Recap of the 10 Commandments and Their Meanings

Good morning, and once again, thank you for joining us in our last sermon in this series on the 10 Commandments. The 10 Commandments are really a series within a greater series in the book of Deuteronomy. And next week, we're going to continue our journey through the fifth book of the Old Testament. Now I'd like us, in this final sermon, to do a recap by means of the hand signs. What are the 10 Commandments using our hands? Many people do not remember what they are, but the hand signs, I hope, are helpful for your recollection.

So. Commandment number one, you shall have no other gods before me. Commandment number two, you shall not bow down to any graven image. Now, for those who like to, you can also join me in the actions. It will help you remember better. You learn better when you are involved right? Commandment number three. Number three is, do not take God's name in vain. Commandment number four, keep the sabbath day holy. It's a day of rest unto the Lord. Commandment number five, that's where you do the honor your father and your mother. Commandment number six, you shall not kill all right, kind of a trigger. Commandment number seven, two shall be together, so do not commit adultery. Commandment number eight, your two thumbs are cut off if you lived in ancient days. So do not steal. Commandment number nine, do not lie, because five is not four, four is not five, and commandment number 10 is ‘You shall not covet.”

Understanding Covetousness and Its Implications

Now we are all familiar with what coveting is all about. Imagine a little boy playing with his toys very happily until he sees another boy walk by with an even nicer toy. Now he becomes unhappy. Now he is discontented. Now he is dissatisfied. Now he says to himself, “I am not happy until I have what he has. I must have it.” And now he fights. Now he quarrels. Now he snatches. This is the picture of someone who covets your neighbor's toy. And this is not just for kids, it is applicable for all of us. The Bible talks about coveting your neighbor's wife. You see something in another lady, and you say, I wish my wife is like that. And you say, I must have that. Or you covet your neighbor's house or field or servant or ox or donkey. (Deuteronomy 5:21) Maybe you're not very excited about ox and donkeys, but maybe you'll be excited about your neighbor's Ferrari or your neighbor's bungalow or your neighbor's bag or your neighbor's Roblox account. You want these things, and you say to yourself, “I won't be happy, and I can't be happy until I have them, even though, deep in my heart I know I shouldn't have them and I can't have them, I still want, by all means, unscrupulous means, get them.” This, I think, is what this command is about. It's about that kind of sinful desiring of things that are illegitimate for us.

So, in this very simple sermon, I'd like us to explore three things. The first thing I'd like us to really understand is the meaning of this commandment altogether. What does it mean? What does God mean when he says, “You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.” The word covet in a Hebrew is the word “Hamed”, which means to take pleasure in or to delight. It is very, very similar to the next word you see here, you shall not desire. And the word there is the word “Ava”, which is to mean crave or long for something. So, you could tell that these two words are very, very close again. One means to take pleasure in or to delight. The second means to crave, to long to desire something. Now, if there is a way to differentiate. I would say that the first word emphasizes on desires that begins outside. You see something attractive and beautiful and you're drawn to it. The second word pretty much focuses on what begins on the inside. But this might be splitting the hair too much. These two words are so similar, I think we will use it together. I also like to highlight to you that the word “Hamad” and the word “Ava”, both words are neutral in its original meaning. In other words, it does not always refer to a bad thing and it does not always refer to a good thing.

It can refer to both, depending on the context. So, in some Bible passages, it would speak about coveting as a bad thing. In other passages, it will speak about coveting as a good thing. It depends on the situation or the context. So, I give you an example. If you desire or if you covet godliness, for the glory of God, that's a good thing. That's a good kind of covet. But if you covet another man's wife, that's a bad thing, that's an illegitimate thing, that's a wrong thing, that covet is a bad kind of covet. The context should tell you why, or maybe you may even covet a good thing for a wrong reason. I covet a pay rise. Now a pay rise is not necessarily a bad thing, but you covet a pay rise, so that you can live more luxuriously, so that you can boast. That kind of coveting becomes bad. So, the word “Hamed” or “Ava”, they are neutral words. Whether it's good or bad depends on the situation and the context. And in this context of the 10 Commandments, we must clearly see this refers to sinful desiring.

