Don’t you hate it when someone comes along and “upsets the apple cart?” This saying originated sometime in the 1800’s. The idea behind it was that a farmer had carefully loaded his cart with apples to take and sell at the market place. However, some clumsy oaf would come along and hit the cart, causing it to turn over and spill its contents. The apples would be bruised and not sellable.
So when some one “upsets your apple cart” it means to upset things and create disorder.
Jesus was really good at upsetting apple carts but He wasn’t a clumsy oaf. Instead He was God in flesh. When Jesus upset apple carts man’s preconceived notions were often damaged with drastic results. John 6:60, 66 “Many of his disciples said, ‘This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?’ At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.”
His desire was for man to be shook from his preconceived stance on God and God’s commandments. His desire was to turn over man’s opinion so that man could begin to see the truth as his Father had intended. He desired to dump the apples of religion and ritual to the point they were damaged and useless. Some of his followers decided it was more than they could comprehend so they left. Over the next few weeks we are going to examine some of these carts He overturned. Perhaps our apple carts will get upset. But if they do it’s okay because He has something better for us.
There have been 25 murders in Charlotte from January-June of this year. There have been 108 domestic murders in North Carolina this year. The latest statistic stated there have been 14,478 murders in the United States. I am sure that the vast majority if not all of these murders began with anger.
Murder has been in existence almost as long as man. We can read about the first recorded account of murder in Genesis 4:3-8 “When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.
‘Why are you so angry?’ the Lord asked Cain. ‘Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.’
One day Cain suggested to his brother, ‘Let’s go out into the fields.’ And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.”
Cain was angry. He was angry at God. He was angry at the circumstances. He was angry over being rejected. He took his anger out on his brother and killed him. I am sure he felt justified.
In Genesis 34 we can read the story of Jacob’s daughter, Dinah. She was raped by Shechem, a Hivite. Although he had forced himself on her, he wanted to do the honorable thing and marry her. He talked to her father and brothers, offering them a dowry for her hand in marriage. The brothers concocted a plan. They would agree if all the men in town would be circumcised. While the men were in pain from the procedure two of Dinah’s brothers killed every man in the town and looted it. They were angry. They were angry over the violation of their sister. They took out their anger on not only Shechem but every man around him. I am sure they felt justified.
In Exodus 2:11-13 we read this account of Moses. “Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand.”
Moses was angry. He was angry over the mistreatment of his people. He took out his anger on a servant doing the Pharaoh’s bidding. I am sure he felt justified.
The problem in each case was the fact they no precedence has been established by God that warranted death of these individuals. God established a principal with Noah concerning the justification of taking someone’s life.
Genesis 9:5-6 “And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image.” Only the killing of a person would justify the death of the offending person.
However, God, understanding man’s depraved state, would give a set of laws to Moses that would allow other circumstances to be an offence leading to death. Due to time constraints we are not going to pursue those 20 instances but rather stay with the topic of murder. But Numbers 35:31 does imply that ransom could be offered in atonement so that death could be avoided except for one crime. “Also, you must never accept a ransom payment for the life of someone judged guilty of murder and subject to execution; murderers must always be put to death.”
So goes this principal on murder that the Jews had lived with for around 1500 years. It was nicely stacked in their apple cart and Jesus came around and upset it.
Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.’
Jesus points out the obvious. You cannot murder and if you do you are subject to judgment. But then He digs at the root of the matter. If you are even angry at someone, you could be bringing the same judgment on yourself as if you murdered them. Why? Because murder begins with judgment. Cain thought Able deserved to die so he murdered him. Dinah’s brothers thought that not only Shechem should die but all the men in the village also. So they murdered them. Moses felt the Egyptian should die so he murdered him. Judgment became anger which became action.
That is why Ephesians 4:26 commands us ‘don’t sin by letting anger control you.’ Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,”
So we have two choices. We can stop our anger or stop the sun. Personally I cannot make the sun stand still. So I need to deal with my anger daily. God equates our outbursts of anger with sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. These things can lead us to God’s judgment on us. (Galatians 5:19-21). We are commanded to get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. (Ephesians 4:31) Instead we are to do all that we can to live in peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18)
Read Psalm 37:8
“Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.”
