So…
What are you angry about?
It seems like everyone I know is angry about something!
Whether it is politics, your tax return or lack thereof,
your medical issues, or your pain-in-the-butt family, everyone has a beef about
something.
Well, at least online.
I’ve noted an interesting phenomenon; many of the folks who
seem to be raging a lot about all kinds of stuff online, are people who are wonderfully
pleasant, even joyous, in day to day life. Weird.
But here is where it gets weirder.
Jesus, who is preaching to the folks lined up on the
hillside in Matthew’s gospel are being told by Jesus that anger is bad! Not
just uncomfortable. Not just dangerous. It is bad. As in you are in danger of
the fires of hell, bad!
So, how are you feeling about your anger now?
And I know what I am going to hear from some of you: my
anger is justified. Changing the words of Haley Joel Osmet in that movie with
Bruce Willis, “I see dead people”, I hear you saying, “I see stupid people.”
But in light of Jesus’ words, we have to think about
whether being angry worth it.
That is exactly what Jesus is asking us to calculate.
Here he is with the disciples, his followers, the
Pharisees and Scribes and he is asking people, is being angry worth it?
Does it get you what you want, or does it just get in the
way of lots of things, including relationships, including your relationship with
God?
We all know that anger is an emotional state, a physical reaction
to stimuli. Anger in itself is not necessarily destructive, rather is it a warning
signal from the autonomic brain to the body that there is a dangerous situation
ahead, kind of like “Lost in Space’s, “danger Will Robinson”!
Where were you people in 1965?
Anyway, whenever we experience certain situations, when
we are afraid, jealous, hurt, disappointed, frustrated, embarrassed, our body
reacts with one of three possible autonomic responses: we freeze, we flee, or
we prepare to fight.
The reactions take place instantaneously, without
thought. They are automatic responses to dangerous stimuli with the intention of
enabling us to save ourselves in dangerous situations, like that Mountain Lion
in Colorado that tried to take down a trail runner.
The runner fought and the lion lost.
Because our response is not cognitive but automatic, it
is not a strategy. It is not a thought out plan. It is rather just huge warning
system that lets our lagging behind conscious brains get to work figuring out
what to do.
Our hearts start to pound, our fists ball up, our
breathing gets shallower, readying us to make a move to run like a deer spooked
by a puma, or fight with flying fists, or in some cases freeze, letting our camouflage
hide us, like when your wife sees you ate the last piece of Valentine’s Day
cheesecake!
The feelings that we describe as anger need to be dealt
with, but how we deal with them can reveal whether we are Kingdom of God people
or not.
As the scriptures remind us, we are to be angry, but not
sin.
In fact, the Apostle Paul In Ephesians, chapter 4 says, “You
were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old
self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to
be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new
self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak
truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ‘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.
Anger is a problem when it causes sin. And Jesus jumps
right in telling us that sin happens, when it separates us from the others
around us that God loves.
The CEV that we read here in this congregation has Jesus
saying, “But I promise you that if you are angry with someone, you will
have to stand trial. If you call someone a fool, you will be taken to court.
And if you say that someone is worthless, you will be in danger of the fires of
hell.”
I actually like the NIV here better when it says, “But I
tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be
subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister,
‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’
will be in danger of the fire of hell.
“Raca”, in the language Jesus would have spoken, was a
kind of street Semitic - Hebrew mishmash. In it “Raca” would have been a term
of contempt.
You can freely supply the equivalent and probably have
driving here on the way to worship. Just saying.
So, here’s the take away: the Kingdom of God is made up of
people who are not angry.
Well, it isn’t that Kingdom people don’t get mad at injustice,
unfairness, and a whole host of others things that make us want to flee, freeze
or fight. But it’s what we then do about those feelings that define us as part
of the Kingdom or not.
And if those feelings and our subsequent actions are separating
us from others God loves and counts as his children, well then, Jesus has made
it clear to all those on the hill, disciples and Pharisees, followers and scribes,
that God is not pleased, he even suggests that you may be tonight’s BBQ.
And its not just folks on the hill! It’s also you and I.
So, as Jesus reminds us, if you are on your way to
worship and remember that someone is angry with you, leave your pew and go and make peace
with that person, then come back and offer yourself as a gift to God.
We live in angry times, my friends!
Remember who you are!
And always let love, not anger be your guide.
Amen.
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