IDEA: Covetousness can lie behind our failure to obey the fifth commandment. TEXT: "Honor your father and your mother. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's" (Exodus 20:12, 17).

PURPOSE: To help listeners see that covetousness may be disguised as religion in order to keep us from doing what God has told us to do.

It is a truism in politics that people do not vote their principles; they vote their pocketbooks.

I. It may also be a truism in religion that people live by their pocketbooks more than by the precepts of God.

The fifth commandment says that we are to honor our fathers and mothers.

Jesus refers to a tradition in His time that allowed the people to vote their pocketbooks rather than to live by a principle (Matthew 15:1-9).

Apparently the Pharisees had a tradition that if they said of their possessions "Corban" (gift to God), then they were not responsible to take care of their parents in their older years. It does not mean that the possessions declared Corban were given to God or the temple, but it was a convenient excuse for not having to support parents.

Without being overly cynical, what do you think prompted that tradition? Coveting can be disguised as worship.

II. Coveting can lie behind our failure to give to God and to God's work.

If you were to think of a "norm" that can be used to gauge how much to give, what would it be?

Do you think our responsibility to care for our aging parents is still an obligation? If so, why do many Christians seem to shrug it off?

When people say that they cannot give to God and to God's work, it usually doesn't mean that they don't have any money at all. It means that they've decided to use their money for other things. A covetous heart can lead to a tight fist.