Anger. We never quite know what to do with the emotion of anger. Yet, anger is one of the dominant emotions of the human condition, and it plays a dominant role in Riley Anderson’s life in the Disney Pixar film, Inside Out. In the film, Anger is a hot-head (literally- his head combusts off and on throughout the movie). He’s red, a color that research shows people associate with anger. Throughout the film, Anger yells, throws things, and blows-up, both literally and figuratively. It’s important to note that the character only really shows us one type of anger-expression, the outward, aggressive type. In reality, anger can be expressed in a lot of different ways. It's ok in the context of the movie, though, as Riley is an 11-year-old dealing with a recent move. She has a lot to be frustrated about and you wouldn't expect a young adolescent to exhibit the sort of impulse-control required to keep anger in check. We, however, as disciples of Jesus, are supposed to grow up. Unfortunately, too many of us are like Riley, and we don’t get past the way anger can control us and get us into trouble.
Anger is a subtle emotion. We hide it behind other emotions because we’re afraid to acknowledge it. We’ve been told it’s wrong to get angry. Maybe we feel justified with our anger, but don’t know what to do with it. Certainly we’re not supposed to confront the person who made us angry, are we? No! We’d rather keep our anger than do that. Most of us, when we’re full of anger get passive. Oh, inside, we’re like the little red character in the movie, but outside we repress the anger. It’s safer, or so we think. What happens, though, is we let that anger come out in more “acceptable” ways. We don’t always throw chairs or shout at the top of our voice, but we procrastinate, or show up late, or lower our performance. We might obstruct progress, or cut with humor. We might shut off, or criticize to our understanding friends. There are a multitude of ways we deal with anger. We feel much safer at home. Some of us might feel more free to explode there. We treat those we say we love with less respect than we would treat a stranger. Anger is one of the hardest emotions for Christians to deal with. We often don’t acknowledge we have it because we feel we are not supposed to have it in the first place. We call it something else, deceive ourselves, and tear apart the body of Christ with unloving responses or unloving actions.
Anger is one of the issues the Apostle Paul deals with in his letter to the church at Ephesus. Paul wrote this letter around 60 A. D., probably from a Roman prison cell. He wrote the letter as an encouragement to a primarily non-Jewish (translate that Gentile) audience. Paul wanted to make it clear that Jews and Gentiles have been brought together as part of one body in Christ. Because of Christianity’s strong roots in Jewish history and religion, it was natural for early Christians to wonder if Christ’s gospel was limited to Jews, or if Jewish Christians held a special status because of their ethnic heritage. Paul clearly wants his Gentile brothers and sisters to know that in God’s kingdom, they are first-class citizens alongside their Jewish brethren. To get this point across, he uses a number of phrases and metaphors that imply unity: the “body of Christ” as a description of God’s kingdom on earth, and marriage as a mirror of Jesus’ relationship with the church. Paul also reminds his audience that since they now belong to Christ, they must start living their lives differently. This “living life differently” is the context in which Paul is writing the passage we read today, and in which he gives counsel to Christians in dealing with anger. Perhaps that’s a good place for us to start growing up, too.
Paul begins this section by saying “throw off the old sinful nature,…and put on your new nature (v. 22 – 24).” He uses the imagery of taking off a coat, but when we take off a one coat, we must also put on another. We’re trading one coat for another. And, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the way we dealt with anger before is no longer appropriate for a disciple of Jesus Christ. What counsel does Paul give?
First, Paul says “be angry!” According to one researcher, “The average person feels some degree of anger or its cousin, frustration, ten to fourteen times a day.” Here’s what we need to note: Anger is not sin. In the film, Anger is shown motivating Riley in the hockey rink, and the Anger character’s introduction at the beginning of the movie describes anger as making sure things are fair. And surely, you must know God gets angry. 375 times in the Old Testament it says God got angry. There were times when Jesus was terribly angry. He was angry when the scribes and Pharisees were watching to see if he would heal the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day (Mark 3:5). It was not their criticism of himself at which he was angry; he was angry that their religion desired to impose unnecessary suffering on a fellow creature. He was angry when he made a whip and drove the changers of money and the sellers of victims from the Temple courts (John 2:13-17). Jesus got angry—remember how he cleared the temple? It is not a sin to get angry. In fact, if we never get angry in a relationship it means we’re not in touch with reality. There are some things we ought to get angry about. Sometimes anger means “I care!” Sometimes anger is an expression of love. Sometimes anger says, “I’m not going to stand by and watch you waste your life.” It’s not how we get angry, it’s what we do with our anger that makes it a sin or not. Paul says “be angry, but don’t sin.”
