Greed, Envy and Idolatry (3-28-2021)

Greed, Envy, and Idolatry 3-28-21 Scriptural inspiration: James 4-5 James 3:14-16 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. NIV At the end of Chapter 3 and the beginning of Chapter 4 James is exhorting his people to submit themselves to God and not the world. James’ prophetic indictment and challenge is especially stark in verse 4 where he says this: “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” NIV When I first read this I thought to myself, “Well, James I know I am not supposed to be OF the world, but I do live in it. I am an earthling. I know that I am not supposed to worship the earth, only God. But God did create the earth and his creation was perfect. If I do not love the earth and sky and sea, then am I not indirectly rejecting God who created them? I have long believed that by separating ourselves from the earth and treating it as an object to be exploited and used, we are much more likely to abuse it, to misuse and waste resources. My belief was and is that we should respect and cherish the earth. I love the arts, Monet, Van Gogh, Beethoven, even Neil Diamond, Maya Angelou and Amanda Gorman, the young woman who delivered her poem at President Biden’s inauguration. Now, is my being agreeable with these cultural things idolatry? I think not. When James says not to be a friend of the world, he means something stronger than simply being agreeable to the general culture. He means rather a more fundamental compromise with certain values of human society that divert someone away from values such as commitment to family, community, or God. James describes the values of God in the words of verse 6: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So if you are a worshiper of the world’s values you are the complete opposite of Abraham, for example, who was described as being a friend of God. James is not telling us to avoid friendship with the earth or love of the arts. After studying this chapter, I have come to the conclusion that when James speaks of “friendship with the world” and when he condemns “you adulterous people” he is speaking of a larger reality than the physical and social act of adultery. Virtually all major commentators agree that James is using the symbolism found in Torah for the covenantal relationship between Yahweh as groom and Israel as bride. This was a covenant that was like a marriage (Isa 54:4–8) in which Israel’s frequent infidelities could be considered as adultery. In symbolic shorthand, James’ harsh words accuse his readers of idolatry, that is, making material objects, even if made of gold, into gods. James, like his Old Testament predecessors, yearns for our intimacy with God. So what is this friendship James is referring to in verse 4? Toward the extreme end of the scale of what James is talking about, I think, are lifestyles or patterns of behavior in which people involve themselves in things like prostitution, theft rings, and crimes of greed. Modern examples would be the crimes committed by Bernie Madoff who cheated investors of billions and billions of dollars with his Ponzi scheme for which he received a 170 billion dollar legal judgement. Another example would be kidnappings for ransom. Think about it: many of these crimes are due to people making a god of money. In James’ lingo, these kinds of immoral patterns make their perpetrators enemies of God. I indicated that this devotional was to be about envy. What does envy have to do with all of this “being a friend of the world” stuff? Remember my opening Scripture about harboring bitter envy and selfish ambition in our hearts. James is asking if the human spirit will live by the wisdom that comes from God, or will it live by an earthbound unspiritual devilish spirit. (4:7) He really brings this theme home when he speaks of envy. Greek philosophers called envy an ulcer of the soul and a “certain sorrow.” Let me use an example to illustrate their point: Ralph feels sad when Johnny gets a new nice car. Ralph wants a new car but does not have one. So why would Ralph have such a sorrow? The sorrow comes with Ralph’s thinking that who he is depends on what he has, his self-worth depends of what he possesses. When Ralph lives in that place, to have less is to be less - less worthy, real, or important. To have more is to be more. Fundamental to envy also is the belief that there is only so much good stuff to go around. And with this limitedresource type of thinking, for Ralph, to have more means that Johnny will have less. To become more, therefore, Ralph must somehow possess more. That is a description of the dynamics of envy. The logic of envy moves toward competition for scarce resources. And as James indicates in verse 1, fights and quarrels can come from competition within the church and ultimately this competition and these fights come from desires inside individual church members. (The above three paragraphs are based on: Letter of James by Luke Timothy Johnson. “Ralph” is inserted by Glenn) So in the end, what James is telling us is to submit to God and his will, depend on the real truth, that is wisdom that comes from God. Do not adopt worldly values but godly values. Being overly committed and attached to the things, ideas, ideals of this world can lead to envy which can be an extremely destructive feeling. If we submit to God and his values, goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. God’s love and grace are limit-less, they are infinite and eternal. They do not become corrupt or pass away. For James, we ought to surrender to this prodigal God, excessive, lavish, and unsparing in his love and provision for us. Questions and Challenges • • • • Describe an incidence in which your love for something or someone in this world led you away from your relationship with God. Describe your friendship with God. Have you ever envied someone? If so, explain how. How would you turn around a feeling of envy? Prayer Father God, we praise you for your lavish and unsparing love for us. We ask you to lift us up when we begin to have feelings of envy. Jesus, help us to realize our friendship with you and to always seek such a friendship. Here and now we submit ourselves to your will. We pray these things in the name of our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen