Anger and Patience

Gracious God, as we come to your word tonight,

we ask that you would challenge again

a sin which we hold so deep within us.

Father, we pray that you would expose it,

that we would deal with it by taking it to you for confession,

and that you would help us to rise to new life,

empowered by your spirit through your word,

and in step with the Lord Jesus,

and we ask it for your sake.

Amen.

Tuesday the 15th of May, 1894,

the Baltimore Orioles baseball team went to Boston

to play a routine game of baseball,

but it ended up being anything but routine.

In the third innings, a fierce fight broke out

between Baltimore's John McGraw

and Boston's third baseman Tommy Tucker.

Within minutes, as you notice on most TV baseball fights,

both benches were cleared

as the players and the officials from both sides

ended up in an all-in rumble.

The rumble then moved to the grandstands,

and it spread like wildfire.

Literally, it spread like wildfire

because someone decided to start a fire

in amongst all the mayhem.

The fire destroyed the ballpark

and $70,000 worth of equipment in 1894.

And then it spread from the ballpark

to other Boston buildings,

and by the time it was brought under control,

the building had, the fire, sorry,

had destroyed and severely damaged 170 buildings.

Basically, one half of Boston was wiped out.

A simple altercation on third base

resulted in half of Boston being wiped out.

And I say simple because when it was over,

John McGraw, the guy who lost his temper in the first base,

said, for the life of me,

I don't know what it was about.

Proverbs 29 verse 8,

Proverbs 29:8

mockers stir up a city,

but wise men turn away anger.

God knows the destructive power of our anger,

and his word warns us against it consistently.

Proverbs 29,

a fool gives full vent to his anger,

but a wise man keeps himself under control.

If only John McGraw had kept his anger under control,

destruction would have been prevented.

If only he didn't unleash his anger.

If only I didn't unleash my anger,

and you unleash your anger on friends and colleagues,

people you go to school with,

or uni or work.

If only we could control our anger.

But anger makes us feel so good, doesn't it?

I mean, come on.

You know, when you really get to blow that valve,

don't you feel kind of moved afterwards?

It sort of gets the blood rushing.

I remember one day,

my younger brother was particularly being annoying,

and he was trying to pick a fight with me,

and I was thinking,

I'm not going to retaliate.

Wise man keeps his anger under control.

I drew a line in the sand in my mind.

You know,

I can put up with this,

I can put up with this,

and I decided,

when he was coming back,

every couple of minutes annoying me,

I said,

if he does it one more time,

that's going to be it.

And do you know what?

He didn't.

And I wasn't going to let him get away with it.

And so as he was walking by,

and not annoying me,

I decided,

well,

I will retaliate based on all the things you've done to me so far.

And so I drew the line back one step.

I grabbed him.

My parents were away at this particular time,

on this weekend.

I grabbed him,

and I went bang with his head

through the plaster wall of the house.

Fortunately,

in between two sort of,

you know,

but it just went straight through.

It was quite impressive at the time.

And then I had to fix the house

before mum and dad got home.

If only we treated seriously

the command from God's word,

everyone should be quick to listen,

slow to speak,

and slow to become angry.

For man's anger does not bring

about the righteous life that God desires.

You see,

our ways are not God's ways.

And we need to change from being slaves to sin,

to being serviced to Christ.

We need to die to anger.

We need to rise to patience.

Patience.

And can I say that anger is everyone's issue?

Because sin's everyone's issue.

Anger's everyone's issue.

We all express it in different kinds of ways.

There are those who blow the valve,

go off their nut,

and you can clearly say,

oh, there's an angry person.

And there are those who quietly simmer away

with unresolved anger,

quietly simmer away,

and then maybe blow,

but maybe not.

There was a married couple

who a friend of mine was talking about recently.

They spent four months

not speaking to each other.

Four months of anger.

Four months of anger.

So it's not just those who blow the valve

and go off their nut

and their face turns red.

It's those who use the silent treatment,

those who we draw from the relationship.

So how do we die to anger?

Do we count to ten?

