Be content with what you have. That may be a bit of an oversimplification of the commandment that we should not covet your neighbor’s dwelling or spouse or resources or possessions, but I believe that “be content with what you have” is also a pretty accurate summary of that commandment.
It reminds me of the thing that so many of us tell our children – you get what you get and you don’t pitch a fit – and yet it stands in contrast to the way so many of us live our lives. It stands in contrast with the way that we placate our children with media and technology and teaches them by example that there is often a very fine line between needs and wants that is often determined by accessibility and nothing more.
Whole industries revolve around not only anticipating and meeting our needs but also creating a feeling of need based solely on the things that some of us have and others do not. Years ago I remember a church member telling me that the business world would soon be divided between those who had a Blackberry Personal Digital Assistant and those who did not. Of course, now everyone and their grandmother has a “smartphone” – which many of us pay for monthly as though they were as essential as milk and eggs – and even that technology and terminology is being outpaced by AI devices that will make life easier for those that have access to it, and who in the world wants to be left out of that?
Now, that is our context. The Israelites, on the other hand, had just escaped the bondage of slavery in Egypt, and this commandment of contentment (do not covet) came at the end of the list of God’s top ten priorities for them as God’s chosen ones. Can you imagine being one of them and being told to be content with what you have? I can imagine thinking, “Sure, but isn’t it more like, don’t fight over the scraps?” At least some of them must have felt this way because sometimes we all feel that way – like we are fighting over the leftovers. Just do a little car shopping if you don’t know what I mean by that.
Whether it is the smell of a new car or the invitation to join 15 streaming services to “save money” by cutting out cable, it seems that we cannot help but covet that which seems to bring others the sense of peace and comfort that we feel that we lack. Sometimes it seems that we cannot help but want in a way that leads to desire and desire in a way that leads to action.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad to be motivated by creature comforts or to appreciate the success and joy of another person’s experiences. Where it gets problematic is when we move from appreciation to acquisition, and it makes sense that this commandment follows and repeats the notion of fidelity to God which is expressed in our fidelity to one another.
It seems to me that there is a reason God put this commandment at the end of the list. Even though coveting seems kind of low tear in comparison to murder and theft, I think it functions kind of like an exclamation point. It’s as if to say, “You know what? Just don’t even look at their stuff, ok?!”
I know that makes it sound like God is an exasperated parent, and maybe God was and sometimes is, but I think a deeper look – alongside the summary of the law given by Jesus – will reveal that this commandment of contentment connects with all that has gone before. Since this is the last of four sermons on the Ten Commandments, I do want to remind you that we began with a call to be ready to receive. For the Israelites that meant ritual purification. We could do that, but you and I that might better be served by repentance.
Repentance is a loaded word that some may have some baggage with, so I want to be clear that while it may include confession of sin, repentance in a literal sense means to turn around and reorient oneself around God’s perspective above and beyond our own. Reorienting ourselves around God’s perspective is not really something we can do apart from God. That’s why Jesus told the disciples in John 15:5, “I am the vine and you are the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing.” My point is not that we are inept or without agency. My point is that our agency is limited to our own perspective.
This is why, as much as we might bristle against being told what to do, the Ten Commandments still have a place in our lives as people who follow the way of Jesus. Just as a reminder, the first four are about our relationship with God and the rest are about the way our relationships with others reflect our relationship with God.
As tempting as it is to say, “Ok, I get it. Love God and be nice. I’m a nice person. I don’t intentionally harm anyone. I’m good, right?” I don’t think that’s actually the point. As shocking as it may sound, the point of the Ten Commandments is not really about being good or following a set of rules. The experience of the Israelites around these commandments was one of formation into a people that experienced the presence of God, so these commandments are a way that we might create space for an experience of the active presence of God in our own lives and relationships and covenanted communities.
We may say that we believe that God is active and present in all things – or we might question that, as many others do – but these commandments were given as a key to unlock the door into the space where we might experience God’s active presence. Now, if that’s the case, how does this commandment of contentment help us to love God with all that we are and all that we have and then to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves?
From a purely moralistic view, it might move us to enact laws to limit the actions that follow coveting our neighbor's stuff (which are pretty well covered in the previous commandments about theft and infidelity). More than that, though, the commandment of contentment might move us to appreciate what we have and recognize that not everyone has what we do. It might even move us to a moral position that recognizes the injustice of the inconsistency of access to goods and services – whether it be food deserts or public health or education. This commandment of contentment might even move us to recognize that there are things we might otherwise long for that do more to alienate us than bring us together.
For example, one of the things we are experiencing with the widening gap between the rich and the poor in our nation is the loss of shared experiences. When we create gated communities and educational resources and whatever curated lists of experiences and groups that divide us by those who have and those who do not have resources, then we have fewer shared experiences. The fewer shared experiences that we have, the less empathy we have for one another, and the more we begin to treat people as statistics rather than direct reflections of the image of God.
