Kurt Krowel 07/17/2006
He “Blew It”
As we grow up and grow older there are certain scenes that just stick in our minds which we never seem to forget. As an elementary school kid growing up during the mid 1960s, I can vividly remember one day when my fifth grade Physical Education teacher had a tirade while teaching us how to play basketball. He was teaching and we were learning, albeit slowly, but we were still catching on. I’m sure it must have been frustrating.
About half way through the game, one of my teammates made a mistake, and when we stopped playing to ask the coach about it, he blew his whistle like a maniac, and then proceeded to rip off the whistle from around his neck, hurl it to the ground and then began stomping on it over and over, until it was nothing more than bits and pieces of black plastic. After that, he walked off the court and left us to coach ourselves.
Meltdown
I remember thinking, “Whoa, what in the world happened? What did we do to cause his melt down?” It’s safe to say that what my fellow fifth-graders and I witnessed that afternoon was a full-blown, adult temper tantrum. It was anger uncontrolled. Unfortunately, the assistant principle also saw, observed it, and shortly thereafter, we had a new PE teacher. Anger robbed him of a lot that day.
Frequent Joy Stealer
Anger is also one of the most frequent joy-stealers in the Christian life. Anger will kill the joy in an otherwise great day, in an instant.
The late Dr. J. Vernon McGee used to say that it was hard for him to believe how he could have such a wonderful time in his morning devotional time with God, and then how, instantly, it could all be taken away while driving in traffic to his office at church.
Rageful Nation
Expressions of anger appear to be on the rise. Today, we have people shooting each other on the freeway in America over incidents that, ten years ago, would have just produced either a few expletives, or a couple of hand gestures.
Today, young people at schools, rather than getting back with words at people with whom they’re angry, or having an old-fashioned fist-fight, are now bringing guns and knives, and settling their beefs permanently.
People feel no hesitancy today in taking out their rage against another person in ways that end up sending them to jail or prison. Anger for many people is an uncontrollable emotion.
Anger Causes More Harm to its Carrier
However, that’s not the only danger to anger. Ironically, anger can often do more harm to the person who expresses it than to the person who is on the receiving end of it. Someone has said, “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to the person on whom it is poured.”
So then, there are at least two reasons why each one of us needs to learn to tackle the joy-stealer of anger: to protect both the person who is angry as well as the person toward whom anger is directed.
Textbook on Anger
Ephesians 4:25-32 is a key passage written to a local church family dealing with issues of anger. In this message we’ll learn how to identify, and tackle the joy-stealer of anger. Let’s read Paul’s words to a local church family dealing with issues of anger:
Eph. 4:25: “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE OF YOU WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.
:26 BE ANGRY, AND YET DO NOT SIN. Do not let the sun go down on your anger,
:27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.
:28 He who steals must steal no longer. But, rather, he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.
:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.
:30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (NASB)
I. Discovering Right Anger (4:25a)
Be Angry but do not Sin
Paul says something in verse 26 which surprises a lot of us: “In your anger do not sin.” He was quoting Psalm 4:4. It says, “In your anger do not sin, when you are on your beds search your hearts and be silent. Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.”
The point in both of those passages is, of course, that it is entirely possible to get angry without sinning. It is possible to express anger in a way that is right. How that’s done, unfortunately, is still a mystery to most of us.
But anger has such a negative association connected with it that many people assume you can’t be angry without sinning.
No Biblical Basis for Venting Anger
Before we shed light on what Paul is saying, let’s make sure we understand this: Paul is not giving permission here for the venting of frustration and rage. Getting one’s anger out is a popular theme in pop psychology today. But, it has no biblical basis. For instance, Paul refers to anger as one of many works of the flesh.
Fits of Rage – Sinful Acts
Look at Galatians 5:19-21: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
A Fool Vents Anger
Look also at Proverbs 29:11. Solomon says that, “A fool gives full vent to his anger but a wise man keeps himself under control.” I believe that venting one’s anger in rage only makes that person angrier and hardens further those negative emotions.
