King George and the Ducky
Notes
Transcript
“King George and the Ducky
Exodus 20:17
By Dr. Kent Spann
In VeggieTales' King George and the Ducky, an animated children’s film, Larry the Cucumber stars as King George, and Bob the Tomato is his faithful servant, Lewis. The privileges of royalty—kingdom expansion, castles, power, and treasures—do not appeal to King George, but he loves to bathe with his rubber duck. Splishing and splashing, he sings an ode to his rubber duck called—what else?—“I Love My Duck.”
One day, while standing on the royal balcony in his purple robe and golden crown, King George peers through binoculars, and his eyes grow wide with desire. He spies something wonderful—a rubber duck. But it belongs to Billy, who happens to be bathing with his rubber duck on his own balcony. Billy’s rubber duck looks exactly like King George’s rubber duck. Nonetheless, the king covets it, exclaiming, “I want it.”
“Lewis reminds him that he already has a duck and that the other duck belongs to someone else.
“Are you saying I shouldn’t have whatever I want?” asks the king.
Lewis opens a large wardrobe overflowing with hundreds of identical rubber ducks and says, “If I could just jog your memory, you already have quite a few ducks.”
King George’s rationale is simple. He shoots a condescending look at his unlearned servant and replies, “Those are yesterday’s ducks.”
Someone else had a new duck, and King George wanted it.
Grapes of Wrath
“That reminds me of the tragic story of Ahab in 1 Kings 21. Ahab saw Naboth’s vineyard and decided he wanted it. When Naboth refused to give or sell it to Ahab, Ahab went home pouting to his wife, Jezebel. Jezebel hatched a plan to get it, resulting in Naboth’s death. Finally Ahab had what he wanted, but the joy of it was short-lived, because Elijah showed up to pour cold water on his party.
When you dig deep into the story, you see how covetousness led to the violation of eight of the Ten Commandments.
• Ahab put the land ahead of God (first commandment).
Ex 20:3
"You shall have no other gods before me.
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• Ahab worshiped the land (second commandment).”
Ex 20:4
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
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• Jezebel misused the name of the Lord by proclaiming a fast (third commandment).
Ex 20:7
"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
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• Ahab dishonored Naboth’s family by taking the family inheritance (fifth commandment).
Ex 20:12
"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
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• Jezebel murdered Naboth (sixth commandment).
Ex 20:13
13 "You shall not murder.
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• Ahab stole the vineyard (eighth commandment).
Ex 20:15
"You shall not steal.
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• Jezebel arranged false testimony (ninth commandment).
Ex 20:16
"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
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• All because Ahab coveted (tenth commandment).
Ex 20:17
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
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A Daily Tragic Story
What a tragic story! But no more tragic than what goes on every day in our own country and in most of our lives. It is called coveting, and it is the desire to have something or someone that belongs to another person. It is life in twenty-first-century America.”
“One of the most popular movies of 1991 was a horrific thriller called The Silence of the Lambs. The movie, directed by Jonathan Demme, was about a serial killer named Hannibal Lecter and his strange friendship with a young FBI trainee named Clarice Starling.
In the beginning Lecter is being held by the FBI in a special cell designed to prevent any possibility of escape. As Starling gets to know him, she asks for his help in capturing another serial killer. He agrees to help, and in a climactic scene set in Memphis, Tennessee, Lecter explains to Starling where she should begin to look. In the process he gives her what amounts to a lecture in biblical theology. The conversation went something like this:
“What was the original sin, Clarice?”
“Excuse me?”
“What was the original sin in Eden?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t have time to play games.”
“Think. What was the sin that Adam and Eve committed?”
“I don’t know.”
“It was coveting. They wanted something they couldn’t have.”
“So what?”
“That’s the answer, Clarice.”
“What do you mean?”
“The man you are looking for is a covetous man. He wants something he can’t have.” Then Lecter explains what he means in a sentence of pure spiritual truth:
“We covet what we see everyday. Go back,” he says. “Go back and find his hometown. Go back and see what he sees every day. There you will find your answer.”
Coveting is the original sin. The first couple coveted the forbidden fruit and sinned against God.
God Speaks
“Once again God speaks to our covetous society in Exodus 20:17. The commandments were given by God at the time of Israel’s founding.
