“Green With Envy”
Text: Romans 11:1-2a, 13-15, 28-32
8-16-2026
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. “Green with envy.” That old saying comes from a Shakespeare play where he called envy the “green-eyed monster.” When we use this phrase, we’re saying that a person is so consumed with the desire for something that another person possesses that they’d do just about anything to get it. I suspect most of us would say that envy is not a good thing. And we can name several examples of why we feel that way. For instance, why do people steal? Isn’t it because they’re envious of what someone else has? Why does a guy or a gal try to seduce someone else’s boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse? Isn’t it because they are envious? Some people will work themselves to death just so that they can keep up with their neighbors. They want that status so bad that they’ll sacrifice almost anything to get it. That too is driven by envy. In these examples, envy is a bad thing.
Envy is also found scattered throughout the Bible. Satan was envious of God’s honor and power which is what got him kicked out of heaven. He tempted Adam and Eve with the same envy, so they sinned by eating the forbidden fruit. Cain killed his brother Abel out of envy for the positive relationship Abel had with God. Jacob envied Esau’s birthright, and got it for a bowl of soup. And Esau was so hungry that he was envious of the soup his brother had made. Even in the ministry of Jesus, He was surrounded by envy. The Jewish leaders hated Him for lots of reasons, but one of them was because they were envious of His popularity with the people.
Now maybe you’re wondering why I’m dwelling on that word envy. Well, the word “jealous” in verse 14 of our text can be translated both ways. For the sake of ease, I’ll just use the word envy. The Greek word and its root word show up 16 times in the Bible and nearly all of them are negative. So, who would dare argue that envy is not a bad thing? Well, I would! In fact, I’d go so far as to say that envy can be a good thing. And I’ve got St. Paul to back me up. All of those negative examples are the result of sin twisting envy into something bad in a person’s heart. Envy starts out by a person seeing something they like and it stirs up in them the desire to possess it. That, in and of itself, is not sinful. But when sin gets a hold of that desire it twists it into something evil. Sin says, “I want what I see and I’ll do whatever it takes to get it, even if I have to get it the wrong way.” Let me give you an illustration. If I see my dream car, a ‘69 Camaro, and say “Hey, I’d like to own that car,” that’s not sinful. But if I want it so bad that I steal one or cheat to get it, that’s no good. Or, if I work all kinds of extra jobs just so I can buy that Camaro, but neglect my family or worshiping God, that’s not good either. Sin took that neutral desire and turned it into something bad.
Now look at the example of good envy that St. Paul gives us. In this portion of Romans, Paul is addressing the non-Jews; the Gentiles. In the verses surrounding our text, Paul explains how the Jews had first crack at the Gospel. God gave them something beautiful and precious in the promise of a Savior. But they weren’t first in line to receive it because they were such good people. And it wasn’t given to them so as to exclude the rest of the world from God’s blessing of salvation. No, God gave to the Jews this precious treasure and He blessed them so that when other nations saw this, it stirred up envy in their hearts. It was supposed to create in them a desire to have a similar relationship with the true God. That’s a good kind of envy.
The Jews had this precious gift from God but sadly, like Esau, they despised their birthright as God’s chosen people. Instead of cherishing their own relationship with God, they chose to envy false gods. When the Savior finally came, most of the Jews rejected Him. That’s because they envied a salvation plan based on their own good works rather than through faith in Christ alone. So, Jesus took that precious treasure and shared it with the Gentiles. He caught a lot of flak for it too. He was severely criticized for socializing with “unclean Gentiles.” But Jesus did it for two reasons: First, His salvation was meant for the whole world, as He says in John 3:16. That includes both Jews and Gentiles. Secondly, He openly shared the good news with Gentiles in order to stir up envy in the hearts of the Jews so that they would desire the saving faith that they had foolishly let go of.
What do you suppose was going through the minds of the Jews who witnessed what happened in our Gospel reading? A Gentile woman came to Jesus. She was envious of the blessings of being a Jew and their relationship with God. The very treasure that the Jews were despising, she was desiring. When she came to Jesus, she wasn’t demanding anything. She was hoping for a little scrap of the Lord’s mercy. Don’t think for a minute that Jesus was being cruel to this woman. It must have pained Him to ignore her first plea. But He was preparing to reveal the great faith of this religious “outcast.” And by doing so, He hoped to stir up an envy in the hearts of everyone who was watching. He praised this Gentile woman’s great faith. That should have made everyone else envy this woman’s faith and desired to have one just like it; a faith that the Savior would commend.
