pastor steve: Fight to put off unrighteous anger and put on righteous anger (Ephesians 4:26)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon March 15, 2009

This past week, the world was confronted by two outrageous shooting rampages that killed 15 people in Germany and 10 in Alabama. Tim Kretschmer 17 year old from Germany was described by friends as “a misogynist with a particular grudge against one of his former female teachers, who had told him he would ‘end up on the rubbish heap’” and a guy who was infatuated with a local girl who had snubbed his advances.[1] Michael McLendon of Alabama is also suspected of killing out of some kind of grudge.[2] Then, there was a recent terrible incident of a man wearing Santa Claus costume who killed nine people at a Christmas Eve party in California again driven by grudge.

These terrible killings are the sensational face of the destructive power of anger. But, the reality is Christians or non-Christians are all alike subject to the feeling of anger. When anger festered into grudge against others explodes, it destroys others. When anger is kept inside and stoked, it directs its fury against self until it eats inside of a person, and worse results in suicide. Anger if it is not dealt, it either hurts others or it hurts you.

The problem is not that we experience anger at all. It is what we do with it that determines the outcome.

The apostle Paul quotes in Ephesians 4:26 from Psalm 4:4, “In your anger do not sin” and he says, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.” We get into problems not because we experience anger in the first place, but because we don’t respond to our anger appropriately.

1. Fight for righteous anger.

First, we have to discern the nature of our anger. There are two kinds of anger that we need to be mindful of, righteous anger and unrighteous anger. Throughout the biblical narratives about Jesus, we read about Jesus getting angry like in Mark 3:5; he got angry and was distressed by the stubborn hearts of the Pharisees. Jesus in his righteous anger is outraged by injustice, sin, unbelief, and exploitation of the disadvantaged.[3]

Moses was angry at Pharaoh for stubbornly refusing to submit to God (Exodus 11:8). We also see how Moses’ anger burned when he saw the calf and the dancing of the Israelites committing idolatry (Exodus 32:19). He became angry when he realized Eleazar and Ithamar didn’t follow God’s instruction on how to go about doing offering (Exodus 10:16).

Nehemiah became angry when he learned about the poor being mistreated by the practice of exacting usury, charging excessive interest (Nehemiah 5:6). This was equivalent to what many people of today experience. Predatory lenders gave loans to the people with all kinds of hidden fees and excessive rate hikes that make it virtually impossible for them to pay their mortgage payments now.

Are we familiar with this righteous anger towards ugliness of sins, especially our own Here is a parable to illustrate what this righteous anger looks like.

Imagine yourself as a bagger who lives in the back alleys scavenging through the garbage for food. And, your favorite place to look for food is the garbage dumpster that belongs to a famous restaurant. You eat whatever you can get your hands on. But one day, the owner of the restaurant comes out to the alley. Finding you digging through the dumpster, he invites you into his fine restaurant. And, you see before you this amazing buffet that puts Todai to shame with freshest fruits, oyster and lobsters… you name it. It’s all there, the best of best. And, the owner tells you that you don’t have to eat out of the dumpster any more. Anytime, you can walk right in and eat any of what’s before you freely without having to pay for any. God’s grace gives you unlimited access to his presence and to his abundant blessing and new life to live. And, when you step out to the back alley and you see the dumpster full of garbage that you used to eat to fill your hunger, you now look at it with distain, utter disgust, and anger. It would make no sense for you to go back into the dumpster to find something to eat, that old, rotten, moldy food that just might kill you when you now have the unlimited access and freedom to eat from the finest restaurant in town.

Righteous anger is this sense of disgust and disdain towards the dumpster full of sins that now belongs to the old self that has been crucified and buried because we’ve been given new self in Christ Jesus. Lord, increase righteous anger in us that we may not return to the dumpster.

2. Fight to put off unrighteous anger quickly.

As opposed to righteous anger of disdain and disgust against the dumpster full of sins, unrighteous anger is destructive emotion of ill-will towards other people that you find right in the dumpster of sins. Martin Luther once said, “You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from nesting in your hair.” Initial feeling of anger may rise within us and we cannot do much about it, but what are not enslaved to anger any more. We now in Christ have choice to put off destructive anger. God has given us unrestricted, unlimited, completely free access to draw near to him because he justified us in Christ; and in Christ, we are no longer enslaved in the back alley to eat out of the garbage dumpster filled with all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander with every form of malice (Ephesians 3:31).

