July 2, 2014
FREE DESIRE
The last five commandments of the Ten Commandments speak to our human desires. The archaic sounding word, “covet” in the commandment “Thou shall not covet” simply means “desire.” Consider the tenth commandment with desire substituted for the word covet:
“You shall not desire your neighbor’s house. You shall not desire your neighbor’s wife, or [desire his] manservant or [desire his] maidservant, [desire] his ox or [desire his] donkey, or [desire] anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17).
The tenth commandment addresses our desires because it is our desires for what others have that prompts the need for prohibitions against murder, adultery, stealing, and false testimony in commandments five through nine. Someone else (our “neighbor” or simply “others”) have what we desire and so we murder, commit adultery, steal, and lie to satisfy our desires.
Human desires for what others desire fuels our sins against one another. Even in the contemporary church we sin against one another in large-part based on what our brothers and sisters desire:
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:1-4).
Both Moses and James point to the root of our sins against one another: our desires, or more specifically, what others desire (“or anything that belongs to your neighbor”). At first glance our personal desires may not seem to come from what someone else desires because, after all, I experience my desires as my desires. The impression we might have is that what my neighbor (or others) desires just happens to match what I desire. Yet the biblical witness is more revealing about the nature of our human desires and how they are drawn out of us in sinful ways.
The tenth commandment begins by listing various things or persons that human beings desire (donkey, ox, house, servants, and spouses). But the amount of objects or persons we may desire to possess are limitless, and so the tenth commandment ends with the catchall phrase, “Or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Now today we are not likely to desire our neighbor’s donkey or ox, but we might desire our neighbor’s (or others) cars, clothes, electronics, or jewelry. We learn what to desire by what others around us in our society desire. If you were raised in Moses’ society and time, then you would desire a donkey or ox. What we desire is directed by what others around you in your time and society desire.
But what would happen to our desires if they were not directed by what other human beings desire but by what God desires? The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Eph 1:3). If all our desires are directed and met in Jesus Christ, then there is no reason we would desire in a sinful way what others around us desire. In other words, our desires would be free and sought in love and peace, not with violence like murder, adultery, stealing and false testimony. May your desires be free in Jesus.
– Terry
Friendship Day and Italian Potluck -- Please join us this Sunday, July 6, for our Friendship Day and Italian Potluck following morning services. Please invite your friends and neighbors to join us and bring lots of your favorite Italian dishes to share.
Vacation Bible School is less than three weeks away. We still need a few more things!! We need someone to hang the VBS sign outside the building; we need a Kindergarten teacher; we need a couple more food items; and we could use a couple more people to help Shawna with crafts!! Mark your calendars for Wednesday evening, July 16, for the VBS Work Night! We can use all the help we can get to get everything ready for VBS!! See Denise if you can help!!
Our theme this year is: Kingdom Rock - Where Kids Stand Strong for the Lord, and is for kids who have finished Kindergarten through 6th grade.
KIA and Service Projects Calendar --
Wednesday Evenings 6:30-7:30 p.m.
July 9: Family Scavenger Hunt: 6:30 p.m.
July 16: Set up for VBS and Laundry Night; 6:30 p.m.
Graduation Open House -- Buddy and Melanie Rennels invite you to an Open House at their home this Sunday, July 6, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. as they honor their son, Blain, on his graduation from Oregon State University.
Wedding Shower and Ice Cream Social -- Please join us as we honor Kayla Christopher and Caleb Walker with a Wedding Shower on Sunday evening, July 13, at 6:00 p.m. in the Fireside Room. There will be a “60s” theme for the evening. They are registered at Macy’s, Target and Bed / Bath and Beyond. Contact Corinne with any questions.
**We will also be having our Ice Cream Social in conjunction with the shower, so please bring your favorite homemade or “store bought” ice cream to share.**
Prayer Requests . . . Lorena Dickison’s brain surgery went well and she is doing well. Please continue prayers for her full recovery...For Gaby Dimas who has Hepatitis C. She is doing well with her treatments in Fresno...For Rosa Gomez as she continues cancer treatment under hospice care in Los Angeles...Wade Bryant had surgery on both of his arms and is in a lot of pain. Pray for comfort and healing...David Mayes asks prayers for his caregiver’s mother-in-law to get better – she has kidney problems; for Diet Long, who has multiple health problems; for Cora to be a bold witness to her friends and for David to be a man of his word...For Jenny Way to complete her brain book cleanup each day...Gerry & September’s niece, Erin Kilpatrick, is having early contractions. Her baby is not due until late August. She is bedfast and has two young daughters...Codi Spodnik asks prayers for her sister-in-law, Linda Dillon, who has been diagnosed with bone cancer. Pray for healing and wisdom for her doctors...Kathy York’s daughter, Jessica, and her boyfriend, Kevin, were in a car accident last week. The car was totaled and Praise God, they walked away from it. They are sore and banged up. Please pray for their healing...For our President and all of our military men, women and families.
Emma Tompkins is back home now. She is on oxygen and has day and night care now. She would appreciate cards and visits. Phone calls are difficult for her, as she has trouble hearing. Please pray for improvement.
Calendar of Events
July 6: Friendship Sunday; Italian Potluck after Morning Services
Graduation Open House for Blain Rennels; 2:00-4:00 p.m.
July 9: Family Scavenger Hunt; 6:30 p.m.
July 19: Jasmine Frunk and Thadd Flock Wedding in Estacada, Oregon
July 21-25: VBS
