Wrestling with Wrath | The "S" Word | Trinity Sermons

Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of

Trinity Sermons. This week we are continuing

our sermon series titled The S Word, where we're

taking a deep dive into the seven deadly sins.

And this week we come to the sin known as wrath.

Wrath isn't a word that we use very often, but

it's sort of like anger. And as you might know,

anger can be a bit of a double -edged sword.

It can be really great to help us motivate and

move forward into action, but it can also be

really harmful. And so tune in as Rob unpacks

the helpful and harmful sides of anger and how

we can find a way forward. Today's reading is

from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 11, verses 1

Mark 11:1–11

to 11 and 15 to 19. As they approached Jerusalem

and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount

of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying

to them, Go to the village ahead of you, and

just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied

there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it

and bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are

you doing this? Say, the Lord needs it and will

send it back here shortly. They went and found

a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway.

As they untied it, some people standing there

asked, what are you doing untying that colt?

They answered as Jesus had told them to and the

people let them go. When they brought the colt

to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat

on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the

road while others spread branches they had cut

in the fields. Those who went ahead and those

who followed shouted, Hosanna! Blessed is he

who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is

the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna

in the highest heaven. Jesus entered Jerusalem

and went into the temple courts. He looked around

at everything, but since it was already late,

he went out to Bethany with the twelve. On reaching

Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and

began driving out those who were buying and selling

there. He overturned the tables of the money

changers and the benches of those selling doves

and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise

through the temple courts. And as he taught them,

he said, is it not written, my house will be

called a house of prayer for all nations, but

you have made it a den of robbers. The chief

priests and the teachers of the law heard this

and began looking for a way to kill him, for

they feared him because the whole crowd was amazed

at his teaching. When evening came, Jesus and

his disciples went out of the city. The word

of the Lord. I hope you guys don't mind if I

brought my sword to church. No ordinary sword,

actually a double -edged sword, and I like to

keep the blades. Nice and sharp. And the reason

I brought this to church is, no, I'm not planning

on reenacting the book of Revelation right in

front of you. And I'm not planning on actually

reenacting our last board meeting here at Trinity

Streetsville either. No, I brought this because

we are now in week six of our teaching series,

The S Word, where we're looking at the seven

deadly sins. And the sixth deadly sin, the one

we're looking at today, is the sin. of anger,

or more specifically, the sin of wrath. The question

is, is anger a good thing? Or is it a bad thing?

You know, many people will say anger is absolutely

essential. We have to have anger. In fact, if

you're not angry, then you're not paying attention.

The good that happens in this world is fueled

by anger. And so anger is, in fact, our friend.

That's what some people say. But there are others

that say, no, no, no, no. You cannot fight fire

with fire. There's already enough anger in the

world. You can't use it. resist anger. You need

to resist it and put it away. And then, of course,

we could listen to the monks who gave us the

seven deadly sins to begin with. And some of

those monks say that, no, yes, properly used.

Anger is a tool that can attack evil and, in

fact, can even be considered a holy type of anger.

But there were other monks that said, no, are

you crazy? Who can wield anger? without hurting

the people around them or even injuring themselves.

And then you have people like Martin Luther.

Martin Luther once said that when he's angry,

that's when he does his best writing, his best

preaching, his best praying. It lights a fire

in him. And so anger was a good thing. But actually...

Martin Luther, some of his worst writings, some

of his most horrendous and anti -Semitic writings

that he ever wrote happened because of anger.

So anger twisted it and made it into something

awful and destructive. And then what about, you

know, People like Moses. Moses comes down Mount

Sinai. He sees the people of Israel worshiping

the golden calf and he is angry. He breaks the

Ten Commandments. And then, I don't know if you

read the rest of the story, but he goes on to

slay 3 ,000 of the Israelites. That's a lot of

anger. But at other times, Moses is like, oh

God, please turn from your anger. God, please

have mercy on us. God, you know, turn back from

your wrath. Or let's take, for example, someone

like Jeremiah. Jeremiah once said that I am full

of the wrath of God. It's bursting out of me,

he said. But then, at other times, Jeremiah said,

seek the peace and prosperity of the city in

which you live. Well, which is it, Jeremiah?

Let's talk about God. I mean, God says, vengeance

is mine. God says, I will repay. I'm a vengeful

God, he says. But then God also says that I am

slow to anger, forgiving my people to a thousand

generations. Or take the story of the flood.