I don’t mean to suggest that we close all private institutions or that people who have resources are more morally corrupt than those that don’t. What I do mean to say is that we have been given these commandments as an invitation to experience God’s presence. Ending with the commandment of contentment is an invitation into a deeper relationship with God through an appreciation of the joy each of us might know through the providence of God.
That sounds really deep and theological. If we were at a preaching conference and someone said that, all the preachers in the audience would go “mmm” like someone just said something profound. The providence of God is a profound thing, and I say this more from personal experience than doctrinal theology. My sister is one of the people who have helped me to appreciate God’s providence, though not really intentionally. Her kids and mine are within a year of each other. She and her husband are solid, hard-working, middle-class income people, yet every year they seem to take much cooler vacations than we do. There are a wide variety of factors involved in this, but I used to be very jealous.
One day something switched in my perception of these trips. I think it was after talking to her about building memories, but that wasn’t what changed my perspective. Something in my heart changed, and I began to think about how happy I was for her and for her family. They were still doing things that I wished we could. I still lamented not being able to provide for my family the same way that she and her husband provided for hers, but I also began to take stock of the memories that we were building in our own way. Not only did a focus on what we have made me appreciate what we do, but it also gave me greater joy in hearing about the things that they did!
Being content with what you have and refusing to covet does not mean letting go of all ambition. It means recognizing the providence of God in your life and in the lives of others, too. Again, it does not mean to be content with injustice or to tell those with limited resources that they should be happy with what they have. Ultimately, being content is about satisfaction and realizing that our ultimate satisfaction is found in experiencing the active presence of God in your heart and mine and all of ours combined.
Interestingly, while the Israelites waited for Moses to come down the mountain they became anxious and forced Moses’s brother Aaron to make an idol for them to worship. Later, when the Israelites had become their own nation, they demanded a king, so they could be like other nations. On and on it has gone, even with those today who pervert patriotism to make an idol out of nationalism, yet God simply wants us to live and embrace one another as creatures created in God’s image.
Let us be content in the knowledge of God’s love for us and for them until there is no distinction between the two. Let us celebrate our neighbor’s success even as we lean into the embrace of the one who is active and present in all things. We will never be content with what the world has to offer us, but there is satisfaction in the embrace of God – and it might just be closer than you think. Satisfaction might even be found in letting go of our envy and pride and instead finding joy in what God can provide! May it be so with me. May it be so with you, and to God be the glory now and always. Amen!
It reminds me of the thing that so many of us tell our children – you get what you get and you don’t pitch a fit – and yet it stands in contrast to the way so many of us live our lives. It stands in contrast with the way that we placate our children with media and technology and teaches them by example that there is often a very fine line between needs and wants that is often determined by accessibility and nothing more.
Whole industries revolve around not only anticipating and meeting our needs but also creating a feeling of need based solely on the things that some of us have and others do not. Years ago I remember a church member telling me that the business world would soon be divided between those who had a Blackberry Personal Digital Assistant and those who did not. Of course, now everyone and their grandmother has a “smartphone” – which many of us pay for monthly as though they were as essential as milk and eggs – and even that technology and terminology is being outpaced by AI devices that will make life easier for those that have access to it, and who in the world wants to be left out of that?
Now, that is our context. The Israelites, on the other hand, had just escaped the bondage of slavery in Egypt, and this commandment of contentment (do not covet) came at the end of the list of God’s top ten priorities for them as God’s chosen ones. Can you imagine being one of them and being told to be content with what you have? I can imagine thinking, “Sure, but isn’t it more like, don’t fight over the scraps?” At least some of them must have felt this way because sometimes we all feel that way – like we are fighting over the leftovers. Just do a little car shopping if you don’t know what I mean by that.
Whether it is the smell of a new car or the invitation to join 15 streaming services to “save money” by cutting out cable, it seems that we cannot help but covet that which seems to bring others the sense of peace and comfort that we feel that we lack. Sometimes it seems that we cannot help but want in a way that leads to desire and desire in a way that leads to action.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad to be motivated by creature comforts or to appreciate the success and joy of another person’s experiences. Where it gets problematic is when we move from appreciation to acquisition, and it makes sense that this commandment follows and repeats the notion of fidelity to God which is expressed in our fidelity to one another.
It seems to me that there is a reason God put this commandment at the end of the list. Even though coveting seems kind of low tear in comparison to murder and theft, I think it functions kind of like an exclamation point. It’s as if to say, “You know what? Just don’t even look at their stuff, ok?!”
I know that makes it sound like God is an exasperated parent, and maybe God was and sometimes is, but I think a deeper look – alongside the summary of the law given by Jesus – will reveal that this commandment of contentment connects with all that has gone before. Since this is the last of four sermons on the Ten Commandments, I do want to remind you that we began with a call to be ready to receive. For the Israelites that meant ritual purification. We could do that, but you and I that might better be served by repentance.
