There is a universal call from God to all mankind for their salvation, not just the Jews, as we heard in the first reading from Isaiah.
They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, . . . Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.
However, we cannot take our salvation for granted and ignore the call to conversion and repentance. Throughout Sacred Scripture we are warned about being complacent about our salvation. We are all called, but we cannot ignore God’s call to conversion and repentance. The author of Hebrews tell us,
“So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
Make straight paths for your feet,
that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.”
Jesus is asked,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough. . .
Sin weakens us. Sin has real consequences. Each of us has a responsibility to become repentant, obedient children of God. The Apostle John wrote,
“If we say, ‘We have fellowship with him,’ while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth…,
If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.
If we say, ‘We have not sinned,’ we make him a liar, and his word is not in us”
Today we are continuing our series on sin and “The Seven Deadly Sins”. We will continue with the sin of Envy.
As I mentioned then, sin is any morally bad act. Sin separates us from God. Mortal sin is like suicide. Mortal sin is deadly sin when it kills our love for God and severs our friendship with God.
The Seven Deadly Sins include: Pride, Avarice, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth, Envy, and Anger.
As we explore “envy” it will be helpful to distinguish between the meanings of “envy” and “jealousy”. These words are too often used interchangeably, but they are quite different.
Let’s say that you see that your neighbor has purchased a new car. You are “jealous” if you wish that you had that car instead of your neighbor. The same thing could be said of a boyfriend or girlfriend if seen with another person. With jealousy, you feel you can’t be complete until you possess the thing you desire. “Jealousy” is about possession.
“Envy” is different. Envy quickly moves to hate, destruction and division of relationships. If you suffer from the sin of envy, then you might go over when no one is looking and punch holes in the tires of your neighbor’s new car, or take a key and scratch up the paint job on the new car in your neighbor’s driveway. You hate your neighbor. Your attitude is, “If I don’t deserve that car, then you don’t either.” So you destroy the car and the relationship with your neighbor. This is “envy”. Jealousy is about possession. Envy is destructive.
As with the sin of anger, envy may begin with an emotion that you simply cannot anticipate or avoid. We often like things we see in every day life, like a nice car. This is perfectly natural and not sinful when we like nice things. However, dislike and hate can quickly result from envy. After the initial emotion of desire, with the sin of envy you become destructive. The initial emotion was not sinful. But what comes next is entirely your fault, because it is your choice to destroy the relationship with your neighbor and his car.
Consider Satan. Satan was envious of man when he saw how much God loved Adam and Eve, and their friendship with God. In Genesis we learn that Adam and Eve walked and spoke with God in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve enjoyed eternal life with God. Satan was not jealous of man, and he did not want to possess a relationship with God.
Satan hated God and man. Satan determined to destroy man’s friendship with God by tempting Eve and Adam through the sin of jealousy. God had said to Adam,
“You are free to eat from any of the trees of the gardenexcept the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die.”
When Satan tempted Eve, he told her a lie, saying,
“You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil.”
Adam and Eve wanted to be gods! They became jealous of God’s abilities through temptation. However, when Eve and Adam ate the forbidden fruit they disobeyed God. They wanted to possess what God had. They wanted to be like God, but without God. So, when tempted, they disobeyed Him. This meant they could no longer be trusted. They lost their friendship with God through their own sin; their own decision.
Adam and Eve had enjoyed eternal life with God. Up until this point, death did not exist. God did not create them to die. They did not die immediately when they ate the forbidden fruit and disobeyed God. They had been eternal. However, they separated themselves from God and lost eternal life. When they lost eternal life with God, they became mortal; they could no longer pass on eternal life as an inheritance to their children. They could not pass on what they did not have. Death entered the world through sin, their sin. This is “Original Sin”. Due to the sin of envy, Satan succeeded in his plan to destroy man’s relationship with God.
The sin of Envy is all around us. The envious see God’s justice as “unfair”. They don’t believe that God is free to hand out salvation as He judges. Often the temptation of envy leads us to make ourselves the judges of what is “right” or “wrong”. The envious ones want to be the “gods” who decide what is just. Envy robs us of wisdom, mercy and charity.
Envy often tempts us to resent a person who wins, or achieves success. The sin of envy destroys us through our resentment. Resentment is a characteristic of envy.
What is the solution for envy? First there is wisdom. We need to ask God in prayer to allow us to see things from His point of view. Our point of view may not always be the correct perspective. The highest level of Wisdom involves surrender to God’s Will. Wisdom from God leads us to be humble and obedient. The virtue of charity is the ultimate solution for envy.
They asked Jesus,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them, . . . Strive . . .
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough. . .
Do not commit the deadly sin of Envy. Pray for the gift of Wisdom. Practice humility, obedience and charity, that you may love your neighbor as yourself.
Luke 12:22-30