Content In All Things

Brainstorming/Outline

Break one you break them all (James 2:10, Matt 5:19)

Tie the commands together with faith, hope and love (1 Cor 13)

Summarize all the commands

What is coveting (and what is not coveting)

Content, Grateful, and Faithful

Jesus emptied and humbled himself to save us — Phil 2:1-11

Introduction

The story is told about a farmer who was discontent with his property. He was frustrated at the expense and effort that was required to thin the fish out of the pond. The uneven ground made it difficult to run his fences and, combined with the large space, made it difficult to see his cows. It got so dark that he often bumped into things as he came back from the barn at night.

Month after month he stewed over his frustrations until he finally decided he would sell the property and find a better spot. So he called a real estate agent to list the property.

A few days later he looked online—considering his options for a new place to live. His eye caught an ad for a lovely country home in an ideal location – quiet and peaceful.

It had soft rolling hills; a pristine lake stocked with fish, a classic barn surrounded by natural flowers and soft grass, and came complete with a wonderful herd of Black Angus cows.  It was just close enough to a small town to be convenient but far enough out to be uncluttered by city lights, traffic and noise.

He read the ad a second and then a third time before realizing that it was HIS property. The real estate agent had given her description of the place he currently owned.  He called the agent and told her to cancel the ad.  “I’ve changed my mind.  I’ve been looking for a place just like the one that I already own.”

We don’t all live in an ideal location, or drive the car we would prefer, or own the clothes or tools or toys that we would like. But could we have the same experience as that farmer—already possessing something ideal, but not even recognizing its value?

Today, we’re going to be wrapping up our series on the Ten Commandments called God Wrote Love. I hope this exploration of the law has demonstrated what the Bible says, that it is “Holy, Just and Good.” I also hope that you’ve been challenged by the possibilities that exist in the law. Instead of looking at all that the law prohibits, we’ve been exploring all the stuff that it empowers and protects. We’ve been looking at it from the Love God and Love Your Neighbor perspective. Today we’ll wrap up the series with a sermon I’m calling, Content in All Things, about the tenth and final command found in Exodus 20:17.

Exodus 20:17 ESV

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Before we dive into this command, I’d like to go back and consider what we’ve discovered so far.

In the first command we found that the God of creation and redemption is inviting us to truly know Him and explore all that He is. He wants an intimate relationship with us where we reveal ourselves to Him, and He reveals himself to us. He wants to be our one and only God.

In the second command we discovered that God has designed us to reflect Him—to live in the likeness or image of His goodness and creativity—and that nothing God has created or that we can create can adequately capture the nature of God, much less be elevated to be equal to Him.

In the third command we considered the fact that God has given us His name and invited us to share His character and love with the world.

In the fourth command we explored the implications of a day that memorializes the God of creation and redemption. Among other things, Sabbath is a practice that reminds us that it is Christ’s righteousness that saves us as we REST in His redemption. We also discovered that, while not prohibited, the sabbath is not intended for isolation and sleep, but for relationship, fellowship, and good works.

In the fifth command we uncovered the concept of honor and shame, and how we have all dishonored and shamed our father in heaven. And yet, he, like the father of the prodigal son, has absorbed our shame and brought us back to a position of honor as His own dear children. We also discovered that we honor our parents best when we obey our father in heaven.

In the sixth command we discovered that bullying and name calling is in the same category as murder, and that God’s call to us is to promote a thriving life in every interaction we have with others.

In the seventh command we explored the nature of intimacy and unity by considering God’s faithfulness and nurturing care for us. We found that it is only through mutual humility, submission, and nurture that we truly fulfill God’s design for relational oneness in marriage.

In the eighth command we considered the nature of ownership and discovered that God owns everything and that we are called to be caretakers and generous delivery systems through which God can bless the world.

In the ninth command we found a call to be truth tellers with an intellectual humility that recognizes that even if I think I’m right, I might not see the whole picture, and a relational generosity that gives others the benefit of the doubt and thinks about them in the context of who they can be in Christ.

If you break one, you’ve broken them all

As I review the themes of these commands I’m impressed by the interconnectedness of each idea. For example, the fourth command is not just a command to go to church on the 7th day of the week—it’s a combination of the first three commands where God invites us to worship Him, the creator, as our only God, to not put any of his creation in place of Him, and to bear His name to the world.

