Death to Anger
Matthew 5:21-26
Preaching on the Sermon on the Mount is terribly presumptuous
-it’s like saying, “Jesus said this, but give me 25 minutes and I’ll not
only explain it, I’ll improve it.”
--first of all, please pray I resist that subtle temptation
-secondly, pray I resist the common temptation to reduce the words
of Jesus into “three practical ways that lead to a successful life”
--I can assure you that Jesus isn’t interested in you living the
“good life”...He wants you to live a redeemed, transformed life
---a life that’s never defined by the size of your house, the
make & model of your car, or the label on your clothes
-finally, pray I resist the greater temptation to tame Jesus by
preaching with the attitude of: “Jesus may have said this, but He
really didn’t mean it.”
--what Jesus says in the 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters of Matthew is
nothing short of revolutionary
---while Jesus is neither nullifying the Jewish Law nor adding
to it, He is giving its full meaning—moving the emphasis
from a shallow, external obedience to the deeper level of
heart, mind, thought, and speech
If I were to give a title to this series of messages, I think I’d defer to
Dr. Seuss and call it “Inside, Outside, Rightside Up”
-the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day had made obeying the
commandments all about following a list of do’s and don’ts
--while not denying the importance of the “outside” aspect of
life, Jesus teaches them about the “inside” part, as well
---and rather than turn us “upside down”...Jesus knows
we’re already upside down...it’s His mission to turn us
rightside up (and He’s the only one who can do that)
Jesus doesn’t waste any time with a sermon introduction or joke
-He gets right to an issue that’s pretty much at the foundation of
nearly every society in history
--Read Matthew 5:21
Personally, I read v. 21 and I think to myself, “Ok. I’ve never
murdered anyone. So I’m good to go. What else You got, Jesus?”
-and my logic puts me squarely in the middle of the vast majority of
the religious scholars
in 1st-century
--I mean, c’mon, the 7th commandment isn’t terribly complicated:
Don’t
murder...I don’t foresee many interpretation problems
--and so all of us can breathe a big ol’ smug, self-satisfied sigh
of relief...but it only lasts for a moment because Jesus moves
quickly from the “outside” to the “inside”
---Read Matthew 5:22
Now see...that changes everything!
-be silent for a moment and see if you can remember a time when
you’ve been angry...a time when you called someone a name...or
a time when you had derogatory thoughts about someone
--recall the look in their eyes as your anger or your speech hurt
them beyond words
---and now do all of this without trying to justify or rationalize
your thoughts or actions...no excuses this time
-there are very few, if any, in this room who can plead innocence
Notice first what Jesus is not saying
-He’s not saying that being angry is just as bad as murder...He’s
certainly not minimizing the horrendous impact of murder by
equating it with anger
Instead, what Jesus is simply saying is that anger, destructive words,
vicious thoughts are all at the heart of murder
-while not all anger leads to murder, of course, virtually all murder
begins with anger
--go all the way back to Genesis, chapter 4...the end of v. 5 à
So Cain was very angry and his face was
downcast. Then
the Lord said to Cain, “Why are
you angry? Why is your
face downcast?
---and
then in v. 8 à Now
Cain said to his brother Abel,
“Let’s go out to the
field.” And while they were in the
field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
But Jesus is doing more than making a cause-and-effect link
-He’s leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind that God will not tolerate
nor leave unpunished anger, malicious words, and anything that
defames or belittles another person
-He’s saying that the person you’re angry with is a person who, just
like you, is created in the image of God
--He’s saying God takes it very seriously when you and I reduce
a person to a label...jerk, loser, psycho, liberal, tree-hugger
---or when we equate and identify a person with their sin...
druggie, molester, drunk, homosexual
Think about that...if we are doing that, and someone then identified
us by our sin, we would be called “murderer”
-and we would be just as guilty as Cain, as Pilate, and as the men
who considered themselves to be so holy, yet who didn’t hesitate
to put to death the One they called a fool
So Jesus kinda’ sticks it to us...and He really ruffles the feathers of
the self-righteous who were sure the 7th commandment was a slam
dunk, of
sorts...that is until this no-name Rabbi from
turning things inside out and rightside up
Before we move on, let me caution you not to soften Jesus’ words
-don’t try to wiggle out of the implications of what He’s saying about
anger and how we treat and respect others
--failure in this area isn’t something God will merely overlook...
instead Jesus makes it clear that we will answer for our
attitudes and our words, as well as our actions
Next, He gives 2 examples of these truths being put into practice
Read Matthew 5:23-24
Therefore...remember—when you come across a “therefore” you
need to see what the “therefore” is there for
-in other words, “therefore” is essentially saying, “What you are
about to read is an implication of what you have just read.”
--in this case, “Because this whole anger – relationship issue is
so important, listen to how it should affect your life...”
if you...notice that Jesus has changed from the generalized anyone in
the previous paragraph, to a very pointed and directed you
-this isn’t a helpful hint or a suggestion...this is what you must do
because God takes it this seriously
There’s a word in the middle of v. 24 that is tamely translated “first”
-but this word is actually quite powerful...carrying with it the meaning
of “do it now, before doing anything else”
So picture this person (in this case, a man)...carrying, let’s say, a
lamb...through the gate, into the Court of the Gentiles, through the
Court of Women and the Court of Men, finally making it to the altar
-and there he remembers that someone has something against
him...that someone is angry with him for some reason
--that’s quite a conundrum...do you really expect him to up and
leave the sheep in the temple while he runs out from the
altar, through the Court of Men and the Court of Women,
through the Court of the Gentiles, through the temple gate,
and then search the entire city for his enemy...and then once
he finds this guy, this would-be-worshiper is supposed to
make amends with the guy who has a problem with him...and
then run back through the city streets, the temple gate, and
the 3 Courts, and finally get to present his offering to the
priest and to God?
