Thinking About Anger Like Jesus

All right, let's read together from Matthew chapter 5, verses 21 to 26.

Matthew 5:21–26

This is God's Word.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder.

And whoever murders will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.

Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council.

And whoever says, you fool, will be liable to the hell of fire.

So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,

leave your gift there before the altar and go.

First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court,

lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.

Truly I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

This is God's Holy Word.

Tonight, as Cody says, we're carrying on in our series on the Sermon on the Mount.

Last week we were looking at this huge claim that Jesus makes.

He is sitting on top of the mountain, and he tells the crowds,

he did not come to get rid of the law or the Old Testament, but he came to fulfill it.

He came, he says, to give the law meaning, to fill it full of meaning.

And now tonight, we hit the first of six commands, six Old Testament commands,

which we've seen before, which he now elevates and gives their full meaning to, just like he said.

So we're thinking about anger tonight, but if you have your Bibles open,

you see this list from verse 21.

To the end of the chapter, focused on six Old Testament commands,

and Jesus says,

And when he says that, he's not changing the commands.

He's not making them more difficult or harder to observe.

That's not what he's doing.

He's telling the people that he's talking to in his day that the law has been interpreted wrong.

He's telling the crowds, you know, you think you've got it right,

focusing on the external acts, focusing on what you do.

It's not that at all.

It's all about the heart, and it's always been about the heart.

Jesus doesn't abolish the law.

He fills it with meaning.

He says, this is what has always been about, the state of your heart.

And why does that matter?

Why does that matter?

Because that's what God sees.

That's what Jesus forces us to see in the sermon.

You know, one constant problem throughout the Old Testament,

when you see the law being given,

and you see how the people respond to it.

They become obsessed with the outward.

They become obsessed with the external.

And by the time we reach the book of Isaiah,

what does God say?

He says, their hearts are far from me.

Their hearts are far from me.

Jesus comes, and he gives it its true meaning.

He says, this is what the law is all about.

It's about your heart.

God sees it.

He knows what you think, how you feel.

He knows your attitude towards him.

He knows your attitude towards your neighbor.

The law is all about your heart.

And thinking about that has brought a lot of questions to the church throughout history.

This is a really quick blanket summary.

You could read forever about this.

I did this week.

But some commentators today,

and over the last hundred years,

have noticed that throughout church history,

the church has, in large parts,

either evaded the sermon,

or become completely obsessed with it.

So some have tried to evade it by saying that,

you know, these laws are only meant for certain Christians.

They're meant for the super holy,

the clergy.

They're meant for ministers.

They're meant, you know, for Corey,

not for us.

Some have come and said,

well, maybe it's for Christians.

It's for people in the church.

But as soon as you go back to work,

as soon as you go back to your family life,

it doesn't apply anymore.

It doesn't matter.

So in that way, you know,

people have come and have evaded the Sermon on the Mount.

Some obsess over these verses by saying that,

how Christian you are,

and I think this is quite common today,

how Christian you are

depends on how literally you obey these commands

that Jesus makes.

You can never be angry.

You must always turn the other cheek.

You must never swear enough.

And you can see how that gives rise to,

you know, certain groups and certain sects today.

We want to avoid both.

Jesus tells us,

when you read the Sermon on the Mount,

to avoid both tendencies.

This sermon is part of a bigger chapter,

part of a bigger section,

framed by chapters 4 and 9.

And in chapters 4 and 9,

Matthew uses exactly the same phrase

to say that Jesus has been going about

the towns and the villages,

preaching about the kingdom of God.

And when he uses exactly the same phrase

in chapter 4 and chapter 9,

that's his way of saying that this whole section

is about the kingdom of God.

And one way,

one way tonight,

maybe we can describe,

or we can describe the kingdom of God

is by saying

that it's the restoration of life

as it's meant to be

and creation,

which will be completed by God

out of love.

That restoration,

which began when Jesus died and rose again,

it is ongoing,

and it will be completed

at the new creation.

