24 June 2018                        The problem withCoveting                          Martin Baker

Introduction

We conclude today our four weekreflection on the Ten Commandments.

The Hebrew people are on the journey outof slavery.  Before giving the TenCommandments, God tells the people, ‘I have born you up on eagle’s wings anddrawn you to myself.’

The Commandments can be seen like ten fenceposts or the frame within which the community’s life is protected.

The first 4 commandments are aboutrelationship with God and then next 6 are about relationships to one another.

A sense that we are not to be slaves toothers, or to our work or jobs. We are more than even these things.

The Hebrew people lived in slavery in Egypt. They heard the call of a freedom bringingGod.  There are things that oppress usand our communities. We can all be enslaved to attitudes, behaviours,ideologies, regimes that still enslave people.

And we hold on to a great claim that wefind in our scriptures.

For you were called to freedom, brothersand sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity forself-indulgence, but through love become servants to one another. For freedomChrist has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to ayoke of slavery.

This morning we focus on one of the mostchallenging commandments – it is the last of the 10 commandments  -  aswe seek to orientate our lives in a different kind of way.

Exodus 20:17

17 You shall not covet your neighbour’shouse; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, orox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Matthew 22:34-40)

34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced theSadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him aquestion to test him. 36 ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is thegreatest?’ 37 He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all yourheart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38 This is the greatestand first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: “You shall love yourneighbour as yourself.” 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and theprophets.’

Let Us Pray

The 10th commandment is ‘you shall notcovet.’

So how many people are doing a bit of coveting rightnow?

I suppose we have a sense of what adultery is about. We know about stealing. About lying.about murder, even.

But, to covet. And here it's right in the top 10 - and yet it seems such an internalthing.

So let’s take a closer look at this commandment,because it is an interesting one.

It’s unusual and even difficult for at least 5reasons:

First is the word covet. Even more moderntranslations use this word ‘covet’. It’s not an especially common word today andit’s an old –English word from the 16th century - a Shakespeareanword. No one seems to have come up with a better word to describe the Hebrew:  ‘Chamad’.

There are words for envy and greed in Hebrew. Itdoesn’t mean quite the same as those things. In fact in some places chamad it is translated as delight, or to seesomething as precious.   So though peoplefrom time to time insist that the Bible was written in the Queens English, weneed to appreciate that faithful scholars have spent their lives wrestling withhow to translate scripture - and especially Hebrew scripture.

So on one hand there is no simple translation ofthis word. And perhaps the reason is that unlike most of the other commandments– ‘thou shalt not covet’ -  doesn’t seemto be describing an action so much as a state of mind.

‘I’m just going to go off and do a bit of covetingthis afternoon’. What would that look like?

The second issue is that it is the only commandment thatrepeats itself. So perhaps that means it’s really important. The ‘you shall notcovet’ is repeated twice. First about our neighbours house. And then about allthese other things. Wife, salves, livestock and so on.

And that bring us to the third interesting thing aboutthis commandment: At least in part, it seems to be one almost exclusively formen. You shall covet your neighbour’s wife.  Some translations try to soften this by usingthe word spouse instead of wife. But in Hebrew it is definitely wife.

And, even more difficult here, fourthly, wives are identifiedas something of a man’s possessions. You shall not covet your neighbour’s houseand then wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything thatbelongs to your neighbour.

And fifthly it assumes that at least some people,some of these free people,  have slaves.

Scriptures like these have been uses to justifyslavery. To support views that see women as household’s possessions.

I can quote a line in scripture to justify theaccumulation of wealth in a world in which God’s children go hungry; the churchhas used scripture to justify racism, the oppression and persecution of Jews. Wecan even read that Satan quotes scripture -  has good bible knowledge, using scripture toencourage Jesus to prove who he was.

What particular lines in scripture are peoplelistening to ? or hearing from the church?