—yes
--I find that rather extreme, don’t you?
—who said reconciliation was anything but extreme?
--but why can’t this man finish with his worship first?
—because Jesus is asserting the truth that our strained
relationships actually do hinder or even prevent our
worship...the act of worship itself isn’t nearly as
important as the condition of the worshiper’s heart
---it’s precisely why God says in Hosea
6:6 à I
desire
mercy, not sacrifice...
We tend to think of our personal relationships as being completely
isolated from our spiritual relationship with God
-Jesus tells us otherwise
--think of a time when you’ve entered this room and brought anger
or bitterness or resentment with you...were you able to worship?
---I’ve sat in that pew before...and it’s simply a waste of time
----but I can’t say Jesus didn’t warn me
-and the reality is that just as you are experiencing a crippled walk
with God, the other person is likely going through the same thing
--your obedience and love will likely free not just one, but two!
Last week in
many people in the South have never gotten over the Civil War.”
-it’s true, all over that friendly city were subtle and not-so-subtle
reminders of a war that continues to be fought today
--most of you have seen the cannonball lodged at the top of a
pillar
of the courthouse in
--if I were to recommend that it be removed and the small crater
be filled in and covered over, I’d be run out of town on a rail
---there would be noisy voices of protest... “But it’s history!”
----which is my point exactly
Tim Brown shares how he
learned this lesson at McDonald’s à
I was having lunch with my daughter and mother-in-law. We were enjoying a pleasant conversation when
a man, his wife and children, plopped down at a nearby table. The man was someone who, in the past, had hurt
me. We faked pleasantries and exchanged
hellos, but I could feel my blood begin to boil at the thought of what he had
done to me. This person had wounded me
badly, and I was surprised about how much hurt I still felt.
We quickly finished our food and on the way out I overheard this man and
his wife arguing because neither had any money to purchase the food they had
ordered. Their three kids were screaming
for their Happy Meals. The couple was
embarrassed. My first thought was, “Praise God, there is justice in this world. He deserves every bit
of embarrassment he's feeling, and I'm so glad I got to see this.”
Suddenly God reminded me of the text in Romans I had read just that
morning. “Do not repay anyone evil for
evil. Be careful to do what is right in
the eyes of everybody. If it is
possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave
room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the
Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is
thirsty, give him something to drink.’”
What I heard was this: “Here's
your chance to be set free of your pain and overcome your hurt.” I knew I had a choice either to obey or bask
in my bitterness. Somewhat reluctantly I
reached into my wallet, pulled out $20, and gave it to this man who had once
been my enemy. "Have lunch on
me," I said with tears in my eyes.
The great English pastor, R.C.
Chapman once said à If I
have been
injured by another, let me think [to]
myself—How much better to be
the sufferer than the wrongdoer!
-that’s a rightside up
attitude...and leads us to Jesus’ 2nd example
Read Matthew 5:25-26
God has great timing, doesn’t He?
Here’s the picture: imagine you are being sued
-Jesus gives no indication about who’s wrong and who’s right in this
case, probably because it doesn’t matter much
--His point is simply this: be proactive...try to work things out
between the two of you
But if you remember from the passage I just read from Romans, that
may not always be possible
-we are still supposed to try, of course, but the reality is that there
is another party involved who may not see things the same way
--that shouldn’t be a big surprise...that’s how life is
-because this is so important, let me re-read Romans 12:17-21 à
Do not repay
anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do
what is right
in the eyes of
everybody. If it is possible, as
far as it depends on
you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my
friends, but leave room for God's wrath,
for it is written:
“It is
mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the
Lord. On the contrary: “If
your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is
thirsty, give him
something to drink.”
Here’s the truth—like it or not...
-repaying evil with more evil is never right (tempting, but wrong!)
-R.C. Chapman has it right again à It is
better to lose your purse
than your temper.
-it’s not always possible to live at peace with everyone
-you are responsible for doing whatever you can that leads to peace
-revenge is always, always, always wrong...leave it in God’s hands
-don’t laugh when your enemy runs into trouble, instead help him...
in fact, give him what he needs
-do that which is good and right and honors God...that’s the high
road...the one Jesus leads us to walk
We’ll return to that because all of this is just a warm-up for what’s
coming in a few
weeks...Love your enemies and pray for
those who
persecute you.
-don’t forget...you can talk yourself out of all of this
--That’s just
theoretical, hypothetical rhetoric.
Jesus didn’t really
mean this! He never intended us actually to live this way.
-that’s nice...but let’s see how well your lie holds together in the
light of Jesus’ actions
While He was still
speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve,
was leading them...When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they
said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?”
And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his
right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more
of this!” And He touched the man’s ear
and healed him....Then seizing Him, they led Him away...the men who were
guarding Jesus began mocking and beating Him...they spit in His face and struck
Him with their fists. Others slapped
Him. They blindfolded Him and demanded,
“Prophesy! Who hit you?” And they said many other insulting things to
Him...Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of
thorns and put it on His head. They
clothed Him in a purple robe and went up to Him again and again, saying, “Hail,
king of the Jews!” And they struck Him
in the face. When they came to the place
called the Skull, there they crucified Him...Jesus said, “Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they are doing.”
You can argue about what Jesus means until the cows come home
-but His actions leave us all speechless