Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
The Secret to Contentment
Exodus 20:17 September 9, 2007
When we went to Mexico last spring, it was like stepping back in time. Computers were hard to
find. Cell phones didn’t work very well so many people lined up to use pay phones. We didn’t
see a television all week long. I saw two microwaves and neither of them worked. My first
thought as we landed in Mexico on our mission trip was “how do these people get along?”
That question was answered one night at Vacation Bible School. The boys were out in the dirt
packed front yard of the church playing basketball. They didn’t have a care in the world. The
girls were running around playing tag. It made me think of my own childhood. The truth is that
we don’t need ipods, and gameboys, laptops and razors to find happiness. Yet we live in a
society that pushes them on us and tells us that unless we have 501 jeans and Abercrombie and
Fitch tops, we can’t be happy.
There was a saying when I was growing up, maybe you heard it too. In describing this
phenomenon, they said we were trying to keep up with the Jones’. So this is nothing new. When
you look at our text today, you get the feeling that it goes back to the beginning of time.
Remember Cain and Abel? Wanting what someone else has is only fed by modern advertising. It
seems to be part of our DNA. The apostle Paul would call it a weakness of the flesh.
In one of his broadcasts, Paul Harvey tells how an Eskimo captures a wolf. The grisly account
offers insight into the destructive nature of unbridled desire.
He said when an Eskimo wants to catch and kill a wolf, he coats the blade of his knife with
animal blood and allows it to freeze. He then adds layer upon layer of blood, until the frozen
blood completely conceals the blade. The hunter then fixes the knife in the ground with the blade
up. A wolf smells the blood and when he discovers the bait he licks it, tasting the fresh-frozen
blood. He licks faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare.
Feverishly now, harder and harder, the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night. In his mad craving
for blood he does not notice the razor sharp sting of the naked blade on his tongue, nor does he
recognize the moment when his insatiable thirst begins to be satisfied by his own warm blood.
His carnivorous appetite just craves more—until the dawn finds him dead in the snow.
The wolf provides an apt metaphor showing how our desire for things can blind us to our own
destruction. You see another old saying is true: You can’t buy happiness.
Too often we think that if we can have what someone else has, it will make us happy. That is
where the tenth commandment comes in. Instead of finding our delight, our joy in what God has
already given us, we turn away from it.
The truth is the Bible describes this searching after what others have as a kind of lust. Actually,
the New Testament word for coveting is the Greek word epithumia, which is usually translated,
“lust” in English. It is a panting passion for the inappropriate. Jeremiah’s graphic picture of lust is
a she-camel in heat, frantically searching the desert for a male. Pretty gross, huh?
When we look down the list of the ten commandments, we usually skip right over this one.
During the course of our discussions of the commandments I noted how we often lift up “thou
shall not kill” as being the true test of righteousness and often look the other way when it comes
to “thou shall not bear false witness” or telling a lie. I mentioned how adultery and sexual
immorality has become accepted in society to a degree even though none of us are guilty, wink,
wink. Yet we respect the other nine commandments even if we fall short of their high ideals. But
when it comes to the tenth commandment, we fail to see how devastating it is and how foolish
we look when we chase after that which we do not have. A she camel in heat – not me.
James describes how lust grows in the human heart: “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil
desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and
sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (1:14-15).
I want you to think about this. It is a perfect example of how coveting can lead to disaster. Do
you remember the story of King David. David should have been with his troops, but one day he
stayed home. While he was out in his parapet, he noticed Bathsheba sunning herself. Now
Bathsheba was a married woman, married to one of David’s soldiers. He fell madly in love with
her at first sight and wanted her for his own.
The thing about coveting is that we think it doesn’t hurt anyone. That may be true if we keep it
to ourselves but it doesn’t usually work that way. David’s desire for Bathsheba led him to action
and eventually to adultery.
In Marriage Partnership Magazine there was an article about the number of couples who split up
because one of the partners crosses the line with a friend’s husband or wife. The article says it
always begin innocently enough. She says, “Oh Joe is so sweet. He treats Carol like a queen.” It
is okay to be friends, to admire someone’s relationship, but we have to be very mindful of our
boundaries. It is easy too easy to turn a whimsical feeling into something devastating to a
marriage. God knows that too well.
Once David succumbed to the temptation of his coveting, the tenth commandment, he
committed adultery which broke the seventh commandment. Then to make matters worse, he set
up the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. Although he didn’t kill him, he made it all but certain by
sending him into a battle he could not win which broke the sixth commandment. Then to cover
his sin, David lied to Nathan the prophet and tried to cover up all that he had done breaking the
ninth commandment. This brought dishonor to his parents breaking the fifth commandment.