You shall not have sinful desiring of your neighbor's wife. I think that is very obvious, and the reason is because they belong to your neighbor. It's illegitimate for you to have what your neighbor has. It's his, and for you to want it will be wrong. And so, this is a negative kind of desiring that we are speaking of. Now some of you may be wondering to yourself, “Hey, isn't this very close to the 8th Commandment, where it says “You shall not steal”. Very similar. Well, I would say, if you compare Commandments number 8 and 10 and put them together, you would see that this speaks about the problem on the inside. Commandment number 10 is about the greed in the heart. Commandment number 8 is about the grabbing with your hands, you steal. So, Commandment number 8 is about the actions you do, Commandment number 10 is about the attitudes you possess on the inside, the motivations on the inside. Because it's quite true, isn't it? Coveting begins in the heart, but it rarely stays there. So, if you covet, you will soon steal. And so, 10 and 8 are very similar, are very closely related to each other.

One more thing I'd like you to note about the meaning of covetousness is derived from the New Testament, when the Apostle Paul says in Colossians 3:5 “…covetousness, which is idolatry…” It's very interesting that sinful desiring of illegitimate things is idolatry. Now let's break it down. What is idolatry? Idolatry is worshiping anything apart from God. So how is sinful desiring of that which is illegitimate, worshiping another God? Well, the logic goes that if I desire something to the degree that I crave for it, long for it and say, “I must have it and I will not be happy apart from it”, then, in essence, you are kind of saying, “I'm not satisfied with what God gives me, I have discontentment, I have dissatisfaction, and I want by all means, to secure for myself, a greater happiness that God is not providing for me”.

So, in essence, there is a functional shift of who you worship. Now you don't see God as all good, all powerful, all loving, all wise towards you. You see that you make the better decision and you are the person you want to satisfy. And that is the problem with the first woman on planet Earth, Eve. God gave her and Adam everything for joy. But then that snake, who is Satan, came along and suggested to Eve, “You know why God doesn't want you to take from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Because he is holding out against you. He doesn't want you to be really happy. He doesn't really want you to be who you really can be. He wants to rob you. He is not after your greatest satisfaction”, for he says, “God knows that when you eat of that fruit, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil, and God is jealous of you. God is scared of you. God doesn't want you to be like him”.

And Eve bought into that lie and went on to want to secure her happiness that is illegitimate, that is clearly forbidden by God. And she saw that the tree was good for food, it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise. Here it is, that desire, that coveting, that God has forbidden, and she now takes of that fruit and ate it and gave it to her husband. So, if I were to put all these things together, I'll just give a very simple definition or explanation of what this coveting is about. Coveting here in the 10 Commandments, is referring to a sinful desiring because you esteem yourself more than God. You think you are wiser, better and more worthy than God. And so, you will say, “I disregard His Commandments. I disregard His will, I just want to go about fulfilling my greatest happiness, I am in the place of God.” And that's how I think “Covetousness” is idolatry.

So, if you notice, we have come a full circle. The first Commandment is, “You shall have no other gods before me.” And I did start by saying, if you break the first Commandment, you will break all the other Commandments, because now God is no more, your God. You are after your own self-interest, and you start to break Commandments 2 to 10. But at the same time, you could also appreciate that Commandment number 10 is the root of perhaps most or many of the Commandments. Just as Paul later would say, “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”. So, covetousness lies at the root of many sins, because at the heart of it all, the 10th Commandment, or the breaking of the 10th Commandment, means I have shifted my loyalty to someone else apart from God, and that someone else is myself. So, number 1 and10 are really closely connected, and we have completed that full circle of the 10.

The Misery of Covetousness and Its Consequences

So, what's covetousness in a Biblical sense? It's that sinful desiring because you have esteemed yourself more than God. But let me move on to why this is so destructive, why this is so horrible, we see secondly, the misery, the misery of covetousness. I'm going to do that via a series of verses, so that you see the range of warnings that are found in Scripture. Number one, why this is bad is [found in] James 4:2, “You desire and you do not have, so you murder. You covet and you cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” Why are there wars today? Why are there squabbles at home? Why are there lawsuits to be fought in the courts? Well, the reason is because people want something that they cannot have, and they fight and they murder and they quarrel. Think about David. He lusted and coveted after a woman, Bathsheba. And in order to legitimize that union, he lied. He hatched a plan, a ploy, and he literally murdered Bathsheba's husband, Uriah by sending him to the fiercest spot in war. He fought, he quarreled, he murdered.