Repentance is a loaded word that some may have some baggage with, so I want to be clear that while it may include confession of sin, repentance in a literal sense means to turn around and reorient oneself around God’s perspective above and beyond our own. Reorienting ourselves around God’s perspective is not really something we can do apart from God. That’s why Jesus told the disciples in John 15:5, “I am the vine and you are the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing.” My point is not that we are inept or without agency. My point is that our agency is limited to our own perspective.
This is why, as much as we might bristle against being told what to do, the Ten Commandments still have a place in our lives as people who follow the way of Jesus. Just as a reminder, the first four are about our relationship with God and the rest are about the way our relationships with others reflect our relationship with God.
As tempting as it is to say, “Ok, I get it. Love God and be nice. I’m a nice person. I don’t intentionally harm anyone. I’m good, right?” I don’t think that’s actually the point. As shocking as it may sound, the point of the Ten Commandments is not really about being good or following a set of rules. The experience of the Israelites around these commandments was one of formation into a people that experienced the presence of God, so these commandments are a way that we might create space for an experience of the active presence of God in our own lives and relationships and covenanted communities.
We may say that we believe that God is active and present in all things – or we might question that, as many others do – but these commandments were given as a key to unlock the door into the space where we might experience God’s active presence. Now, if that’s the case, how does this commandment of contentment help us to love God with all that we are and all that we have and then to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves?
From a purely moralistic view, it might move us to enact laws to limit the actions that follow coveting our neighbor's stuff (which are pretty well covered in the previous commandments about theft and infidelity). More than that, though, the commandment of contentment might move us to appreciate what we have and recognize that not everyone has what we do. It might even move us to a moral position that recognizes the injustice of the inconsistency of access to goods and services – whether it be food deserts or public health or education. This commandment of contentment might even move us to recognize that there are things we might otherwise long for that do more to alienate us than bring us together.
For example, one of the things we are experiencing with the widening gap between the rich and the poor in our nation is the loss of shared experiences. When we create gated communities and educational resources and whatever curated lists of experiences and groups that divide us by those who have and those who do not have resources, then we have fewer shared experiences. The fewer shared experiences that we have, the less empathy we have for one another, and the more we begin to treat people as statistics rather than direct reflections of the image of God.
I don’t mean to suggest that we close all private institutions or that people who have resources are more morally corrupt than those that don’t. What I do mean to say is that we have been given these commandments as an invitation to experience God’s presence. Ending with the commandment of contentment is an invitation into a deeper relationship with God through an appreciation of the joy each of us might know through the providence of God.
That sounds really deep and theological. If we were at a preaching conference and someone said that, all the preachers in the audience would go “mmm” like someone just said something profound. The providence of God is a profound thing, and I say this more from personal experience than doctrinal theology. My sister is one of the people who have helped me to appreciate God’s providence, though not really intentionally. Her kids and mine are within a year of each other. She and her husband are solid, hard-working, middle-class income people, yet every year they seem to take much cooler vacations than we do. There are a wide variety of factors involved in this, but I used to be very jealous.
One day something switched in my perception of these trips. I think it was after talking to her about building memories, but that wasn’t what changed my perspective. Something in my heart changed, and I began to think about how happy I was for her and for her family. They were still doing things that I wished we could. I still lamented not being able to provide for my family the same way that she and her husband provided for hers, but I also began to take stock of the memories that we were building in our own way. Not only did a focus on what we have made me appreciate what we do, but it also gave me greater joy in hearing about the things that they did!
Being content with what you have and refusing to covet does not mean letting go of all ambition. It means recognizing the providence of God in your life and in the lives of others, too. Again, it does not mean to be content with injustice or to tell those with limited resources that they should be happy with what they have. Ultimately, being content is about satisfaction and realizing that our ultimate satisfaction is found in experiencing the active presence of God in your heart and mine and all of ours combined.
Interestingly, while the Israelites waited for Moses to come down the mountain they became anxious and forced Moses’s brother Aaron to make an idol for them to worship. Later, when the Israelites had become their own nation, they demanded a king, so they could be like other nations. On and on it has gone, even with those today who pervert patriotism to make an idol out of nationalism, yet God simply wants us to live and embrace one another as creatures created in God’s image.
Let us be content in the knowledge of God’s love for us and for them until there is no distinction between the two. Let us celebrate our neighbor’s success even as we lean into the embrace of the one who is active and present in all things. We will never be content with what the world has to offer us, but there is satisfaction in the embrace of God – and it might just be closer than you think. Satisfaction might even be found in letting go of our envy and pride and instead finding joy in what God can provide! May it be so with me. May it be so with you, and to God be the glory now and always. Amen!
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