God was obviously so angry with humankind that

he flooded the whole earth. It was so wicked,

he wanted to strike them all out. And yet, after

it was done, he hangs a rainbow in the sky. He

lays down the sword and says, I will never do

that again. And what do we do about Jesus, even?

Today, Jesus goes into the temple and he starts,

well, first of all, he makes a whip out of cords

and he starts thrashing things about. He flips

over the tables. The coins are all over the place.

Jesus is good and angry in this scene. But actually,

when Jesus came into Jerusalem, He was riding

on a donkey, on one of the most innocent and

gentle and meek and mild creatures you could

ever imagine. So what do we do with this? What

do you do with this? Because some of you, frankly,

you're the type of people who don't hold back.

Right? You're like, oh, I like to speak my truth.

I like to get it out there. I like to tell people

what I think. And I don't care if I burn the

whole place down when I do it. And then there

are others of you that will say, oh, no, I never

get angry. Any angry feeling that comes to me,

I repress. I shove it deep, deep down. It's always

bad. And I just try to smile. And I just try

to be nice. So what gives? Is anger good or bad?

Is it always sinful or can it sometimes be righteous?

Should we be afraid of this sword or should we

be grateful for it? Well, today what I want to

talk about are, in fact, the two edges of anger.

Like a sword, you see, anger cuts both ways.

It can either cut and destroy, or it can actually

cut through things and provide healing. I mean,

when used righteously, we get people using anger

like William Wilberforce or Mother Teresa or

Desmond Tutu. They channeled their anger for

the injustices that they saw in the world, and

they caused great and positive change. But then

there were other people who used the other blade

of anger and they just mishandled it. And they

wounded their relationships. They broke their

families apart. And even whole countries fell

into disorder because of unbridled anger of some

of the leaders. So it really depends on who is

wielding the sword and why. Because it cuts both

ways. And the other thing that we therefore learn

about anger is that it must be handled very carefully.

It must be handled with great skill and care,

just like handling a sword. You must have great

skill and care to handle a sword, otherwise you'll

cut yourself or you'll cut others. The same is

true with anger. You have to have great spiritual

maturity. You have to have great discernment

to know how to use anger properly. Look, you

don't just give a sword to a toddler. And yet

many of us, spiritually speaking, when it comes

to anger, we are like toddlers. So it must be

handled with skill and care. But thirdly, what

anger does is it actually reveals what's on the

inside of us. Just like a sword would cut through

me and reveal my innards, my insides, anger also

reveals what's going on inside of our heart.

And inside of our thoughts. Are we angry because

we see an injustice that has to be made right?

Or are we just angry because our ego got bruised?

And our pride is a problem. That all comes out

when we get angry. So you see, when Paul wrote

these words. When he said, be angry but do not

sin. Do you see the tension there? Anger is both

good and it is bad. We are at our worst. When

we are most angry, and yet some of the greatest

good in this world has been done through anger.

We need to learn the difference between these

two edges. The edge that I will call the sinful

edge of wrath and the edge of righteous anger.

Let's start with the first edge. The edge of

wrath. The first edge of wrath, why is wrath

considered a sin? Well, put simply, anger becomes

a sin, becomes wrath when it's too hot, it lasts

too long, and it's too misguided. What do I mean

by that? First of all, When anger gets too hot,

it turns into sin. It turns into wrath. It's

too explosive. It's when you blow up in the car

because somebody cut you off. It's when you're

snapping at your spouse for no particular reason

at all. You're barking at your kids and they

haven't really done anything wrong, right? It's

firing off an angry email. It's slamming the

door when you leave the room just so everybody

knows you are good and angry. Wrath is when our

emotion, the heat of emotion overtakes us. It's

okay to be intense, and having passion as a person

is important, but wrath turns anger into a flamethrower,

and it burns up everything. It burns up your

relationships, but more than that, it actually

burns up your reputation, and you become known

as that angry guy. You know, stay clear of him.

See, when your anger is too hot, the sword cuts

too deep, or it cuts in the wrong direction.

That's wrath. That's wrath. But the second thing

is, it's wrath when your anger lasts too long.

