Second Presbyterian Church

"Oh! If Only I Had That… : The 10^th Commandment"
September 21, 2003

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2003 » Sermons for September 2003

#11 in the Series on The Ten Commandments
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Exodus 20: 17
• Joshua 7: 16-21
• Mark 7: 14-23

This morning we are looking at the tenth and last commandment. And I shall begin with the story from our lesson in Joshua. The Battle of Jericho was a resounding success! The Israelites marched around the city one time every day for six days, led by the Ark of the Covenant and by priests sounding the rams horns. On the seventh day the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho seven times while the ram's horns were blown. Then, at the signal from Joshua, everybody started shouting all at the same time while the horns continued to be blown. And as the famous spiritual goes, "and the walls came a tumblin' down." Then the Israelites went into the city and destroyed the population and livestock. People, livestock and goods were "dedicated to the LORD for destruction." The gold, silver, bronze and iron were gathered for the treasury of the LORD.

Joshua, the leader had thought all had gone well. But it hadn't. Soon afterward he sent a contingent of men, around 3,000, to Ai to take the city. It should have been a piece of cake. Instead the people of Ai beat back the Israelites, defeating them. What happened! What went wrong? Joshua and all the elders tore their clothes and fell on their faces before the Ark of the Covenant until evening. They put dust upon their heads. Joshua prayed, "Oh, LORD God! Why have you brought this people across the Jordan at all, to hand us over to the Amorites so as to destroy us! (etc.) The LORD responds, "Get up, Israel has sinned. They have taken some of the things; they have stolen, they have acted deceitfully and kept them for themselves. Unless these things are taken away from among you, Israel cannot stand before its enemies."

So, the next day by casting lots, beginning with the tribe (Judah) the guilty party was identified, Achan. When Joshua asked Achan, Achan confessed, "It is true; I am the one who sinned against the LORD God of Israel. This is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar, 200 sheckels of silver and a 50 shekel bar of gold, then I COVETED THEM AND TOOK THEM."

The rest of the story isn't pretty. Achan, with his sons and daughters were taken out of camp, along with all of their belongings. Then they were stoned and burned and a huge pile of rocks were heaped upon them. Israel's next encounter with Ai was the total destruction of the city.

Achan coveted, and when he coveted he took; he stole what belonged to the LORD. It has been noted that this 10th Commandment differs from the other commandments in that it is the only one that deals with what a person thinks and feels in his/her heart. All the other commandments focus upon behavior, what we say or do.

And for this reason the 10th commandment is probably the hardest one to obey, if not impossible. In life it is difficult enough to control what we say and do, because how we think and behave, seem to come one from the other, so automatically. Yet with determined effort we can develop significant control over what we say and do, despite how we feel!

But this commandment goes further; it forbids a way of feeling and thinking, the mental/emotional process that precedes behavior. How can we control our thinking and feeling! Indeed, many attempts to control how we think and feel can actually be downright unhealthy for us!

Yet interestingly science upholds the validity of this commandment. It has been noted that the two most damaging emotions for a person to chronically experience are envy and bitterness. As far as I'm concerned, feeling envious or jealous is the equivalent to breaking this commandment: YOU SHALL NOT COVET… Bitterness is nothing but festering, rotting anger that is unresolved. It is a first cousin to jealousy; people who suffer from anger, then bitterness, are often people who feel a lot of jealousy. They covet the fortunes of other people; they can't get over how unfair life can be.

So, what exactly does it mean to covet, since we are commanded not to do it? Coveting is the overwhelming desire to have what doesn't belong to you. More precisely, coveting means you feel like you MUST have what your neighbor has, but you SHOULD NOT HAVE it! It is not just "don't have," but craving for that which you SHOULD NOT HAVE. Achan coveted the gold and silver that was to go the LORD's treasury. He ended up taking what really belonged to God. David coveted Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. He should not have possessed Bathsheba; he ended up taking that which did not belong to him.

You may desire to improve your lifestyle; you may want to possess more money, materials. These desires, in and of themselves, are not necessarily covetous desires. You may improve your lifestyle or improve your living standards without necessarily feeling like you must have what your neighbor has, or reaching your goals at the expense of your neighbor.

Another example is whenever a company price gouges, it is exploiting the people in order to gain a dollar. The first persons hurt by it are the ones who can least afford it.

Often we think that the ones who covet are the ones who have little and are coveting what his/her neighbor has. And this can obviously happen. But it seems to me that the ones who are somewhat affluent seem to covet even more and find new, ingenious ways to legally, but unethically exploit the average person!

The other point that I wanted to say is this: Our culture is giving us a variety of false gospels that lead its followers to spiritual death and outright misery. Some of these many gospels are: "sex is the final answer," "you must look beautiful in order to be successful," and "when you have more, then you will be happy."

First, "sex is the final answer." The obvious and subtle messages that are hurled at us by TV, movies, magazines, advertisements, etc. is that you must be sexy, because sex is where it's at. Sex is good; I do not challenge that. But it is not a good, final answer; it is not a good god. It is only an idol (along with wealth and power). Sex is to be enjoyed in the proper context, not worshiped.

The Second cultural gospel is connected; "you must look beautiful in order to be successful." If you are a man, you must have a deep voice and stand 6 feet tall if you want to be perceived as successful. If you are a woman, you must be slim, neat and not too tall - or short - in order to be perceived as successful. Oh, by the way, to be "successful" as a woman you have to have sex appeal," whatever that means.

A Third cultural gospel is: "when you have more (materials, money, etc.), then you will be happy." It seems less connected to sex, except that people of wealth seem to be more attractive sexually than people who don't have wealth. The real danger of this idol of our culture is that it generates envy and covetousness, the need to acquire more (wealth, possessions, fame, etc.) The more the person acquires, the person becomes hungry for more. "If I only had $100,000, then I could relax and feel secure." Then, "If I only had $1,000,000, then I could relax and feel secure." It goes on and on; it becomes a trap that ends up making many rich people quite miserable. The security of wealth and materials is a false security; one that always has the threat of being taken away from you.

This commandment speaks to the heart. You shall not covet. And as Jesus noted in our passage, what comes from the heart is what has the potential to defile, or to make us dirty. It is not the dirt on a person's face that defiles that person; it is the dirt stuck in one's heart that causes someone to do and to say horrible things, that causes someone to hurt or kill someone else. And much of the defilement from the heart comes from our greed, our desperate desire to acquire more, even if we shouldn't have it!

This is where we need the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. All of us have had sinful thoughts and motives. All of us have done wrong, deliberate wrong. All of us are hopeless if we were left to our own devices for redemption. As it is we have to look to Jesus Christ for help. We need the forgiveness he has to offer. Then we can be honest and face our own shortcomings, in the reassurance of God's love and forgiveness. And we can look to Christ, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us a new heart, a heart that is filled with love, gratitude and praise for God, a heart that reaches out to our neighbors with compassion and love. Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.