The Quiet Sin

[Rudy Rangel] Happy Sabbath, everybody! I gotta admit, when I came in and everyone was sitting two minutes before services started, it was quiet in here, I was like, oh, I guess that's all the rowdy people are outside services today. Seems fitting, I guess. But I see some rowdy folks out there, so they're not all there.

When I was young, I remember the first thing that I ever really, really wanted was the Castle Grayskull. That's right, I'm a kid of the 80s. The Castle Grayskull was the perfect fortress for any prince-king, prince-warrior who rode on a tiger. I wanted this thing badly. It had trap doors in it, it had a throne, and everything that any action figure could pass through, that's what the Castle Grayskull was all about. It's a he-man fortress. It was fantastic.

As I got a little bit older, you know, your tastes changed. And then the next thing I really wanted was a Game Boy. The Game Boy came out when I was 11 years old. Man alive. Handheld video games. I played so much Tetris on this thing. It was fantastic. It was so cool, and I wanted it so bad. I still don't know how. At age 11, I was able to save $90. That's like $250 today for an 11-year-old kid. I have no idea how that happened, but it did. And, man, this thing was... I remember getting the... Do you remember the advertisements you get in the newspaper for all the stores? And I would look every week, and I was like, oh, is the Game Boy on sale? It never went on sale. I had to pay full price, but, man, did I want this thing.

When you're about 12 or 13, you start to own the neighborhood. And what's really important to have are wheels. The next thing I really remember wanting was a bike. And in the 80s, the BMX bike was the king. It was absolutely the king. All the coolest kids had a BMX bike. And I wanted a very specific BMX bike. It was the Dyno Air. The Dyno Air with mag wheels. That's right. That's right. It... Man, that thing rode like a dream when I finally got it. But I remember my parents... We asked for it. They were saving up for this bike. And, oh, man, when I got it, it was... All my dreams had come true.

You know, you're only on your bike for a couple years, though, and there's a different set of wheels you want. You want to be a little bit more mobile. You want to be able to drive and go wherever you want. My first vehicle, my uncle sold to me for 50 bucks, was a 1984 Chevy Blazer S10. It had a little bit more rust than the one that you see. Sorry the folks at home can't see this one, but it was fantastic. It was such a cool car to be able to drive to school. And I'll tell another story at some other time, but my brother and I got all four wheels of this off the ground at one point. But that's a story for another time.

I remember later on, when I was a bit older, when the first iPhone came out, man, I was a Mac person already, and I wanted that iPhone so bad. I remember watching the video of Steve Jobs talk about the iPhone, and the only thing out at the time was a Blackberry. And it was far more advanced than these silly Blackberries. And I remember Steve Jobs making a joke like, why do we need a stylus? You were given 10 styluses on your fingers. I still remember that joke, because it was so good. Man, I wanted that iPhone.

Have you ever wanted something so bad? I mean, just so deeply that you couldn't focus on anything else? Have you ever wanted that? Have you ever wanted something that you were like, how am I going to get this? I mean, you're conniving in your head, you know? I was looking at those store magazines for that Game Boy. How am I going to get $90 for this Game Boy? You know, it just consumed me.

Is there anything wrong with that? You know, we live here in one of the most blessed countries in the world. We have values. We believe, you know, you work hard, and you enjoy the fruit of your labor, and that's all good. There's an abundance here, and anything kind of feels attainable, you know? You work hard for it, and you can get it.

Let's start in Exodus today. Exodus. And here at the end of the commandments, we get one that, at face value, doesn't seem to fit. Exodus 17. I'll be reading out of the ESV for most of the day today, so my word's a little bit different. That's why. Exodus 20:17: “You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, his male servant, his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

There's a commandment about coveting. I think we even joke about it sometimes. You're like, oh, I'm coveting just a little bit. You know, I see this thing, and I want it. What's up with it? What's up with coveting?

Here we are. We're reading the top 10 rules that God is giving to Israel as he's seen all these blessings. They've come out of the Promised Land. He's laying down the foundation of building a relationship with him, and some of them seem obvious, right? Yeah, you're not allowed to worship other gods. That sounds good. Don't kill anybody else. Yeah, that makes complete sense. Don't steal. Yep, I get that. Don't have any other gods. Don't lie. Yeah, I get it. But then it says just don't want what your neighbor has.

You know, I look out at my neighbor's house. He has a shed. I don't have a shed. It'd be nice to have a shed. I've got stuff to put in a shed. Is it coveting?

Well, today, that's what I want to talk about. I want to focus on the command of covetousness and the sin of covetousness. As we begin this Holy Day weekend, you know, it's good for us to focus on not only the shortcomings we may have, but also the power that God has given us, the power to overcome.