Hold our breath?

Bite our tongue?

Well, that might help a little bit,

but we actually need to go deeper than that.

We need to let God's word do radical surgery

in our lives

as we seek to live new lives

with Jesus the boss.

So where does it come from?

We looked at last week

at Genesis chapter three.

And so where does it come from?

We see the birth of anger in Genesis four.

So if you've got Bibles there,

you need to be up.

This is pretty simple.

I think it's page four in your Bibles,

roughly.

But if it's not,

you'll find it around there.

Genesis chapter four.

Sin is born,

as we saw last week

in Genesis chapter three,

where Adam and Eve

decide to reject God.

They decide to put themselves

at the center of the world.

They decide to grab God's crown

for themselves.

They want to become their own bosses.

And now we see that anger

was being born in chapter four.

If pride comes before a fall,

then anger is right hot on its heels.

As surely as Eve gives birth to Cain,

pride gives birth to anger.

But in some ways,

this is kind of a surprise.

Because in Genesis chapter three,

it ends with the promise

of a good birth.

With the birth of sin

came a promise of a wonderful birth.

And it's there in chapter three,

verse 15,

that somewhere that Eve will give birth

to a son who will crush the serpent.

It's a promise of reversal.

Eve's offspring will defeat Satan

and put right everything

that has gone wrong in this world.

And so as we move into Genesis chapter four,

what do you think's in the back of your mind?

In the back of your mind

is the question,

is this son that Eve

has just given birth to,

is this the one?

Is this the one that's going to crush

the head of the serpent?

Could he be the one

who will defeat Satan

and make it all right

and reverse everything

that's gone wrong?

But if our hope rises

with the birth of Cain,

they are soon dashed.

Instead, Cain crushing the serpent,

he is taken captive

by sin himself.

God favours Abel's offering

over Cain's.

We actually don't know why,

but I actually think

that's the point of it.

We don't need to know why.

God is God.

We're not.

He's got all the answers.

We don't.

Cain's anger towards Abel

stems from his defiance

against God.

He wants to be at the centre.

He wants things to go his way.

He wants to be the one

who calls the shots.

He wants to be the judge.

He wants to play God.

And in Cain,

we see the sinful,

angry heart inside all of us.

Eve was visited by Satan

to talk her into sin

and now not even a visit from God

will actually talk Cain out of sin.

Have a look at verse 6.

Then the Lord said to Cain,

why are you angry?

Why is your face downcast?

If you do what is right,

will you not be accepted?

But if you do not do what is right,

sin is crouching at your door.

It desires to have you,

but you must master it.

Eve actually had to be coaxed into sin,

but Cain won't be turned away from it.

Adam and Eve tremble with a fear

after their sin,

but there is no hiding in the bushes

or trembling for Cain.

Confronted by God,

God with his brother's blood on his hands,

he literally fobs God off.

He rejected God's way,

he rejected God's word,

and now he even rejects God's reason

or God's right to even question him on it.

But the contrast between Cain and his parents

goes even deeper.

Adam and Eve didn't question the judgment

that God handed down to them,

but Cain grumbles that God's judgment is not fair.

Not only does he reject God's way,

but when God calls him to account

and passes judgment on him

because of his sin,

he sort of turns around

and files for unfair dismissal.

Who do you think you are, God?

So self-centered,

so convinced that he was right.

This is the person who was a slave to sin.

And friends, without Jesus,

that's us.

That's us.

Consumed by sinful pride,

convinced that we are the center of the universe,

that I am the most important person in the world,

and the world revolves around me,

and with me at the top of the pile,

I will unleash destruction on anyone

who gets in my way

or challenges my right to the top of the pile.

I used to see this in goats.

We used to have this on our farm,

a bulldozer,

and the goats have an amazing ability

to climb most things.

You put a wheelbarrow in the paddock,

and they'll be sitting in it

for too much longer.

But this bulldozer in the paddock,

and we used to have goats sitting

all over the tracks and on the engine bay,

and the prized position

was the top of the canopy,

right up there, the top.

