfuge.  One who breaks trust. Or who fails to honor another’s possessions.  Simply put, we take something from someone else that is not ours.

But all that is too simplistic.  

So I am going to try Jesus’ method of expanding the concept.  

Taking a possession, a car or book or electronic object —   A cute little white cream pitcher.  Is one thing.   

However we often steal in much less obvious or provable ways.  

A glance of an eye steals, copies, another’s answer.  

A tongue that robs someone of their integrity, identity or reputation.

Or my personal soapbox:  A parent who steal, robs, and bear false witness by having their children Baptized.  “Because they are suppose to.”  Or because it makes them look good.  Or because it is the thing to do.  And then never keeps their promise to teach their children about God’s love. They make sure the child gets the “God given gift.”  But they never allow the child to actually open that gift. They don’t bring them to Sunday School, where they can learn about God.  They don’t read them Bible stories at home.  In other words, they both bear false witness and steal.

End of tantrum.

Stealing, bearing false witness can be, and is extremely, subtle.  And often goes undetected.  

Jesus tells a pointed parable that relates to both stealing and false witness.  Most of us are familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan.  

A man, walking alone on a road, is beaten and rob by thieves.  Then leave him to die.  Two priest coming along saw the dying man; but crossed the road to the other side.

The thieves stole his possessions and beat him.

But listen to the subtle message in this parable:  The two priest, both at different times, passed by the beaten man crossing to the other side of the road, to avoid helping him.  

Do you get the message that one line reveals?  It is a powerful example of false witness.  

Priests,  those groomed to follow God’s law, God’s will.  Those who are to take care of their neighbor.  Passed by the dying man.  Leaving him to die alone.  They misrepresented,  they bore false witness by their actions, about who they were suppose to be.  About who they represented.

The message?  They acted in public as God’s Holy Men.  But in private, on that lonely road, with no one else could see, they were not “Holy” at all!

Clarification: The beaten man was a Jew — an insider.   One who was considered a neighbor to a Jewish Priest. 

The Samaritan, “a stranger.”  Not a Jew.  A man considered an outsider. Acted with integrity and faithfulness to God’s will and purpose.

The Priests failed to love their neighbor.  

They bore false witness without saying a word.

This parable brings both the seventh and eighth Commandment into clear perspective.

Now! Back to today.

Let's pull ourselves up by our boot straps and confront ourselves.  Ask yourselves the same question I asked myself that week of sermon preparation.  I asked myself:  “Where are you in this parable?  How would Jesus tell my story” or yours?

Or maybe the easier question might be, and truly we do like easy:  Where do we want to be in Jesus’ parable?

I’ll say it again!  Reading these rules for life do call us to attention.  Because we all, each one of us if we are honest, stand humbled by Jesus’ pointed little two sided story.  Not one of us escape responsibility.

It was true when Jesus walked this earth so many thousands of year ago.  It is true this very day. 

Another "But I Say To You!"

The writers of books, movies and TV shows missed this shall-not when they were in Sunday School!  

“You shall not commit adultery!”

Adultery is a noun that refers to the verb adulterate.  To make something impure!  To spoil!   To corrupt something good!  It is a violation of a trust given.  It is an infringement on God’s original purpose.

In the Old Testament, adultery brought with it death by stoning.  

In the New Testament Jesus gets very specific about adultery, to the smallest detail, of what adultery can bring to the union of trust promised in the marriage ceremony.   

However, adultery is not just a matter of Civil Law, or social standards, but a conflict with God’s Holy Will.  

Suffice to say, adultery is just wrong!

That could be the end of this discussion.  It could be if we were to keep this issue to just physical relations between human beings.  However, the same, shall not  commit adultery, refers to unfaithfulness to God as well.

So let me back-up for a moment to Jesus’ second “But I say!” when he is talking about the usual result of adultery. 

Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.  “But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”(v.31-32)

Jesus once again goes beyond the letter of the law, The Torah, and invites his listeners to think about adultery as not just an act.  But also our ultimate destiny as one of God’s children!  

By the way, in the Old Testament the Torah allows divorce!  

1 Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house 2 and goes off to become another man's wife. 3 Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies); 4 her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that would be abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.(Deut 24:1-4)

Jesus suggests that this law was made for the sake of the hardness of the human heart. That is, a heart that has become insensitive, stiffened, toughened.  A heart that has grown hard, unreceptive to God’s saving will.  This issue of the heart has a much more profound and deeper meaning then we think of our hearts today. 

I have probably told you this before.  But chronologically advantaged folks often repeat themselves.

In the Hebrew understanding, the heart is the seat of all rational function, thought and emotion.  The source of all religious and ethical conduct.  The heart is the core of our being.

The brain holds a place of non-importance in the Old Testament way of thinking. 

Now fast forward to the “But I say to you.”

Adultery also has very much to do with those who resist the truth about Jesus.  Jesus refers to those people as “an evil and adulterous generation.” (Mt. 12:39)  

This adultery issue is more about the divine human relationship.  The covenant, the promise of God’s faithfulness!  The promise made between God and his human creation.

In Genesis 9 God is quite clear: 

This is a sign of the covenant between you and me and every living creature that is with you, for all generation.  I have set my bow in the clouds.  And it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth…I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.  This is my sign.”( Gen. 9:12f)

The covenant of Marriage is a promise of faithfulness and trust.

The covenant promise with God and us is also a promise of faithfulness and trust.

Trust is something we would be wise to never tamper with.  Trust is a very fragile and precious ingredient in all of relationships. 

A violation of trust is not easily healed!

In the Old Testament journey God lost trust In His human creation.  He lost confidence that they could be relied upon to be faithful.  So he came in Jesus’ skin to level the playing field. 

When we cannot be trusted because we have adulterated a relationship; we find ourselves living in fear and secrecy.  It drives us into a terrible darkness!  Often lonely and sometimes hopeless! And often we find ourselves emotionally on the run.  Wondering if someone will discover our misdeeds.   

But, do you know what?  We can never hide form God!

We can fool a lot of people!  But we will never be successful at fooling God.

Point?

Our ultimate hope, in this life on earth, is what we have between ourselves and God.

So, at this point in the discussion Jesus might say one more:  “But I say to you”  If you want to mess with adultery!  

If you think you can adulterate God’s will!  

Be unfaithful to God by being unfaithful to human promised!  “Then you will be liable to the hell of fire…”

But then He graciously adds this interesting add-on:  So, “if you remember that you brother or sister ( or maybe your God) has something against you, leave you gifts before the altar and go first and be reconciled to those you’ve broken trust with….come to terms quickly with your accuser…(Mt. 5:23f)

In other words, eat rug before them.  Prostrate yourselves before them with true repentance.  Be sorry “from the bottom of you socks; because the bottom of your heart is simply not deep enough”(Hallmark card)

Prostrating, lowering ourselves, crawling on our hands and knees in honest regret.  Might, might, get our loves one’s attention.

But here is the good news:  we don’t have to crawl or prostrate ourselves before God.

“Those without sin cast the first stone”

God knows our deepest regret!  God accepts our honest plea for forgiveness.  

Listen to what God tells his adulterous people through Jeremiah:

31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (Jere.31: 31-34)

That is how very easy it is with God! 

That is how extremely gracious God is!

That is how God’s perfectly unconditional love and acceptance works!

When we have such a generous and forgiving God, I have to wonder!  Why would we ever even consider being unfaithful to that kind of loving acceptance?  

Why would we even be temped to ruin, or dishonor, that kind of mercy?

27 "You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. 31 "It was also said, "Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' 32 But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.(Matt.5)