And if you are a Christian,

you know,

if you have repented and believed

like we were telling the kids,

you are tonight a part of that restoration.

This is a long introduction, I know,

but one summary for this sermon I read,

it helped me think about this sermon

and these six commands especially.

One writer says this,

In this way,

the kingdom of God

is the restoration of life.

And it is the Sermon on the Mount

which indicates the road

towards this restoration.

It's not opposed to life,

to nature,

and to the community,

but in truth,

it is for

and in support

of life.

The sermon,

these six commands

aren't for the elite Christian,

and they're not commands

that you obsess over either,

but Jesus

preaches to you.

Jesus preaches

to the church tonight,

and he says,

to practice the life

of the new creation.

This world,

this city,

our lives are broken.

They are messy.

We are surrounded

by disorder and frustration.

God's ongoing work

is to undo that.

It's to undo that.

And we are called to partake,

to be a faint picture

of what is to come.

So specifically,

when Jesus says,

don't be angry,

he's not telling you tonight

to be a better Christian.

He's telling you

your purpose in the world.

He's telling you

what your function is

in the world.

God cares about

the sort of person you are.

Jesus has begun

this kingdom work,

and he says,

don't be angry.

Will you support life?

Jesus asks,

and not be angry.

So just two points

on these verses.

Two points

thinking about anger.

What is anger?

Anger,

and what do you do

about it?

So what is anger?

It's not hard to define,

I don't think.

You can look at a day

this week probably,

or a day this month,

or we can easily

remember a time at least

where we got angry.

We can remember a moment

that we became antagonizing.

We became hostile

towards someone

in words,

or even in thought.

It might involve

screaming,

shouting.

It might involve

insulting someone.

It might all be

in our head.

It might involve

a feeling of resentment

that keeps on returning it.

In psychiatry,

it's called

a non-cooperative response.

Very professional

and kind way of putting it.

I think

it's a non-cooperative

response to something

that has been done

or said to you.

Now,

I'm from the Highlands

and I know

there's some people here

from the Highlands.

And I know,

I know that you know

what it means

to be driving

on a single track road

with a camper van

coming towards you

and it's gone past

the passing place

and the driver

is refusing

to reverse

and you've got

a queue forming

behind you

and a queue forming

behind him

and now the driver

in that camper van

doesn't see you

get out and shake your fists

but your passenger

hears every word

you say about

that camper van driver.

And maybe this driver

thinks everything is fine

but your passenger

knows you're angry.

It's a non-cooperative response.

What about,

you know,

this week,

I'm trying not to think

of too many personal examples

to give myself away

but in the cafe,

you put your order in

for your lunch

or your coffee

or whatever it is

and the one person

that's working

behind that counter

is trying to balance

three orders

and you're saying,

just get a move on.

Just think about

my order here.

Short-term examples

of anger,

long forgotten.

What about your colleague

or someone in your family,

at your family gathering maybe,

who says something

that really hurts you,

says something

that angers you

and you've got to see

this person frequently

and often,

five days a week?

What if that is

an ongoing pain

in your relationship

and your response

is either verbal,

you retaliate

or you keep it inside

but even in moments of joy,

that feeling of anger,

that feeling of resentment

takes over,

even in a moment of joy.

You remember

what this person

has said to you.

In both short-term,

long-term,

verbally or mentally,

we get angry

and what does Jesus say

in Matthew 5?

He says it's devastating.

He says it's devastating.

So in verse 21,

he says,

you've heard it said,

do not murder

for you will be subject

to murder.

And then he says,

no, more than that,

don't be angry.

Do not be angry

for you will be subject

to judgment.

What is he saying?

He's saying that

unrighteous,

insulting,

hurtful anger

has the same source

as murder.

That's what he's saying.

He's saying you can't

bring this down

to whether or not

you have caused

physical harm.

It's not as easy as that.

That's what the Pharisees

want to say.

He says it's not as easy

as that.

It comes from a heart

filled with contempt

for someone.

If it lasts for a moment,

if it lasts for months,

God sees the heart.

God sees the heart.