And naturally,

the big guy is up on the top.

And whenever a little guy

wanted to try and get on the top

with the big guy,

because there's plenty of room up there

for us all to sit and play,

he would be there standing on the top,

and as a little goat would jump

from the engine bay

to try and get up on top of the canopy,

he'd be there with his big horns

and go,

whack!

With his horns,

and this thing would go,

tumble, tumble, tumble, tumble, tumble.

And then come back

and try and do it again.

It wanted to be on top of the pile.

And friends,

we are exactly the same.

We've got to be up there.

So where is this son

who will crush the serpent?

Where's the offspring

who will reverse evil

and fix this world?

Who reverses pride?

Who reverses self-righteous anger?

It clearly is not Cain.

And Abel's dead.

So who will it be?

Well, the answer, of course, is Jesus.

And the reversal is illustrated perfectly

in Luke chapter 23.

Luke 23 · chapter mention

This great reversal that Jesus brings,

they plied him with questions.

They hammer nails into his hands.

But Jesus doesn't answer.

He doesn't take matters into his own hands.

Even Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent.

And so in Luke 23, verse 14,

Luke 23:14

this is Pilate speaking.

He says,

You brought me this man

as one who was inciting the people to rebellion.

I've examined him in your presence

and have found no basis

for your charges against him.

Neither is Herod,

for he sent him back to us.

As you can see,

he has done nothing to deserve death.

Therefore, I will punish him

and I will release him.

Pilate can see that Jesus is innocent.

But they hated this innocent one.

And so what did the crowd cry out?

Away with this man.

Release to us Barabbas instead,

but crucify him, crucify him.

It's the hatred and anger of Cain

that leads the crowd to want to crucify Jesus.

But Jesus still doesn't take matters

into his own hands.

You would think he had every right to be angry.

But Jesus isn't like us.

Unlike us,

Jesus didn't push himself

to the centre of the universe,

even though it was his right to be there.

Instead of taking matters into his own hands,

Jesus allows his hands

to be nailed to planks of wood.

He submits to his heavenly Father's will,

even to death on the cross.

As we often sing,

hands that flung stars into space

to cruel nails surrendered.

Not grasping, but giving.

Not angry, but forgiving.

Not murdering, but murdered.

Jesus is the total opposite of Cain

and friends of us too.

And Jesus' prayer in verse 34 of chapter 23 of Luke

is the reversal in its totality.

Father, forgive them,

for they don't know what they're doing.

Father, forgive them.

Forgive them.

Instead of anger,

there is the most extraordinary patience.

Even though he has the right to be the centre,

he doesn't put himself there.

He turns to his Father

and trusts in his Father

and prays to his Father.

He cops our anger towards him

and he does not retaliate.

And yet,

he would be well within his rights too.

He could have in fact demonstrated

a righteous anger towards us.

He could have so easily have crushed

Cain and Pilate

and the chief priests

and the soldiers

and the mockers

and us.

The Son of God being nailed up by

little pipsqueaks.

He could so easily have crushed them

and it would have been his right.

But he wasn't there to crush us.

He was there to crush Satan.

Jesus is the son of Eve

that the world has been waiting for

to defeat Satan in his work.

He came to reverse sin,

the sin of Adam and Eve

and Cain and our sin as well.

And so he doesn't pray down

the fire of God's wrath

but that of his forgiveness instead.

In fact,

this is the irony of your all.

The fire of God's wrath

gets rained down on him

so that his prayer for us

might be fulfilled.

Father, forgive them

for they don't know

what they're doing.

Jesus, the son of Eve

who conquers sin,

who masters sin

when Cain couldn't do it,

who at the cross

paid for our sin,

who at the cross

was bitten by the serpent

and died

but who became the antidote

for the serpent's bite

and crushed him

so that the end sin's power

is no more.

Jesus is the one

who doesn't take things

into his own hands

but puts them into God's hands.

Even Jesus didn't consider himself

to be at the centre

but his heavenly father instead.

1 Peter chapter 2.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

Have a look at it.