Anger doesn't always explode. Sometimes it just

simmers away for days and weeks and months and

years, and it shows up in grudges, in resentments,

and it calcifies over time. You find yourself

replaying those scenes in your head over and

over again. You find yourself thinking of great

lines that you're going to say to someone whenever

you come face to face. I'm going to let them

have it. But you never actually do say anything

to them. You just talk. about them behind their

back, but you don't actually talk to them face

to face. You see, wrath doesn't always destroy

with heat. Sometimes it destroys through cold

silence that just eats away at you and your community

and even your church. So you see, wrath is too

hot and it's too long. And thirdly, it's too

misguided. Wrath is often aimed at the wrong

thing, right? We get angry and we lash out, but

we lash out at the wrong person, right? We lash

out at a spouse or a friend or a colleague or

a coworker, some innocent bystander, but it's

not about them. The real problem was over here,

but we lashed out over here. The real problem

was in us, but we attacked someone else. So often

we think we're standing up for truth, But all

we're really standing up for is ourselves. So

you see, when it's too hot, when it lasts too

long, and when it is misguided, that's when anger

stops being righteous and becomes sinful wrath.

Question for you. When have you let wrath rule

your responses in this way? Proverbs 29 .11 says,

Fool gives full vent. to their wrath. Fools just

let it fly. They've got no reflection. There's

no restraint. They have no regard for the people

around. They didn't care how they look, right?

But let me ask you another question now. When

have you felt anger? And instead of, you know,

lashing out and burning something down, you actually

let it build something up. You use that anger

in a good way. You use that anger to speak up

for someone who couldn't speak for themselves.

You use that anger to stand up for someone who

couldn't stand up for themselves. That is the

difference between sinful wrath and righteous

anger, right? One cuts down, but the other actually

builds up. One wants to start a fight. The other

wants to fight for what is right. If wrath, therefore,

is anger gone wrong, then righteous anger is

when anger is being used in the right way. It's

not about ego when it's righteous. It's about

justice. It's not about payback. It's actually

about healing. It's about restoring. Anger should

be your normal response to when you see this

world gone wrong. When you look at the world

and say, this isn't how it was supposed to be.

When you look at the world and say, this isn't

how God intended it to be. It's okay to feel

anger. Actually, frankly, you should. feel anger,

but the question is, how do I know if my anger

is the bad edge or the good edge? Well, the first

thing you should look for, the first question

you should ask yourself is, am I angry for the

right reason, right? Am I angry because the cause

is just? Is there something really wrong in the

world here, and that's why I'm angry, or am I

just annoyed and tired and worn out? Is this

about someone else's suffering and I want to

defend them? Or is this really about my own wounded

pride and I want to defend myself? Righteous

anger says, how can we let this happen to them?

We've got to do something about it. But sinful

wrath says, well, how dare they treat me like

this? We've got to do something about them. You

see, if Jesus had gone to the temple and he had

turned over all those tables and scattered the

coins, all because someone butt ahead of him

in line, then that would not be righteous anger.

That would be wrath. But in fact, Jesus had the

right reason for what he did. He saw that the

poor were being exploited. He saw that visitors

were being excluded. He saw that the name of

God was being defiled in the temple. He had the

right reason. He had the right cause. That was

worth getting angry about. When you get angry,

are you angry? angry for the right reason. But

secondly, when you get angry, are you angry to

the right degree, right? You got to be angry

sometimes, but what about how far do you go in

that anger? Is your anger appropriate to the

situation that you're in? Or do you just go nuclear,

right, every time, even if it's a small matter,

a small thing? That's where a lot of us get it

wrong. It isn't because our anger is wrong. It's

just that it goes to the wrong extent. It's too

big. It's too loud. It's too quick. If you have

righteous anger, the good kind of anger, it doesn't

blow up. It doesn't escalate. It actually tries

to heal. Its goal is to heal. Jesus' action in

the temple wasn't a temper tantrum. Actually,

a lot of people think it was a planned... It

was a planned demonstration where he was trying

to point out a problem with the temple and ultimately

point people toward healing. But when our anger

is too intense and it's too loud and too over

the top, you know what? It actually even drowns

out the point we were trying to make. Nobody

even listens to us. When our anger is extreme,

the volume overshadows the message, right? The

rage overshadows. your righteousness, which means

you can be right about a cause, but very wrong

in how you respond. When you get angry, when

you get angry, is your anger measured and controlled,

or are you just swinging this thing all over

the place? So anger is good when it's for the

right reason, and it's to the right degree, but

it's also for the right duration. Righteous anger

is always short -lived. The Bible never says

you can't be angry, but the Bible does say you

can't live there. You can't live in a constant

state of anger. A lot of times married couples

are familiar with this verse, do not let the

sun go down on your anger. But this isn't just

good relationship advice. This is spiritual survival.

