Envy killed Jesus .......... Parables 681

August 22, 2000

Have you ever wanted to be someone else? How about Bill Gates? Or Oprah Winfrey? Would you like their empire? Their stardom? Their money?

Perhaps the green-eyed monster bites less deeply. Maybe it’s just the neighbor’s car or the hairdresser’s hair. Whatever that person has, we want it.

The Bible has two words for wanting what someone else has. One is jealousy, the other is envy. Jealousy is simpler; it stays at wanting what someone else has. While it is a reflection of an ungrateful attitude (doesn’t God richly provide all we need?), jealousy is not as serious as envy.

Envy runs deeper. Instead of wanting something, it also wants to deprive the other person of it. Jealousy would like Bill Gates’ income; envy would like Bill Gates to be poor.

Envy is the destructive force that ruins another life. It drives a man to kill another in order to have his wife. It drives thieves to plunder another person’s home or rob a bank. A person can burn with jealousy but envy moves him to make sure other people experience loss and pain.

Envy killed Jesus. The religious leaders of His day were fearful of His popularity, envious that people listened to Him and not to them. They plotted to discredit Him and when that did not work, they plotted to destroy Him.

Pilate, the Roman governor, knew what motivated these envious men. In Mark 15:9 he says, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” The next two verses add: “knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.”

Having their motivations uncovered was not enough to stop envy from moving them to imprison and then kill an innocent person.

Later, some envied the Apostle Paul’s ministry. In Philippians 1:15-17, he says, “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.” They not only wanted Paul’s success, they also wanted trouble for him.

With the next three sentences, Paul shows that even envy is not as powerful as God’s grace: “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”

Even though God used envy for good in that situation, He does not want us to be motivated by envy. He says, “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”

How is that possible? Again, it is only by His grace. Those who come to Him in faith and repentance can claim this from Titus 3: “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy . . .”

As powerful as envy is, this sin or any other sin is not a match against the power of God and the fullness of His salvation.

God’s merciful persistence .......... Parables 629

February 9, 1999
 
Lana (not her real name) is dying. The medication prescribed to treat a serious disorder has destroyed parts of her throat and esophagus. Soon she will be unable to eat. A tube will help for a time but the damage will eventually eat away her ability to breathe.

Lana gets angry at anyone who offers to pray for her. She is not interested in God or the gospel of hope for eternal life. Fiercely independent, her faith is in herself. Further, she wants to die as she has lived — her way, not anyone’s, not even God’s.

Her friends feel helpless. Whether or not she made choices that brought her to this, Lana’s own way is not working. Everyone sees it so clearly, except Lana. They want to help her but she doesn’t want any help. Those who know how to pray, pray anyway, without her permission. What else can they do?

Some say if prayer is against her wishes, it should not be offered. If Lana wants to turn her back on God, it is her choice. Do not interfere. Let her make her own decisions, even if they are not what we want. Others say the problem is not her stubbornness but that she just doesn’t understand how anyone can die with hope and in peace.

Regardless of our personal experiences with God, the Bible makes it clear that He does not give up easily. Lana may not be interested in God but God is interested in her. Even as she resists Him, He will not turn his back on her. God is like that. He even shows mercy on the least likely. In one example, Jesus stopped at a well during the heat of the day, long after the villagers had been there to draw water. A lone woman appeared on the path and when she got to the well, Jesus asked her to draw enough for Him to have a drink too.

This was an unusual encounter. In those days Jewish men did not talk with women, especially a woman by herself. Strike One. Second, she was a Samaritan. Samaritans were a half-Jew, half-pagan race hated by the Jews and banned from worshiping God with them. Strike Two. As Jesus talked with her, it came out that she had been ‘with many men and now lived with one who was not her husband.’ Strike Three. Why did Jesus break at least three social norms of His day and bother with her?

He had His reasons. Throughout the Gospels accounts of His life, He gave his attention to both men and women. He never once indicated any contempt or discriminated against a woman. He reflects the attitude of His heavenly Father who created both in His image and loves both without prejudice.

