God's Answer To Anger

Intro – Eph. 4:26-32

Now, all of us know what it is to experience anger. Your anger may be rooted in something as serious as abuse or something as insignificant as someone taking a parking spot that you were waiting on, but we all know what it is to be angry.

And listen…it is a problem. Just consider a few of these headlines from the news recently:

“Anger in Hong Kong after student dies from fall following clash with police.”

“Anger at out of touch elite stoking Chile protests.”

“Parents throw punches – not baseballs – in brawl at children’s baseball game in Colorado” (JPSC Plug!)

Angry parent prompts lockdown at local elementary school.”

“Cleveland Browns Waive Jermaine Whitehead After Explosive Twitter Rant”

“Man feared for life as road rage episode resulted in shots being fired from vehicle.”

We all have our own anger and temper issues or have family members or friends that struggle in this area of their life. And if not careful…if left unchecked:

It can destroy relationships…

Create division in the workplace…

Devastate intimacy in the home…

And today I want us to turn to the book of Ephesians to see God’s instruction on how we should properly deal with anger.

I want to encourage you to begin reading this book and familiarizing yourself with it because we are praying and thinking about in January starting a series going through it verse by verse.

The apostle Paul wrote this book and the first three chapters are doctrinal in nature while the last three are very practical. And I want us to begin reading tonight in:

Ephesians 4:26-32 – “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Now, as we get going this evening, let’s just start out by acknowledging that not all anger is what we’d call “bad anger”…or harmful anger. There is a difference between healthy anger and unhealthy anger.

As Christians, when we look at the world with a biblical worldview and we see injustice – things that don’t reflect the character and nature of God like:

Abortion…

Racial prejudice…

Abuse…

When we see these things, we have not only the right, but the holy obligation to be like God and be angry at these injustices. Jesus, our ultimate example of how we should live our lives…he is God in the flesh…he knew anger.

Twice in the scripture we see him making a whip and driving people out of the temple that were taking advantage of people and using the purposes of God for their own benefit. This was a righteous anger he displayed…the wrath of God is a righteous wrath.

So, anger in and of itself is NOT ungodly, it’s more about what we do with our anger and how it is directed. See, anger is an “inside job”. It starts in our heart.

This is why Proverbs 4:23 – “Keep your heart with all vigilance (ever alert, on call), for from it flow the springs of life.”

Anger has to be dealt with at the heart level in a healthy way or it can lead to all sorts of harmful behaviors and actions that can lead to dysfunction and division.

Paul KNEW this…it’s why he says in Eph. 4:26 – “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.”

We use this verse often in our marriage counseling…that if there is an issue that is causing anger in the relationship, the best thing you can do is work it out! And if you can’t work it out immediately and that’s understandable - sometimes there needs to be some time to process.

But, the principle is to work together…to resolve the anger BEFORE the sun goes down – meaning get it resolved as quickly as possible.

Illus. Elderly couple – This verse reminded me of the elderly couple that were talking one evening about their many fights over the years. And the wife, in a moment of honesty and humility said, “Honey, I’m so sorry I’ve blown up so many times at you over the years. How do you manage to stay so calm?”