Deleted Scenes: Romans 7:1-13. An Antidote to Coveting.

It’s not a secret that I’m not a pastor who’s big on formality, which extends to the attention I pay to the “church calendar” (not meaning our particular Bridge Church calendar, but meaning the seasonal rhythms that shape most Catholic and mainline Protestant churches). When people talk about “Whitsun”, for example, I have zero idea what they’re talking about (I just now looked it up but have already forgotten). However, I do know that this Wednesday, March 5, is “Ash Wednesday”. I know that this marks the beginning of a 40 day period known as Lent that leads up to Easter. Many Christians will use this period of time to fast from something in their life as a way of preparing themselves spiritually for Easter. Let’s be clear that there’s nothing at all in the Bible that would require the observance of Lent- it’s not even mentioned. However, many Christians have found it to be a helpful practice. Carolyn has decreed that we will be fasting from sugary treats for Lent this year, unless we’re at someone’s house and they offer us dessert. I’m fully on board with this, if only to stave off repeated requests from a certain one of our children for “a treat”.

Another reason I think Lent is a good practice in some form or another is because it may be the only time some Christians fast. And fasting absolutely is a biblical practice, both in the Old Testament and New. Fasting is intentionally abstaining from something. Most commonly that something is food, but it can be anything. Some people fast from social media or from coffee or from alcohol or from Netflix. They’re taking a break from something that’s a normal presence in their lives. I think fasting is so good because it counteracts our natural 21st century Western expectation to get everything we want, and to get it now. We are not people who generally know how to wait or how to say no to our desires. Our technological advancements, for all the benefits they bring, also shape us in a way that makes us terrible at delayed gratification. This is a problem for anyone who wants to follow Jesus. After all, he said that anyone who wanted to be his disciple would need to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. A disciple of Jesus is someone who is willing to say no to everything else in order to say a resounding yes to him. That means fasting is a kind of training ground for what we’re called to do in Christ.

What does that have to do with Romans 7, which I preached on Sunday? As I read that text, it’s interesting to me that Paul specifically picks out coveting in verse 7. He says that if it weren’t for the law that says “do not covet” (Exodus 20:17), he wouldn’t have known what coveting was. Of all the laws, this is the one that he singles out. He goes on to say that sin seizes the opportunity that laws like this provide and actually increases the sinful desires in us. Again, in context, the example Paul is using is the desire of coveting.

Really quickly, what does it mean to covet? A simple definition is that it is a desire to have what someone else has. There’s an element of coveting in that first sin in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 (the more I look at the text, the more textured it becomes). The serpent tells Eve she can have the knowledge of good and evil that God has and become like Him. In other word, the temptation is to covet something that belongs to God. Could we also not say that there is an element of coveting in much of the evil and sin in the world? How many wars have been fought because one group of people wanted what another group had? How many families have been splintered because someone wanted another person’s spouse? How many people have had their lives shaken, or even taken, because of a robbery- robbery being inevitably driven by covetousness? 

To bring this together, the desire of covetousness is incredibly dangerous, and fasting is one of the best antidotes to it. In fasting, we’re reminded that God is enough for us (see Jesus’ response to the devil in Matthew 4:4). In fasting, we practice contentedness in Him. In fasting, we are reminding ourselves that through God’s strength, we can say no to our desires for what we do not have. There’s no fasting rule that’s being given here (that would undermine everything I said on Sunday!). However, I do believe there’s wisdom in observing Lent. Consider fasting over the next month and a half or so as a way of turning your heart from coveting and towards contentedness in what the Lord has already given you.