(_a_) Desire the good things of this world for the sole gratification
they yield to our senses, when they minister to our luxury. When we
love them for a selfish reason, and value them only as they minister to
the comfort, ease, indulgence, and pampering of self.
(_b_) Avarice is a sin when we desire the good things of this world
inordinately. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the
world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world." (1 John ii. 15, 16.)
Excessive love of the things of this world becomes idolatry. (Eph. v.
6.)
(_c_) Avarice is a sin when it agitates the mind, and occupies it with
excessive anxiety after the good things of this world. "Take no thought
for the morrow," says our Lord, "for the morrow shall take thought
for the things of itself." "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt.
vi. 33, 34.) That is to say, the mind is to be mainly occupied with
the true end of life, and strain for that, and the striving after all
material interests must be kept in subordination to that.
(_d_) Avarice, or Covetousness, has several daughters. It produces in
man--1. _Callousness_ to distress. He loses feeling for the distress
of the poor and suffering. He begrudges everything given to them as
something taken from himself. 2. _Dishonesty._ In order to increase
wealth, the Conscience is hushed to pass over certain fraudulent
or dishonest acts whereby money may be gained unfairly, by false
representation, by selling a thing at what is beyond its worth, &c.
3. _Unrest._ The mind is engrossed by the cares and anxieties of the
pursuit of wealth, so that no good seed can grow in it. The calm and
peace of a Conscience at rest in God pursuing the true end is gone, and
is replaced by constant uneasiness as to how certain speculations will
turn out, what profit will come from a certain sale, or how certain
losses are to be made up.
[Illustration]
Sixth Thursday in Lent.
_LUXURY._
1. Luxury incites to the indulgence of the senses excessively, beyond
what God's law permits. As a vice, it consists in the love of what is
sensuous, and the inclination to yield to the pleasures of the sense.
It leads to forgetfulness of God and idolatry. That is to say, to
the enthronement of self in the place of God. Everything is made to
give way to the indulgence of the pleasures and caprices of self. God
exacts of us the homage of the entire man--body, soul and spirit;
luxury corrupts the body so that it can no longer be presented holy
and without blame to God; stains and enervates the soul, and dulls the
mind, filling it with lassitude and indifference.
It leads to sacrilege, for sacrilege is the profanation of that which
is dedicated to God. Now, man's body is the temple of the Holy Ghost,
and S. Paul shews that sensuality is a defilement of this temple.
Moreover, Christ took human nature upon Him to restore human nature,
to purify it, and if we by indulgence desecrate the body, we are
dishonouring that nature which Christ stooped to assume.
2. Luxury indulged in becomes a _servitude_. He that doeth sin is the
servant of sin. (John viii. 13.) The more that the carnal nature is
yielded to, the more exacting it becomes. It is never satisfied, it
is ever crying out for fresh pleasures, and even when the faculty of
enjoyment is over, the burning craving after new pleasures remains.
Luxury indulged in _gives the Evil One power over us_. At first he
advised, suggested evil, then he commands as a master, and will be
obeyed. The sinner groans in his bondage and desires to escape, but
remains in chains, his efforts to escape are powerless.
Luxury indulged in _weakens the power of resistance_. The sinner
becomes with every sin yielded to more frail and more cowardly. His
will becomes more powerless every time he yields, he makes the next
fall more easy, recovery more difficult.
3. Luxury is not merely the yielding to gross sins of the flesh. It is
a root of inclination in man to yield to and pamper the body in many
ways not in themselves sinful. Any excessive indulgence in pleasure, in
ease, in dress, in entertainments, in distractions, in ├Žstheticism, may
be, and often is, mortal vice. To take a simple case, the reading of
novels. A novel may be read as a distraction from laborious thought, or
painful thought. But to make fiction the main nutriment of the mind and
imagination is to indulge in the vice of luxury.
Man is sent into this world to do some good to others, to fill some
social gap, and to educate his mind, discipline his body, and cultivate
his soul. But luxury bids him distract his mind from serious pursuits,
and seek distraction as an end. Luxury, instead of bracing, enervates
the body, and it neglects the soul, if it does not cover it with
stains.