Anger can be good, but not when it hurts. So

again, a question for you. What anger have you

carried through too many sunsets and sunrises?

What would it look like for you to actually put

that sword down today? So if I was to... put

all of this in kind of a chart form, well, it

would look like this chart that I made, right?

Righteous anger seeks justice and restoration,

is motivated by love for others, is measured,

restrained, and slow. Sinful wrath seeks revenge

or control, is caused by a wounded ego or pride,

and is explosive, reactive, and simmering, right?

Put it this way. William Williman says, our problem

is not that we are angry. Our problem is that

we're angry about the wrong things and in the

wrong way. There is a right way to be angry.

And if you're angry for the right reason and

the right degree and for the right duration,

that can lead to actually positive change. What

about Jesus? Of course, it must be said at the

outset that Jesus was not known for being an

angry person. Crowds did not gather around Jesus.

People did not follow Jesus because he was angry.

That wasn't his M .O. Jesus' M .O. was that he

touched lepers. Jesus' M .O. was that he welcomed

children. He ate with tax collectors and sinners.

He even forgave his enemies, even from the cross.

That's the Jesus that we know. And today, as

Jesus rode into Jerusalem, his arrival is not

marked by heat or hostility, but just by humility.

He doesn't enter Jerusalem on a war horse. He's

not that kind of king, right? He's not a donkey.

And his followers aren't waving swords in the

streets. No, he's not that kind of king. They're

waving palm branches. But it must also be said

that Jesus did get angry. And when he did, it

was in the right way. For the right reasons.

Let me just give you a little survey of some

of the times that Jesus got angry. And maybe

we'll learn, you know, maybe the things that

should make us angry too. So for one, Jesus got

angry because of indifference. to suffering,

right? There was this one moment where Jesus

was in the synagogue on the Sabbath and he saw

this poor guy. He had a withered hand and Jesus

wanted to heal him. But the religious leader

said, no, no, you can't heal him. I'm not on

this Sabbath. And it made Jesus so mad. He looked

around at them in anger at these religious leaders.

He was distressed at their stubborn hearts. He

couldn't believe how indifferent they were to

the suffering that was right before him. Why

was Jesus angry here? actually out of love. He

loved this guy. He wanted to heal this guy. It

was the religious leaders that made him so angry.

Indifference to suffering made Jesus angry. Also,

Jesus got very angry at death itself. At Lazarus's

tomb, when one of his best friends died, Jesus

was moved to tears. But it wasn't just because

he was sad. It was actually because he was mad.

The Greek word here, embromaomai, doesn't just

mean sadness. It actually means a sense of anger

or outrage. My friend has died. His anger isn't

aimed at people. It's aimed at... Death itself,

that made Jesus angry. Jesus also gets angry

when he sees vulnerable people being abused.

Referring to children, he said, you know, it

would actually be, if anyone causes one of these

little kids to stumble, it would be better for

them to have a millstone hung around their neck.

That's some pretty serious verbiage, Jesus. He

sounds like he's got the sword ready to go, but

he's standing up. for the weak and the forgotten.

Jesus also really got angry with religious hypocrisy.

When religious people pretended to be better

than others, he says to some of the religious

leaders, he says, woe to you, you hypocrites.

You clean the outside of the cup and you pretend

to be so good, but inside you are full of greed

and self -indulgence. Gosh, Jesus got steamed

with people like this, the religious people.

Oh, I look so good on the outside, but actually

look at all the people that I'm neglecting and

the hurt that I'm causing. But let's look at

the moment we read about this morning. Jesus

enters into the temple. It's the center of worship,

right? It's a place where heaven and earth are

supposed to overlap. They're meant to meet. And

when he goes into the temple, what does he find?

He finds not reverence. Not prayer. He finds

a marketplace. He finds a system that is set

up for corruption. And exploitation. Money changers

charging high interest rates on the exchange.

People selling animals in the gouging prices.

And the outer court of the temple, the court

where the Gentiles are supposed to come to worship,

it's basically been turned into a shopping mall.

And so Jesus cries out. He says, you've turned

my father's house into a den of robbers. Now

Jesus was not throwing a tantrum. Again, he wasn't

flipping people. He was flipping tables, right?

He didn't lose it, but he loved it. He loved

that temple. He loved those people. And he loved

God so much that he couldn't leave it that way.