And the reason why we do so is because we cannot have something we desire, and we resort to hurting others. So maybe we back stab, maybe we speak ill of, but we will do whatever it takes so that I may get what I want. And we are not very different from the boy who wanted to grab that toy, isn't it? It's still a very primitive desire that needs to be fulfilled. So, we fight, we quarrel, we hurt others. But not only that, covetousness is bad because it is also something that is very empty. It does not satisfy.

The richest man in his day. His name is Solomon. He lived a till a ripe old age, and he wrote down his wisdom in this book called Ecclesiastes. He wrote other books, but this is one book that you could say is a reflection of his life. And this super rich guy says to you, he who loves money will not be satisfied with money. Now, this is very counter cultural. This is very un-Singaporean, because Singaporeans would definitely think if I have more money, I will be happier. Don’t you agree many Singaporeans think that way, that's the way we live. We might not admit it with our lips, but that's the way we live. We work really hard to climb the ladder so that we may get more money, or we may get more fame, or we may get more praise. We think that when we have more praise, more fame, more money, more stuff, we will be happy. I think Solomon tells us, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; or his produce or his increase…”, he says “this is also vanity”. [Ecclesiastes 5:10]

In a very graphic way, this desire for more, this greed, can be portrayed like the life of a dog. A dog who holds the bone in his mouth and sees his reflection in the waters. The dog sees that other dog in the waters and say, “Oh, I like his bone, it seems bigger than mine, and that dog seems smaller than me. So let me grab that bone.” And so, he opens his mouth, grabs on that bone in the water and grabs nothing. It's an illusion. It's a mirage. And in the course of trying to grab that bone, he loses his own life. But isn't this just like you and I? We see that rich man, and we say, if I could be like him, I will be happy. If I could just have his wife, I will be happy. If I could just have his job, I'll be happy. And you spend your whole life trying to grab that, and when you think you have it, you're not happy. And you lost your life. You lost your whole life pursuing something that does not really give you happiness. And so, Jesus would warn us, “Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” [Luke 12:15]. We have this thinking that when I have this, then I will be happy, when I have the car, then I will be happy, when I have that woman, then I will be happy, when I have that success, then I'll be happy, But you'll never be happy that way. Certainly not on the Day of Judgment. For Jesus says, “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world…? One Ferrari makes you happy? One bungalow makes you happy? One company makes you happy? One country makes you happy? One world makes you happy? Jesus says “…what profits a man, even if I give you the whole world, you will not be ultimately happy when you lose your soul.” [Mark 8:36] So it never pays when one goes about his life, craving, desiring illegitimate things because he esteems himself more than God. You start to destroy and harm people around you, and you live a futile, empty, vain and worthless life.

But more than that, another text which is really important in understanding covetousness greed is 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy 6:9 says, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation”. Look at this, “…into a snare [into a trap], into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” Well, I think about this video I've seen before. Let me show it to you. Take a look. [Video played] When you see these chicks or these birds, what do you think? Dumb? Yes,that's the first thing I think about, they're so stupid. Why are they so stupid? Because they can see all their other friends get into the pit and they still eat there. Very stupid, right? But that's you and me. We are also very stupid. We see many people ruin their lives. They try to be rich, they try to be successful, and they ruin their lives. But we still do the same thing. We still do the same thing. We still think the Singaporean dream is the way life should be lived. We still think that upgrading our lifestyle is the goal of humanity. We are dumb, like these birds, and all this farmer has to do is to use some cheap grains to chick up. To trick us, all Satan needs to do is to just manufacture Ferrari. I mean, it's easy for him I think. All he needs to do is to sell you a dream of man's applause and we fall into a snare and we plunge into ruin and destruction. I don't think this is just about some pain in this life. I think it refers to that eternal damnation to come, and we got cheated over a few grains of rice. Is it worth it? Is your life, your eternity, worth it for these things? Oh, Paul goes on to say in 1Timothy, or Paul says to Timothy, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” [1 Timothy 6:10]. Now it may not be exactly a parallel, but that coveting is the underlying thing I want to highlight. And David's sin with Bathsheba caused him to break all kinds of Commandments. That coveting of Bathsheba caused him to commit adultery, caused him to lie, caused him to murder, caused him to dishonor his parents, caused him to steal, caused him to dishonor God. He broke all kinds of Commandments because of this coveting. And so, it is for you and I, it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierce themselves with many pangs.