No Self-Centered Rage in our Lord
So what is Paul referring to when he says, “In your anger do not sin?” The answer is found in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was more than one occasion on which Jesus expressed anger, yet we know that He lived without sin. Therefore, He wasn’t manifesting self-centered rage or venting his spleen toward others. Whatever Jesus was doing in those instances recorded for us, He was being angry without sinning.
The clearest expression of Jesus’ anger is recorded in John 2:13-17.
The Money Changers
“When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!’ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Extortionists
To understand why Jesus did what He did, we have to understand what was happening in the temple. The money changers and merchants were what we might refer to as extortionists – they were cheating poor worshippers out of their money.
When Israelites came to the temple to offer a sacrifice, the animals they brought would be disapproved by the temple officials. They would be forced to purchase “approved” animals at an inflated price from the crooked merchants and money changers. Jesus’ anger was first directed at the injustice toward temple worshippers.
Flea Market at the Temple
Secondly, Jesus was so angry because worship of his Heavenly Father was being obstructed by the booths and tables set up in the Court of the Gentiles.
This area of the temple was for Gentiles who wanted to worship the true God. They couldn’t get near because the Court of the Gentiles had been turned into a strip-mall-type flea market of animal sellers and money changers.
Anger about Injustice & Unrighteousness
So then, how was Jesus’ anger different from ours? All I can see is that His anger wasn’t about His own “stuff” – His own agenda, His own schedule, His own rights, His own preferences, or His own desires. That’s what our anger is almost always about.
Instead, His anger was over the injustice and unrighteousness that was taking place in the temple of Israel. That’s the sort of righteous anger that is acceptable to God and isn’t sinful. If you want to get angry about something, get angry about that!
Is it Lawful to Heal on the Sabbath?
On another occasion Jesus became angry at Pharisees in a synagogue because they accused Him of healing someone on the Sabbath. Look at Mark 3:1-5,
“Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, ‘Stand up in front of everyone.’ Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.'”
Letter of Spirit of the Law
They were more concerned about the letter of the Law than they were about the spirit of the Law. They were more concerned with tradition than they were with compassion.
Righteous Anger
There is an anger that’s righteous and not sinful. But it is usually directed at the abuse of righteousness, justice, love and compassion. It is not used as a tool of retribution when we don’t get our own way.
II. Disowning Wrong Anger (4:26b)
Anger, as well as hurting the sender and receiver can also be contagious.
Contagious Anger
In his autobiography, Number 1, Billy Martin told about hunting in Texas with Mickey Mantle. Mickey had a friend who would let them hunt on his ranch. When they reached the ranch, Mickey told Billy to wait in the car while he checked in with his friend. Mantle’s friend quickly gave them permission to hunt, but he asked Mickey a favor. He had a pet mule in the barn who was going blind, and he didn’t have the heart to put him out of his misery. He asked Mickey to shoot the mule for him.
When Mickey came back to the car, he pretended to be angry. He scowled and slammed the door. Billy asked him what was wrong, and Mickey said his friend wouldn’t let them hunt. “I’m so mad at that guy,” Mantle said, “I’m going out to his barn and shoot one of his mules!” Mantle drove like a maniac to the barn, Martin protested, “We can’t do that!” But Mickey was adamant. “Just watch me,” he shouted.
When they got to the barn, Mantle jumped out of the car with his rifle, ran inside, and shot the mule. As he was leaving, though he heard two shots, and he ran back to the car. He saw that Martin had taken out his rifle, too. “What are you doing, Martin?” he yelled. Martin yelled back, face red with anger, “We’ll show that son of a gun! I just killed two of his cows!”
Don’t Hang Around Hot-Heads
Anger can be dangerously contagious. As Proverbs put it, “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man…or you may learn his ways” (Proverbs 22:24-25).
Next time we’ll see what Ephesians 4:25-32 teaches us about disowning wrong anger.