4. Gross indulgence in luxury, and long continuance in luxurious living
degrades the heart. The heart is rendered incapable of responding to
noble thoughts.
It blinds the mind to Divine things. As the pure in heart see God, the
impure have their understanding darkened to Divine things.
It chokes the spiritual life. To the luxurious prayer gives disgust,
religious counsel irritates.
It hardens the heart, it leads from sin to sin, till sin becomes a
habit, and habit becomes impenitence. Then the grace of God leaves the
soul entirely, and spiritually the soul is dead.
[Illustration]
Sixth Friday in Lent.
_ENVY._
1. Envy is a sadness which affects the mind on the contemplation of
advantage accruing to a fellow-being, and which we resent as though
what was his good was our ill. Or else it is a gladness which we feel
when we see or hear of some disadvantage happening to a fellow-being.
Or again, it may be a dissatisfaction at his having some natural
gifts or divine favours accorded to him which we are without, or
a satisfaction at his having certain natural defects, faults, or
infirmities.
2. There is no sin in the feeling of the heart when we are sad at the
success of another, which has not fallen to us, so long as it does
not embitter us, and so long as it serves to spur us to activity.
_Emulation_ is not sinful. On the contrary, God allows of inequalities,
in order to stimulate us to use our energies, and exercise our
faculties to the utmost. Emulation is only sinful when with it goes
loss of charity.
There is no sin in the feeling of the heart when we are sad or wrath
at persons obtaining advantages which they do not deserve. This is
_Indignation_, and springs out of a wounded sense of justice. But such
indignation must not prompt us to disparage, backbite, and injure those
who have succeeded without just cause for success.
There is no sin in the feeling of the heart when we are disconcerted
at certain persons obtaining positions of trust and authority which we
believe they will misuse. This is _Fear of Evil_, and is legitimate.
At the same time, as we cannot see the hearts and measure the
understandings of others, it is possible we may undervalue them, and
that they will do better than we have thought probable.
There is no sin in the feeling of the heart when we feel glad that
a person whom we deem unworthy has failed to obtain, or has lost an
employment for which he was incapable.
Nor is there anything wrong in the feeling of satisfaction at the
punishment of an evil-doer.
3. Envy is that gall of the heart which is the reverse of charity.
Envy is bred of self-esteem, and it hates to see others better,
happier, more esteemed, more prosperous than self. It is _selfish
egoism_, desiring to possess all advantages itself. It is a _baseness
of the soul_, which cannot endure to see anything superior to its own
mean self. It is a _falsity of judgment_, for it interprets awrong
everything done by the person it envies. It is _hypocritical_, for it
knows the despicable quality of its emotions, and veils them under all
kinds of disguises.
4. It is the most distressing of spiritual maladies. It is to the soul
what rust is to iron, canker to a tree, corroding and destroying all
happiness, brightness, amiability.
It poisons the entire life.
It is, moreover, the fruitful mother of many sins.
It produces (_a_) slander, backbiting, malicious words, (_b_)
uncharitable and cruel acts of animosity and vengeance.
It is a vice most hateful to God. "Envy," says Solomon, is "the
rottenness of the bones." (Prov. xiv. 30.) "Though I bestow all my
goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and
have not charity, it profiteth me nothing," says S. Paul. (1 Cor. xiii.
3.) It is one of the works of the flesh that excludes from the kingdom
of God. (Gal. v. 21.) "If ye have bitter envying and strife in your
hearts, glory not ... this ... is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where
envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." (James
iii. 15, 16.)
5. One belief among theologians is that the Devil fell through Envy;
when he knew for what God had created man, he was filled with jealousy
of man, and therefore revolted. As charity is the greatest of virtues,
and sweetens and glorifies the whole life, and is that virtue most near
to Christ, so is Envy the greatest of vices, souring and darkening the
whole life, and bringing most into likeness to the Devil.