Anger comes from

the same place.

If you just look

more precisely

at the way Jesus

describes anger here.

In verse 22,

from verse 22,

there's this movement

from anger

to insulting

to calling someone

a fool.

And a lot of commentators

notice that

there's not much difference

between these three causes

that Jesus gives us,

or at least they aren't

growing in intensity.

In the original language,

Jesus uses this word,

raka,

which means

empty head,

or we would probably

say idiot today.

And compare that

to a fool,

which probably has

something more to do

with someone's character.

So maybe Jesus

is saying here

there's a difference

in the way your anger

can be displayed.

Maybe you're angry

at someone

because of the way

they intellectually

work things out.

Maybe you're angry

at someone because

of their heart,

their character.

anger.

But anger is shown

in everyday

typical scenarios,

if we can call it that.

At the same time,

in each of these three causes

which aren't intensifying,

these are each paired

with a punishment

which is intensifying.

So Jesus says,

anger generally

results in judgment.

Whoever insults

is brought before the council.

If you call someone

a fool,

he says,

your judgment

is the hell of fire.

Why does the punishment

that Jesus describes

escalate

while the cause doesn't?

Why does he speak

in that way?

What is it about

calling someone a fool

that is worse

than insulting someone?

Nothing.

Not much anyway.

And that's not a point

that Jesus is making.

He's saying

that there can be,

there is an anger

that we are liable to.

And we can treat it

very lightly.

It can be expressed

in different ways.

It can be thought or spoken.

It can be harsh and hurtful.

It can be light

and forgotten in a moment.

It can be against

that driver coming towards me

that I'll never see again.

It can be against my colleague

who I see five days a week.

But Jesus is saying

when he gives you

these three different causes

of anger

or three different

ways you show anger

and three different judgments,

Jesus is saying

that you take lightly

what God takes so seriously.

That is what he's getting at.

That's why the punishment

of the hell of fire

is so shocking

when we reach that point

in the passage.

We don't expect it.

He's telling us

how damaging

anger can be

and how serious it is.

What is it

to be angry?

It's to be antagonizing.

It's to be non-cooperative.

And it's devastating

because where God

brings about restoration,

where God promises

to fix what is wrong

in the world,

we are going against that

in our anger,

in our hearts.

it's helpful,

I think,

at this point

to say something

about righteous anger,

something

that most of us

probably think we have

and we probably

don't show it

very often

if we do have it.

Jesus shows us

what righteous anger is.

And if you keep going

in Matthew's Gospel

to chapter 23,

Jesus is speaking

about the Pharisees

and he says,

these people have

shut the kingdom of God

in people's faces.

They've shut it up

in people's faces.

And then he says,

you blind fools.

You know,

why can Jesus

call the Pharisees

fools?

Why can he be angry?

It's because

they are convincing

people

that the law

is about their actions.

What this whole sermon

is about.

They're still convincing

people that way.

It's about the heart

Jesus came to show

that,

to bring out

that truest meaning

and the Pharisees

say, no, no,

it's just about

what you do.

In other words,

they distract people

from what a true,

restored,

beautiful life is.

They distract people

from the restoration

that God is doing.

That's why Jesus

can get angry.

He's angry at sin.

That's what

righteous anger is.

the kingdom of God

which restores

what is broken,

which brings about

all that is good.

They shut it out.

And he's angry

at sin.

And it's something

we rarely

get right.

I read this example

in an article

earlier this week.

It's from a Christian

father

talking about

anger shown

towards his kids.

But I think

we can apply it

in many different ways.

He says this,

there is a difference

between anger

and my kids

for the way

their disobedience

invites danger

and shows disrespect

to their mother

versus anger

at my kids

because the real issue

is that I am afraid

of how their disobedience

reflects on me

as a dad

in the public eye.

The first motive

is godly.

The second motive

is self-centered

and lacking

any real concern

for the good

of my children.

Do you get angry?

And if you do

is it righteous?

Or is it self-centered?

The kingdom has come

Jesus says.

The kingdom has come

and it will one day

come finally.