In Romans 11, Paul builds on that same principle. He says that since the Jews rejected the Gospel message, he was sent to the Gentiles. That wasn’t something for them to boast about or think that they were now better than the Jews. No. Paul says that God was using their conversion to stir up envy in the hearts of the Jews. God wanted the Jews to desire the saving relationship with Him which they had sinfully let go of.
Friends, throughout history God has used positive envy to draw people to Himself. Think back to the Reformation. God had blessed the Christian church immensely, but the leaders of the church had lost their envious desire to possess salvation on God’s terms. Instead, just like the Jews, they despised their treasure from God. The Lord helped a lowly German monk named Martin Luther to rediscover the joy of salvation through faith in Jesus alone. Sharing this good news stirred up envy in people to obtain a faith like that. Germany became the homeland of this rebirth of the Christian faith. But what has happened to Germany since then? This country, which was the envy of the world because of its great faith, seems to have lost its desire to possess the truth of salvation. Many of those beautiful German churches have become museums rather than places to worship the Lord.
Sadly, something similar is happening here in America. As a country, we became the envy of the world. God richly blessed us. The greatest blessing of all was the religious freedom that we enjoy. We even put “In God We Trust” on our currency. People flocked to our country to enjoy the blessings of freedom. We sent missionaries overseas because people in foreign lands were envious of the good news which we possessed. But things have changed now. Oh, maybe our churches aren’t becoming museums. And yet, many have become entertainment centers. The worship services have to be “entertaining” to hold people’s interest. The Pastor has to be entertaining. He or she (ahem) has to preach warm and fuzzy sermons so people feel good about themselves rather than confront their sins. Bible studies become “how to” classes: How to fix your marriage. How to raise your kids. How to be happy, rich, and beautiful. How to be… you name it. Instead of having an envious desire to study God’s Word, many Christians have adopted an attitude of, “I’ve heard it all before. I know all that I need to know about God.” Sadly, that attitude is even here in our own congregation.
Is it surprising then that foreign countries now look at the U.S. as a huge mission field? Could it be that we've lost our envious desire for the treasure of the Gospel? Well, if we aren’t there yet, then we’re headed that direction and we’d better wake up. When we look at the zeal of Christians in other countries, it should shame us for ignoring the great blessing which God has given to us. Now is the time for us to repent for despising God’s great treasures of faith and salvation. It should also stir us up to envy the bold faith displayed by Christians in other lands. That’s a good kind of envy.
But how about you personally? When people look at your Christian faith, does it make them envious? Do they see the gentle strength you possess because of the confidence your faith brings? Do they see a happy and contented follower of Jesus who prays and patiently relies on Him for everything? Do you have a jealous desire to dig deeper into God’s Word? If not, why not? If you’re envious of the active faith of another Christian, that can be a good thing. Just don’t forget that it’s yours for the taking. The Holy Spirit wants to stir up in you that good desire for a deeper and stronger faith.
Did you know that God is very envious when it comes to us? Not because He desires to be like us nor is He envious of something we possess. No, He envies and cherishes our love. Like a jealous husband, He wants our love to be His and His alone. He’s very protective of our relationship with Him. He has a strong desire to forgive the sins which separate us from Him. God’s desire was so strong that He sent His Son to die for our many sins. Jesus Christ envied our freedom from sin more than He envied His own life. He died on the cross so that we could possess the precious gift of God’s salvation. St. Paul says, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” In other words, God will never go back on His promise to love us as His children. All we need do is to enviously hold onto His gift of salvation and live by faith. If we do, people will be envious of the joy and peace we possess. They will want what we’ve got. And when they express a strong desire to possess that divine peace and joy, you and I have the great privilege of telling them where to get it. We can lead them to the cross where Jesus eagerly waits to forgive the sins of all people. And He eagerly waits to give them a new life—eternal life—through Him. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!