[Illustration]
Sixth Saturday in Lent.
_GLUTTONY._
1. Gluttony is the vice of greedy love of eating and drinking beyond
measure. If it be a love of eating too much it is _greediness_; if a
love of eating and drinking only choice and palatable things, then it
is _daintiness_. Now God requires us to eat and drink what is necessary
for our life and health, and He gives to us a sensation of pleasure in
eating and drinking in order to encourage us to eat and drink what is
good and healthful.
Gluttony is the opposite vice to the virtue of temperance.
Some people are particular not to drink fermented liquors, but gorge
themselves with food. They are quite as guilty of excess in one way as
those who drink beyond measure. The gifts of God are bestowed to be
used, and used in moderation. To despise and reject any gift of God as
in itself bad is to sin against God. So S. Paul speaks of those who
forbad meats, and so nowadays some intemperate advocates of temperance
forbid all fermented liquors as in themselves bad. Sin does not exist
in eating and drinking, but in eating and drinking immoderately.
2. There is sin when (_a_) one eats and drinks in excess of what nature
requires, merely for the sake of the pleasure of eating and drinking.
(_b_) One eats or drinks with daintiness, picking and choosing, and
disparaging food or drink if it be not quite what suits our pampered
tastes.
(_c_) One spends too much time, or thought, or money, over food and
drink.
(_d_) One disorders the health, and confuses the mind, through overmuch
eating and drinking.
3. There is a virtue in self-denial in eating and drinking. Our Lord
Himself exhorts to fasting (Matt. vi. 16), and Himself set us the
example to fast. It must, however, never be done to excess, so as to
injure the health. And as it is well to abstain from food, so is it
well to abstain from intoxicating drinks, if done merely as an act of
self-denial, and to avoid scandal.
4. Gluttony or Drunkenness is the fruitful mother of several evil
children.
(_a_) The _degradation of the superior faculties_, which are weakened
by surfeiting and drunkenness. The mind is abased, and the soul
smothered by excessive eating and drinking.
(_b_) _Forgetfulness of Salvation._ The soul becomes so lost in the
grossness of the life led by the glutton, and the gourmand, and the
drunkard, that it does not care for the things of the life to come.
(_c_) _Laxity of Morals._ When the thoughts are given up to pampering
the animal man in one particular, the power to resist temptation to
indulge the animal appetites in other particulars is weakened, if not
lost.
(_d_) _Passion._ The glutton and the drunkard are liable to give way to
explosions of rage and anger, to quarrels and discords. Self-restraint
being sacrificed in one quarter is lost in another.
Palm Sunday.
_ANGER._
1. Anger is an agitation of the heart against persons or things that
displease us, impelling us to reject them and injure them. It urges us
to avenge ourselves on them for the wrong they have done, or that we
imagine they have done to us.
Anger is not necessarily in itself sinful. It is legitimate when it is
just, when the feeling is moderate, when the desire of punishment is
proportioned to the offence, and when it is soon passed.
It is sinful when it is _unjust_, _excessive_, _vengeful_, and
_lasting_.
We feel angry when we see a wrong done, the weak oppressed, the truth
spoken against, religion mocked. Such a feeling is right, it is
_righteous zeal_. But Anger must not be allowed to get the dominion
over us. That is what the Apostle says when he bids us, "Be ye angry,
and sin not."
2. Anger is criminal in its _object_, when it seeks vengeance on a
person for a wrong he has not really done, or in excess of his deserts.
Anger is criminal in its _means_, when it goes about to avenge a wrong
by some illicit means, as by slander, by bringing hurt upon the person
who has given the offence in a secret, underhand way.
Anger is criminal in its _motive_, when it pursues the offender
remorselessly, even though he deserves punishment.
Anger is criminal in its _motions_, if they be allowed to pass the
bounds of moderation, and obscure the judgment, that is to say, if it
become a blazing passion.
Anger is criminal in its _expression_, when it impels to extravagant,
insulting, false words, or violent acts.
