1500 years ago Pope Gregory the Great took a list of seven sins and listed them in a Church catechism. He had reduced the number of deadly sins from 8 to 7 when he listed them in the church’s teaching. The 8th sin that was dropped from the list was the sin of people who sing bad solo’s in church. I’m just kidding, (vainglory) but since those times the church universal has held this list which is called “The Seven Deadly Sins.” We have looked at Pride, Greed, Envy, and today, Anger then there is Sloth, Lust, and Gluttony.
We know as believers that rather than sin we are to develop virtues of godliness. The early Church fathers also listed the corresponding virtues., instead of pride - humility, instead of greed – generosity, instead of envy – love, instead of anger God wants kindness, then zeal self-control, and temperance – corresponding to sloth, lust and gluttony.
This is a tough for sermon to preach because quite frankly I struggle with this one more than some others, though all the sins appeal to all of us. Anger can churn inside while on the exterior I remain pleasant. Someone in the church said to me last week, after your sermon on envy, I have to confess I am envious. I said, “Join the club. All seven sins appeal to all of us. Don’t be foolish and think you are not tempted. These seven deadly sins are attractive to all of us.
Most of us have the impression that all anger is sinful and that Christians are to be bland and almost emotionless. To be angry we think is to lack intelligence. I remember my mother constantly quoting Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” And a lot of Christians lift out that verse all by itself and with a broad brush paint believers to be milk-toast wimps.
But the Bible tells us that at times Christians are to be angry against evil and injustice but they are not to sin. Anger against unrighteousness, under control is a powerful motivator.
Ephesians 4:26 “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold.”
I remember one of the first stories I learned in Sunday School as a child was the story of Jesus cleansing the temple. You can find the story in Mark 11. Jesus saw the dishonest moneychangers in the temple courts and he then physical picked up a whip and drove out the animals and turned over the tables of the merchants. When I was a child in the church all I knew from that story is that when special musical guests came to the church they could sell their 8-track tapes or records in the church building they would set up their display table on the front porch of the church.
Jesus was perfect, he never sinned and yet in that story he was angry. He was physically expressive. There is a place for the believer to show righteous indignation. God gave us the emotion of anger to motivate us to do something about sin and injustice. If you are a Christian and you never get expressive about partial birth abortion or child abuse or racism or government corruption that hurts people in the public you probably don’t have a spiritual pulse. God himself gets angry, One time when the nation of Israel has traveled far into sin Isaiah prophesied in 5:25 “Therefore the LORD’S anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down.”
Sinful anger though can damage us greatly. We know that from science. One anger management firm stated that “one out of every five Americans has an anger management problem.” According to FBI statistics, there were 23,305 homicides in 1994 and the most common reason was arguments occurring in the home (28%). Gang related killings accounted for only 7.6%.
Anger related violence is the reason stated for 22% of divorces of middle-class marriages.
Studies show that 79% of violent children witnessed some form of violence between their parents.
From 1995 to 2001 there were 1655 incidents of “air rage,” directing anger toward airline employees - according to FAA records.
The phrase "road rage" officially entered the English language in 1997 when it was first listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. We have known for some time that physical problems like ulcers, high blood pressure, possible strokes, and depression are often associated with anger but recently a University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. It found that teenagers, who don’t manage their anger, are at a higher risk for weight gain than those who do.
Spiritually, anger causes us to lose our joy in Christ, we destroy relationships with other people, we can ruin our witness through explosive fits of rage; James says, that a man who can control his tongue really is a perfect man, but he also says the tongue cannot be tamed. How many of us have said things in anger to hurt or intimidate others. One of the great consequences of anger is that it can put down roots of bitterness and resentment in our life so deep that we can be soured and distorted in our spirit for years to come.
Somebody here who struggles with anger. Proverbs 30:33 “For as churning the milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.” Sinful anger can ruin us as believers and as a church.
Sometimes anger just makes us into fools. Proverbs 29:11 “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.” (My father never raised his voice, never cursed, never used the Lord’s name in vain , he was in a coma, never heard a discouraging word)
Paul Harvey tells the story of a golfer who was having great difficulty on a course one day and his frustration became too much by the 13th hole. The poor guy placed three consecutive tee shots into a pond. Finally in complete exasperation he picked up his golf bag, spun around like a discuss thrower and heaved the whole bag, clubs and all into the pond and stormed off the course, apparently forever. Moments later he returned waded into the pond, people thought he came to his senses, his friends smiled as they recognized his embarrassment. He fished out the dripping bag, unzipped a pocket on the side of the bag took out his car keys then flung the bag back into the middle of the pond and went home.
Much of our problem today is that we become angry about all the wrong things. Someone once said, “The size of a man can be measured by the size of the things that makes him angry.” We get angry over silly obstructions and minor problems in life.
Since moving to Georgia, getting use to new streets and roads, that time and I admittedly made a mistake in traffic. (describe the mishap) But I love people in this county, you know one of the other drivers actually took the time to yell encouragement to me and then when he drove away past my car, he even pointed me in the right direction. Isn’t that swell.
The Bible has always taught us how to properly live. We have to learn how to handle this emotion.