And here we are in a country where we can enjoy the riches of the nations around us. And we can also remember that God has given us something that's even more rich than we can imagine. And that's His Holy Spirit. And that power can give us power over our own desires. And that includes stuff. And specifically, our neighbor's stuff.

What is coveting? Well, here in Exodus 20, the verb here used is a hemid. It usually denotes not just a wanting, but a strong desire. Strong desire. You know, it's more than just, Oh, that'd be nice to have. So, you know, me looking at my neighbor's shed, it all depends on what's happening on the inside. Really, it'd be nice to have. But am I like, oh, just really dying for it?

The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary says this, “While the Hebrew word for covet can also be translated to desire in the 10th commandment, it means an ungoverned and selfish desire that threatens the basic right of others.” So there's sort of a broad definition for us to sort of begin our discussion today.

So what's wrong with it? What's wrong with coveting? I'd like to go through a couple of items today. A couple items for us to note with the issue of coveting, the problem with coveting, and what it does for us spiritually.

The first thing that coveting does is that it creates in us a heart that's discontentment. You know, coveting, it arises from sort of a dissatisfaction. And if you think about it really deep down, we're saying to ourselves, or we're saying to God, you know, like, what you've given me is not enough. What you've given me is not enough. So, you know, it means that we can lack and trust in what God is providing for us.

Let's go to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. We'll read here just one verse, verse five. Keep your life free from love of money and be content with what you have. For he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”  (Hebrews 13:5)

The love of money comes with some spiritual baggage. Why? Well, the first reason is that it can really shift where our confidence really is. Is it with God, or is it in what we've saved? Trusting in riches.

When Judy and I were first married, like many couples when they first get married, we had so little. It's laughable looking back now. I think about our little apartment, and I was finishing college, and Judy was working. We had so little. I remember there were times when I would, you know, meticulously go through our checkbook, and we'd pay all the bills, we'd get our groceries, make sure we had enough for gas, and I'd look down and see what was left. 13 cents. I've seen that. I've seen that. We had no health insurance, had no emergency fund. We lived week to week.

You know what? We lived pretty carefree. We lived pretty carefree. That's not to say that we didn't want something different for our lives, or that we didn't want a few more things, but when you have a little, and you know your needs are met, I found that we really trust a God. Like fully. Like if the car broke down, I don't know what we were going to do, but looking back in retrospect, it all worked out. It all worked out. You know, we weren't hoarding all this stuff that we were trying to protect or take care of. We were happy with what little we had.

And what was really cool is when we did get something, it meant a lot. It meant a lot to us. It was important. We cherished it. It was actually after we had kids, we started to accumulate a little more as you do, as you get older. And I found the stress of sort of maintaining everything you had, protecting sort of the material things that you have. And then you notice as you get older, the more you get, the more you want just a little bit. A little bit more. A little bit more. Ah, just if we could have just a little bit more.

I've been reading a lot from the author Ryan Holiday. He studies stoic philosophy, and he talks a lot about the stoic philosophers and how it's impacted his life. One of the things he said, I just recently read a book about stillness, about finding sort of like a peace within you, or inner peace. And one of the things he talks about is lust. He talks about, you know, the need that we have in our culture of just getting more and more. And he said that, “Lust is the destroyer of the peace in our lives.” Lust is the destroyer of peace in our lives.

You know, when we're not content, isn't that true? When we're not, when we just have this nagging yearning, there's a, we're like, that's just a lack of peace, a lack of contentment. You know, unless it's more than just sexual, you know, it could be anything. It could be money, it could be power, it could be things, it could be status. We can want anything. And it destroys the peace in our lives.

You know, yesterday there was a requested fast, so I know that a lot of you know what it feels like to be hungry. And we think about the lack of peace in our life when you think about, when you have this need, this yearning, this nagging, just like when you're hungry, you know, it's all consuming. It consumes your life. You could see how, you know, if you let our mind want to want, how we can lack peace in our life.

On the flip side, have you felt that peace? Have you felt the contentment? When you're satisfied with your station in life, you know, I think about those early years when we were married and we had so little, but we had like our whole life ahead of us. Man, in retrospect, I was like, we had that peace. It's beautiful. It's great.

Sure, I wanted more than 13 cents in our bank account, but the way we lived, you know, inside, it was good. It was good. We were free. We're not burdened by wanting. We were just starting out.

I remember when we went to go look at new houses with our realtor. First time, first time we bought a house, we were going around with a realtor, and we'd see a house, we'd see a house, and we were first-time homebuyers, first house. You see a lot of dumps. You see a lot of, you know, you see a lot that you're like, okay, this is what I get for it? Okay, that's okay. But our realtor told us, she's like, I like working with the first-time homebuyers because, you know, for me, I'm like, we're burdening her. She's not gonna make any money off of us. The house we're buying is not gonna, you know, pay half of her bills for the month.