3. Let us now return to the consideration of the four qualities of
Anger that justify or condemn it.
(_a_) It is sinful if it be _unjust_, and lawful if _just_. We must,
therefore, be very careful not to allow our eyes to be blinded by
passion so as to judge wrongfully. We are very liable to mistake, and
may suppose a thing is done against us intentionally, when it has been
done accidentally. We must, therefore, not be impulsive in our Anger.
(_b_) It is sinful when _excessive_. We must not give way to the
feeling of Anger, so as to allow it to grow out of indignation at the
sense of wrong done into a hot personal passion that, like a whirlwind,
will sweep us away with it.
(_c_) It is sinful when _vengeful_. God says, "Vengeance is mine, I
will repay." We must seek only the redress of the wrong, not the injury
of the wrong doer. We must seek his good, not his hurt, in the exercise
of punishment. That makes all the difference between retribution and
revenge.
(_d_) It is sinful when _lasting_. "Let not the sun go down on your
wrath," is S. Paul's rule. If we bear anger and malice in the heart,
the longer we harbour it the more unreasonable it grows. Anger must
be soon over, ready to die out at once when the opportunity presents
itself for forgiveness.
Monday in Holy Week.
_SLOTH._
1. Sloth is that love of indolence, or dislike to exertion, which
induces man to neglect his duties.
The will is given to man as a determining faculty to impel him to
action in the right course, and to hold him back from activity in the
wrong direction. Sloth is that inertness which holds back the will from
forming a determination, and therefore usually holds man back from
fulfilling his duties. It may hold him back from doing what is wrong,
and so may be of a negative advantage, and yet it so saps the life of
the will as to make it incapable of doing any good, that it would in
some cases be better in the end for a man to have chosen what is wrong,
and to have repented, than to have remained inert in the presence of a
question set before him to decide upon.
It cannot be sufficiently impressed on Christians that they have
_positive_ duties, that they are not called on to be a kind of moral
jelly-fish, but to a life of activity, and of activity healthy and
well-directed. It is in order that they may live this life of healthy,
well-directed activity, that Conscience is given them. Nor can any man
_shirk his duties_ without mortal sin, for he is going contrary to the
Will of God, and frustrating the intention of God in sending him into
the world. There is a place for every man, there is work for every man,
a line for every man to walk along, and Conscience to direct, and will
to determine, are given to every man to enable him to take his place,
do his work, follow his course. He may take the wrong place, do the
wrong work, and follow the wrong road, and he sins when he so does.
But he also sins, and sins quite as gravely, when he refuses through
indolence to take his proper place, and fulfil his predestined duties.
2. Every man has faculties of some sort, and for some end. He has
intellectual powers, manual dexterity, a sensitive eye or ear, and so
on, and it is the duty of every man to come early and clearly to a
perception of what his special abilities are, and then to cultivate
them to his utmost. So is he fulfilling God's will. But if he says,
"I am a man of private means, there is no occasion for me to exert
my intellect to acquire knowledge, to work at painting, study music,
follow mechanics," and so he does not develop his natural gift, he sins
against God, he is _wasting his talent_, through sloth.
Again, no man is justified in half doing what he is set to do. A good
many men and women are content to obtain a smattering of knowledge,
and to dabble in the fine arts, to trifle with science, merely so as
to be able to chatter in society about these things. But if anyone has
a faculty enabling him to do anything; if anyone has a task set him to
do, he must do it thoroughly; do it "as unto the Lord, and not unto
men." The servant must not half do his work, the tradesman leave the
article he turns out unfinished off, nor the man of culture be content
with a smattering of knowledge. All must alike _make full exercise_ of
their talents. What their hands or minds find to do, they must do well,
or they sin through the vice of sloth.
3. Sloth is hateful to God. "The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence,"
said Christ. The violent, _i.e._, the active, take it by storm. The
_unprofitable_ servant is condemned because he did not put his talent
to usury.
The barren fig-tree was cursed because it produced no fruit.