Word of Salvation – October 2015

 

Love Does Not Envy, It is Not Jealous

A sermon by Rev. Pieter Tuit on 1Corinthians 13:4

 

Holy habits for following Jesus. This is what we have been talking about the past couple weeks. How are we doing with developing these holy habits? Have we seen any changes in ourselves, in our characters? Have we seen any changes in our families. Have we seen any changes in our life together as a congregation? Are we as husbands more patient and more kind? Can the same thing be said about the wives in our midst? Have our children seen a more Christlike patience and kindness in us as parents? In other words are we living out what we are in Christ?

Again, 1 Corinthians reminds us that we can be and do all kinds of things but if we have not love, love that makes us patient and kind we are nothing, zilch, zero.

This morning we start with the holy habits that are expressed in the negative. We know that love is patient and kind. At the same time love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not rude and so on. In other words the presence of God’s love in our hearts does not only make us patient and kind it also helps us not to envy or not to be jealous. The Message translates it very pointedly as follows, ”love does not want what it does not have.”

This is not the only time we find the Bible dealing with jealousy or envy. For example we read in Prov. 14:30 Top of Form

“A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.” James 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” 1 Cor. 3:3 “For you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” Romans 13:13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.And in Gal 5 envy is listed as a work of the flesh “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. We can conclude that envy, according to Scripture is a very serious sin. There is even the warning that jealous or envious people will not inherit the Kingdom of God, in other words they will not receive salvation.

Love does not envy. The Corinthian church needed to hear this. They had the problem of jealousy or envy in their midst. In the congregation were a number of factions. Some followed Peter, others Apollo and still others Paul. There was sinful rivalry amongst these factions. Each faction envied any success that another faction would have. For the apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit this was not the way of Christ. Their jealousy and strife was for him a sign that they were behaving in a human way and in accordance with the sinful flesh.

This holy habit that God’s love wants to form and shape in us does raise questions. After all, do not love and jealousy go together. Do we not read in the ten commandments that our God is a jealous God and that this jealousy is very closely connected with his love for his people? Isn’t it good for a couple to be jealous of each others’ love?

Let’s look at some of these questions. First of all, though it is true that love is not jealous or does not envy it is also true that envy or jealousy is used in the Bible in a positive sense. And in this context it is important to mention that our God is a jealous God as we read it in the second commandment. God is jealous for the love of his people. He will not share this love with any other. This is why we read at the beginning of the ten commandments, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.You shall have no other gods before me.”

More than once the people of Israel are portrayed as being married to God. Consequently, when they lusted after other gods they arose the Lord jealousy. Jealousy, properly understood has a place in a marriage relationship. It does not say much for the nature of the marriage relationship if the husband or wife does not mind if the other spouse commits adultery. There is no room for a third or fourth party in a marriage relationship. The love that exists between husband and wife can and should bless many others. At the same time it cannot be shared. Marriage is an exclusive love relationship between husband and wife. We may be properly jealous of our spouse’s love. Of course, this jealousy should not become an obsession. Sometimes this happens. It happens especially when one spouse feels uncertain about the marriage relationship and will almost choke the other spouse with his or her jealousy.

The word that is used in the Bible for envy or jealousy is also used to describe desiring good things. For example in 1 Cor. 12:31 Paul encourages us to eagerly desire the greater gifts. We find something similar in 1 Cor. 14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts. Or in verse 39 Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophecy. Paul tells the Galatian Christians in Gal 4:18 that it is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not only when I am with you. In 2 Cor 11:2 he tells the church that he is jealous of them with a godly jealousy.

At the same time, the love that God, in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, pours out in our hearts does not make us envy or jealous in a sinful way. It does not make us want what we do not have. It does not make us desire another husband or wife. It does not make us desire the consumer goods that the world places before us. It does not make us want what the other person has.

The reason that this can happen is because this love of God in our hearts makes us satisfied with God and with him alone. This love of God in Christ makes us say with the psalmist in Psalm 73 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. This same psalmist had said in verse three that he had envied the arrogant and when he saw the prosperity of the wicked.

It is this love of God through Christ that gives us the pearl of great price and once we have that there is no need to envy other things. It is this love of God in Christ that prevents us from becoming idolatrous by finding the source of our joy and happiness in desiring other things but not God himself.

Of course, this is easier said than done. This is especially true for the kind of world in which we live. When we really think about it we come to the conclusion that our world runs on envy. This is especially true for our economic world. Our economic system would collapse if no one would want what they do not have. Our building industry would collapse if people did not want to build a bigger and better home. Our consumeristic society is build on the fact that people envy, that they want to have what they do not have. We are part of it. For many of us, our jobs depend on it. Yes, our church contributions depend on it. We can ask the question whether our forefather and mothers would have immigrated to this country if they truly practiced not wanting what they did not have. Is it wrong for us to encourage our children to get a university education or that apprenticeship? Aren’t we encouraging them to want what they do not have?