It was read out to us

a moment ago.

Verse 21.

To this you were called

because Christ suffered for you

leaving you an example

that you should follow

in his steps.

He committed no sin

and no deceit

was found in his mouth.

When they hurled insults at him

he did not retaliate.

When he suffered

he made no threats.

Instead he entrusted himself

to him who judges justly.

That's the example for us.

To turn away from all anger and sin.

But Jesus is much more

than just a role model.

He didn't just show us

how to turn away from sin

but he turned God's anger

away from our sin as well.

Verse 24.

He himself bore our sins

in his body on the tree

so that we might die to sin

and live for righteousness.

By his wounds

you have been healed.

He bore your sin.

He paid the penalty

for your sin.

And so yes,

marvel at his example

but be grateful

he paid the price

for your sin

and for your anger.

It's important you understand

what happened for you

at the cross.

Jesus died

for you

at the cross.

he died for your anger.

He died for the way

that you have run

other people down.

He died for those

little snappy

bitey comments.

He died for the manipulation.

He died for the gossip.

The way that you have

plotted revenge

against people

in your heart.

For all the ways

that you put yourself

at the centre of the universe

and played it being God

Jesus died for it.

They're the very things

that murdered Jesus.

They're the very things

that shed innocent blood.

He died for your pride,

for your anger,

for your lust,

for your impurity,

for your greed.

That's what drove

those nails

into his hands.

But now he's fixed it all.

And now that God

has fixed it for us,

we can fix it

with each other as well.

We can fix it

with each other as well.

We don't need to relate

in pride.

We don't need to

fester with anger.

But we love

one another deeply.

That's what we're to do.

Love one another deeply.

Now I can say this

because I'm a newcomer here.

But I've actually noticed

at various ports of call

as I've been moving

around St Paul's,

it's not unsurprised,

I'm not surprised by it

because it happens

in every church

because people are here.

There's unresolved anger

in this place.

There's unresolved anger

from things in the past.

There's unresolved anger

in relationships here.

Simmering away,

never brought to the surface.

It's only brought

to the surface

when there's just

little bites that happen,

little snarly comments

that happen between people

whenever my position

at the top of the pile

is challenged.

God wants to deal with that.

He wants to deal with it

in your heart.

And I want to say,

friends,

if there is someone here tonight

that you've got anger issues with,

you've got unresolved anger,

unresolved tension with,

then please,

in the name of Christ,

go and deal with it.

Deal with it.

Now that you have purified yourselves

by obeying the truth

so that you have sincere love

for your brothers,

love one another deeply

from the heart.

Purified hearts

are loving hearts,

hearts willing to forgive

as they have been forgiven.

Now that Jesus

is your saviour,

make him your character.

Make him your character.

He's forgiven your sin.

Now he wants to kill it.

He died for your anger

so that you can rise in patience.

And so deal with the anger.

Too often,

we just want to be back there

with Cain.

When you're doing,

when there's that person

driving 40 kilometres an hour

in the 60k zone,

that's when,

for me,

Cain starts to whirl up within me.

Holding me up

when I don't have anywhere

important to go

but I need to get there quickly.

What's that?

That's me putting myself

at the centre of the universe.

Anger comes up

when I put myself

at the centre,

when I haven't been served,

when I've been gossiped about

and I want justice.

But if friends,

if I stay at the centre,

if I stay at the centre

of the universe,

I die with Cain.

I die with Cain

and not only die with Cain,

but I murder

other people around me.

Do you know what Jesus says?

If you have anger

towards your brother,

you have murdered them.

You have murdered them.

You've killed them.

You've killed something

within them.

Whenever I stay

at the centre of the universe,

I am killing people

around me all the time.

I'm taking something

of their life

and robbing them of it.

And so I need to put

Jesus at the centre

and I need to rise with him.

Friends,

we need to die to anger

and rise to patience.

Anger

kills

relationships.

It kills

relationships.

It kills

our fellowship

with each other.

So how different

are we prepared to be?

Amen.