Tom Jefferson wrote on how to handle anger in his "Rules of Living." "When angry count 10 before you speak. If very angry count a hundred." Mark Twain, 75 yrs later, revised it a little. "When angry count 4. When very angry, swear."
Rather than being angry at every little nuisance, Christians are to be noted for their kindness.
Colossians 3:12 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
So what are we to do? What is the balance we are looking for? There is a very interesting verse in Romans 11:22 it says, “Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.”
So God is kind but He is able to be stern when it’s required against sin.
Here are some things from the Bible I think we need to keep in mind so that anger doesn’t controls us or hurts us and kindness can be prominent in our lives.
1. KNOW THAT OUTBURSTS OF ANGER IS SIN. One author called anger the “devil’s furnace”. The bible strictly prohibits rage. Ephesians 4:31 “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another.” Get rid of rage. We all know someone who prides themselves in just telling it like it is. As if that makes them the only one who sees things clearly. These people usually explode from time to time and everyone walks on eggshells around them. I have know people who pride themselves on I just tell it like it is. As if this is some sort of desired quality in human beings. What they really mean to say is I am rude and don’t care about others. You have to be honest enough with yourself; in an evaluation of yourself that you don’t turn into a threatening individual who is always teetering on the edge of eruption. Some of struggle right here at this point. We don’t realize it, but other people can tell simply by our posture or demeanor that we are angry, even before they talk to us. If you go to Amazon dot com and under books type in the word anger you get 247,137 responses. Titles like, “How to Take the Grrrr Out of Anger - Beyond Anger: A Guide for Men: How to Free Yourself from the Grip of Anger and Get More Out of Life -The Anger Trap: Free Yourself from the Frustrations that Sabotage Your Life - Transforming Anger: The HeartMath Solution for Letting Go of Rage, Frustration, and Irritation - 60 Second Anger Management: Quick Tips to Handle Explosive Feelings - She’s Gonna Blow!: Real Help for Moms Dealing with Anger.” Rage is a sin.
2. KNOW THAT GODLY ANGER WILL CONFRONT SIN WHEN NECESSARY. Hosea 8:5 “Throw out your calf-idol, O Samaria! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity?” You can find many other examples of God confronting sin in the Bible, ultimately in the cross of Christ. Christians are not to be spineless, we do have a calling to be salt and light and there are times when we must confront the culture in front of us and the church within us. If you read the bible there is a biblical process for doing that and several pieces of advice on how we should confront sin in our friends or in the community. It is possible to speak the truth in love.
3. NEVER ALLOW ANGER TO FESTER IN YOUR HEART FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. Ephesians 4 26 “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.” There really can be a lot of things to become angry about if you look around. Injustice in this world, etc. Anger can result in resentment and resentment builds into bitterness, which can have long-term health effects. That’s why the bible counsels for forgiveness and laughter because it helps us wash away those destructive feelings. If you are angry about something for a long time, you need help either through greater prayer or sharing with a trusted Christian friend of counselor to stop it’s foothold. Let the past go, for yourself.
4. WHEN YOUR EMOTIONS ARE AGGREVATED TREAT PEOPLE CHRISTIANLY. Romans 12:17 “17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. You can act rightly before others. We are hurt so we gossip. We are ignored so we ignore back. We feel unfairly treated, so we look for ways to recover our loss. Those are immature ways of striking back. You can operate in a Christian framework and treat people biblically even when you don’t have great emotions of warmth. C. S. Lewis once said: "it is easier to be enthusiastic about humanity with a capital "H" than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, … exasperating, depraved, or otherwise unattractive. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular."
5. KINDNESS IS A CHOICE WE MAKE. “19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” I Cor. 13 describes godly love and after Paul establish that you can have talents, wealth and good deeds and still not possess love he says in v. 4 “Love is patient, love is kind.”
In Psalms 136, the phrase, “His love endures forever is repeated 26 times. In every verse there are only 26 verses. Not because David lack originality but because he wanted to emphasize God’s goodness and lovingly kindness towards us through His deeds. He starts by saying he is God of gods, Lords of Lords, he does great wonders and made the heaven, his governs the sun and the stars he led Israel through the red sea to the promise land, he struck down evil kings who sought to oppose Israel. And then he says, as he ends the Psalm,
23 to the One who remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies,
His love endures forever.
25 and who gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
God has made a choice to love, to be kind and we can too. We are connected to one another and we to get rid of anger and replace it with kindness.
John Donne was an English Priest of the Church of England and a poet of exceeding intellect who lived his adult life in the early 1600’s. King James I appointed him the dean (Sr. Minister) of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. But in 1623 he became ill and felt he was dying of the plague, which was taking so many lives at that time. While convalescing, he wrote his book “Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.” It was a book about his struggle with death and human relationships. Meditation 17. Incrediable work, a timeless piece. You know the words, but perhaps had forgotton their place in history. Donne on his sick bed heard the bell of the church ringing during the day. The custom was to do so
“Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me and see my state may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that…” - “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, … Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee”
“The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that head which is my head too, and ingrafted into the body whereof I am a member. And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated. God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God’s hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another.”
Life is too short, relationship are too dear to spend time in anger. Your own life needs to be free. Move on to kindness and God will bless you.