When we considered the command to not murder, we noticed that gossip is a form of verbal cannibalism, where we consume the other person’s good name. But later we came back to the idea of gossip when we talked about bearing false witness, and we discovered that even revealing seemingly truthful things about others is a form of deceit because it tells a partial and biased truth that does harm to a person’s reputation.

We found that stealing almost always includes a form of deceit, and that the thief eventually throws off restraint and practices violence and bloodshed to accomplish their greedy agenda.

We found that honoring our parents is a result of honoring all of God’s commands.

We also found that Jesus ties all the “love your neighbor as yourself” behaviors to loving God when he said, “when you’ve done it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you’ve done it to me.” One of the best ways we can show that we love God is when we love those precious people that He loves.

John describes this connection between loving our neighbor and loving God in 1 John 3

1 John 3:4 ESV

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

1 John 3:9 ESV

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

Paul says it this way, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” He also talks about the Christian life as “living in the spirit.”

John identifies sin as breaking or doing away with the law of God in our lives. He points out that Gods children—the people who have God’s spirit in them—don’t sin. And then he makes a transition in verses 10 and 11 where he connects the concept of loving your neighbor with righteousness, or obedience to the law.

1 John 3:10–11 ESV

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

Then, in verses 16 to 18, John connects the love of Christ with acts of selfless kindness that Jesus described in his parable of the sheep and the goats.

1 John 3:16–18 ESV

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

He goes so far as to suggest that the loving behaviors of our life demonstrate that God’s spirit abides in us.

1 John 3:23–24 ESV

And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

In 1 John 4:20, he makes it crystal clear that if we do not have love, we do not have Christ.

1 John 4:20 ESV

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Jesus expressed this same connectedness of the law when he this in Matthew 5:19,

Matthew 5:19 NKJV

Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

James elaborates on this idea when he says this in James 2:10

James 2:10 ESV

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

The law is not a bullet point list of rules; it’s a beautiful painting of God’s character. Each law is a bold color, but every color blends together creatIng nuance and detail.

So far we’ve explored 9 of the 10 commands—9 of the bold colors of love.

The Tenth Command

Let’s go now to the tenth commandment. How does this command fit in the portrait of God’s love?

When the Bible tells the story about Lucifer in Heaven or about Adam and Eve in the garden, this tenth command is at the heart of their problem.

Lucifer coveted the place that Jesus held as a member of the godhead.

Eve coveted the high position that the snake promised if she would eat the fruit.

Adam coveted Eve his wife.

You might challenge me on that last point, but I think you’ll understand what I mean when we read this passage from Col 3:5-6:

Colossians 3:5–6 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

Paul tells the Colossian church that covetousness is a form of idolatry.

Adam had put Eve, and his marriage with her, above God, and took the fruit from her so that he could stay with her. He idolized and worshiped her in place of God.

When we covet we give in to a selfish, toxic mindset that overtakes our thought life. I’m sure you’ve experienced it. You see something on TV or online, or at someone else’s house, and you feel like you simply must have it for yourself. Maybe you’ve gone into debt to satisfy that hunger that coveting puts into your heart. Maybe you’ve traded something, or even tricked someone to get what you want.

We say to ourselves, “If I can’t have that then...” Coveting idolizes a person or object, and then goes about to either obtain that object, or undermine the one who owns it. Coveting leads to stealing, to gossip, to adultery, and to idolatry. Because of covetousness we backstab our friends, we badmouth our neighbors, and we promote ourselves.

Interestingly, most of the other commands are behaviorally focused , but the law against coveting is purely a heart issue. Our words and actions come from the thoughts and passions and motives of our hearts. This command invites us to take a look at our hearts and ask the question, “if its not self promotion or desire for things, then what does God want in my heart?”

There are two stories from the Bible that help to illustrate this idea of coveting:

The first story is the story of Naboth’s vineyard found in 1 Kings 21:1-6:

According to the story, Naboth kept a beautiful vineyard in Jezreel that was right beside the palace of Ahab. Ahab wanted the vineyard for himself, so he approached Naboth and said,

1 Kings 21:2 ESV

And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.”

Naboth’s response was sound reasoning, and in line with God’s command for Israel. He said,

1 Kings 21:3 ESV

But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”

Verse 4 is where we see Ahab’s heart:

1 Kings 21:4 ESV

And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.

Have you ever felt “vexed” and “sullen” when you couldn’t get what you wanted?

This is a common problem in my household. It might be the kids, or it might be me! You can tell its that toxic, selfish motivation of covetousness when you pout and get angry when you are denied the thing you want.