This covet thing is not for the world only. It's here in church. You look decent. You may even drop money into offering bag. You say you are follower of Jesus Christ, but deep in your heart, you are driven by sinful desiring - success, wealth, luxury, and it may not be very long before I don't see you in church and we don't have you in community anymore. Why? Because you have somehow wandered away. There is a well-known story preachers often use about how Eskimos would catch or kill wolves. They would take a blade and paint it with fresh blood. Let it be layered. Let it be thick. And so, with this blade fully covered and coated with blood, he sticks it into the snow, and he waits for the wolf to smell that blade. And when the wolf comes, he is delighted to taste of the delicious blood of that blade, and as he licks on it, the warmth of the tongue melts that blood. He drinks that blood in, he is satisfied with that taste of that blood, and he licks and licks even more until the blade is now fully exposed. But in that cold, he doesn't feel the sharp sting of the naked blade on the tongue, neither does he recognize the moment when his insatiable thirst begins to be satisfied with his own warm blood, and so his carnivorous appetite just craves more until the dawn finds him dead in the snow. That's how your coveting may just kill you spiritually. Many have wandered away from the faith. It's an ever-relevant warning for Singapore and Singaporean churches.
So, we have looked at number one, the meaning. What is coveting? It is a sinful desire because of a functional displacement of God in our hearts. We have looked at how this brings about misery. Because, number one, it brings evil to those around us. It harms people, evil, not in the sense of moral bad, but in the sense of harm towards others. It is ultimately futile and empty. It's a waste of your life. But more than that, it is enslaving. It traps you. It ensnares you. But I don't want to talk so much about these things without giving a solution from the Bible.

The Solution to Covetousness: Contentment and Generosity

So, let's look finally at what it means to meet this commandment. What does it mean to fulfill this commandment? How can you and I be freed from covetousness? Now to do that, I need volunteers. Can I have two volunteers? Anyone can do this, as you can see, empty cups. And I'd like you, within 10 seconds, to empty the cup of all the air. As much as you can think of the best way to empty the cup. Ready go.

Okay, 10 seconds is up. Can you show me your cup. Show them your cup. Who do you think did a better job? Okay, I'll vote. Who thinks Adrian did a better job emptying the air? Okay? Who thinks Stephen did a better job? Emptying the air. FYI, I think there's still a lot of air inside. Covering it doesn't keep the air out. It's still inside, right? And his has minimal air because it is all squashed. But is there still air there? Show them the cup, don't hide, it's okay. Is there still air there? How do you get all the air out? All the smart people here. I should have got him. Who is the one who shout “Water”?

Okay. Adrian, can you let me pour, oh broken? All right, so he is here useful for a reason. The best way to get all the air out, is to just do this. [Pastor Jason pouring water into Stephen’s cup] Now there are some “smart alecks” in the first service who said, “There's still air inside.” Yes, there's dissolved air, I understand, but very little. The best way to get the air out is not by sucking it, by the way. So far, no one tried to do that, but the best way is by topping it up with something else. Okay, let's give them a round of applause. Thank you very much. Stephen.

