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Mary Ann –
Envy
Mark 7:20-23
Last week we began a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, and I was told in
the parking lot that it was good to have an expert on the topic.
Everyone laughed. It was funny. And things are funny only if there's
some truth in them, and I am fairly well acquainted with most of the
deadly sins. Tonight's installment in particular.
Tonight we deal with Mary Ann's sin. Remember last week I told you that
you could remember the seven deadly sins by simply remembering the cast
of Gilligan's Island. When I was growing up, every day between cartoons
and Saved By The Bell you could watch Gilligan’s Island. So I'm pretty
well acquainted with the 90 or so episodes of the show.
In a number of episodes, the theme of the show was Mary Ann's envy of
Ginger. In the most honest of those, Mary Ann receives a hit on the head
and when she wakes up she thinks she is Ginger. The professor, ever
confident in his wisdom (remember we talked about him and pride last
week) tells the rest of the castaways that they must go along with Mary
Anne or she will suffer a terrible psychological shock. So they all
pretend with her.
She dresses like Ginger, acts like her, talks in the breathy voice, and
she even tries to pull off a night of entertainment. It's during the
show that Mary Anne receives another blow to the head. When she wakes
up, she's back to her old self again.
If you've ever wrestled with envy, you know it isn't quite that easy.
This is one of the most difficult and one of the most damning of sins.
Scottish preacher Andrew Bonar made this confession in his diary; "This
day 20 years ago I preached for the first time as an ordained minister.
It is amazing that the Lord has spared me and used me at all. I have no
reason to wonder that He used others far more than He does me. Yet envy
is my hurt, and today I have been seeking grace to rejoice exceedingly
over the usefulness of others, even where it cast me into the shade.
Lord, take away this envy from me!"
As I looked for quotes and Illustrations this week I noticed that envy
is apparently a very common sin among the clergy. F.B. Meyer held a
gospel meeting in Northfield, Mass., and large crowds gathered to hear
him. While he was there the great British Bible teacher G. Campbell
Morgan came to the same city and people were soon flocking to hear his
brilliant expositions of scripture. Meyer confessed at first he was
envious. He said, "The only way I can conquer my feelings is to pray for
Morgan daily, which I must do."
Henry Fairlie, in his book, The Seven Deadly Sins, points out that while
the "other sins have been celebrated, however perversely, in popular
song, envy has no song. It does not sing; it cannot bear to look, except
through squinting eyes; it is unable to love, because it is riddled with
fear. This gnawing fear that, if someone else gains something, it must
be losing something, that someone else's good, material or spiritual,
must mean its own lessening, runs through ourselves and our societies
today." (Fairlie, p. 68).
Before we talk about why envy is such a problem in our culture, let's be
sure we get a good biblical definition of what it is.
Look with me in Mark 7:20 - 23. (Read text).
Okay, the first thing I want you to notice is the company envy keeps.
Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, deceit, lewdness,
slander and arrogance. Those are some pretty nasty traveling companions
and envy is right there in the parade.
I have a suspicion that quite a few of us are sitting out there tonight
feeling pretty comfortable with this sermon. Envy isn't a problem for
you or, if it is, it isn't a really bad problem. At least you aren't
into internet pornography.
Well, the word envy here in Mark 7:22 is really two words in Greek.
Opthalmos, from which we get our word ophthalmology. It means eye.
The other word is porneros. Porn - as in pornography.
Opthalmos pomeros. That's envy. Now does it sound more like a serious
problem? Literally, it means evil eye.
It was out of envy that the chief priests delivered Jesus up to be
crucified. Envy is listed with all the sins we think are big ones. And
it was behind the crucifixion of Jesus.
So what, specifically is it?
Often, we think that envy is just a synonym for greed or covetousness.
We'll talk about greed in a couple of weeks. They aren't the same thing.
To covet is to want what someone else possesses.
Exodus 20: 17, the last of the Ten Commandments, puts it this way. "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."
The emphasis in the tenth commandment is on your neighbor's possessions.
Covetousness, or greed, focuses on things. Envy, on the other hand has a
slightly different focus. And the nuance is significant. In the New
Testament, envy refers to the desire to deprive another of what he has.
If I covet my neighbor's possessions I am simply wanting the same kinds
of things he has. If I envy my neighbor, I am wanting his things.
To covet is to focus on things. To envy is to focus on the owner of the
things we covet. Envy is an intensification and a personalization of
covetousness. I don't just wish I had your things. I wish I had them and
you didn't. It is both greed and malice mixed together in a toxic stew.
It isn't enough for me to win. You have to lose. Envy is the desire to
deprive another.
That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, "Love does not envy." That's
also a part of why he said that love does not rejoice in evil.
If you secretly -- or not so secretly -- enjoy it when something bad
happens to someone, you know what envy is.
If you resent someone because they have things or enjoy experiences that
you cannot have or enjoy -- you know what envy is.
If you resent someone because they can do things you cannot do or know
things you cannot know -- you know what envy is.
Envy even finds a foothold in the spiritual realm. St. John of the Cross
wrote, "As far as envy is concerned, many experience displeasure when
they see others in the possession of spiritual goods. They feel sensibly
hurt because others surpass them on this road, and they resent it when
others are praised."
The really nasty thing about envy is that it robs us of gratitude for
the things we do possess, the experiences we do enjoy and the abilities
we do have. Most of the other deadly sins, at least initially, provide
some kind of pleasure. For a moment, even the proud feel happy about
their supposed superiority. The angry can feel righteous in their
indignation. The gluttonous certainly derive pleasure from their food as
do the lustful from their lust.
But the envious person feels no pleasure. He only feels a sense of
deprivation, of loss, of nothingness, of self-torment, of being
imprisoned by his own apparently pitiful life.
