Sermon Tone Analysis

Proverbs 6:16-19

 

| *VICES* | VIRTUES |

| *Lust* | Chastity |

| *Gluttony* | Temperance |

| *Greed* | Charity |

| *Sloth* | Diligence |

| *Wrath* | Patience |

| *Envy* | Kindness |

| *Pride* | Humility |

 

*Envy (Latin, **/invidia/**)*

/Main article: Envy/

Like greed, *envy* is characterized by an insatiable desire; they differ, however, for two main reasons.

First, greed is largely associated with material goods, whereas envy may apply more generally.

Second, those who commit the sin of envy resent that another person has something they perceive themselves as lacking, and wish the other person to be deprived of it.

Dante defined this as "love of one's own good perverted to a desire to deprive other men of theirs."

In Dante's Purgatory, the punishment for the envious is to have their eyes sewn shut with wire, because they have gained sinful pleasure from seeing others brought low.

Aquinas described envy as "sorrow for another's good".[1]

*Envy* may be defined as an emotion that "occurs when a person lacks another’s superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it."[1]

It can also derive from a sense of low self-esteem that results from an upward social comparison threatening a person's self image: another person has something that the envier considers to be important to have.

If the other person is perceived to be similar to the envier, the aroused envy will be particularly intense, because it signals to the envier that it just as well could have been him or her who had the desired object.[2][3]

Bertrand Russell said envy was one of the most potent causes of unhappiness.[4]

It is a universal and most unfortunate aspect of human nature because not only is the envious person rendered unhappy by his envy, but also wishes to inflict misfortune on others.

Although envy is generally seen as something negative, Russell(1930, p. 90-91)also believed that envy was a driving force behind the movement towards democracy and must be endured in order to achieve a more just social system.

The tendency to feel envy seems to be present in all cultures [5][6].

The words "Envy" and "Jealousy" are often used interchangeably, but in correct usage, both words stand for two different distinct emotions.

In proper usage, jealousy is the fear of losing something that one possesses to another person (a loved one in the prototypical form), while envy is the pain or frustration caused by another person having something that one does not have oneself.

Envy typically involves two people, and jealousy typically involves three people.

Envy and jealousy result from different situations and are distinct emotional experiences.

[7]

Both envy and jealousy are related to schadenfreude, the rejoicing at, or taking joy in, or getting pleasure from the misfortunes of others.[8][9]

In some cultures, envy is often associated with the color green, as in "green with envy".

The phrase "green-eyed monster" refers to an individual whose current actions appear motivated by envy.

This is based on a line from Shakespeare's /Othello/.

Envy

 

*The “Matador” Plant*

In South America there is a strange vine known as the matador.

Beginning at the foot of a tree, it slowly makes its way to the top.

As it grows, it kills the tree, and when at last the top is reached, it sends forth a flower to crown itself.

Matador, means KILLER.

… jealousy … It appears harmless when it is small, but if it is allowed to grow, its tendrils of malice and hatred soon clasp themselves around the heart and eventually kill the soul.

—J. A. Clark

[1]

 

*“I See A Flaw”*

There it was on display in Cartier’s Fifth Avenue store in New York—the flawless 69.42-carat diamond, originally bought by Cartier for a record $1,050,000 at an auction.

People were filing through the jewelry salon to get a glimpse of the diamond.

A short, bald man peered condescendingly at the big diamond in the small glass case and told his wife, “I see a flaw there, but I wouldn’t want to say anything.

“

“It isn’t really that beautiful,” concluded a well-dressed lady, “but I wouldn’t mind having it.”

“It’s too large,” said one woman in rhinestone-studded glasses.

“I think it’s vulgar, but I just had to see it,” commented another woman.

Said Joe Whitehead, guard at the store, “I’ve heard more sour grapes in the last two days than in my whole life.”

/—Prairie Overcomer/

[2]

 

*Two Greedy Men’s Wish*

One of the old saints, according to the legend, in his journey overtook two travelers.