She's like, I love working with first-time homebuyers because they're just grateful. They're grateful for what they get. You know, we walked into our first house, you know, the 800 square feet. It was, for us, a palace. It was beautiful.

Coveting breeds a heart of discontentment. The second thing it does, it leads to idolatry. Coveting leads to idolatry. Often, we start to place possessions above God, and we effectively turn them into idols.

Let's go to Colossians 3. Colossians 3. Verse 5 says this: "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5)

Now, going back to what Ryan Holiday said, you know, man, it steals your peace, and that includes your peace with the relationship with God.

Where to put to death these things? They're sin. You can't get any more clear than that. And when it says it's idolatry, you see that that last commandment at the very end, it's a little bit more all-consuming. It's a little bit more all-consuming.

You know, we've heard for years, you look at the commandments, you see the 10 commandments, they were the first four about God. The last, you know, the next few are about your relationship with man. That 10th one, though, man, that 10th one, it's more a little bit more all-encompassing. It impacts our relationship with God and man.

That's what's wrong with coveting. You know, carrying out a sexual desire or lust or material things or, you know, it's something inside us that impacts us negatively, that affects our relationship with God. And then the person who's in the way of us getting it.

Verse one, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:1–2)

That's where we have to get to. That's where we have to get to.

I'd like to just go through a couple examples of coveting in the Bible. One you might not think of right off the bat, but it's in Acts 5. You know, at the beginning of Acts, it's super exciting to see what's happening to the church. As more people are coming into the church, you're seeing the boldness that was prayed for by Peter, and they're speaking boldly.

It says at one point that those who were believed, they were sort of all one mind and heart and soul. And they started to bring things to make sure that everyone cared for. And then we have this story about Ananias and Sapphira. I want to read this story in its whole because I want us to consider this in the context of what it is.

Starting in Acts 5, verse 1: "But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.’ When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.” (Acts 5:1–6)

I'd like to continue. Let me continue here. After several, after an interval, about three hours, his wife came, not knowing what happened. That part is just crazy, too. So, just as a side, you know, he died in front of everybody instantly, and within three hours, everyone just sort of scooped him up, took him away, buried him. That's efficiency. That is an efficiency that, I mean, that in itself is impressive.

But the same thing happened with his wife, right? Verse 8: "And Peter said to her, ‘Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?’ And she said, ‘Yes, for so much.’ But Peter said to her, ‘How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.’ Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last.” (Acts 5:8–10)

You know, you don't think about this necessarily as coveting, but they wanted something. Why would they lie about this? Here they have the property. They have the property. It was theirs. And they see everybody else like, Oh, look, you know, look how great and unified everyone is, bringing all the property and sharing it. Like, Oh, we want to be, we want to be part of that. We want to be part of that as well.

Did they want the glory and the adulation? Maybe. Did they want the property too? Yeah, they did want the property too. Or at least some of the money back. They wanted something. And it caused them to sin so much, though, that Peter is like, You're lying to God. You're lying to God. They lied to God. They lied to the apostles right there. And God in their way of the relationship with both of them.

Covetousness is idolatry. It breaks our relationship with God. And it's not easily seen by anyone else. It's in here. That's where it lives. Covetousness leads to other sins.

Covetousness also leads to other sins. Let's go to James 4. Covetousness leads to other sins. "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” (James 4:1–2)

Yeah, that leads to a lot. So when you can't attain, this goes back to being content. Not being okay with what I have. This is not what I have is not enough. So I'm willing to do anything I can to get it. We have this desire inside of us and it's all-consuming and that's if we let it fester, that's where it goes. Coveting is sort of the spark that ignites a sinful downfall.

Another example in Genesis, Genesis 4, one we're a little bit more familiar with. We have Cain and Abel. What God says to Cain here is very insightful for all of us and it speaks to where covetousness really lives inside of us.

"But for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.’” (Genesis 4:5–7)

So coveting here, it's more than just material things. Here, the first brothers were offering up to God. They were doing what they were supposed to, right? Cain saw his brother and he saw, oh God respects him. I want that. I want that so bad. It's going to cause me to do something I shouldn't. He murdered. He saw that God didn't respect his offering and he saw his brother over there live at his best life. And he murdered him.

David, when he saw Bathsheba on the roof, coveted, led to other sins. We read his story how it escalated after he saw on the rooftop and what happened to her husband. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary says this as well about coveting. Coveting was sinful because it focused greedily on the property of a neighbor that it was his share in the land that God had promised his people. To focus greedily, I said, I see what that guy has and that should be mine.