What's the point I'm trying to say? What's the best way to fight against covetousness? I think the Bible tells us the best way is contentment. Now let me give you the logic here. “Keep your life free from love of money…” How? The Bible goes on to say “…and be content with what you have.” [Hebrews 13:5] And what is that contentment all about? For God has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. You see the logic there? It's not possible for me to or for you to say, “Just stop it, just stop desiring, just stop”. It's very hard. It's like trying to suck the air out. And you can be in spasm, but the air will still go back”. So, you try to not covet, but the next day, you will still go back to coveting. The only lasting way for you to stop coveting is to fill it with something else. Fill it with what is said here, “Contentment.” Now. what is “Contentment”? The word itself in the Greek really just means “self-sufficiency”, meaning I have all I need. And that self-sufficiency, however, is not literally in yourself, but because God is with me. Because God with is with me, I have all I need. So instead of loving money filled with air called covetousness, I filled myself with the knowledge and reminder that God is with me, I've all I need. I do not need man's applause and praise. I do not need more substance, more wealth to be happy. I'm happy the way I am because of God and His promise, “I will never, no, never, no, never, leave you nor forsake you.” [Hebrews 13:5] So it is that belief, that “Beneath every sin is the failure to believe everything I need, I already possess in Christ.”

The Solution to Covetousness: Contentment and Generosity

You know, there are people who are very needy. It's because they don't believe that God is enough. Deep in their heart they're still craving for something because it is not satisfied. It is still filled with air. It's got to be topped up with the water of God's love. Jeremiah Burroughs, who wrote that book about “The Rare Jewel of of Christian Contentment”, he says, “Contentment is realizing that God has already provided everything we need for our greatest happiness!” Or if you like, “I spent most of my life searching for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Then I finally found it at the foot of the cross.” Christian living is not a striving to be a richer man, more successful man, more famous man. Christian living is realizing I have everything I need in Jesus Christ, and Christian living is then giving yourself because you are now a channel. You know that you have this endless flow of God's presence and blessings, and you can just be that channel to pour and direct God's blessings to many more. You're not grabbing. You already have a fantastic source. You are giving.

So, I say to my brothers and sisters in Christ, covetousness is a difficult battle to fight because it's right here in the heart, and you can never suck those evil desires out. You can only fill it with the knowledge of contentment that God will never leave you nor forsake you, and that's why in our church, we say we need to be a church that drinks in the gospel so that we may live out the Gospel and give out the gospel. What do you mean by drink in the Gospel? It means we constantly need to be reminded and nourished and refreshed with the realization and remembrance that God is for me. How I know God is for me. I look at the cross. I look at how while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. He is for me. He loves me. And I need to be reminded all the time. That's why I read my scriptures. That's why I go to God in prayer. I don't pray for the mundane, trivial things of this world, because I want to pray that God will show me his love, as Paul told the Ephesian church, he's praying for, “I'm praying for you that you may be rooted and grounded in love, that you may understand the height, the depth, the breadth, the length of God's love for you.” And that's what we need to learn, not just here [pointing to the head], but here [pointing to the heart], so that functionally I have poured that water of love into the soul of my life, that I will not be filled with the air of covetousness.

And that is why we gather in community. That's why we gather in care groups. That's why we need one another. Because, as Hebrews 10, would tell us, we gather, we do not forsake the assembling of ourselves so that we may provoke one another, to love and to good works. I am trying all the time to fill my life with the knowledge of God's love. And if you are someone who neglects his word, neglects prayer, neglects community, I can tell you the water is going to evaporate, and then the air of covetousness comes in, the air of neediness comes in, the air of insecurity comes in, the air of greed comes in. Simple as that, how can I meet this commandment? I need to look to God. I need to be reminded of His love. I need to see the gospel. I can't just say, stop it. I need to fill this life. But to me, this commandment is not just a contentment that we need, but also a contribution, because we need to see that the 10 Commandments is not just prohibiting what is wrong, it's also to direct us to what is right. So instead of being a covetous person, I should be a generous person.
A fictitious story - please don't quote me on this, as if this is Bible truth. But a man died and went to heaven, and there he sees his fellow church mate drive a Mercedes. “Whoa, so nice, ah your Mercedes?” So, he asked St Peter, “How come he has Mercedes?” And St Peter said “He has Mercedes, because in his lifetime here, he was a very generous man.” So, he asked St Peter, ‘Then what do I get?” St Peter leads him to a garage and shows him a Toyota Corolla. He was rather sad, until he sees his pastor come with a bicycle. Well, the Bible does tell us, as for the rich, they are to be good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future. Not exactly the story I said, but I hope you get the point. We are to be a generous people. Instead of being covetous, we are to be generous. That's the mark of true Christianity. It's not Bible knowledge. It's not even attendance in services. It’s the way you live, the way you look at people, the way you look at things, the way you look at life.

