7 Deadly Sins Series
June 29, 2008
Envy
Have you ever wanted something that was not yours? I dont mean just wanted it though. I mean like you really really really wanted it. But more than that. I mean like you wanted what someone else had so much that you actually wished that they didnt have it?
When I was in High School I had this friend. To be honest I wished I was him. He was in better shape than I was. Girls thought he was a lot more attractive than I was. He was a good guitarist. He was a great singer. He was an inspirational song writer. Of all the people I have known in life he is the most likely to become a celebrity. He was many of the things I wasnt. He was popular when nobody really knew me. He was funny and charming when I was a dribbling fool. He was gifted with something that drew people to him. I didnt have that. I wanted to be him so badly. I dreamed of walking up and instead of being me my brain would have gone and taken over his body and all his talent and skills would have come with it. He was a friend of mine, but I found myself resenting him because he was what I wished I could be. I wanted to have his skills his talents but it got so bad that I didnt just want what he had. I would have been happier if he just didnt have it. I wasnt just jealous of what he had. I was envious.
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever wanted something so badly that you secretly wished that if you couldnt have it that no one could? Do you ever find yourself taking just a little bit of joy out of the failure of those around you? Maybe not like rejoicing in the suffering that they experience or when something really bad happens to them, but lets just say when the person sitting next to you sins. Do you ever find yourself taking a little bit of pleasure when you discover the sin of another person? Do you ever just maybe feel like your chance of getting into heaven is improved when the people around you sin? Do you ever find yourself thinking of your spiritual walk more like a competition than a journey? When the people next to you stumble that just makes you look even better. Have you ever felt that way? Have you been jealous maybe not of a someone elses stuff, but of their gifts, their abilities, the relationships, or maybe their Spirituality?
Lets call her Jane. Janes life did not go the way she wanted. It wasnt like she didnt have friends. That was not her problem. Her problem was that all of her friends were moving through life faster than she was. While her friends all managed to find really nice guys all she found were jerks. It seemed like all of her friends got married before she did. They all began their new lives, moved away, started careers, and took the next steps. Jane just couldnt get it. Things were taking longer than she wanted them to. Her five year plan was quickly turning into a ten year plan. Time was going by and it is not like she was getting any younger. Still she was not married. She was not even happy. Jane found that she started to resent those around her. She would look and see people happy in their marriage and she hated them for it. She wanted them to have to endure the misery she was enduring. I mean if she couldnt be happy no one should be happy.
Eventually Jane would marry. Ever the pessimist however it was too late in life. Her husband wasnt good enough. He wasnt perfect. No matter what he did or how he treated her it just wasnt enough to make her happy. Jane began to look at everything as negative. As the years went by her resentment toward others would only grow. She despised anyone who drove a nicer car than she did, anyone who lived in a nicer house, wore nicer clothes, had a better tan she resented anyone and everyone who had something she wanted. It actually got so bad that Jane found herself taking pleasure in the failures of her friends. Instead of offering sympathy and concern when someone she cared about had a problem in their life Jane actually enjoyed it. She had so much resentment and bitterness in her heart that she actually enjoyed the suffering of others, even the people she cared about. She wasnt always like that. Over the years she found herself unsatisfied with what she had. She blamed others and envied them. She lied to herself saying if she could get what they had she would be happy. Deep down she knew it wasnt true. Janes envy had grown from a mild disappointment to an all out resentment of others. Have you ever felt like Jane? Ever, resented a person simply because they had something you wished you had?
This week we are looking at the sin of envy. Envy is when you covet the advantages, possessions, or success of another. The sin of envy can lead us to do terrible things: Socrates said, Envy is the daughter of pride, the author of murder and revenge, the begetter of secret sedition, the perpetual tormentor of virtue. Envy is the filthy slime of the soul; a venom, a poison, a quicksilver, which consumes the flesh and dries up the bones. . Envy is the worst kind of poison that can exist in your heart. It is the kind of poison you dont even realize is there. We dont spend a lot of time worrying about the envy in our hearts because at least up until this point we have not acted on it. We are aware of our lust problem. We are aware of our anger problem. We are aware that we sin. But when was the last time you really worried about the envy that lives in your heart? The dangerous thing about envy is that it tells us that it is harmless. So we dont pay attention to it and all the while it grows deeper and stronger in our hearts. Socrates is on something: envy leads to all kinds of terrible actions like: murder, revenge, sedition, anger, and slander. Envy is not something to be taken lightly. Galatians 5:19 shows us the kind of sins that held on par with envy. It also shows us the result of these sins and how damaging they can be to our lives:
Gal 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; Gal 5:20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions Gal 5:21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Honestly, we all have envied another person at some point. We have all wanted what someone else had. Sadly we dont often deal with our envy problem. Despite the fact that many of sins we commit come out of root of envy. Envy is nothing new. In fact the third person to ever walk the earth envied. If you would turn in your Bible to Genesis chapter 4 while you are turning there I want to set the stage. Adam and Eve have just eaten of the fruit in the garden. So our story takes place just after Adam and Eve have been kicked out of the garden.
