Church of the Holy City

It’s What’s Inside that Counts

It’s What’s Inside that Counts
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
January 19, 2014

1 Kings 21:1-16 Matthew 3:25-28 Psalm 31

The ninth and tenth commandment are all the Ten Commandments in summary form. The ninth and tenth commandments prohibit coveting. The commandments are divided this way. The ninth commandment says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.” By your neighbor’s house is meant everything in your neighbor’s house. That means his house itself, his wife or her husband, their possessions, all their material and spiritual goods, their car, their family and all that the house implies. That is why the commandment first mentions your neighbor’s house. Then the tenth commandment lists those very things within the house: “Your neighbor’s wife, his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox or his ass.” Then we see the final wording of the final commandment, “Or anything that is your neighbors.” So we see that the ninth and tenth commandment includes everything that belongs to your neighbor.
But the ninth and tenth commandment make a powerful and new move from the other commandments. They speak of what is inside a person. All the other commandments are behaviors. They are actions. So they speak of using God’s name in vain, of false testimony, of murder, of adultery, and so on. All these commandments can be legislated. That is, you can make laws about them and compel people to refrain from doing these things under a legal penalty. But the ninth and tenth commandment are different. They speak of where a person’s heart is. They speak of what is going on in our minds and hearts. As such, we can’t make a law against coveting. We can’t prohibit a person from thinking or wanting something that isn’t his or hers. That is, we can’t make a civil law against wanting what is someone else’s. We can only make spiritual laws against such things. For spiritual laws deal with what is in a person’s heart. And unless restrained by civil or moral law, it is likely that the things a person covets will show themselves behaviorally. What we crave with an unholy desire is likely to manifest in action.
We see this in the case of Ahab and Naboth from our Old Testament reading. King Ahab covets the land on which a simple Israelite has a vineyard. The Israelite’s name is Naboth. Now there’s something important about this land of Naboth’s. It isn’t just property that Naboth purchased and that he can sell at will. This is land is owned by God, and you could say that it is loaned to the Israelites to hold for ever. All the Israelites had land given to them by God. Each tribe had a certain portion of the Holy Land, and they divided it up among the households. The Hebrew word for this portion of land that Yahweh Himself owned, is called nahala. Now Ahab wants this very nahala that God owns and that is in the possession of Naboth. We see very clearly in this story that coveting is a sin against God Himself, as are all the commandments. Ahab is coveting land that belongs to God, not only Naboth, when he covets the land of the simple Israelite.
And in this story we see the result of coveting that is unchecked by civil law. Ahab was king, and as such could do pretty much what he wanted to do–or so he thought. The Israelite kings were bound by God’s laws just as much as were the simple Israelites. But when a king got carried away with his own power, he could think himself immune to God’s laws. So Ahab’s unbridled lust for land resulted not only in theft of Naboth’s land, it ended in murder. In order to steal Naboth’s nahala, Ahab ends up murdering the poor man. It is the unbridled coveting of Ahab that ends in theft, murder, and ultimately sacrilege as Ahab violates God’s laws regarding the nahala. In this story we see that all the commandments are connected. We see, too, that violating the commandments are a violation of God’s will, not just civil law.
Spiritually, the ninth and tenth commandment talk about the very goal of regeneration. There are many ways to talk about regeneration. But one way is to talk about the internal person and the external person. The goal of regeneration is to make our external person conform to our internal person. That way, who we are on the inside is who we are on the outside. I spoke of this last Sunday. I talked about living authentically. About projecting to the world the person we truly are and not hiding behind a persona that isn’t really us.
But the process goes deeper than just being self-confident. It means that inside, we have been purged of worldly cravings. What I am calling worldly cravings are called “lusts” in Swedenborg and other theologians. Lusts are desires that can never be satisfied. When we lust we want more and more and more and we are never filled and at rest. The process of regeneration gets rid of these worldly lusts, these insatiable cravings. They are replaced by healthy, constructive feelings. These healthy feelings are called affections in Swedenborg. Affections are stable, peaceful, and mild. When we are living according to healthy affections, we find ourselves contented with life. Our minds know serenity. We are at peace, even when we are active in our lives.
So when we have peace in our hearts, our internal has been reformed. But is our outer person also at peace? Now we return to the other eight commandments. The other eight commandments are almost all phrased negatively. That is, they begin, “You shall not.” These commands, too, reflect the process of regeneration. For we begin the process of regeneration when we desist from harmful actions. When we refrain from backbiting and gossip, for instance, we are keeping the commandment against murder. As I said when I discussed that commandment, murder is also killing a person’s reputation. It is character assassination. When we gossip and backbite what is going on internally? Isn’t it a form of hatred or anger or revenge we are nurturing before we say harmful words? We can stop those harmful feelings by not practicing the act of gossiping. And so on in other ways with other spiritual issues. When we desist from harmful behaviors, then the feelings that prompted them go away. As I have heard it said before, “Bring the body and the mind will follow.” I take that to mean that when we stop harmful behaviors, we then grow into healthier mental states.
But we need to refrain from harmful behaviors from a spiritual motive. We need to want to be good. We need to have in view a healthy state of heart and mind. This is where our New Testament reading comes in. Jesus denounces the teachers of the law and the Pharisees for doing good outwardly only. He actually calls them hypocrites,
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean (Matthew 23:25-26).
Jesus develops this idea further. He drops the metaphor of the cup and dish and takes up another metaphor that is even more hideous. He compares the Pharisees and teachers of the law to white-washed tombs.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like white-washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness (23:27-28).
So we can’t just refrain from evil actions only. We need to refrain from evils from a spiritual purpose. We can’t want to look good only for show, or to keep us out of jail, or to make others like and respect us. For these acts to have spiritual value, we need to do so from a spirit of love for God and for our neighbor. As I said earlier, laws can force us to be good outwardly. But no law can reform our minds and hearts. That, only God can do. But we have a part to play in this. We can restrain ourselves from behaviors that are spiritually and socially unacceptable. And when we do so with the desire to be good, then our internal is reformed along with our external. When we don’t dwell on harmful thoughts, and when we keep our minds clean so that they are as clear mirrors, we will find that our hearts grow more peaceful. When we don’t fill our souls with covetous desires, we will find love and affections filling our spirits more and more.
When we desist from coveting, we will more and more be inwardly as we are outwardly. And in the world of our own psyche, heaven will be on earth. And everything we touch in this world will be transformed by the wisdom and good will we have become. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