So if it is such an ugly sin, why is it so prevalent?
If it is so painful, why is it so popularly embraced?
One of the downsides of living in a free economy is the commercial.
Besides the fact that, for the most part, they are thoroughly annoying,
they very seductively drill us to adopt a particular world view.
Commercials are designed to incite envy in those to whom they must sell
their products. Commercials provoke us to envy. They aren't just selling
products. They are selling values.
The unspoken message of most commercials is that if you will buy this
product or service, then you win be as happy, beautiful, healthy, fit,
attractive, handsome, intelligent, peaceful, cool, together, wanted,
sexy, sought after, joyful, as the person you see on the screen. In
other words, whatever it is you want is one purchase away.
But it goes deeper than that. Beneath the implication that you will be
everything the character in the commercial appears to be, is the idea
that everyone is entitled to the same experiences, pleasures, abilities
and accomplishments.
Let me say that again, because I think its an important but difficult
concept. Television commercials, as well as all other advertising media,
suggest that you are entitled to the same experiences, pleasures,
abilities and accomplishments as everyone else. And we have believed
that message. We've believed it because it appeals to our pride. "I
deserve," are the first two words of our cultural gospel.
And because we have bought the lie that we are entitled to the same
experiences, pleasures, abilities and accomplishments as everyone else,
we expect to have them. Then when we do not get to take that Caribbean
vacation or thrill to the experience of riding our own wave runner on
the lake, when we cannot for the life of us write a best selling book or
succeed academically, we become embittered.
Our expectations haven't been met. And then we resent those who do take
the vacations or own the water craft or write the books or earn the
degrees or accomplish the feats. We envy them, because we have bought
into the lie.
Here is the truth. There are people who are smarter than you. They
always have been and they always will be.
There are people who are richer than you. They are so far ahead of you
financially that you'll never catch up. Of if you do, you'll be too old
to really enjoy the wealth the way they are now enjoying their wealth.
There are people who will go places you will never go. They will do
things you will never do. They will see things you will never see.
And that isn't unfair. We are not entitled to wonderful experiences,
exciting pleasures, amazing abilities or stunning accomplishments.
Last week I asked you to remember the first temptation. Satan appealed
to Eve's pride. He said, "You will be like God." It was also an
incitement to envy. You deserve to have the power, the authority, the
knowledge that God has. The truth is, we do not deserve even half the
things we think we do. That may seem like an awfully ugly thing to say,
but I am attacking our sense of entitlement. That sense of entitlement
is the richly fertilized soil in which envy best grows.
So what do we do about it? Well, we've already begun dismantling the
myth. The myth that if someone somewhere gets to have something or know
something or do something, you should, too. As you view television
commercials or listen to radio commercials or read the print versions,
take them in critically. What are they really trying to sell you? A
product or a value? Constantly search your own heart for a deadly sense
of entitlement.
Second, envy cannot grow in a grateful heart.
For years we have sung the song “Count Your Many Blessings” It’s number
33 in our book. Listen to the words of that song that you have sung for
years.
When upon life's billows You are tempest tossed When you are discouraged
Thinking all is lost Count your many blessings Name them one by one And
it will surprise you What the Lord has done
Are you ever burdened With a load of care Does the cross seem heavy You
are called to bear Count your many blessings Every doubt will fly And
you will be singing As the days go by
When you look at others With their lands and gold Think that Christ has
promised You His wealth untold Count your many blessings Money cannot
buy Your reward in heaven Nor your home on high
So, amid the conflict Whether great or small Do not be discouraged God
is over all Count your many blessings Angels will attend Help and
comfort give you To your journey's end Count your blessings Name them
one by one Count your blessings See what God has done Count your
blessings Name them one by one Count your many blessings See what God
has done
If we have to go as far as taking a piece of paper and listing the
things and experiences and abilities and pleasures that you do enjoy,
then I’ll provide the paper. List them. Then go back to the top of the
page and begin thanking God for every one of them. Gratitude kills envy.
Third, and this is exceedingly difficult, pray for those you envy.
We are not going to spend a lot of time on this point. Let me just
remind you to pray for those you envy or better yet, serve them. It is
difficult to wish ill on those you pray for and serve.
Finally, recognize the unique person God made you to be.
Envy is, at it's core, self-rejection. Envy says, "I have seen who I am,
and who I am is not as good as who you are. You have things I do not
have, you know things I do not know, you experience things I do not
experience. Therefore you are more valuable than I am."
Envy asks us to believe the lie that one's value as a person is
determined by the abundance of possessions, the accomplishment of feats,
the accumulation of experiences or the acquisition of trophies, be they
made of metal or flesh.
In the end, envy is the ultimate self-loathing because it says, "Since I
am not you, I am nothing."
D. L. Moody told a story about an envious eagle. He saw another eagle
flying higher than he could ever hope to fly and immediately was filled
with such resentment. Then he spied a hunter. He flew to the hunter and
said, "I wish you would bring down that eagle up there."
The man said he would if he had some feathers for his arrow. So the
envious eagle pulled one out of his wing. The arrow was shot, but it
didn't quite reach the rival bird because he was flying too high. The
first eagle pulled out another feather, then another--until he had lost
so many that he himself couldn't fly. The archer took advantage of the
situation, turned around, and killed the helpless bird.
Envy won't stop our hearts from pumping blood or our lungs from
breathing oxygen. But it will kill us all the same.
Recognize the lie. Learn gratitude. Pray for those you envy. And learn
to see yourself and your life with the eyes of God. You are loved,
valued and cherished. To God, you already are somebody. Somebody worth
dying for.
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