In the same vein, He had no prejudice against Samaritans. He knew the plan of God did not exclude anyone, regardless of their race or background and how or what they worshiped.

Third, Jesus was interested in sinners. In Matthew 9:13, He challenged people to learn what God meant by saying He wanted ‘mercy, and not sacrifice.’ He then said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

By this lone incident, the Lord reveals His merciful heart. The woman was surprised that He talked to her. She knew the norms. She was late coming to the well because she knew others looked down on her, yet Jesus did not. He persisted in the conversation until she understood who He was and that He could give her ‘living water,’ a euphemism for eternal life.

Lana’s friends who know God will persist in praying for her. They do it, not to push something on her, but because they have Christ in their lives. His merciful persistence is showing up in theirs. They also hope God will touch her life despite her resistance and the many strikes against her. They know as God does, that her thirst for life is greater than her thirst for independence. She needs that living water.

Love is the higher law .......... Parables 628

February 2, 1999

A group of religious teachers and Pharisees dragged a woman into the courtyard and dumped her in front of Jesus. “This woman was caught in the very act of adultery. The law says we should stone her to death. What do you say?”

Jesus held His tongue. I wonder if I could have done the same?

On a different day, another woman came into the synagogue where Jesus was teaching. She was crippled and bent over, unable to stand. Jesus called her over and then healed her. The worship leader was indignant. He yelled at the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

Jesus immediately retorted, “You hypocrites!” Had I been there, I wonder what I would have said or done, especially if someone had violated my religious convictions?

The more I read about Jesus, the more I am amazed at how He responded to people. He was often unpredictable yet each surprising instance underscores the fact that He understands human hearts. We tend to look only on the surface but He know our motivations.

For instance, Jesus knew the religious leaders of His day were not concerned about mercy. They did not care about the shame and pain of both the adulteress and the cripple. Their idea of justice was that everyone ought to keep the law to the letter and be punished to the greatest extent for all infractions. This notion motivated all their actions.

Jesus was not like that. He was deeply merciful, from the heart. However, His mercy enraged the Pharisees. To them, God’s laws were not suggestions but strict rules that must be kept. Why wouldn’t this man who called Himself the Son of God hold a hard line? Why would He be merciful to an adulteress? Why would He break the Sabbath to heal a mere woman?

Jesus did not defend His compassion. He knew God’s intention concerning the Law that He gave to Israel. As God’s Son, He had been involved in their formulation. Like the Father, He was interested in a response from the heart. He said the greatest commandments were to “love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself.”

The Pharisees did not understand that love is a ‘do’ command. They interpreted God’s Law with an emphasis on ‘do not.’ They failed to understand that God intended the Law as a measurement of their love, not as a set of regulations they could impose on everyone else.

Love is the higher law. It is also the law that Jesus lived by. For example, He did not drag people caught in sin into a public courtyard and heartlessly demand that they be punished. He knew the shame in their hearts. He also knew the power of God to change their lives.

In the case of the adulteress, Jesus also knew the Pharisees were using her to trick Him. They knew His reputation for mercy and used it in hopes that He would deny the legitimacy of the Law of Moses. They could use that against Him.

But in a surprising move, Jesus turned the trick back on them. He asked if any of them were sinless. If so, He said that person could cast the first stone. One by one they left. Then Jesus turned to the woman and said to her, “Go, and sin no more.”

As for the crippled woman in the temple, Jesus taught that the Sabbath was made for our benefit, not to put us in bondage or force us to be inconsiderate. Love is interested in helping and healing, regardless of the day.

The Pharisees pretended to love God by insisting everyone must keep the rules, but they had no regard for the needs of people. They topped it off by condemning Jesus for His mercy. Today, religious people can also become so zealous about rules that they forget mercy, even condemn those who remember it.

Maybe we need a fresh visit from Jesus.

