April 14, 2016

21 “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s house.(9) You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”(10) Deuteronomy 5:21

“What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it – and we should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbor’s wife, workers, or animals, or turn them against him, but urge them to stay and do their duty.”(Martin Luther’s explanation to the Ninth and Tenth Commandments – Small Catechism)

“For we are so inclined by nature that no one desires to see another have as much as himself, and each one acquires as much as he can; the other may fare as best he can. And yet we pretend to be godly, know how to adorn ourselves most finely and conceal our rascality, resort to and invent adroit devices and deceitful artifices (such as now are daily most ingeniously contrived) as though they were derived from the law codes; yea, we even dare impertinently to refer to it, and boast of it, and will not have it called rascality, but shrewdness and caution.” (Martin Luther’s explanation to the Ninth and Tenth Commandments – Large Catechism)

Well, the commandments certainly do stretch across many of the most complex of our human emotions. “To covet is to be human”, seems to be the feeling I have about this commandment. If you turn on the television, there are plenty of shows that play upon this most human emotion. There are “DYI” shows that not only display what others have, but make it seem like it will be so easy and inexpensive to have the same. There are reality shows that display the rampant narcissism of the politically elite and the wealthiest 1% including their audacious homes — and the audience is made up of people who secretly wish they could have the same life.

The last two commandments are about the most American of emotions – “I want what he or she has”. “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” “My home, boat, car, is more expensive and bigger than your car.” Sound familiar?

Of course, the second part of this Commandment, the part about not enticing away our neighbor’s wife, well a lot of this was covered in the Sixth Commandment, the one about adultery. I know that abortion is one of those issues that is such a “hot button” topic that few really care to try to comment on it, especially if you are against abortion. What I wish was that people would consider what “casual sex” can lead to – the unwanted pregnancy. I wish more people thought through their actions before they acted. The same is true for marriages. I can do a hundred hours of counseling with a couple, but the most important “counseling” that will impact their decision is the time they spend being honest and open with one another. Again, this will not prevent “unhappy marriages” nor will it reduce the adulterous actions of so many. But there is no reason to rush our decisions in this life – better to “take time” now rather than to “regret time” 25 years from now.

Pastor Dave