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Matthew 20:1-16
Someone or something had torn it to shreds. Marion Webster of Solihull, England, woke up one morning and found her beautiful garden absolutely decimated. Someone or something had torn it to shreds.
The first thing Marion did was to march over to her neighbor's flower bed and pull out all the pansies and roses and anything remotely resembling a beautiful plant. Her neighbor's garden now looked as bad as hers.
Marion was reportedly convinced her neighbor had grown so jealous of her beautiful garden that she'd trained a squirrel to destroy it. And that was Marion's immediate reaction: If Marion couldn't have a beautiful garden, her neighbor couldn't have one either.
In Matthew 20, Jesus had a few things to say about jealousy. He told a parable about a landowner who went into the marketplace early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard–a common practice in rural communities in some places even today. Those he hired, he agreed to pay the standard wage for a day's work. Three hours later he saw he was going to need more laborers. And so, he returned to the marketplace and hired some more workers. About noon he again found it necessary to hire more workers, then again at three o'clock, then again at five. Quitting time was six o'clock. At six, he had his foreman line up the laborers to be paid. He began with those who had worked only one hour. And he paid them for a full day.
Watching this were those who had worked since six in the morning. "Wow," they thought to themselves, "If he pays them a full day's wage for working just part of a day, think how much he will pay us!" When their time came, however, they also received the standard wage for one day's work. They were furious. They had worked all day and received the same amount as those workers who had labored just one hour. It wasn't fair.
In response the landowner "answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'" Then Jesus added this cryptic phrase, "So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
"Are you envious because I am generous?" the landlord asked the laborer in the vineyard who was angry because he had worked for a full day and had received the same wage as a worker who had worked only one hour.
Envy or jealousy is a major problem in many people's lives. The workers in the vineyard were happy with their wage until they discovered their co-workers were getting a far better deal. Then they were angry. It has always been so. Sometime go through the Bible and count how many times people are said to be envious or jealous--and how much havoc they rendered because of this deadly state of mind.
We find envy in the story of Cain and Abel. "In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering--fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So, Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast." (Genesis 4:3-5).
Cain's envy led him to murder Abel. This was his brother, but he killed him out of envy. Is there any emotion more basic to our nature than jealousy of another's gain? Is there any emotion more deadly?
We find envy in the story of Joseph. Joseph was thrown into a pit and then sold into slavery by his brothers because, among other things, they were envious of what? His coat of many colors. Wasn't that a bit of an overreaction?
We find envy in the story of King Saul. David came to the battlefront and volunteered to fight against Goliath. As he came back from the battlefield, having killed Goliath, the women sang, "Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousand," and a sickness began to grow in Saul's heart so much so he spent the rest of his life chasing David to kill him out of the anger and jealousy in his heart. There are many stories of the destructiveness of envy in the scriptures.
In the New Testament we find Herod envious. He tried to kill every baby born in Judea because he was jealous of any would-be rivals who might come to take his throne.
The same envy is displayed by the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal son. "It isn't fair that my younger brother should receive a welcome like this, when I have stayed home all these years in father's house, and I have never received a party like this one." I want the same that you have, and I will never be happy until I have received it.
What can we do to keep from becoming envious of something that someone else has or is?
The first step is to recognize that envy and jealousy do exist, and can be destructive to our well-being or even could cause us to harm who we envy.
Composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein was once asked which musical instrument is most difficult to play.
He reputedly answered, "Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm--that's a problem."
Every one of us is exposed daily to people who have something we would like to have.
In Parker and Hart's "The Wizard of Id" comic strip, one monk is putting up a sign on the bulletin board in front of the church while another monk watches. The sign reads "Thou Shalt Not Covet" and the visiting monk says, "Boy, I wish we had a signboard like that at our church."
That's funny, but it can happen in the choir, a Sunday school class, a committee meeting, anywhere. We need to understand that envy is a devious strategy the Tempter uses to divide us and to delay the coming of the Kingdom of God. Envy or jealousy can arise anywhere, even in church.
The second step to deal with envy is to develop a strong attitude of gratitude for the things we do have. Most of us are wonderfully blessed. If we counted our own many blessings daily as the old hymn advises, then we would spend less time envying the blessings that others possess.
I read recently about a group of mountain climbers who set out to scale a mountain. Among them was one with no experience climbing mountains. For several hours they climbed. Once they got to the top of the mountain the inexperienced climber stood straight up with arms raised and yelled, "I did it!" As he celebrated his climbing accomplishment a strong gust of wind almost blew him off the mountaintop. It was then that the more experienced climbers explained to him that when you get to the top of a mountain you never stand straight up, but rather you drop to your knees to avoid being blown off the mountaintop. Good advice in almost any situation in life.
The third step to dealing with envy is to realize some of the happiest people in the world have a servant attitude toward life. They take pride in seeing others succeed. In fact, they may even work to help others succeed.
E.B. Meyer, a British Baptist preacher known around the world in his day, discovered a demon within himself he did not know he possessed. It happened at a conference where he and another great preacher of the day, G. Campbell Morgan were both preaching. Morgan was drawing much larger crowds than Meyer was. It was a demoralizing experience for Meyer. "The only way I can conquer my feelings," Meyer confessed, "is to pray for [Morgan] daily, which I do."
What a great response to a difficult situation.
What do we do when someone comes along who shines more brightly than us? Do we pray for them? Encourage them? Do we let envy and fear get in the way? Some of the happiest people in the world take pride in the success of others. What about you and me? Are we encouragers? If we made it our goal to serve Christ by putting ourselves in second place what harmony the body of Christ would experience!
How do we overcome envy? It's simple: recognize the problem it creates in our life, develop a thankful attitude for the things we do have and pray for those we're tempted to envy.
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Rev. Charles Eldredge is a member of Maitland Church of the Brethren. He has a Facebook page and can be contacted by email: ce1133 @verizon.net.