Thankfully, we see David's full arc. We see that he did repent, but still, you know, you're right, I didn't see that. But we see that God is merciful, but it does impact those around us. Desire, covetousness, it can escalate, and it's a spiritual matter, and it is on the inside. And it comes from having the wrong focus.

Let's go to Matthew. Matthew 6. Matthew 6, verse 19. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19–20)

Do you know what happened to all those items that I listed at the beginning? The castle grayskull I grew up. I didn't need any more. I didn't need the castle grayskull. The Game Boy and the iPhone, they became obsolete. You know, technology moves. It's no longer worth anything, really. Unless you collected it and it's a collector's item, some of those things could still be worth something.

My bike was stolen out of my backyard. I had it for about six months, and someone else coveted it and took it. My truck became so rusty, it had so much bondo on it, and eventually it had transmission issues, and that too I had to get rid of. All of these things that absolutely consumed me as a kid became to nothing. There's nothing.

We all want things. It's okay to enjoy the fruit of our labor, but it can't be the end. It can't be our focus. It's not the end goal. The end goal for us is for us to change in here, to become like our elder brother Jesus.

So what do we do? How do we get over this coveting, this inside of us, this desire, strong desire? What do we have to do? What do we do when we're so fixated on something? It's all encompassing. Well, overcoming it takes some deep internal work. It takes some deep mental work. There is no pill. There's no essential oil that you can do to get over coveting. It takes a lot of introspection.

Luke 12. Verse 15, "And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’” (Luke 12:15)

That's a good first step to recognize. You know, in the end, what I've gathered, what I've collected, that doesn't mean anything. Even if I fill that shed in my backyard, it doesn't mean anything.

So we have to start to value something else. We have to value our identity and God's purpose for us. He's called each and every one of us, and that's what we have to begin to value. Above material possessions, understand that, you know, anything that we do have, it comes from God, from the abundance of his mercy and his love for us, and it doesn't have to be wealth. You know, an abundance of peace, peaceful living, peaceful mind. That's some good stuff right there.

We've got to cultivate contentment. How do you do that? Be thankful. Be thankful. That in itself will change so much, and contentment is a learned behavior. It's not natural for us.

Let's go to Philippians 4:11. You can see, it is not natural for us to do that. Philippians 4. Paul had been through a lot in his life, and in Philippians 4:11 he says this. Actually, let me start in verse 10: "I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” (Philippians 4:10–11)

I've learned it. I've learned it. I wasn't there. I learned it. So we got to learn contentment.

And then trust in God. Sometimes, you know, those times I look back when we had so little, and maybe I didn't even know I was trusting God. I was like, yeah, here I am. Maybe just sometimes being naive is the best way. But man, just trusting God. Sometimes that's what it has to come down to. I just have to trust, relying on his promises, and he's not going to abandon us.

Start giving. Start giving. Do the opposite of wanting. Maybe that is the pill. Maybe that is a pill you could take that can be a quick fix. Because once you sort of take the focus from here, and you put it to other people, it changes. It changes something inside you.

Be hospitable. Change the focus from you to others.

The command against coveting. It may come last in the list. It seems like it's far from the least. I think it strikes the very core of who we are, and our hearts, and what we really want, and what our focus really is. Because it's not a behavior that anyone can observe. Only you know it. Only I know it. No one else could see it but God. And in here, that's where the battle is. That's where it really is.

Coveting as a quiet sin. It's unnoticed. But it's one that, man, it could eat us up. It can tear us up from the inside out. It pulls our focus away from God about what He's providing for us in our lives. And it places it on meaningless stuff. It redirects our attention away from the giver, and towards the gifts. The things that He does give us. And it tells us that what we have is not enough, and maybe God's holding out on us.

But here's the truth that we have to hold on to. You know, God has never withheld His best. He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ. He gave us His Son. And we don't lack anything. Everything we truly need, you know, we can find it in God.

So here we are on this Holy Day weekend, and we have a power that God's given to us. And it's to overcome. And I invite you to lay down any weight of wanting and desire that you have, and tap into that Spirit. Ask God to release the grip of being discontented.

Let's stop striving for things that will literally rust and fade away. Let's start noticing the gifts that He's already given to us. And some of those gifts are good. Peace, forgiveness, grace, community, and an incredible hope for the future.

And in that place, when we find that peace, it's not a fleeting kind. It's a lasting kind. Like a soul, deep soul peace that we can have. And it only comes when we're satisfied. So let's let God continue to shape our hearts away from coveting and towards contentment and thankfulness.