A survey about the belief of New Zealanders thatcame out just a few weeks ago suggests that the number one blocker for theGospel message, is the churches seeming preoccupation with homosexuality.  That is the message people are hearing. Andyet we all know that that was certainly not a central concern for Jesus.  He spent his life eating and drinking withthose who were marginalised, the powerful sought his execution because he ateand drank with tax collectors and outcasts.

We do our very best here, but wouldn’t it bewonderful and a witness to the truth of the gospel, if the New Zealand public’sfirst association with the church was one of love, welcome hospitality, and thefruits of the holy spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness andself-control.  

The fundamental point about scripture is that it isgospel, it is good news, and it is good news for everyone.  Including those who covet. We need to getfirst things first, and then I believe others things, have a way of sorting themselvesout.

Just a couple of points about reading the Bible.Always be weary of anyone who quotes a single verse in the Bible to justify awhole world view. The Bible was never written in verses.  Read the body of scripture in which thatverse appears. Read as much of the Bible a you can and look for the points ofconnection. Pray for a spirit and wisdom and discernment as we read the text. Thereis a vast amount written too on almost every line in the Bible. Look for anumber of different commentaries and perspectives on those verses.  July is Bible reading month and we are going tohave available a Bible reading challenge which over six months will give you achance to delve into a range of scripture.

When we look at this passage today we do so throughthe teachings of Jesus. The new freedom to which we are called in Christ. We doso with Paul’s teachings, there is neither slave nor free male or female for weare all one in Christ Jesus.

As we look at these difficult passages as we seek toexplore what this coveting means we need to look for other stories in scripturethat help us.

The word covet does not simply mean desire or want. Hebrewthought is much more interested in the way that the things that go on in our headsbecome manifest in our actions. All the commandments are about real things. Notour mental state.

Two Biblical examples that speak about coveting

First, in the 2nd Book ofSamuel.  King David. He’s standing on theroof of his place, his eyes fell upon Uriah’s wife Bathsheba, and we are told hewanted her. So he took her.  In today’sterms, as form of abuse.    As theking, he was already married and had plenty of access to women in the palace.But he wanted Bathsheba, too. So he took her as it says in scripture. We hearnothing much about how she felt. She gets almost no words.  It was all about him. He could so, he did.  And then, when she turned up pregnant, hearranged for Uriah -- and the entire military company he was leading -- to beabandoned in the midst of the battle. They all were killed. And it all startedwith a little coveting (See 2 Samuel 11-12).

Another example, less familiar perhaps. But you canread about it in First Kings. It is about King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Thisroyal pair liked to garden. Or, at least, they liked to have a garden thattheir servants could work for them. Right near their palace, a man who we aretold was a man of faith, named Naboth owned a vineyard. The king offered to buythe vineyard or swap the land for a better stretch of land. Naboth refused. SoJezebel arranged for false charges brought against Naboth and brought in twopaid liars to testify falsely against Naboth. In the end, Ahab and Jezebel gotwhat they wanted: Naboth dead and the vineyard a royal property. And it allstarted with a little coveting (See 1 Kings 21).

The commandment not to covet – repeated twice, spokenfirst into a context removed from us by 4000 years of history and cultural,still has a power today.

When we think not just about the things we want toown to possess, to have, we think about the plans that we put into place toachieve those things. The words we speak, the way we use our power, our moneyour influence our resources. Our motivation. The incredible power of our heart’sdesires.

What do we want to see happen for ourselves, thosewe love, our families our community, our church? Do not covet. It’s first aboutan honest conversation about our fundamental drive and purpose.

So as we seek not to covet, to obey this command thetwo key filters. Does what we are planning, what we are wanting, testify to ourlove of God and number two, will the reality of our plans be expressed in ourlove and care for others. Will they benefit in real ways?

And in all our thinking and planning, our hopes and desireslet’s remember Jesus words.

In Matthew Chapter 7 So do not worry, saying, ‘Whatshall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For thepagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you needthem. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these thingswill be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, fortomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.Do not judge, or you too will be judged.2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with themeasure you use, it will be measured to you.

Love one another as I have loved you, says Jesus.

AMEN