Vainglory

The Capital Vices

The New Revised Standard Version The Joy of Forgiveness

While I kept silence, my body wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not hide my iniquity;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”

and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Repentance is not a dirty word

It is the means by which we can truly live

Repentance is not merely an apology, but a change in one’s direction

The Hebrew שוב literally mean “to turn around”

Lent is a time of turning around. A time of putting away sin and walking toward holiness

Early Desert Fathers attempted to escape sin in a unique way

They tried to run into the desert to escape sin, but found that they’d carried it with them.

Out in the wilderness with only themselves, these early Christians gained experience in facing sin head on, with no distractions

In their meditations on sin, they found that all of our sins come from 7 Captial sins, the 7 Deadly Sins.

While these aren’t listed this way in the Bible, they can certainly be found in scripture.

These sins are the root causes of many evils in our lives. If we can learn to recognize these sins within ourselves, as the early Desert Fathers did, we have a better chance of fighting against them

Vainglory: Definitions

So today we turn to vainglory

Vainglory is a word most are unfamiliar with. So what is it?

Vainglory is the excessive or disordered desire for recognition and approval from others

Turtle story

Vainglory vs. Pride

Pride wants excellence, vainglory wants recognition

Pride seeks to be number 1, but vainglory seeks applause whether for something deserving or not

Vainglory vs. ambition

Ambition wants recognition from the right people, but vainglory wants applause anywhere and everywhere

Pride wants excellence, ambition wants to be recognized for its worthiness, but vainglory wants only applause and recognition.

The meaning is in the name: vain + glory = “empty glory”

Augustine stealing pears (“ashamed not to be shameless”)

Two types of vainglory

admired for the wrong things

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus Denounces Scribes and Pharisees

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.

admired in the wrong way

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus Denounces Scribes and Pharisees

The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3 therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.

Vainglory’s Damage

We may wonder what real danger this sin could pose

A desire for attention and recognition is, after all, a real human need

Recognition and attention are not themselves bad. What makes Vainglory bad is the excessive need for these things, and a wrong way of obtaining them

Vainglory wins applause and approval at the cost of distancing ourselves from others

Firstly, we set ourselves up as above others. We deserve all praise, laud, and honor

Secondly, we must necessarily hide our true selves from others, lest they think less of us

So Vainglory prevents us from forming real, honest, loving relationships

Vainglory’s Cure

What then can be done about this sin?

We can begin by being honest about ourselves, and forming relationships with others that reveal who we really are.

God already knows:

The New Revised Standard Version The Inescapable God

O LORD, you have searched me and known me.

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from far away.

3 You search out my path and my lying down,

and are acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue,

O LORD, you know it completely.

The New Revised Standard Version The Inescapable God

For it was you who formed my inward parts;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

And even so, even knowing all that we are, God still reaches out for relationship:

The New Revised Standard Version Restoration and Protection Promised

But now thus says the LORD,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

The New Revised Standard Version Results of Justification

But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Though we strive to impress an audience of many, the audience of One sees us as we really are. Nothing can be hidden.

But even knowing this, we may still be tempted to hide ourselves from others. We may even be tempted to try (though without success!) to hide ourselves from God (e.g. Jonah)

Thus to defeat the vice of vainglory, we will need to nurture in ourselves the virtues of humility and thanksgiving.

Vainglory exposes us to be both unjust and ungrateful, because it ultimately means we are dishonest about the ultimate source of our goodness.

St. Augustine, “The one lifts up its head in its own glory, the other says to its God, ‘Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of mine head’”

We are to be a “light to the world”, but that light reveals God’s glory, not our own.

The New Revised Standard Version Salt and Light

You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus the True Vine

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

The New Revised Standard Version Concerning Almsgiving

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The New Revised Standard Version Paul Defends His Ministry

Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends.

To cure vainglory, we must accept that the world does not revolve around us.

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus and John the Baptist

The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

We are made to be known and loved by God, and to praise and glorify our creator. After all, all that we have we owe to him, not ourselves.

The New Revised Standard Version Trial and Temptation

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.