PRAYER

Lord, we give you thanks for the good things that we have. For we know that all we have is a gift from you. Help us to remain content with what we have–be it much or little. For we know that you give us what we need–be it much or little. And Lord, we ask that you fill our hearts with love for our neighbors. Give us to rejoice in the good things our neighbors possess. May we not seek to envy what our neighbors have. But rather, let us rejoice in the good things of our neighbors, as we do with the good things you have given us. Lord, we are grateful for everything we have. May we always remain thankful, and not covetous. For we know that you have given us what we need to become angels in your kingdom forever.

And Lord, we pray for this internet church, where we come to worship you and to learn the ways of your kingdom. Join with us this morning as we come together in your name. Guide and protect us in the world, carrying today’s message which you have given to us.

And Lord, we pray for peace in this troubled world. May conflict be absorbed in your loving kindness. May warring factions see that they are like in their desires for love and the good things of this world.

And Lord, we pray that you heal those who are suffering with illness. Lord, send your healing love to all who are in need.

7-Week Online Old Testament Course
Taught by Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
March 3-April 20
Course Tuition: $75

In the upcoming months I will be offering a series of courses in the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the Letters of Paul. This series begins with a survey of the Old Testament.
This course is a historical survey, which means that we will be studying the essential events of the Old Testament. In future reading, students will know how to locate the passages being read within the history of the Israelite people. As we will see, the theology in the Old Testament usually relates to the historical events in each book. I hope to provide new perspectives for those well acquainted with the Old Testament and also give a manageable introduction for those just coming to it. To indicate your interest in taking the course, please email Rev. Fekete at: revdrfekete@gmail.com.