Jezabel, Ahab’s wife, found him in this state, and then put her machinery of evil to work to get Ahab what he wanted. Naboth ended up dead, and God’s law for governing inheritance was cut short. Disobedience and murder, all because one guy wanted something he couldn’t have.

The second story is that of David and Bathsheba. We won’t rehears the story here, but keep in mind that it was David’s covetous desire that led him to abuse one of his subjects and murder her husband.

When the prophet Nathan came to David to face him with his sin, he crafted a story and had the king pronounce sentence on a fictitious rich man who had stolen the only sheep of a poor person. David’s judgment was that the man should pay back four lambs for the one he stole. And then Nathan said this in 2 Sam 12:7-8:

2 Samuel 12:7–8 ESV

Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more.

Take a second look at that statement from God. He claimed to have given David all that he possessed, including plenty of wives.

Just for the record, one wife is plenty for me. Someday we’ll have to explore the reason why God would have allowed polygamous marriage when it clearly violates His law. But for now, lets just focus on God as provider.

Read again what he says in verse 8, this time I’m reading from the New Living Translation:

2 Samuel 12:8 NLT

I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.

I gave you so much, and if that weren’t enough, I would have given you much, much more.

God promises to provide for our needs. He even promises to give us the desires of our hearts—at least those desires that come from a surrendered, obedient heart.

When we covet something we cannot have without breaking God’s law, then we’re pointing our finger at God and saying, “you haven’t given me enough.”

I don’t trust you to provide for my needs.

Faith

The first thing that God wants in our hearts instead of covetousness is faith. Jesus illustrated faith when he said that ‘If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ’move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” (Matt 17:20, ESV).

He’s not saying that we can magically move mountains. He’s saying that the size of our faith doesn’t matter, it’s who we have faith in that’s important. We are the children of the almighty God of creation. Moving a mountain is as easy for Him as breathing is to us. Nothing is impossible to God.

Faith says, I believe God has my best interest in mind. I will wait for, and trust in Him.

Joelle and I have an active faith experiment in our Airbnb. We’ve told God to fill it up as much as he wants to, and to leave it empty when He has another use for it. To us, the airbnb is God’s space. We have a portion of our mortgage that we have to pay from the airbnb earnings, so every month there’s a mandate for a minimum amount of cashflow. Waiting can be hard. Sometimes we look at an empty month ahead of us with no bookings. We’ve gotten anxious as we wait for a booking. We’ve sometimes considered a longer-term lease so we have a regular income. But we believe God led us to do the airbnb, and getting all anxious about it doesn’t seem very trusting. I think we’re starting to learn that when we see a long blank spot in the calendar, we can trust God to provide in one way or another. We’ve had a few rough months where the cashflow just didn’t match the mortgage, but every single time our airbnb has not provided enough income, the Lord has proven that He’s taking care of us by providing through another mechanism. There have been several times when the calendar was empty and we have been able to give that space away to someone who needed it. We’re learning that God’s timing is perfect.

Paul had a lot of experience with faith, and he said this in Phil 4:6-7:

Philippians 4:6–7 ESV

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Gratitude

That leads us to the next attitude of the heart that I believe God is encouraging us towards in the tenth command: gratitude.

Paul says to lay all our needs before the Lord with thanksgiving. As a result of our thankfulness, God promises peace. Not anxiety, but peace. Are you anxious? Does your covetousness make you moody and temperamental? Maybe you need a good dose of gratitude.

Over and over again God calls Israel to express their thanksgiving. Usually there’s a connection to an offering. Think about it, what better way to say, “thank you” to God than to give back to him what he has given you?

If I were to buy my son a fancy Ford Mustang GT, or that electric Mustang Mach-E, or even better yet, a Tesla Model 3, I would want him to enjoy it, and I’d get pleasure out of seeing him driving it. But what if he took the keys from me, jumped in and drove off without thanking me or even looking back at me. That’s what an entitled kid would do. An “I deserve this” attitude is not attractive to the gift giver. When I give my son a gift, I want him to enjoy it, but I don’t want him to snub me in the process. If he were to say, “come on Dad, jump in and lets take it for a spin!” Or “Here dad, show me how to drive this thing!” That would communicate to me that he feels grateful and humbled by the gift.

It used to be that people would give a special thank-you offering on their birthday, expressing gratitude to God for another year of life. Other people donate time to the church or charity to express their gratefulness for God providing for them. Giving back to God shows Him that you know where the gift came from and you trust Him to provide in the future.

