LENTEN
SERIES 6 – 4 April 2004 – Bishop Owen Dowling
I’ve surprised myself. This series on the Ten Commandments
ends today, and in relation to each of them I haven’t had any trouble in
thinking of issues that relate – relate to the Commandments and relate to our
lives. They’re not old addresses and they’re not old issues. I hope you’ve
been surprised too.
Coveting, not a word in everyday language, is very much a
contemporary sin. It means wanting what belongs to ;wanting, not in a moderate
way, but with a depth of jealous desire that directs and controls us.
The coveting commandment takes us inwards. On the surface,
the other commandments seem to be about outward behaviour – the way we speak
about God and other people, and the way we treat them, and do or do not honour
or respect them and what properly belongs to them. The one we follow did however
focus on the importance of our inner thoughts, especially, we noted, in relation
to murder and adultery, in ways that make us feel uncomfortable. This no doubt
explains why the church’s liturgy has always talked about sins in thought,
word and deed. But the 10th commandment, the one about coveting, is
the commandment par excellence about inward thoughts, except for the 2nd
commandment, the one about idolatry (pardon, any Roman Catholic readers or
hearers – for you it’s part of the 1st commandment). We can erect
idols in our heart and mind and theycan dominate us from within. So the 2nd
and the 10th commandments are alike in their inwardness. St. Paul
takes it further – he says that covetousness is idolatry. In either
case, an image forms in our mind and we feed it, we indulge in it, we let it
dominate us and our lives.
Advertising, which has a highly intrusive place in our world,
is, of course, almost entirely based on our coveting and jealous instincts. I
want what I see. I want what the beautiful successful people have; I can’t
live without it. I want their body, their biceps, their exciting jet-setting
lifestyle, their health, or their beautiful care-ree retirement with interesting
friends always visiting. I want that BMW convertible over the road (-there is
one opposite our place!). The more I go on the more you will say this sermon is
telling us more about you than us and our temptations! So you do some
application for yourself. What are your fantasies in life? What drives you on?
What makes you feel very discontented with yourself? What cruel blows have made
you wish that you were someone else or someplace else?
It is, of course, a matter of degree. All of us have some
harmless fantasies and things on our wish-list which colours up our sometimes
drab lives. Who would deny us a little fantasy, a touch of dreaming? I suppose
God isn’t going to come down on us with a heavy hand or a rumble of thunder
because we go and buy a lottery ticket and have a distant thought of a house in
Southern France, or even dispersing some largesse to our children or
grandchildren. These may be but momentary thoughts.
I can, however, think of parts of peoples’ lives I have
known, even parts of my own life when there has been an invasion of quite
serious bouts of covetousness.
I think of a curate I once know – a good looking kindly warm caring person who led a Young Adults group. One of the girls in that group – a rather needy person – fell in love with him, but he didn’t with her. Nothing could convince her that he didn’t love her; because he was kind and tender with all the group, he treated her the same. She was convinced, even convinced in her prayers and dreams – and she did have a very deep and committed faith – that he must love her and desire to have her as his wife and partner in the walk of the ministry. I won’t go on, but it was for her an obsession she could not shake off. It affected the whole of her life as she waited at home for his call, and all this despite very open and direct speaking to her on his part, and her friends’ part.
To use another church illustration – it is after all a
world I’ve been very familiar with for most of my 70 years – I have always
worried about those clergy whose names get mentioned in connection with a
possible bishop’s appointment. They may get rung up and asked whether they
will let their name go forward. Then the fantasies begin – what would it be
like to be the Bishop of So and So. Loud protests and denials such as
‘wouldn’t want to be a bishop!’ don’t deceive. The heart goes after
position, honour and for the high church person at least – what kind of cope
will I have made, how high should my mitre be? I know – I’ve been through
it. But what is worse it’s hard to focus on the present ministry you have when
you spend a lot of time thinking ahead to the glory (?) which is to come.
Progress in any profession is attended by these temptations
and difficulties. One friend of mine who’s now out of the ministry had great
difficulty in handling several rejections in Episcopal elections. Only one gets
the prize and the other candidates have to handle this seeming rejection. He was
very hurt, and thought he wasn’t wanted.
You may well be thinking to yourself – well, isn’t there
a proper kind of ambition? Shouldn’t we put ourselves forward, so others at
least know of our gifts and can draw on them. In the competition for high
office, I must admit the church has the best and the worst of the world of
ambition. Best in the sense that there are some genuinely humble servants of the
Lord who would try to measure whether there was an element of ‘call’ and
appropriate giftedness in considering whether to say yes to a particular offer;
worst, in the sense that no one is supposed to be ambitions for high office, and
we are.
It must be pretty tricky in the parliamentary political
parties. To aspire to leadership is not a bad thing. It’s the methods of
getting there that we might question, and the deceit and back-stabbing that
often seems to be involved. Covetousness very often leads to other sins.
I said earlier – it is a matter of degree. There is a
proper kind of ambition. The ambition to make the most of yourself and your life
is a good thing – an important part of your own stewardship. We don’t have
to be withering violets, always putting ourselves in the background, always
saying ‘Oh you wouldn’t want me’. Coveting is wanting what doesn’t
properly belong to us. Always wanting and jealously viewing what others have
gained. Hating them for their success, their promotion and their increased
prosperity.
There’s a saying in the bible which links godliness and contentment. It’s from 1 Timothy 6:6-10 and they’re wise words:
‘There
is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing
into this world, so we can take nothing out of it; but if we have good and
clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into
temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge
people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds
of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the
faith and pierced themselves with many pains.’
I’ve
suggested several times in this series that, in thinking of the application of
the Commandments, which are mostly couched in the negative, we should think of
the positive meaning – that we should go to the opposite. Not only avoid the
sin, but practice its antidote. In this case to learn and practise contentment.
To be content with ourselves and be pleased to be ourselves and where we are.
And not to be consumed – eaten up – by what others have.
Lord give us that grace. Write all these your laws in our hearts we beseech you.