One day

there will be

no frustration

there will be

no aggravation

there will be

no sadness.

Are you taking part

tonight in that reality

which has been

brought about?

Are you supporting

life?

Are you living

a kingdom life

as God restores

what is broken?

Or is your anger

stopping you

from being the person

you are meant to be?

Secondly,

what can you do

if anger

is your problem?

Jesus gives us

two scenarios

and again

in these two scenarios

he's heightening

the situation.

He's making them

more serious

as he goes along.

He talks about

dealing with your anger

in terms of

settling your case

with your brother

and then with an accuser.

And it seems

like these two

quite random

these two pictures

are quite random

but

they capture

exactly what you're

meant to do

with anger

instead of letting it

simmer in the background.

In the first case

we're dealing

with a brother

or a friend

someone that we

are bonded to

someone that we

are close to

and the relationship

here Jesus says

is hurt by anger

and Jesus says

in verse 23

leave the temple

leave your sacrifice

behind

and go and

reconcile

with your brother.

Leave church

he says.

That's how serious

it is.

Leave church

mid service

if you have to.

Go home

and reconcile

with your brother.

Make right

the relationship

the relationship

that has been

broken

by anger.

What's Jesus

wanting you to do?

At the least

he's wanting you

to understand

that coming to church

every week

coming here

every week

does not remove

the fact

that we have

a moral duty.

Coming here

worshipping God

is

the best thing

you can do

in the week

and yet

it doesn't

take away

the fact

that you

cannot

leave anger

unresolved

outside that door.

That's what

Jesus is saying.

If you're angry

with someone

that is near to you

and that person

knows it

or

as much as

that breakdown

is dependent

on you

Jesus says

you need to

heal

your relationships.

Church does

not substitute

the need

to fix it.

be reconciled

whether you

need forgiveness

or your

brother does

Jesus

fix it.

Fix it.

And the

second picture

it's different

in that

it's talking

about being

taken to

court by an

accuser.

An enemy

different situation

it's building

on the same

case.

If you are

walking to

court with

your accuser

you better

be urgent

in settling

this matter

quickly.

And not

rashly

not insincerely

but properly

before they

throw you

in jail.

In the

same way

Jesus

says be

quick to

reconcile

be quick

to mend

what is

broken

in your

relationships.

Be

urgent

Jesus

says.

King

Solomon

he gives

us one

reason I

have many

in the

Bible

why we

ought to

be

urgent.

One

reason I

have many.

He says

this in

Ecclesiastes

7.

Be not

quick in

your

spirit to

become

angry

for

anger

lodges

in the

heart.

Anger

left alone

he's saying

begins to

make a

home

in you.

It

lodges in

the heart

and soon

an increasing

amount of

your

relationships

will be

threatened

by this

anger

which

becomes

more and

more at

home in

you

and which

becomes

something

is alive

more and

more.

There will

be more

to be

angry at

you'll

remain

angrier

for longer.

Jesus

says no

settle

this

urgently.

Settle

it

urgently.

Don't

let it

happen.

You're

living

separately

he's

telling

the

people

to

the

way

life

is

meant

to

be

lived.

You're

denying

the

restoration

that

God

is

working

out.

So make

amends as

urgently as

you can.

Don't even

let your

Sunday

worship

take away

from that.

But fix

things

quickly.

I know

that this

is difficult

and

for some

people

here

relationships

have been

broken for

years.

Maybe.

Anger

or resentment

or frustration

has meant

that you're

relationship

with your

close friend

or your

brother

is not

what it

used to

be.

And hearing

Jesus say

you need

to fix

that,

it doesn't

make it

easy.

It doesn't

make it

easy at

all.

We open

with words

from Romans

5,

right at the

start of the

service,

where Paul

says that

we were

once enemies

with God.

And see

that picture

that Jesus

gives us

of walking

to the

court.

The law

is the

accuser

here.

When

we're told

that we're

enemies

with God,

the law

is the

accuser.

