A WORD FOR TODAY, April 1, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, April 1, 2025
Part of my prayer life during Lent will be an examination of conscience using the seven deadly sins. I will daily pray through a number of questions for each sin: Pride, Envy, Sloth, Lust, Covetousness, Gluttony, Anger. Will you join me? Remember, this is about examining yourself, not seeing others in these questions. If you see others, consider it as a mirror and ponder your own life in light of that judgment.
This week is “Covetousness.”
“Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?’ 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.’ And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” And he said, “I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.’” Luke 12:13-21, WEB
Covetousness is the one sin we find directly in the Ten Commandments. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” The other sins break the commandments in their own way, but God saw fit to list coveting in the big ten. I think part of the reason is because there is a sense of coveting in all sin, even the sins against God. The original sin was about coveting, as the serpent told Adam and Eve, “You won’t really die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” They wanted to be like God; they were not satisfied with Him and wanted authority, power, and control over their lives.
Isn’t that what we do all the time? God made the first table of the commandments, the ones that teach us how to relate to Him, because we need to be constantly reminded that we are not God. God commands us to hold Him above all other gods (including ourselves!). We are not to make idols or to misuse His name. As Jesus taught, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” We sin against God when we covet what truly belongs to Him.
When it comes to the second table of the Law, those commandments that teach us to deal with one another, coveting is the root of those sins, too. We dishonor authority, kill, commit adultery, steal, and bear false witness because we covet something that the people we sin against have.
In the Examination of Conscience that I am using as a prayer practice this Lent, covetousness is defined as “a disordered love of the goods of this world.” The questions this week focus on what we learn about coveting in the Ten Commandments: not desiring people and things. Do I dispose of my money properly or selfishly? Do I discharge my duties in justice to my fellow man? Do I discharge my duties in justice to the Church?
Yet, I think we need to consider coveting from a deeper understanding. Martin
Luther thought coveting is the opposite of faith, as it reflects a lack of
trust in God's provision and a desire for things outside of His will, and he
urged believers to cling to God’s promises and seek contentment in Him. It is
all about how we pursue wealth, which can be understood in so many ways beyond
tangible blessings. Covetousness, which is often used interchangeably with
greed, is an intense desire for something someone else has because they have it
and you don’t. Greed is a more general desire for more than we have.
The text for today shows brothers quarreling over stuff. As we saw in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the inheritance was probably set by the laws of that time. This was probably the younger brother wanting his “fair share,” and he wanted Jesus to make things “right.” There is more here than just the stuff but also control over the family estate. He wanted what was not his. Jesus told him that it wasn’t His place to change what was done according to the Law. Then He warned everyone else that our dissatisfaction is a symptom of our lack of trust in God. The problem with coveting is it is an inward attitude, one that others may never even see, but it leads to sin that is acted outwardly, in dishonoring authority, killing, committing adultery, stealing, and bearing false witness.
What do you covet? How is your intense desire destroying the lives of those who have what you do not have? Is your intense desire affecting your faith because you are not content with the life God has given for you to live?
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