The starting point is to admit my anger. The Holy Spirit can’t work on it until I admit it. Research suggests that one of the roots of depression is anger. Depression is often frozen rage. It is angry feelings stuffed down, taking itself out on our bodies in the form of depression. Sometimes, when we’re feeling depressed, we should not ask, “Why am I depressed?” but rather ask, “What am I angry about?” Maybe that’s the real issue. What am I angry about and I don’t want to admit? What am I swallowing in anger that’s causing me to be depressed. There is a saying, “If I don’t talk it out, I’ll end up taking it out.” Talk to yourself. Talk to others. Acknowledge I’m angry, and deal with it.
Actually, deal with it is Paul’s second piece of advice. Not just deal with it, but deal with it immediately. He says, “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” Jesus says in Matthew’s Gospel, “To settle matters quickly with your adversaries” (Matthew 5:25). Anger neglected leads to bitterness, and bitterness is a sin. Bitterness is anger that has taken root in our hearts. Bitterness eats away at our soul like cancer, and it affects both the body and the soul.
It works two ways, too. Even good anger should motivate us to action. Jesus was angry about the money changers in the Temple, and he did something about it. The money changers were preventing people from worshipping God, and Jesus was motivated to grab a whip and run them out. It was righteous indignation. William Wilberforce was angered by the slave trade in England in the 17th century, and he didn’t just lament the issue, but took steps in Parliament to change the course of history. Martin Luther King, Jr., was angered by the treatment of African-Americans in the United States in the 1960’s. He didn’t wait. He acted out of that righteous anger in appropriate ways to change history. Whenever we see situations and circumstances in our culture, we must allow that anger to motivate us to action. That’s one reason I sensed a call to offer myself for service as a Bishop in the United Methodist Church. One of the things that angers me is the vitriol with which we Christians who are called Methodists have treated one another over the issue of same-gender marriage. In many instances, the arguments have devolved into nothing more than name-calling and character assassination. Perhaps my voice would be a voice that could make a difference. If I’m not willing to act on that, I’m letting the sun go down on my anger.
The converse is also true. We need to understand that exploding in rage is not dealing with it in the sense that Paul speaks. Have you ever noticed the difference between "anger" and "danger" -- it’s just the letter "d" in the front. Anger expressed inappropriately is dangerous. Anger expressed inappropriately can completely destroy lives, can destroy jobs, can destroy relationships. It’s common knowledge that most of the murders that are committed in our country every year are not committed by strangers. Most of the murders are committed by family members, relatives, friends, acquaintances who, for one tiny moment, allowed that powerful emotion to be out of control. Conflict is inevitable, but combat is not! Refusing to deal with our anger in healthy ways is the very thing Paul warns us will be the foothold the devil needs to destroy us.
Anger we refuse to deal with will also cause us to make bad decisions. It’s just like with fear or worry. We don’t make good decisions when we’re worried. We don’t make good decisions when we’re angry. In the film, when Riley is really struggling with the move and feeling at her worst, anger steps in with the decision to run way. The goal is to move back to Minnesota where she was last happy and develop some new happy memories. The decision is made in anger at a time when Joy is away from headquarters and it reflects that sort of irrational thinking that happens when we’re is angry. What’s more, when Riley’s other emotions start to think that running away may have been a bit drastic, they discover that, like a lot of angry decisions, it can’t easily be undone. Maybe that’s why the Apostle James counseled “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1: 19 – 20 NIV).
Did you hear about the guy who killed his car because he got so angry at it. He ran it into a snow bank and couldn’t get it out so he got out a tire iron and smashed all the windows. He took a pistol and shot all four tires, reloaded, opened the hood and shot the engine. The police called it autocide. We do really stupid things when we lose our temper.
How do we deal with it? May I suggest forgiveness? That’s exactly how Paul encourages the Ephesians to deal with it. He closes this portion of the letter with these words: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4: 31 – 32 NLT). Forgiveness is at the heart of the Christian faith. Our salvation is rooted in the forgiveness of God found in Jesus Christ. That’s the heart of the Gospel. I probably need to forgive myself for being angry about being angry. And, forgive myself if I’ve ever acted out in anger inappropriately. Secondly, forgive the person or the circumstances that caused your anger.
Finally, we need to learn a new behavior. That’s what happens when we put on a new coat, so to speak. Acting out irrationally in anger is a learned behavior. We learned it from our parents, or our siblings or our peers. Just as we learned it, we have to unlearn it, too. It’s part of the new life Christ offers us.
Let me offer this illustration that might be helpful. Remember a few years ago when Operations Lifesaver had a publicity campaign for safety at train tracks? I think their slogan was “Stop, Look, Listen.” Stop before you say something. Look to see why you are angry. Listen to the Holy Spirit for a better response. The same advice that saves us from trains will save us from the train wreck that the emotion of anger can cause if it goes unchecked. Riley Anderson almost found out the hard way. Let’s not take that same road. Amen.
