Envy
Matthew 20
Parable of the Vineyard Workers
1 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.
3 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. 5So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.
6 “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
7 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’
“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’
8 “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. 10When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, 12‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’
13 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’
16 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”
ENVY → CHARITY
Envy asks:
"Can I trust God with you?"
- Covetousness
- "I want what you have."
- Comparison
- Scorekeeping
Envy
"I resent that you have what I want."
- More than wanting
- Resenting another person's blessing
- Offended by another person's good
"Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?"
The Workers
- They were not cheated
- They received exactly what was promised
- Nothing changed except their perspective
- Comparison poisoned gratitude
- the Kingdom is not a scoreboard
Schadenfreude (epicaricacy)
- "harm-joy" or "joy upon misfortune"
- Delight in another person's misfortune
- Envy grieves another person's blessing
- celebrates another person's suffering
Bitterness
Envy that has settled in.
Resentment rehearsed.
A hardening of the heart.
Lament
- Feel the feelings
- Name the feelings
- Bring the feelings to God
- Let the truth/reality interpret the feelings
- Let virtue govern the response
Charity
- Wills the good of another
- actually roots for others (even competitors)
- Celebrates another person's flourishing
- Turns rivals into neighbors
A Reminder:
Most of us are not the workers who came early.
As Gentiles, we came late.
We live by grace.
We are recipients of generosity we did not earn.
Celebration is Evidence
When you can celebrate another person's blessing,
charity is growing in you
This Week:
Put down or ignore the scoreboard(s)
Celebrate someone else's win
"Put a 10 on everyone's forehead."
-Doug Samples
Vice & Virtue
The Seven Deadly Sins and The Virtues that Heal Them
A Litany for Vice & Virtue
Leader: God of truth and grace, You created all things good.
People: Yet we have twisted Your gifts and trusted our own understanding.
Leader: Where pride has distorted our sight,
People: Teach us humility and help us see as You see.
Leader: Where vice has broken communion with You, with others, and with creation,
People: Restore us through the life of Christ and the power of Your Spirit.
Leader: Take what is disordered within us and put it back into Your good order.
People: Redeem our desires, our thoughts, our habits, and our loves.
Leader: Where we have grasped for control,
People: Teach us trust.
Leader: Where we have withheld love,
People: Teach us virtue.
Leader: Form in us the character of Christ.
People: That Your grace may flow through us into the world.
Leader: Sanctify us wholly—spirit, soul, and body.
People: Until Your love is perfected in us. Amen.
Questions to Consider:
- Who is difficult for you to be happy for right now?
- Where are you comparing yourself to others?
- What disappointment do you need to talk to God about?
- What resentment might be growing in your heart?
- How can you celebrate someone else's success this week?
