HOW TO BE GOOD AND ANGRY

It was a day of worship. The morning sacrifices had been made. The priest had gone into the Temple with the incense to offer it before the Lord. And the people had partaken in their morning prayers. Suddenly, in the outer courts, there is a disturbance. Doves are flapping. Tables go flying. People are scattering. Coins are clattering. And in the middle of it all is a Galilean Rabbi wielding a whip. His arm is raised and lowered. Another sharp crack of the lash.

Who is this Man? Has He lost His mind? Can this be sweet, gentle Jesus? Can He be... ANGRY? The anger of Jesus should come as no surprise to us. The anger of the Lord is a common theme in the Scriptures. The Lord's anger is directed against sin and unrighteousness. He becomes angry. His wrath and His anger is "revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men," especially when they "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18). God becomes angry when His truths are substituted for lies. He gets angry...

• When good is exchanged for evil.

• When holiness is replaced with iniquity.

• When his design for marriage is replaced with pornography and adultery and homosexuality.

• When his worship is ignored and replaced with concerns over idols of wood, stone, and in these days metal and plastic.

God gets angry, and we should, too. We should get angry...

• When we see abortion clinics murdering babies.

• At the smut that is published under the banner of "freedom of the press" while Bibles are banned from our public schools.

• At the way the media feels free to make fun of the sacred and the way it portrays all Christians as shallow and superficial spoilsports who want only to stop people from having fun.

• When religious manipulators peddle their products and sell their wares, all while living lives of hypocrisy.

There are times when Christians should stand up and say, "I'm angry and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Paul speaks of such a time in his epistle to the Ephesians. Let's look at it.

The word which the New American Standard Version translates "tremble" is taken from the root ragaz. It's literal meaning is "to tremble or quake." But when it refers to a person, its speaks of strong emotions. Those emotions can be fear. They can be worshipful awe before the presence of the Lord. Or they can be anger.

By the way, there is a lesson here. It is a lesson about EMOTIONS. Emotions are not sinful or wrong. The Lord made us to be emotional creatures. Some of us are more emotional than others. And that is okay.

I think that we as Presbyterians have often fallen short in worshiping God with our emotions. Perhaps it is in reaction to that brand of Christianity which goes to emotional excess - where theology and truth are traded in for an emotional roller coaster ride of warm fuzzies.

I am not advocating such excess. We have no basket by the front door with a sign that reads, "Leave your brains here and pick them up after the service. Do not forget to take them on your way out or you will lose your mind."

But I cannot help but think that we have gone too far in the other direction. Emotions are good. We are commanded to love the Lord, not just with our minds, but with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. And if we leave any part out, then we are falling short in our worship. We are to honor God with all of our emotions. Even with our ANGER.

Paul says, "BE ANGRY..." What does he mean? I want to suggest that this is NOT a command to be angry. The Greek text can be translated either as a command or as a statement of being:

For this reason, the NIV has translated this, "In your anger, do not sin." This brings us to our first point. It is the first of THREE PITFALLS TO ANGER.

Likewise, there are times when I should be angry. But there are also times when I should recognize that my anger is misdirected.

1. We are not to be bad-tempered people. When we get to verse 31 Paul tells us to put away all "bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor..." While anger is not in itself sinful, that is not where the Christian is to live. While anger is not in itself sinful, it can often lead to sin.
2. One of the qualifications for an elder is that he is not to be quick-tempered (Titus 1:7), but rather, he is to be gentle and uncontentious (I Timothy 3:3).
3. We are not to be easily provoked .

When you are angry, deal with it quickly. To allow it to fester and swell and surge for any extended length of time is dangerous.

I want you to know that the word for "anger" in the second part of this verse is slightly different that the word for being "angry" in the first part of this verse.

• The first time, he uses the word orgizo ("Be angry").

• The second time, he uses the word parorgizmos ("your anger"). Aside from the fact that the first time is a verb and the second time is a noun, there is a difference in the word.

The difference is in the prefix para. It is a familiar prefix. It means "along side of." For example, when we refer to a paramedic, we speak of someone who works in conjunction with a doctor. A paralegal is someone who works along side of a lawyer.

What does this tell us about anger? It tells us that anger often comes with unwanted companions. Paul makes reference to them in verse 31.

Anger is a seed which, if allowed to remain, begins to grow and send out its roots of bitterness. These roots are poison to your soul!

We have a rule in our household which we try always to follow. When there is an argument, we do not go to bed until it is resolved. Sometimes that can make for some late nights. But the result is worth the extra effort.

Keep short accounts. Do you remember the Lord's prayer? Sometimes we recite it without thinking of the words we are saying. Forgive us our debts AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS.

Jesus goes on to issue a warning. It is a warning that if you do not forgive men, then you will not be forgiven by the Father. There is a correlation between the way you forgive others and the way God forgives you.

Peter asked Jesus a question one day about forgiveness. He asked, "How often should I forgive my brother?" I'm not sure if he was speaking generically or if he and Andrew weren't getting along. But in any case, he had come up with a number. Seven times. He would turn the other cheek seven times. But the eighth time, WATCH OUT!

Jesus answered him, "Not 7 times, but rather 70 x 7." A whole lot more.

Keep on forgiving. Why? Because that is the way God forgives.

This is graphically illustrated in the case of Cain and Abel. You remember the story. It is set in the context of worship. The two brothers had each come to worship the Lord. They each brought the fruit of their labors to sacrifice before the Lord.

• Because he was a keeper of flocks, Abel brought a lamb to sacrifice to the Lord.

• Because he was a farmer, Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground.

And in some way in which we are not told, it was made known that the Lord honored Abel's offering and did not honor Cain's offering.

Why? I'm not really sure. I suspect that this account underscores the importance of a blood sacrifice. Or perhaps the Lord was looking at the heart and the spirit of the worship of the two brothers and found something wanting in Cain. In any case, the offering of Cain was rejected.

What was the result? Cain became angry. He didn't just become angry. He became VERY angry.

"But John, you don't know how much I have been hurt. I can't bring myself to forgive!" That is because you do not know how much you have been forgiven.

The King was preparing for a journey to a far country. He called his servants to him and entrusted them with the care of the land. They were charged with protecting and preserving the inheritance.

Years passed and the King did not return. But he sent messengers to assure the people of their King's love and receive news of the kingdom. The messengers were not well received. One was beaten. Another was murdered. A third was publicly humiliated.

The King was troubled when he heard of the reception which his servants had received. But instead of anger, he responded in love. He called his Son to him and said, "Son, I will send you as the sign of my love. When they see you, they will know that I love them and forgive them." And so, the Son came to the kingdom.

But when the unfaithful servants saw the Son coming, they plotted against him. They said among themselves, "This is the Son - if we kill him, then the inheritance will be ours." And so, they took the Son, scorned him, beat him, and killed him.

What is the response of the King? The law of the King demands death. The anger of the King demands vengeance. But the King says...

Someone has said that you can only love if you have been loved and then you will only love to the extent that you have been loved. In the same way, you can only forgive if you have been forgiven and then you will only forgive to the extent that you have been forgiven. The good news is that God's forgiveness is without measure.

There may be times when you do not agree with another Christian brother. There may be differences of opinion. That is alright. There may be strong emotion. And that is okay, too.

But let us remember that there is One who had every right to be angry with us.

Once upon a tree, the anger of God which should have been directed at us was replaced by love. And we are charged with doing the same.