David eventually broke all the commandments that relate to loving one’s neighbor. He also
dishonored God as well, finally breaking all of the commandments.
Bill Hybels tells of a more contemporary coveter:
All he ever really wanted in life was more. He wanted more money, so he parlayed inherited
wealth into a billion-dollar pile of assets. He wanted more fame, so he broke into the Hollywood
scene and soon became a filmmaker and star. He wanted more sensual pleasures, so he paid
handsome sums to indulge his every sexual urge. He wanted more thrills, so he designed, built,
and piloted the fastest aircraft in the world. He wanted more power, so he secretly dealt political
favors so skillfully that two U. S. presidents became his pawns. All he ever wanted was more.
He was absolutely convinced that more would bring him true satisfaction. Unfortunately, history
shows otherwise.
[He] concluded his life … emaciated; colorless; sunken chest; fingernails in grotesque, inches-
long corkscrews; rotting, black teeth; tumors, innumerable needle marks from drug addiction.
Howard Hughes died,… believing the myth of more. He died a billionaire junkie, insane by all
reasonable standards
Paul learned to be content in every situation. He could be happy with or without the good things
of life. He was well qualified to advise:
Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can
take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who
want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that
plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some
people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs
(1 Timothy 6:6-10)
Sadly enough we have seen this come to pass in many of our friends and neighbors. How many
times have we known good people who were pulled away from regular worship because they
bought a new home that needed a little extra work. Or they needed to put in a little overtime to be
able to afford it. Or they bought a new boat and they needed to get their time in while the
weather was good. Or they opened their own business and they just needed to put in a little more
time on the weekends to get it up and running. All the while they stop coming to church. They
leave god and the fellowship and friendships behind because of the things in their lives. God gets
squeezed out of the relationship until finally the pressure builds on the family. Too often this
pursuit of more results in the breakdown of the family. More and more stuff was not as
important as love, and divorce is the natural result. That is what Paul means by they have
“wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
So the secret to contentment is to look to God.
Love the Lord your god with all your hearty soul and mind
Love your neighbor as your self
Giving and sharing.
Exodus 20:17 September 9, 2007
When we went to Mexico last spring, it was like stepping back in time. Computers were hard to
find. Cell phones didn’t work very well so many people lined up to use pay phones. We didn’t
see a television all week long. I saw two microwaves and neither of them worked. My first
thought as we landed in Mexico on our mission trip was “how do these people get along?”
That question was answered one night at Vacation Bible School. The boys were out in the dirt
packed front yard of the church playing basketball. They didn’t have a care in the world. The
girls were running around playing tag. It made me think of my own childhood. The truth is that
we don’t need ipods, and gameboys, laptops and razors to find happiness. Yet we live in a
society that pushes them on us and tells us that unless we have 501 jeans and Abercrombie and
Fitch tops, we can’t be happy.
There was a saying when I was growing up, maybe you heard it too. In describing this
phenomenon, they said we were trying to keep up with the Jones’. So this is nothing new. When
you look at our text today, you get the feeling that it goes back to the beginning of time.
Remember Cain and Abel? Wanting what someone else has is only fed by modern advertising. It
seems to be part of our DNA. The apostle Paul would call it a weakness of the flesh.
In one of his broadcasts, Paul Harvey tells how an Eskimo captures a wolf. The grisly account
offers insight into the destructive nature of unbridled desire.
He said when an Eskimo wants to catch and kill a wolf, he coats the blade of his knife with
animal blood and allows it to freeze. He then adds layer upon layer of blood, until the frozen
blood completely conceals the blade. The hunter then fixes the knife in the ground with the blade
up. A wolf smells the blood and when he discovers the bait he licks it, tasting the fresh-frozen
blood. He licks faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare.
Feverishly now, harder and harder, the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night. In his mad craving
for blood he does not notice the razor sharp sting of the naked blade on his tongue, nor does he
recognize the moment when his insatiable thirst begins to be satisfied by his own warm blood.
His carnivorous appetite just craves more—until the dawn finds him dead in the snow.
The wolf provides an apt metaphor showing how our desire for things can blind us to our own
destruction. You see another old saying is true: You can’t buy happiness.
Too often we think that if we can have what someone else has, it will make us happy. That is
where the tenth commandment comes in. Instead of finding our delight, our joy in what God has
already given us, we turn away from it.