One way you can express your gratefulness is to keep a gratitude journal. Every evening before you go to bed, spend some time reviewing your day and writing down how you can be grateful for the ways God has led you. Remember that story I told at the beginning? As you review your day, don’t be like the farmer who thinks of all the negatives. Instead be like the realtor who expresses the positive side.

Gratefulness is a way to keep our hearts centered on God; trusting in Him to provide for us and fill our lives with goodness.

James reminds us that:

James 1:17 NKJV

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

We all have a lot to thank God for every day. I wonder how many of our complaints about our situation in life, are really just us looking at the glass half empty, rather than seeing the blessings God has given us? A regular time of reflection can help us recalibrate our pessimism and recognize God’s working in our lives.

Content in All Things

And that leads us to the final concept I’m going to share from Ten Commandments: Contentment.

When we trust God to provide, and are grateful for what He has given us, we don’t need to worry about tomorrow. We can simply rest in the knowledge that He will give us what we need, and much, much, more. That’s called contentment.

To be content is to be happy and satisfied. You are content when you’ve eaten a good meal and you’ve put your dishes away and you sit back in your couch. You’re not thinking about the next meal or feeling hunger pangs. You’re satisfied.

Contentment is not looking around for the next great thing. It’s looking at what you have and saying, “this is satisfying, I’m so grateful for what God has given me.”

Contentment banishes all the “if only” and “I wish” thoughts. It says, “God has a plan...” and lets the future be in God’s hands.

Imagine what the universe would have been like if Lucifer had said to himself, “God has given me such wonderful gifts, I am content.” Or if Eve had looked at that fruit and heard the snake and then said, “my creator hasn’t given me any reason to doubt him, why should I listen to you? I’m content with all the the good things God has given to me.”

Imagine what might have happened to Israel if David had looked away from Bathsheba and said in his heart, “God has given me so many good things, she is not mine to take. I trust that if there is anything lacking, God will give me what I need.” Instead, because of David’s selfish, greedy, covetous heart, the son who took over as king set the nation up for a civil war and plunged the his people into idolatry.

Looking at the landscape of stories about greed and covetousness, Paul says,

2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

And then in Phil 4:11-13

Philippians 4:11–13 ESV

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Conclusion

In every one of the ten commandments I’ve seen the gospel, and the gospel in this command is particularly beautiful. Consider what happened with Lucifer in heaven, how he coveted Jesus’ position.

I really appreciate the book, The Story of Redemption. It tells the story of Lucifer in heaven as if it were a long, and slow process where his heart grew more and more stubborn in opposition to God. It portrays Jesus among the angels, as if he were one of them, just like when he came to earth to be like us. Lucifer saw him relating to the angels in that capacity, and then he saw him walk into the council seat of the almighty. It made him furious that Jesus had something that He couldn’t have. So he said, “I will set my throne above God’s stars. I will sit on the mount of assembly. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:13-14)

But he missed something about the Most High. A key character trait was missing from Lucifer’s understanding. God is not greedy for power. He is filled with patient, self-sacrificing love for all the beings he has created.

Paul shows the character of God in contrast to Lucifer’s in his letter to the church in Philippi. Turn to Phil 2:

Philippians 2:3–8 ESV

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus didn’t find the power and authority and might and treasure of God to be something to covet. Lucifer did, and it cause all the heartache and pain and death that the universe has experienced. But Jesus didn’t have that covetousness. He was willing to lay aside his riches, put on a human body with all its frailty and degeneration, and even give up his life so that you and I can live. What Jesus desires most is a relationship with you and me.

God’s call to eliminate covetousness from our hearts is not a call to eliminate ambition, or stifle desire. It’s a call to put all our trust in Him. To have Him be the pinnacle of our desire, and the goal of all our ambitions. To let Him raise us up to a higher position, or give us wonderful things. Or, if He chooses, to take away our wonderful things and bring us to a lower position. Trusting Him doesn’t guarantee that we’ll have all the things we wish we could have. It does guarantee that we will be content with what He provides, and that He will give us all we need.

The apostles were so sold out to Jesus that they truly believed that to suffer and die for the cause of Christ was a great honor, and even a gift. They were content, not because they had pleasure and posessions and position, but because they had Jesus as their Lord and savior. He is the only one who can satisfy the desires of our soul. Not the right house, or the right car, or the right man or woman, or the right side of town, or the city or the country, or this church or that church—nothing will satisfy you unless you find your satisfaction in Jesus.

Only then, will you be content in all things.