A New Thing .............. Parables 299

January 7, 1992

A farmer in the Moose Jaw area has invented a new type of rod weeder. He says it will do in three days what once took sixteen with older equipment. Whether or not his boast is accurate, he won’t go back to outmoded methods. He spent half his life doing things that maybe worked but now he has discovered a better way and no one is going to convince him to change and go back.

Human beings are inventive sorts. Some say necessity is inventions’s mother but sometimes new things are given birth by our desire to work quicker, easier, or cheaper. Perhaps a longing for beauty tugs at our coattails and we paint pictures, embroider pillows and write poetry. Whatever the reasons behind our inventions, much of that creative ability was built in when the Creator God invented male and female in His own image.

Genesis was not the end of God’s invention of new things, however. When a few Israelite men rebelled against Him, “...the LORD created a new thing — the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up... they went down alive into the pit...” While onlookers gaped in terror, God used the first earthquake to demonstrate the seriousness of sin. Did this new invention do the trick?

No. While the earthquake judgment did rid the nation of some rebels, it did not bring the children of God into submission. It was set aside for another method, an inventive idea also called a new thing, a “road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19). This was figurative language for a promise of a way out of their difficulties, a promise of mercy.

Like children who are first spanked, then hugged, the Israelites enjoyed the hugs far more than the earthquakes, but they still rebelled against their Father. One would wonder why God did not go back to the former plan and just open the earth and swallow them up, but mercy won over judgment. He unfolded still another plan, another new thing.

Earthquakes nor even God’s promise had no effect on sinful people so He fashioned a saving device whereby rebellious hearts could be changed. He knew we ourselves could not change, even if we wanted to. But He could make us new. Coming in a cradle, culminating in a Cross, this new thing — God in human flesh — was the invention par excellence, God’s coup de grace. What the law could not do, what judgment and wrath could not do, what promises of mercy could not do — the Son of God did. All who desire a new thing may put their faith in Him and, by the power of God, “old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (Corinthians 5:17).

Like the farmer and his new weeder, there is no reverting back. Those who are under grace never need to fear the wrath of God because all the condemnation we deserved was taken at the Cross. Jesus bore the penalty of sin for us. He warns us “not turn back to folly,” but the same verse promises He “will speak peace To His people and to His saints.”

There is danger for those who think that because God is not opening the ground and swallowing up sinners they can continue in sin and never face His wrath. However, John 3:36 says those “... who do not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Certainly the expression of His full wrath is withheld for now — He is not willing that any should perish. But someday His wrath will be revealed from heaven (Romans 1) and be poured out upon the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 5:6) who will be “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.”

It will come when people are so accustomed to the mercy of God that they will think wrath is a “new thing”... really it is not — it is simply what a Holy God should have done about our sin all along.

Farming Father Rolled with Thunder...............Parables 001

Why is it that farmers can accept the fall rain and the damaging hail storms more readily than some folks can handle a rained-out picnic? After all, doesn’t a farmer stand to lose a great deal more from adverse weather?
 
My father farmed for 50 years. One time he told me that he and come to grips with his part and God’s part in farming. He was to plant the seeds. God made them grow.
 
That simple philosophy sums up a lifetime of watching the weather, trying to fit seeding time and harvest into its pattern, and realizing that it is senseless to fight with the tremendous power behind the wind and the rain.
 
Those of us whose exposure to nature is limited to picnics, ball games, and backyard barbeques do not develop that awareness. We generally see weather changes as inconvenient. If we are honest, we’d like to be in control.
 
My dad never expressed, “It I had my way it would never rain in August or September.” He worked patiently around the late frosts and early snows, and did his part. To him, God was never unfair. Perhaps he recognized something even more profound - that springtime and harvest are blessings.
 
The Psalmist says, “God does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” (Psalm 103:10)
 
Perhaps my father felt grateful for just the privilege of being able to plant the seeds.

First published in Fort Record, December 4, 1985