The truth is the Bible describes this searching after what others have as a kind of lust. Actually,
the New Testament word for coveting is the Greek word epithumia, which is usually translated,
“lust” in English. It is a panting passion for the inappropriate. Jeremiah’s graphic picture of lust is
a she-camel in heat, frantically searching the desert for a male. Pretty gross, huh?
When we look down the list of the ten commandments, we usually skip right over this one.
During the course of our discussions of the commandments I noted how we often lift up “thou
shall not kill” as being the true test of righteousness and often look the other way when it comes
to “thou shall not bear false witness” or telling a lie. I mentioned how adultery and sexual
immorality has become accepted in society to a degree even though none of us are guilty, wink,
wink. Yet we respect the other nine commandments even if we fall short of their high ideals. But
when it comes to the tenth commandment, we fail to see how devastating it is and how foolish
we look when we chase after that which we do not have. A she camel in heat – not me.
James describes how lust grows in the human heart: “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil
desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and
sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (1:14-15).
I want you to think about this. It is a perfect example of how coveting can lead to disaster. Do
you remember the story of King David. David should have been with his troops, but one day he
stayed home. While he was out in his parapet, he noticed Bathsheba sunning herself. Now
Bathsheba was a married woman, married to one of David’s soldiers. He fell madly in love with
her at first sight and wanted her for his own.
The thing about coveting is that we think it doesn’t hurt anyone. That may be true if we keep it
to ourselves but it doesn’t usually work that way. David’s desire for Bathsheba led him to action
and eventually to adultery.
In Marriage Partnership Magazine there was an article about the number of couples who split up
because one of the partners crosses the line with a friend’s husband or wife. The article says it
always begin innocently enough. She says, “Oh Joe is so sweet. He treats Carol like a queen.” It
is okay to be friends, to admire someone’s relationship, but we have to be very mindful of our
boundaries. It is easy too easy to turn a whimsical feeling into something devastating to a
marriage. God knows that too well.
Once David succumbed to the temptation of his coveting, the tenth commandment, he
committed adultery which broke the seventh commandment. Then to make matters worse, he set
up the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. Although he didn’t kill him, he made it all but certain by
sending him into a battle he could not win which broke the sixth commandment. Then to cover
his sin, David lied to Nathan the prophet and tried to cover up all that he had done breaking the
ninth commandment. This brought dishonor to his parents breaking the fifth commandment.
David eventually broke all the commandments that relate to loving one’s neighbor. He also
dishonored God as well, finally breaking all of the commandments.
Bill Hybels tells of a more contemporary coveter:
All he ever really wanted in life was more. He wanted more money, so he parlayed inherited
wealth into a billion-dollar pile of assets. He wanted more fame, so he broke into the Hollywood
scene and soon became a filmmaker and star. He wanted more sensual pleasures, so he paid
handsome sums to indulge his every sexual urge. He wanted more thrills, so he designed, built,
and piloted the fastest aircraft in the world. He wanted more power, so he secretly dealt political
favors so skillfully that two U. S. presidents became his pawns. All he ever wanted was more.
He was absolutely convinced that more would bring him true satisfaction. Unfortunately, history
shows otherwise.
[He] concluded his life … emaciated; colorless; sunken chest; fingernails in grotesque, inches-
long corkscrews; rotting, black teeth; tumors, innumerable needle marks from drug addiction.
Howard Hughes died,… believing the myth of more. He died a billionaire junkie, insane by all
reasonable standards
Paul learned to be content in every situation. He could be happy with or without the good things
of life. He was well qualified to advise:
Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can
take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who
want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that
plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some
people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs
(1 Timothy 6:6-10)
Sadly enough we have seen this come to pass in many of our friends and neighbors. How many
times have we known good people who were pulled away from regular worship because they
bought a new home that needed a little extra work. Or they needed to put in a little overtime to be
able to afford it. Or they bought a new boat and they needed to get their time in while the
weather was good. Or they opened their own business and they just needed to put in a little more
time on the weekends to get it up and running. All the while they stop coming to church. They
leave god and the fellowship and friendships behind because of the things in their lives. God gets
squeezed out of the relationship until finally the pressure builds on the family. Too often this
pursuit of more results in the breakdown of the family. More and more stuff was not as
important as love, and divorce is the natural result. That is what Paul means by they have
“wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
So the secret to contentment is to look to God.
Love the Lord your god with all your hearty soul and mind
Love your neighbor as your self
Giving and sharing.
| Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Norwich 239 West Main Street Norwich, Connecticut Phone: 860-889-0369 |
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