One was a greedy, avaricious, covetous man; the other was of a jealous and envious nature.

When they came to the parting of ways, the saint said he would give them a parting gift.

Whichever made a wish first would have his wish fulfilled, and the other man would get a double portion of what the first had asked for.

The greedy man knew what he wanted; but he was afraid to make his wish, because he wanted a double portion and could not bear the thought of his companion getting twice as much as he had.

But the envious man was also unwilling to wish first, because he could not stand the idea of his companion getting twice as much as he would get.

So each waited for the other to wish first.

At length the greedy man took his fellow by the throat and said he would choke him to death unless he made his wish.

At that the envious man said, “Very well; I will make my wish.

I wish to be made blind in one eye.”

Immediately he lost the sight of his eye—and his companion went blind in both eyes.

—C.

E. Macartney

[3]

14

Be Content

In the tenth commandment, “you shall not covet,” God’s searchlight moves from actions to attitudes, from motions to motives, from forbidden deeds to forbidden desire.

The word for “covet” conveys the thought of seeking dishonest and dishonorable gain.

Coveting appears here as first cousin to envy: you see what someone else has, and you want to grab it for yourself, as Ahab wanted to grab Naboth’s vineyard in 1 Kings 21.

In Colossians 3:5, Paul calls coveting idolatry, because the things coveted become your god, controlling your life.

Coveting is a root of all social evil; desires that burst the bounds beget actions to match.

David took Bathsheba (thus, by theft, breaking the eighth commandment) and got her pregnant (thus breaking the seventh) and then to avoid scandal arranged for her husband Uriah to be killed (thus breaking the sixth), and it all began with David coveting his neighbor’s wife, in breach of the tenth (see 2 Samuel 11).

Similarly, Ahab’s coveting of Naboth’s vineyard next door led to the framing of Naboth by false witness (breaking the ninth commandment), his judicial murder (breaking the sixth), and his vineyard being forfeited to the crown—in other words, legally stolen (breaking the eighth).

Then there was Achan (Joshua 7; note verse 21), and also Judas, whose coveting led him to break first the eighth commandment (John 12:6) and then the sixth and ninth together as he betrayed Jesus to death by a simulated act of homage (Matthew 26:48–50), all for money (Matthew 26:14–16; cf.

27:3–5).

Perhaps Paul had Achan and Judas in mind, as well as folk known to him directly, when he wrote that “the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:10).

*Called to Contentment*

Put positively, “you shall not covet … anything that is your neighbor’s” is a call to contentment with one’s lot.

The contentment which the tenth commandment prescribes is the supreme safeguard against temptations to break commandments five to nine.

The discontented man, whose inner itch makes him self-absorbed, sees other people as tools to use in order to feed his greed, but the contented man is free as others are not to concentrate on treating his neighbor right.

“There is great gain in godliness with contentment,” wrote Paul (1 Timothy 6:6).

Scripture presents contentment as a spiritual secret.

It is one dimension of happiness, which is itself the fruit of a relationship.

Toplady focuses this superbly in a poem beginning “Happiness, thou lovely name, Where’s thy seat, O tell me, where?”

He writes:

/Object of my first desire,/

/Jesus, crucified for me!/

/All to happiness aspire,/

/Only to be found in thee./

/Thee to please and thee to know/

/Constitute our bliss below,/

/Thee to see and thee to love/

/Constitute our bliss above./

/Whilst I feel thy love to me,/

/Every object teems with joy;/

/Here, O may I walk with thee,/

/Then into thy presence die!/

/Let me but thyself possess,/

/Total sum of happiness!/

/Real bliss I then shall prove,/

/Heaven below, and heaven above./

Knowing the love of Christ is the one and only source from which true contentment ever flows.

Jesus diagnosed, however, one mortal enemy to contentment: worry (see Matthew 6:25–34).