• "Forsake all Covetous Desires... and Follow."
• Sermon for the Feast of St. Matthew
• September 26, 2004
• The Reverend Stephen C. Scarlett

The gospel for St. Matthew's Day describes how Matthew left what was, most likely, a lucrative tax collecting business to follow Jesus. In the collect we pray for grace to follow his example, to "forsake all covetous desires, and inordinate love of riches, and follow the same thy Son, Jesus Christ."

In two instructive NT passages (Ephesians 5:5 and Colossians 3:5) covetousness is linked with idolatry or idol worship. To worship idols is to worship the creation rather than the Creator (cf. Romans 1:25).

We can see this in the story of the Fall of Man. By eating the forbidden fruit, man seized God's creation for his own purpose. Forsaking the good that God had given them, our first parents lusted for the one thing God said they could not have. This is the pattern of fallen man ever since.

Now, to understand "covetousness, which is idolatry" (Col. 3:5), we must first understand that the creation is good. Most of the things we are not supposed to desire inordinately are good in and of themselves in the right context. The paycheck with which we pay for our housing and the necessities of life is a good thing. But if we live for it, if we inordinately desire more of it, we will fall into covetousness and idolatry.

Some say "money is the root of all evil." But this is not what the Bible says. In 1 Timothy, St. Paul says, "The love of money is the root of all evil." And he goes on to say, "for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

Covetousness is forbidden by God because it does not deliver what it promises. Wealth promises us the satisfaction of our desires, but it does not satisfy our desires. This is how the devil holds us captive. He gets us to desire the forbidden thing that cannot fulfill us. As we pursue it and are not satisfied, we think the problem is that we need yet more. Thus, our lives become oriented towards the pursuit of more. We come to serve the idol.

Covetousness, like pride and envy among the deadly sins, is born of comparison. It is fueled by the observation that someone else has more. We have food and shelter and are content-until we see another whose home is bigger and nicer, who eats at better restaurants. Then all three deadly sins kick in. Our pride is wounded by our lower comparative ranking. Pride leads to envy, "Why do they deserve all this?" We become covetous. "I want what they have."

The devil is so successful in stirring up this hornets nest of desires that we do not hear the Holy Spirit, who, in a still, small voice says, "So what? So what if they have more. You already know, by wisdom, that more will not make you happy. And why do you begrudge another the good that you would readily give to yourself?"

To be free from covetousness, we must learn to be content. Adam and Eve had paradise, the garden, fellowship with God, each other. But they gave it all up to pursue the one thing they did not have. Just so, each of us has what we need to be content. We have God, the communion of the saints, gifts to use in service to God and others and the good things of creation God has given us to enjoy. Why do we think we need more? As 1 Timothy says, "We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content" (6:8).

If the error is to seek the creation rather than the Creator, the answer is to seek God. As we confess our sins, receive forgiveness and are reconciled with God in Christ, we discover a peace that no created thing can give us. As we live the life of prayer, we experience joy that no created thing can provide. We learn to enjoy the good things of creation as signs of God's love. And we learn that the prohibitions are given by God to deliver us from evil.

Contentment leads to giving and generosity. The content person, having all that he needs and being full, learns to give to others of his abundance. This follows the pattern of God. God, being full and complete in and of his self, continually gives. It is out of generosity that God created the world and gave man life. It is out of generosity that God gave his Son to save us. If God were greedy or covetous, he would never have created the world or redeemed mankind.

Generosity, in monetary terms, begins with the tithe. I believe that God instituted the tithe as a symbolic means of reversing the implications of the Fall. With the Original Sin, man said of God's creation, "This is mine." When man returns the first part of his increase, or income, to God, he makes the very opposite statement. He says to God, "This is yours." As Romans says, "If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy" (Romans 11:16, NIV).

As right order is restored between the creation and God, right order is restored within the creation itself. Charity, concern for the well being of others, is fostered. The one who loves and worships God comes also to love and serve those who are made in God's image.

When we develop a generous and giving heart, we discover one of the secrets, or mysteries, of God's creation. The one who gives ends up with abundance while the one who takes ends up with less. The devil grasping for more and more ends up with nothing. The servants of God give and end up more and more filled. It is counterintuitive. It is a paradox but wisdom can see that it is true

We may not be called to change professions in the same manner as our patron saint. But by the practice of contentment and generosity, we can, indeed, "forsake all covetous desires, and inordinate love of riches, and... follow the same thy Son, Jesus Christ."