We walk

on a

path and

the law

says,

you know,

you've not

been able

to keep

one of

these

commands.

Don't

be angry.

Don't

lust.

Keep

your word.

We are

not able

to do

any of

it,

the law

says.

And

you know,

the hell

that Jesus

talks about

here is a

reality

sin.

Off

that.

And yet,

and yet,

in the

court,

Jesus,

who is

not a

sinner,

walks in

and what

does he

say?

He says,

you'll pay

every penny.

He says,

you'll pay

every penny.

Christ was

blameless.

No one

could point

the finger.

But he

became sin.

He walks

in the

courtroom and

he says,

he'll pay

for it.

He'll pay

every penny.

When you

think about

your broken

relationships

and how

devastating

they can

be,

something

that no

one else

here could

even understand

and something

that you

don't know

how to

deal with,

do you

remember

tonight that

Jesus came

to you?

That Jesus

came to

you?

Do you

remember that

through taking

your punishment,

through his

death and

rising again,

he has

promised to

restore goodness

to you

and give

you life as

it is meant

to be?

Do you

remember that

it was your

anger and

my anger that

put him on

the cross in

the first

place?

The cry to

free Barabbas

and the cry to

put Jesus on

the cross was

my angry

cry.

It was

because my

sin that he

went there.

That's how

far God has

gone to

reconcile you

with him.

Jesus doesn't

reconcile with

you or with

me through a

conversation.

No, he

reconciles with

us through

death, his

own death.

Do you

believe that

though you

stand accused,

Jesus paid

the cost for

your anger

and for

mine?

Have you

trusted in

him for

that?

And if you

have, will

you take

part?

Will you take

part in

that

restoration?

If you're

a Christian,

will you live

out your

kingdom life?

Will you

support life

and not

be angry?

Just to

finish, a few

things we can

think about,

a few things we

can do this

week maybe.

Ask yourself

the hard

questions.

You know,

when I get

angry, is my

anger

righteous?

Righteous?

Am I

angry at

this because,

you know, it's

done directly

against God and

his restoration?

Or am I

angry because

it's upsetting

me?

And because it

offends me or

my needs?

Is my anger

slow to appear?

Is it quick to

disappear?

How often, you

know, how often

does the Bible

say to be slow

to anger?

Is that really,

really the case

for me?

Ask the hard

questions.

Anger,

anger can be

hard to deal

with for some

and others.

Some people

rarely get

angry, for

some, you

know, it's a

bit more

natural and

it's a habit

that needs to

be worked

out of.

One thing

to do, to

gradually work

yourself out of

an angry

heart, is

pursue love

in your

relationships.

no matter

how long

or how

short the

encounter.

You know,

ask, how

can I love

this person?

How can I

interact with

this person

in a way

that is

good for

them?

Maybe

anger is

what defines

that current

relationship.

Settle it,

Jesus says.

Settle it.

And pursue

love in your

relationships.

relationships.

Imitate your

God who

went to the

cross for

you.

And lastly,

one more

thing.

Remember you

have a kingdom

life.

You have a

kingdom life

if you're a

Christian.

It's not about

being a better

Christian.

It's just about

living the life

you've been

given.

Will you

pursue

restoration?

Will you

pursue what

Jesus has

died for?

Will you

support life

and not

be angry?

Let's pray.

Lord, we

thank you for

your word.

It's

difficult,

Lord.

We acknowledge

that when

we are so

quick to

become angry,

when it

becomes a

part of who

we are.

We ask

tonight,

Lord, that

by the

Holy Spirit,

by his

strength,

by his

power,

we would

become less

and less

angry in our

day-to-day

lives,

whether it

be short-term

encounters,

whether it

be with

our brothers

and our

friends,

where

relationships

have been

so hard.

Lord, we

thank you

that even

despite our

angry cries,

yet Jesus

walks into

the courtroom

and he

says he'll

pay every

penny to

be reconciled

to us.

We thank

you for

his sacrifice.

Help us

to reflect

on that,

we ask

for Jesus'

sake.

Amen.

Amen.