Not only will anger cause judgment against you but also calling someone an idiot. The Greek word is Raca. It meant empty-headed. It implied that one person was able to determine the correctness of a matter above some empty-headed idiot. It’s kind of the way we talk about our government leaders these days. And we run the risk of being judged. There is nothing wrong with opposing political views but the danger is in how we voice them. The same is true with our world views.
Right now, North Carolina is reeling from a judge’s decision to legalize same sex marriage. Churches are torn over how to approach this matter. Some people are siding with the ruling saying that it is an individual choice. Others are in arms wanting to condemn those who participate in and/or agree with the ruling. I come from a background where homosexuality is the worse sin anyone could commit. Only sexual perverted empty headed idiots would participate in this act. But Jesus upset my apple cart with this message that I am presenting today.
Matthew 7:1-3 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?”
Jesus says “Don’t sit in your judgment seat and judge others because my seat is the highest one. If you don’t want me sending down judgment on your sins, don’t judge others.
If you mistreat others because of your judgment of their sins then you run the risk of being treated by me the same way. If you are going to expect perfection in others than I will expect perfection in you. Realize that you also have imperfections. You deal with yours and I will deal with everyone else’s.”
So how do we as a church handle such a delicate issue as same sex marriage has become? Realize, your opinion does not matter. Opinions are not absolute truths. It doesn’t matter how I feel about an issue.
All I have is the Word of God. Can I trust it? 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” Do I believe that statement?
I read in Genesis 2:18, 22 Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.’ Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.”
The Word of God says that a woman was the helper just right for the man. If I cannot accept that statement than I must question the entire Word of God. If I throw that out than nothing is reliable and the Bible becomes ineffective.
So I stand on the Word of God and not my opinion. I will not debate the issue. Because a debate is my opinion and it becomes judgmental. I let the Word speak. There is no issue not addressed in the Bible so let it speak for you.
So getting angry will lead to judgment the same as murder will. And being judgmental by proclaiming your wisdom above others will lead to judgment the same as murder. Then Jesus really upsets an apple cart. If we curse someone by calling them a fool, we are in danger of the fires of hell.
The word for cursing someone is moros. It is the root word for moron. To call someone this was the ultimate insult in the Jewish culture. Why would this be such a sever judgment?
To insult someone is more sever because you become the instigator. An angry thought can be held. A judgmental spirit can be checked. But a spoken word cannot be retrieved.
James 3:5-9 states it this way.
“In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.”
We get angry. We begin speaking angry words. Things escalate. We begin name calling or cursing someone. Suddenly it comes to blows being thrown. Someone is seriously hurt or even killed. Jesus places the blame on us. We cannot tame our tongue. We can control our anger.
I find it interesting though that Jesus uses this word moros when confronting the religious leaders. Matthew 23:17 “Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?”
How is it that Jesus, who warns us not to use that word less we face the ultimate judgment, uses it himself? Because He is God. And only can He look at a person and decide if they are a fool, a moros, or not. When we make that statement we have elevated ourselves to God’s level. Now we get a better understanding of why they wanted Jesus crucified.
So we are instructed to control our anger, not to sit in judgment over others, and not to provoke others. All of these things are equal to committing murder in our hearts.
Rather, as Jesus continued to teach, we are to be reconciled with each other. That is to restore a harmonious balance in a relationship. It doesn’t mean to become the best of friends, just at peace with someone. In fact God desires harmonious relationships above sacrifices.
Also we are to allow our opposition to have the upper hand. In a disagreement we are to be the one to concede. If not we may be perceived as the aggressor and cause judgment to be rendered against ourselves.
As you leave here today I can ask that you not commit murder. I can feel rather confident that you will not. Avoiding killing someone is actually easy. Instead I ask that you control your temper. Perhaps not so easy to do. I ask that you stop judging others by your standards or even the Word of God. Remove yourself from the judgment seat and allow God to sit there. Hard to do. And I ask that you not provoke anyone but rather control your speech. Really difficult to do. But all important for our spiritual well-being.
