If you watch the news very long, or read a news article, you’ll soon find that you are part of a group. You’re either a Democrat or a Republican, you like fast food or like home cooking, you’re one of the people who watches the NFL or your car says something about you. Often, these articles are written (or broadcast) with an obviously bias. If the article’s about politics, it’s often clear which side the author thinks you should be on.

Many stories are about a small group of people and the intent of the story is to get us to want to be part of that group. Maybe it’s a group of middle-aged women who has decided to clean up their town. “You should be a part of that group, too!” is the implication.

Or, maybe, it’s a group of people who have begun meeting at a local gymnasium to engage in some new workout that will trim their waistlines, firm their thighs and make them just all-around better people because it also involves a philosophy of some kind. “You should want to be a part of that group,” we’re given to believe, “Because look at the obvious benefits (you whale-like slob).”

In fact, much of this sort of “reporting” and probably most of our advertising appeals to one of the oldest vices known to man; a vice so pernicious that it made it into the “top ten”.

Exodus 20:17
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. (ESV)

Covetousness. Or, as it’s more commonly known: Envy.

Proverbs 14:30
A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. (ESV)

This may not seem (so far—and who says things are gonna change?!?) like a Father’s Day sermon, but it is (and not just because it’s being delivered today).

Think about the funny little thing I read at the beginning from Tom Bodett. He’s right that men—in general—like to fix things. But we also like a challenge. Fixing the mower was not just a diversion, it was a challenge. Every guy there wanted to be the man who fixed the mower.

I’m not saying women are immune to challenges. What I’m talking about this morning is that men have almost no immunity to challenges. We don’t. You want a group of men to accomplish something they wouldn’t ordinarily do? Figure out a way to make it a contest. Convince them that doing whatever it is is challenging. (This is the only possible explanation for golf.)

I say this because I want to appeal to this one aspect of “male nature”—the desire to be challenged—to try to conquer another side of our nature—one that doesn’t just afflict males but, again, this is Father’s day.

It’s an old staple of comedy to show women envying each other. This woman here was perfectly happy with her dress until someone showed up at the party with a better one. This woman over here was enjoying her role in life until she saw another woman with “more” (wonderful kids and a high-paying job; single-hood and relational fulfillment; etc.).

And we men laugh at that and think, “Yep! That’s the way women are! Man, they’re an envious bunch of people!”

But then we pull up to the light in our car that has all the scratches and it’s not even paid for and here comes a guy with a better-looking vehicle and a full head of hair. Our yard looks good, but that guy two houses down has an even better looking yard. This guy has more power tools, that one has a better TV, or this one has a hotter-looking wife.

Men are not immune to envy, are we.

What’s the solution?

Psalm 23:5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (NIV)

Let me read that last clause again: “My cup overflows.”

I am a person who thinks in terms of imagery. When I read something (anything) I am picturing it in my mind. For this one, I always pictured David kneeling—as when he was anointed—and having oil poured on his head. So much oil, I pictured, that it was pouring into a cup which was, itself, overflowing. And I could never picture why that was a good thing. It seemed greasy and it seemed like a waste of oil.

That’s because I was missing that semi-colon. The three clauses in that verse are three things the Shepherd (God) does for David. They’re related in that they’re all gifts from God, but they are three separate gifts. So I needed to change my way of thinking and picture one thing at a time. In this case, David with his cup out and God pouring it to overflowing.

OK … now that I have that picture in my mind, what does it mean? If I have an overflowing cup at my house it means that whoever was filling it wasn’t paying attention.

To understand this, we need to go back to David’s time. In David’s day, you could learn a lot from your cup. If I’m at a friend’s house and we’re lounging around the table but the host isn’t refilling my cup, that means the party’s over and he’s ready for me to leave. It’s more polite than saying, “Get out of here” but no less clear.

Now, if my host keeps pouring more drink into my glass every time it goes down, that’s a signal that he’s still happy with me and my company and wants me to stay. Even if he’s not saying it out loud, he’s sending me the message that I am welcome. “Drink some more!”

If, however, the host brings his jug over and fills my cup to the point that it’s pouring over the sides (onto the table, onto the floor), then that means that he doesn’t just want me to stay a little longer, it means I am welcome to stay as long as I like.

Now, think about the twenty-third Psalm and see what a huge thing this little clause—a third of a verse—is! God has prepared the pasture, he’s led us there, he’s prepared a table of food, he’s gotten rid of the snakes, and now he’s saying to us, “Stay as long as you like!”

Wow!

The table of God and it’s not temporary! We get to stay for all eternity!

What does this have to do with where this sermon started? Men, of all the things we envy, which of them compares to this table of God?
Want a challenge? Start trying to reframe your point of view. Men, we’re very susceptible to envy and covetousness. (We tell ourselves we’re not, but we are. A better car may not make us envious, but something does.) The challenge I’m throwing out to you—and it’s going to be harder than rebuilding an engine or winning the PGA tour—is to reframe your POV so that your focus is on what’s important to God.

Don’t have the best car in town? You’ve got an overflowing cup! Don’t have the biggest TV in the neighborhood? God himself has prepared a place for you to rest!

It’s a challenge, but it’s the challenge you were made for. And your maker created you with the ability to triumph!

What do I DO with this?

Start thinking like a man who is secure in the presence of his host! (and if you’re not, let’s get things right on that NOW!)

Comments? Email me at martha917@yahoo.com