So, how do we understand and develop that holy habit of not wanting what we do not have in a world that basically is wired the opposite way? Scripture does show us a way. And it does so first of all by directing our focus on God. And the interesting thing is that this God is a God who desires to give. It is his delight to bless. The last time we learned that God was kind and gave even to those who did not believe in him. The psalmist sings that the earth and its fullness belong to him and that the cattle on a thousand hills are his and he delights in sharing these bounties with his creation.

This God has also given us the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Christ we have receive all the blessings of salvation. In Christ God gives us all things.In Christ God has also given us the promise and the challenge of his kingdom. Seek you first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and all the things that we need for life will be given to us.

We cannot separate this holy habit of not being envious from Christ and his kingdom. It is Christ and his kingdom that shows us how to live in a world that on all fronts encourages and even needs us to be envious.

When we keep this in mind we can desire what is good, desire to move ahead while at the same time not be envy and not want what we do not have. This applies to us as young people in the choices we make for the future. What do we want to be and do? What educational institution should I attend? What apprenticeship should I apply for? These are good and very important questions but we cannot divorce them form the question what does it mean for me and my future to seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness? How do I seek God’s kingdom in the profession that I want to study for or the internship with the future employment possibilities?

And this applies to each one of us. This applies to employers as well as employees.This applies to the way we prepare for and spend our retirement years. We can not and may not divorce our day to day life from the fact that we belong to the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and al that that means. But if we seek first the kingdom we can strife to be all that we can be and we can do all that we can do in Christ. Then we will want to do well in that apprenticeship and even try to get awards. Then we will get the grades and degrees that we can reach because of the potential it will give us for serving Christ’s kingdom.

Yes, it does mean that our primary focus will not anymore be, “what’s in it for me.” Instead our driving focus will be how can is serve God and love my neighbor better by making the choices I do. And when we do that we will find that God often showers his blessings upon us and that though we pray just for our daily bread he often gives us so much more.

And we will find that when God gives us so much more than our daily bread, we have the desire in us to share this with those who have less than we have. We will find that Christ’s people who develop the holy habit of not being envious, at the same time develop the holy habit of generosity. People who envy are often people who are not generous. Instead, people who are not envious are people who hold their possessions thankfully, grateful to God for his blessings. At the same time they also hold them loosely always willing to give to those who do not have. (Show to the congregation by holding up your hands and let them do it also)

We also find that when God’s love directs us and fills our hearts we can rejoice in what others have rather than being jealous and wanting what we do not have. I realize that this goes contrary to human nature. We see this already in our children. They want what others have. They want what they do not have. Often this attitude carries through to adulthood. However, the holy habit of not being envious makes us give thanks to God for what he has given us. And it also makes us give thanks to God for what he has given to others even when he does not give it to us. We can give thanks to God for a distinction that we received on our report card. At the same time we give thanks to God for the high distinction that our friend, a fellow student has received. We give thanks to God for the home we have and we give thanks to God for the better home a fellow church member has. And we also are generous to those who have less than we have.

Can you imagine the powerful impact of this holy habit when we do not envy anymore. Each of us thankful to God for what he has given us. Each of us thankful to God for what he has given more to others. And each of us generous to those who have less than we have.

Love does not envy. This holy habit God wants to form and shape in all of us, young and old. Through this holy habit he wants us to live positively in a world that makes us want what we do not have. Through this holy habit he helps us to make choices so that we know the difference between wants and needs. Through this holy habit he helps us to live as citizens of his kingdom seeking first his kingdom and its righteousness. Through this holy habit he wants to make us a generous people. Through this holy habit he does want us to desire as Philippians reminds us of what is true, noble, what is right, what is pure, what is lovely, what is admirable, excellent and praise worthy.Yes, he wants us to desire the wisdom that comes from above. He wants us to desire the spiritual gifts that we need to serve Christ in the world.

The love that God, in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit works in us, is patient, is kind and it does not envy. I think we are beginning to see how all these holy habits are hanging together and that the one cannot be separated from the other. The one habit helps to shape th other habit.We can see here that these habits are the result of the fruit growing work of the Holy Spirit in us his fruit bearing people. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness gentleness and self control. In every heart where this fruit is growing there will be little room to be envious or jealous.There will be the ability not to want what we do not have and if we do have it to use it for the furtherance of Christ’s kingdom.

Amen