Living a Life of Consecration and Faithfulness

The mark of a true believer is that he knows God. He is contented in God. He is filled with God's love, and he directs it outwards. So, it is quite true that the “Death of Covetousness is through the Birth of Charity.” And when you give more, you sacrifice more, you are less greedy. It kills that desire for selfish gains. And again, I always like to point you to Ephesians 4:28, because it's a very dramatic 180 degree shift in just one verse, “Let the thief who used to covet and steal, no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something.” You say, all right, that makes sense. But no, that's not all, “so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” That's what the opposite of covetousness should look like.

And finally, it should be leading you to a life of giving to God, consecration. I think it means dedication to God, giving yourself to God. The Bible says, instead of pursuing promotions, by the way, many people work to get a promotion, many people work to get a pay rise. But actually, the Bible doesn't tell us to work for those reasons. From the beginning to the end, there is no exhortation to Christians to say, work hard so that you can get more money. There isn't because the Bible is very singular in its rationale or motivation for working hard – God. Work hard for His glory, and if your earthly boss sees fit, by the grace of God, to give you more, that's fine, but that's not what I work for. I work for the audience of one. I have one true master, and that is God. So, the Bible tells us, instead of pursuing these things, waking up every morning so that I can get a better pay, I wake up every morning saying I need to pursue these things instead. This is what you aim for. This is what you labor for. This is what you chase after, “Godliness”, “Faithfulness” - means chase after a man who lives for the glory of God. [1 Timothy 6:11-12]

And isn't it the same exhortation as what Jesus would say, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” [Matthew 6:33] So sad that today, we are chasing the mighty dollar, chasing fame and applause. And actually, as we do that, we don't really chase after God's kingdom. Even as we look like we are serving God, we are actually using our service for our own ego and pride. Now I know all that I said, it's bizarre, especially if you do not know Christ. But I believe, if you are someone who is born again, Christ lives in you, and you know that because now you have a new heart, a new passion, a new desire and a new power, you will want to do what the Scriptures have said. And I hope you would say, “I will not want to covet, I want to honor God, I want to be a generous, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, constantly filled with God's love, the knowledge of God's love, and living a life that glorifies Him and not me.”

But as we wrap up this series, I also hope that as you think about Commandment number 10, Commandment number 9, Commandment number 8, number 7, number 6, number 5, and so on and so forth, you will stand before God this morning and say, “I am a hopeless sinner.” I am done. I cannot keep a single commandment.” I hope you will at least humble yourself and acknowledge that, because that's the purpose of the 10 Commandments. The 10 Commandments are not to show you how great you are, how many commandments you can fulfill, because none of us can ever fulfill any of these commandments. But the good news of the Bible is that as the commandments condemn us, the commandments lead us to Jesus, who alone is our sin bearer. The good news of the Bible is not, “Oh, look how easy the 10 Commandments are.” No, the good news of the Bible is the 10 Commandments condemned us, but Jesus died and paid for us. So, Mount Sinai, where the 10 Commandments are given, shows us what we lack. We lack righteousness, we lack holiness, we can't do it. But Mount Calvary, where Jesus died, shows us what God provided through the sacrifice of His Son. So, on the cross, Jesus died. On the cross, he's made sin for us when he knew no sin, so that we might be made righteous, cleansed, forgiven through him. Or maybe a more appropriate text for today's Commandment – “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet, for your sake he became poor, so that you, by his poverty, might become rich.” [2 Corinthians 8:9] Mind you, this is not about health and wealth. This is about spiritual wealth. It's about knowing God, receiving the forgiveness of sins and having that new life that loves him and glorifies Him. Jesus paid it all.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together, Father, thank You for Your Word. And I pray today, sinners will humble themselves and turn to Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. We pray for our church that you would free us from that pandemic of covetousness. Vaccinate us, dear Lord, with the love of Jesus. May we, today, out of that deep contentment, live a life of servanthood and generosity and sacrifice, because that's exactly what your Son did for us. I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I'd rather have him than man's applause. Give us grace, fill our hearts with joy, with love, with the gospel. May this church regularly drink in the Gospel. Thank you. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.