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July 8th, 6th Sunday in Matthew Ocala 2007 Today, the Gospel Lesson centered around the healing of the paralytic. Before the miraculous healing, the Lord blessed him and said: "Son, your sins are forgiven!" Then He added: "pick up your cot and go to your house." We can well imagine the excitement, the enthusiasm and the tears of those, who daily would see the young paralytic lying motionless and seemingly in agony. They all praised God, except for the Scribes and Pharisees, the arch enemies of Jesus, only because of the fact, that the Lord always had a pleasant group following him, and spoke words that no other person had ever spoken, as well as performing miracles, never imagined. These two groups were the leaders of the Hebraic Society at that time. Indeed they represented a most despicable class of people, who systematically sought to minimize and discredit Jesus, only because, they could not measure up to Him, nor emulate Him. Thus, witnessing the miracle, which surpassed understanding, instead of joining the harmonious chorus of those praising God, they publicly declared: "this Man has blasphemed, because no one, except God, can forgive sins." This happened some 2000 years ago. But, I ask you, is this not a true reflection of so many people today? Does not the streak of envy run through the souls of so many Christians to this day? This of course denotes one thing. When these spiritually deficient people cannot achieve, or attain that, which they think belongs to them, they not only seek to discredit those, who have achieved, but even worse, they engage in slanderous tactics and smear campaigns against those, whom they envy. Why is this such a visible experience in today's society? Especially, when they are baptized Christians, and surely must sense that envy is wrong, and sinful of itself, because it warps their life and keeps them constantly unhappy, and unfulfilled? They permit envy to fill their hearts, after the Lord's love has been displaced by this catastrophic evil. Envy is a veritable scourge, against which all people should take every precaution, lest it roots in their heart to ultimately destroy them. Envy is a plague, which always results in untold misery. It is truly a devastating evil. We mentioned, that the Scribes and Pharisees, consumed with envy against the Lord, constantly sought to minimize His works. On one occasion, the Lord knowing full well their motives asked them: "Why do you harbor evil thoughts in your hearts?" And I ask: "Could not this very question of the Lord be asked today of many within the Christian Communities?" This just cannot stand, because it is incongruous with the basic teaching of our Lord, which is, LOVE! Jealousy or envy, commences with a distorted sense of one's personal worth. This distortion radically changes a person's character, and he or she, seeks to make their fellow humans inferior to them. This warped sense of personal worth, makes the envious person feel, that a particular honor, that is bestowed on a friend or fellow worker, rightfully belongs to him or her! Let it not be forgotten, that envy lives and thrives there, where love has died. Also, it should be remembered, that envy is destroyed, only when true love reigns. In the 13th Chapter of St. Paul's 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, to which I frequently refer, completely describes Christian love as follows: "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous, nor boastful; -- it is not arrogant or rude. - Love does not insist on its own way; -- It is not irritable, nor resentful; -- It does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. - Love never ends. " I'm sure that each of us here, could cite one or more examples of the evil of jealousy, or envy! The envious person loses his of her 20-20 spiritual vision. He or she develops the cataracts of envy and jealousy, which as a result cloud their spiritual vision, and consequently bring forth distorted and catastrophic acts. The envious person is indeed a wretched soul! A truly sick soul. A soul which is to be pitied.. Envy is rooted in false pride,-- in arrogance , and in a highly inflated opinion of self. It is a very serious evil, and without question most sinful, because, it is diametrically opposed to agape, or love. Envy is the gateway to so many other evils and sins, which plague humanity, such as hatred, detraction, slander, deceit, resentment, and so many other despicable traits, which bring about catastrophe. Envy, or jealousy is not only a destroyer of people, but it also hampers, and has hampered many worthy causes in this world. Envy almost wrecked our Nation's Revolution, which we celebrated last Wednesday. It is recorded that General Lee, an Officer of the British Army was denied a higher position. Being the arrogant, self-centered and egotistical person that he was, he switched over to Washington's Revolutionary Army. Washington, recognizing his great abilities, promoted him to Major General. But General Lee was not satisfied with this promotion, because he considered himself even greater than Washington. He frequently disobeyed Washington's orders, and as a result was later court-martialed. He subsequently died in disgrace; dishonored, unwept, and unsung! How sad indeed it is, to witness the envy and jealousy, which exists in the world; in our circle perhaps, in friendships, in families, in our work, in the political and business world, in the world of science, in the Nations, and even in the life of some Parishes, where even though the Christians congregate to worship the Lord and work at becoming God-like, the envious people labor in vain, because jealousy and envy have completely displaced the God-given love from their hearts. In essence, they have sold their souls to the Devil. Thank the Good Lord, that for all things there is a cure. The primary cure for envy or jealousy is the application of humility; the virtue, which is the cornerstone, that supports and edifies Christian character. It is humility, which puts our character in perspective, and gives the assurance that the seed of envy or jealousy will not germinate in our heart. Let us pray that the Lord will always bless us and nurture us in His love; to give us the wisdom to really know ourselves; to recognize-, our qualities, but also be conscious of our limitations; to give substance to the ancient philosopher Socrates' axiom, summed up in two words: "Know thyself!" God forbid, that anyone would ever be caught up in the disastrous web of envy or jealousy. For this, we must ever be alert and mindful of the many pitfalls. Our guarantee, that we will never become entrapped in this web, is the learning and accepting of God's love, which we previously mentioned from St. Paul's Epistle: "Love bears all things, believes all things, endures all things, hopes all things, and surely as a result, love never fails." Amen.
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