Keeping Up: Desires

Introduction

Hey everyone, so I hope that you had a great Easter! Thank you to everyone that helped with the flowering of the cross, and to those of you that joined us on Palm Sunday to watch the Passion of the Christ with the young adults here in the Hangar.

So, last landing we had started a new series. I realized that it can feel like our lessons, topics, and themes that we talk about here at the Landing are random. And I think that’s my fault. I want to let you know that they aren’t random, but they’re actually all related and intentionally chosen but I need to do a better job of letting you all know that we are actually in a series. So the series that we started last time (and that we are continuing today) is called Keeping Up: Learning to Be Content in Life.

Last time we had started talking about how we constantly compare ourselves to one another. And despite that, God doesn’t compare us to each other. Instead, He only sees us through the lens of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

David’s Backstory

Today though, we are digging a bit deeper. Many of you have heard the story of David and Bathsheba. It’s a relatively well-known story in the Bible. But in case you haven’t heard it, it’s about (surprise, surprise) King David! In this story, King David skips out on his kingly duties at war and instead is relaxing at home. One evening he spies a woman named Bathsheba bathing and he stops at nothing to find out who she is and to fulfill his desire for her (). Bathsheba ends up pregnant, and when David tries to manipulate her husband, whose name was Uriah, into a situation that would make it seem like the baby was Uriah’s. But of course that didn’t work out. Uriah was too noble to be put in that situation by David. So David’s hand is forced (). So, David does some shady behind-the-scenes work and gets Uriah moved to the front lines of the war, where he is killed (). In due time (really very little time at all), David moves Bathsheba to his house, thinking that he has tied up all the loose ends and has escaped freely. So he plans to just go along with life and act as if nothing happened. God, however, does not let his sins go unnoticed. So knowing all of that backstory, we pick up in .

Nathan Rebukes David

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So in that passage, Nathan comes to David and shares the story with him about a rich man and a poor man. One man has much and one only has a little, but what little the poor man has he treasures (). A traveler arrives, and instead of feeding the visitor from his abundance, the rich man takes the poor man’s possession and gives it to the traveler (v. 4). David is enraged and can’t believe that someone would do such a thing. So, Nathan points out that this is exactly what he has done, but even worse - He had arranged to have Uriah killed! (vv. 5-10). The same David who had faith that God could kill giants (), and who God said was a “man after His own heart” () was motivated by his greedy desire to have something that wasn’t his to have.

This desire took him to a dark place, far from God’s standards. Nathan tells David, “You had everything, and yet, if it was too little God would have given you more” (see vv. 7-8). Instead of submitting his desires to God, he succumbed to a temptation that is common to each of us: envy. Despite all this sin, the story is not without God’s redemptive hand. David confesses his sin before the Lord, and though he suffers grave consequences, we see throughout the rest of the Bible that David is restored to relationship with God.

Vanity

In 2015, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (today known only as Bank of America), wanted to track the world’s vanity spending. They defined it as “the pursuit of, and the accumulation of, attributes and accessories to augment self-confidence by enhancing one’s appearance and prestige. It is self-actualization through self-improvement and self-focus.”

They estimated that $4.5 trillion was spent across the world on things like makeup, designer clothes, botox, or private jets. [https://qz.com/393171/vanity-capital-is-the-new-metric-for-narcissism-and-analysts-say-its-value-worldwide-is-greater-than-germanys-gdp/]

We like the latest and greatest in beauty and fashion, and we will buy it in an effort to keep up with our friends and neighbors. However, it doesn’t stop there; our hunger for more is stimulated by seeing what someone else has that appears better than ours, whatever it might be. We can be jealous of someone’s appearance, new car, or designer kicks. We can want our crush, even if they are in a relationship with someone else, like David did. We can want a better family. Perhaps we want a better spiritual life. Maybe we wish we could be a baller like LeBron James or a vocalist like Ariana Grande. The test comes when we evaluate what we will do to get what we want.

Prioritizing these sorts of things over relationships with one another or your relationship with God is dangerous. Doing so can lead to risky choices or behavior in the long run. We all have wants and desires. Scripture tells us to submit our desires to God. Especially in prayer. But God isn’t like a vending machine that spits out whatever we want as soon as we ask it. God does care about each of us though. And He wants us to grow closer to Him and learn to depend on Him and be grateful for what He has given us. When we are dependent on Him, we can keep things from becoming idols in our lives.

Consumerism

Discuss with your students the danger of prioritizing

will buy it in an effort to keep up with our friends and neighbors. However, it

doesn’t stop there; our hunger for more is stimulated by seeing what someone

else has that appears better than ours, whatever it might be. We can be jealous

of someone’s appearance, new car, or designer kicks. We can want our crush,

even if they are in a relationship with someone else, like David did. We can want

a better family. Perhaps we want a better spiritual life. Maybe we wish we could

be a baller like LeBron James or a vocalist like Ariana Grande. The test comes

when we evaluate what we will do to get what we want. Have your students

anonymously write down a frivolous want (examples: a new iPhone, a Gucci belt,

Consumerism, or the idea that the more we have the better we are, can distort our view of others, ourselves, and our faith. Consumption can become a broken path to meaning. “We assign value to ourselves and others based on the goods we purchase. One’s identity is now constructed by the clothes you wear, the vehicle you or your family drive, the music you listen to. In short, you are what you consume” (https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2006/summer/3.28.html).

new kicks, straight hair, a tattoo, etc.). Pick two out of the pile at a time and play

“Would You Rather?” For example: “Would you rather have a new iPhone or

perfect hair every day?” Discuss with your students the danger of prioritizing

these sorts of things over their relationships with one another or God and how

that can lead to risky choices or behavior in the long run. We all have wants.

The story of David shows us that even if you have “everything,” it still isn’t enough. The Bible never instructs us to become successful by accumulating everything we can in order to show others how great we are and how amazing God is. Material wealth doesn’t “fix” us. We don’t automatically become good people due to it; more often than not in fact, money and possessions do quite the opposite. Instead, the Bible teaches us to be faithful to love God and love others, something that doesn’t naturally happen when we are in pursuit of more stuff or chasing after someone else’s things. In fact, the Bible encourages us to be generous (). Practicing intentional generosity sets the believer free from putting trust in things to trusting in the Giver of all things: God.

Encourage your students to submit their desires to God, even frivolous ones like

those they submitted for the game. God isn’t a vending machine, but he does

care about each one of us, and offering even the simplest of things in prayer

allows us to grow closer to him in dependence and gratitude. It helps us to keep

these small things from becoming idols.

https://qz.com/393171/vanity-capital-is-the-new-metric-for-narcissism-and-analysts-say-its-value-worldwide-is-greater-than-germanys-gdp/

The story