In a nutshell, Jesus does not appear to be angry

very often. When he is angry, his anger is always

directed towards someone else's protection or...

in defense of his father's house, his father's

name. His wrath is calculated, confrontational,

and loving. So those are the two edges of the

sword of anger. There's a good kind, and there

is a bad kind. There is the edge of sinful wrath,

which we have to watch out for, and then there

is the edge of righteous anger. Now, I want to

end by actually holding out. A third possibility.

There's another way we could go here. And that

is not to use this side of the sword, for sure.

And actually also not to use this side of the

sword. But there's a third way to go, and that

actually doesn't involve using the sword at all.

One way to express our anger is to get really

steamed and lash out. But another way to express

our anger is just to pray it out, right? Anger

needs to be expressed. We all agree on that.

But the first place we should go to express that

anger should be God. We call that prayer, by

the way. God is strong enough. God is good enough

and holy enough to receive whatever anger you

want to throw at him and lob at him. He can take

it. Injustice is not too much for him. Your sorrow

is not too much for him. In fact, that's what

prayer is in a way. Prayer is saying, God, we

need justice. God, this world isn't the way it's

supposed to be. God, I can't fix this situation.

So what you should do before you get out your

sword is to get on your knees and to pray. That

is the best way to express our anger. We pray.

our anger. But secondly, when we pray our anger,

something very interesting happens. We actually

then are entrusting our anger to God. We say,

God, this is wrong. I'm telling you about it.

God, now you deal with it. Because do you know

that injustice that you see that drives you crazy?

God sees it too. And do you know that injustice

that makes you so upset? It makes God angry.

God is angry at the same things that make you

angry, if they're the right sort of things. And

of course, what kind of God would God be if he

didn't get angry at injustice and war and abuse

and trafficking and racism and greed? You know,

Miroslav Volf says, I wouldn't even want to worship

that God. A God who is not wrathful at the sight

of the world's injustice is not worthy of worship.

But here's the thing. God doesn't just get angry

at these things. He promises to do something

about it. He is the God of justice. And one day

he says, it's my job. It's my job. I will sort

it out and I will make all this wrong right.

But that is my job. It is not your job. That

is why Paul says, beloved, never avenge yourselves.

Leave it to God. Because God has said, vengeance

is his. Let him work it out. Or there's this

great moment when, you know, Egypt, the armies

of Egypt are coming upon Moses and the people

of Israel. They don't know what to do. They feel

like there's no hope. But God says, listen, let

me fight for you here. You just be still. Now

that is... the heart of it. If we pray our anger

to God, if we entrust this stuff to God, then

we have to believe God will sort it out. God

will act justly in his timing, right? And that

means we're free. We don't need this. We don't

need this because God is going to look after

it. He will be the one to mete out justice. We

don't need to. And that means that we can actually

put this sword away altogether, right? We can

put the sword away. That's what, in fact, those

ancient monks advise us. Rather than trying to

figure out, ooh, which side of the sword am I

using? Am I using this edge or am I using this

edge? You know what they say? You know, it's

better just to root out all anger than try to

distinguish between the good kinds of anger and

the bad kinds of anger. You know, sometimes even

when our anger is justified, acting on it can

be really dangerous because we're not as smart

as Jesus. We're not as wise as Jesus. And consider

this, just as we close. When the greatest injustice

that ever happened was about to take place, when

the most innocent victim ever was about to be

abused, when the corruption and hypocrisy of

the world was at its greatest, when it all came

down on Jesus, when he was arrested and he was

tried and crucified and killed. In that moment,

we would think, okay, that's the moment to fight.

That's the moment for anger. That's the time

to say, let's make this right. Pick up the sword

and let's go. But here's the thing. Even in that

moment, look what Jesus says. He says, put your

sword away. For all who live by the sword will

die by the sword. Guys, this is the invitation

of Palm Sunday. To follow this weird king, who

on the one hand makes a whip, but on the other

hand himself is whipped. Who on the one hand,

he turns over the tables, but on the other hand

he refuses the sword. Anger plays in your life,

whether you're too angry or, frankly, whether

you're not angry enough. But let's remember,

always avoid the edge of sinful wrath at all

costs. And yes, the other edge, there is a place

for righteous anger in the face of evil. But

you better be sure you're skilled enough to wield

it without doing harm. Can you tell which edge

is which? So maybe the best thing we should do

is put the sword away, pray our anger to God,

and trust that he will fight for us. And then

to believe with all our hearts that his justice

will actually be more holy and more healing than

anything we could ever work out for ourselves.

So thanks be to God. Amen.