God was giving the Israelites their constitution. He did it personally from Mount Sinai.
No society can thrive when it is eaten up with covetousness.
Covetousness is never satisfied (Eccl. 5:10–12).
Covetousness engrosses the heart (Ezek. 33:31; 2 Pet. 2:14) and even comes from the heart (Mark 7:22, 23).
What we covet becomes an idol (Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5).
Covetousness leads to:
injustice and oppression (Mic. 2:2)
murder (Prov. 1:18, 19; Ezek. 22:12)
great temptations (1 Tim. 6:9)
harmful desires (1 Tim. 6:9)
ruin and destruction (1 Tim. 6:9)
departure from the faith (1 Tim. 6:10)
Covetousness ruins homes and marriages (Prov. 15:27).
Covetousness is the cause of war and conflict (James 4:1–4).
Covetousness results in God’s judgment upon a nation (Josh. 7:1–26; Mic. 2:2, 3).
The Antidote to Covetousness
How can we fight covetousness?
Desire the right things the right way.
This one is stated first because we need to know that all desire is not wrong.
God created us to desire.
God created us to desire to have a relationship with Him.
God created us to desire to do what is right.
A person without desire is no longer a person who God created them to be. .
How do we keep desire in check?
We desire the right things—God (Ps. 42:1, 2; Phil. 3:7–14),
His kingdom (Matt. 6:33),
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
His approval (Matt. 25:21, 23),
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Matt. 25:21, 23)
and others’ good (1 Cor. 13:4–7).
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
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We desire the right way by avoiding excess and rejecting illegitimate, exploitative, or selfish desires.
Love our neighbor (Matt. 22:39).
Cultivate gratitude (Ps. 100:4; Col. 2:7; 1 Thess. 5:18).
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
Ps 100:4.
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Th 5:18.
Choose contentment ( Heb. 13:5).
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.
Heb 13:5.
“A man was tired of his friends owning nicer homes than his, so he went to see a realtor and put his home on the market and began to search for a new one. One day, as he was reading the paper, he came across a listing for a home that was just what he was looking for. He called his realtor. The realtor replied “Sir, that is your house. That is the house we are trying to sell for you.”
Give generously (Acts 20:35; Rom. 12:13; 2 Cor. 8, 9).
Acts 20:35
35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
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Romans 12:13
13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
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2 Corinthians 8:9
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
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A Tale of Two Lives
The story of Howard Hughes, who lived between 1905 and 1976, is tragic. There was only one thing he wanted in life—more. He wanted more money, so he parlayed inherited wealth into a billion-dollar pile of assets. He wanted more fame, so he went to Hollywood and became a filmmaker and star. He wanted more sensual pleasures, so he paid handsome sums to indulge his every hedonistic urge. He wanted more thrills, so he designed, built, and piloted the fastest aircraft in the world. He wanted more power, so he secretly dealt political favors so skillfully that two U.S. presidents became his pawns. All he ever wanted was more.
And yet Howard Hughes ended his life emaciated, colorless, with a sunken chest. His fingernails resembled grotesque, inches-long corkscrews. His teeth were black and rotten, and innumerable needle marks covered his body from his drug addiction. Howard Hughes walked around nearly naked most of the time, with his beard and hair to his waist. He lived in darkness, wore rubber gloves, and sterilized everything in his junk-filled room. He spent most of his time watching old movies and drinking soup. “He talked on the phone for ten to fifteen hours a day, because he was so lonely. He died weighing ninety-five pounds. The only way the Treasury Department could identify him was by his fingerprints.
Now contrast that to the apostle Paul, who lost everything but needed nothing (Phil. 3:7–14).
Let me put it in simple terms.
Enough is enough when God is enough!”
Conclusion:
The first commandment says it all.
Ex 20:3
3 "You shall have no other gods before me.
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Don’t leave here if you don't have a relationship with Jesus.
How do you do that? You say a simple prayer. Just saying the prayer doesn't save you; but meaning what you say is what saves you. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:1-21 that he must be born again. That is what He is talking about having a spiritual rebirth.
Don’t leave here today if you don't have a relationship with Jesus.
Excerpt From
Nelson's Preacher's Sourcebook
Thomas Nelson
https://books.apple.com/us/book/nelsons-preachers-sourcebook/id6443651804
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