Ge 4:1 Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man. Ge 4:2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. Ge 4:3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. Ge 4:4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, Ge 4:5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Ge 4:6 Then the LORD said to Cain, Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? Ge 4:7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it. Ge 4:8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, Lets go out to the field. And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Ge 4:9 Then the LORD said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? I dont know, he replied. Am I my brothers keeper? Ge 4:10 The LORD said, What have you done? Listen! Your brothers blood cries out to me from the ground. Ge 4:11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brothers blood from your hand. Ge 4:12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.
The story is pretty well known. Cain and Able bring their offerings to God. God favors Ables offering but not Cains. Now there are people who claim that Cains offering is not accepted because it is not a blood sacrifice. However, the story seems to indicate pretty clearly that both offerings were acceptable as they were both considered offerings and not sacrifices. Able is a shepherd. So naturally when he brings an offering he is bringing what he has: animals. Cain is a farmer. He brings what he has as an offering to God. It is not the blood that makes Able’s sacrifice different from Cains, its the heart that is giving it. Both of these brothers brought an appropriate offering. The difference is not that one is accepted and one isn’t. The difference is that one is favored and the other isn’t.
Let’s look at Able: Able brought some of the fat portions of the firstborn of his flock. Not only did Able bring an offering to God before taking care of his own needs, Able brought God the best portions of meat. This tells us a little bit about the heart of Able. He gives to God before taking care of himself. This tells us that Able is trusting that God will provide for him even after he has brought this offering. Able did not wait until he had counted all the cows and made sure he had enough. He is not giving to God out of his excess he is giving to God before he even knows if he has enough to live. Able puts his faith in God to provide. He gives to God out of a desire to give God a gift. You dont give you first fruits out of obligation. When you are obligated to give you give out of what you have left over. When you give the first fruits you are giving out of a desire to give. Able wants to give God the best offering he can and because of his heart God favors Ables offering.
Now lets look at Cain. The text tells us that Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering. The text does not tell us that this is the first fruit of his crop which might just be a clue. Now I have a theory. I cant prove this theory, but the handy thing is you cant prove me wrong. Perhaps the reason we are not told that Cain brought the first fruits is that he didnt. Perhaps Cain has already finished the harvest and he already knows how much food he has. So when he gathers some of the fruits of the soil to bring his offering he is not giving to God before he takes care of himself. Perhaps he is giving to God out of his excess. That certainly takes away the faith in God to provide which could be the reason that God does not favor Cains offering. Now here is the part I can prove: Cains response to God not favoring his offering shows us the heart behind his giving. Cain did not bring an offering to God because he wanted to give to God. He brought an offering to God because he wanted to get from God. He wanted Gods attention. He wanted Gods admiration. He wanted Gods praise. When Able got those things instead of him, Cain became envious of his brother.
Make no mistake Cains first sin is not anger. His anger does cause him to sin, but it is not his first sin. Cains anger came out of his envy. The resolve that he had to kill his own brother came not from his anger but from his envy. Remember Socrates quote? Envy is the author of murder. That is a Biblical truth. Envy is what caused Cain to become angry. Envy is what caused Cain to commit the first murder. Envy is not something we should take lightly.
Now just because the envy in your life has not led you to kill yet that does not mean it is any less dangerous or any more appropriate. Envy is a dangerous sin and the fruits that it will bear have no place in the life of a Christian.
Now some of you think that you are doing pretty well. You feel like you are living an acceptable Christian life. But as with offerings lives can be acceptable but not favorable. This life is not about just doing enough to get by. Your life is your offering to God. Are you offering it out of true desire to give God the best that you can, or are you offering it out of a desire to get Gods attention? Are you looking to get in just as the door is closing having indulged yourself in as many pleasures as you could while being righteous enough to be saved or are you looking to offer God the best life that you can?
Now some of you covet stuff, possessions. You are satisfied with you 3 year old car until your neighbor gets a brand new one. You are satisfied with your 4 bedroom house until your friend at work gets a 5 bedroom house. You know your heart. You know the darkness that lives in it. You know that you envy other peoples stuff. So you are at least aware of the sin. Others of you have learned to be content with the things you have but what you covet are the gifts and talents of others. You see someone else do something and you think Man(or woman) I wish I could do that! How come God didnt give me any cool things that I can do. Then some of you super spiritual people covet the character, wisdom, and spirituality of others. You try to pass it off as if it is ok but what you are doing is still envy. Just because you are envying something good does not mean it is not envy.
So what are we going to do with this envy problem that we have? How are we going to get through this? The answer is simple: Love.
1Co 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
The best way to overcome a sin problem in your life is to love. To love as Christ loved us. This is the kind of love that is willing to lay down everything for the sake of the one you love. If you have an envy problem it is not really a problem with envy but with love.
You have a choice: you can live with a love for yourself like everyone in this world or you can live with a love for God and for His Son who loves you. When you see Christ when you encounter Him in your life and you realize the love He has for you then you might find that you have the strength to overcome the envy that lives in your heart.