We now in Christ have choice to put off any destructive anger that we may encounter or to harbor it and let its destructive power to cause great harms to others and to ourselves. When we don’t put off destructive anger and let is be manifested, we are doing what is most illogical, stupidest and most pitiful thing, lingering in the dumpster of sins.

Destructive anger out of the back alley dumpster if it is not put away quickly before the sun goes down, what we allow is a room, an opportunity for the devil to exert its demonic influence on us. Not only allowing ourselves to be subject to the demonic influence, Jesus also said in Matthew 5:22, “I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” Unrighteous anger that breeds ill feeling towards others and gets expressed in harmful behaviors is something that Jesus finds it unacceptable for his children. The remedy is to put off, reject unrighteous anger quickly without delaying so that it doesn’t become a toxic force that ruins relationships. We need learn to counter unrighteous anger with righteous anger with God’s help.

3. Fight to put off the unrighteous anger quickly so that your prayer and worship won’t be hindered.

When unrighteous anger is kept unchecked and if we give it time to fester, it not only harms our relationship with people, but it also affects our relationship with God. We see this in Paul’s eager desire to see men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing in 1 Timothy 2:8. Prayer is an intimate act of drawing near to God and sharing our hearts with him as he shares his heart with us and help us to refocus who we are in Christ. And, as with all sins, unrighteous anger allowed to fester in us make it impossible for us to pray freely. In contrary, James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” A righteous man is one who puts off the old self and its practices and welcomes and embraces new identity and new practices in Christ. When we learn to put off unrighteous anger and put on righteous anger, our prayers can become powerful and effective.

It is not just prayer that unrighteous anger adversely affects. James 1:20 says, “for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” The righteous life that God desires, the lifestyle that honors and delights him is not possible when unrighteous anger dominates. Another word, anger hinders worship.

Jesus gave us very practical ways to deal with this. Instead of giving into unrighteous anger, what we need to do is to set our eyes on reconciliation. Jesus instructs us in Matthew 5:23, “if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you [meaning you realize someone is angry at you], leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” When there are conflicts and unresolved angers in our relationship with people, God’s mandates is for us to actively make things right, to go and reconcile, only then, our worship be acceptable to him.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:15, “If your brother sins against you, go and how him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.” If you get angry because somebody does something and harms you, the right thing to do is not to give yourself into unrighteous anger of ill-will towards the person. The right thing to do is to talk to the person about his or her offense against you quickly. The old Korean and the Asian way of not dealing with someone’s offense in the name of chamowa (false patience) is not only unbiblical, but it gives a room for the devil in your heart and mind to brew resentment and grudge.

Jesus’ mandate for direct confrontation is important one. Sinful tendency is instead of talking to the person who offended you in privacy, you go to a third person to talk about it. You may drape it nicely saying you are seeking another person’s spiritual counsel or simply need someone to talk about the issue. But, unless that third person directs you to go and resolve the issue with the person you are in conflict, all that sharing mounts up to nothing but gossip. And, there is nothing like gossips that kills and destroys any trust in relationship.

4. Fight to put off the unrighteous anger quickly, patiently, gently so that you have healthy and growing relationship with God and people.

Another reason why we must put off anger prompted by pride and ill-will to get back at someone is it produces strife. Proverbs 30:33 says, “A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man clams a quarrel.” Proverbs 15:18; “An angry man stirs up dissension.” A person who gets easily angered, who is hot-tempered not only stirs up conflicts but also in danger of committing many sins because he or she has no defenses against temptations. You see this in Proverbs 25:28 which likens a man who lacks self-control [with one’s anger] as a city whose walls are broken down, who has no defenses against sin. This is why Psalm 37:8 instructs us to refrain from anger because it leads only to evil. It is so damaging that Proverbs 22:24 calls us not to make friends with a hot-tempered man, not to associate with one easily angered.

Proverbs 16:32, “Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.” It is easier to become a warrior than a man of self-control over his desire.

Some of you are like me who is very good at dealing with anger quickly, too quickly that is. My hot-tempered response gives no room for my anger to be subjected to a clear thinking and self-control. Often, the result is further deepening of strife and harms.

The goal is not to vent anger, or unload anger. The goal must be reconciliation. When the goal is reconciliation, avoiding a harsh word and using a gentle answer so that anger won’t be stirred up as stated in Proverbs 15:1 makes a lot of sense. Proverbs 29:11 says only “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.”

Ultimately it is about welcoming and embracing God’s character, our new identity in Jesus Christ. Nehemiah 9:17 talks about God’s character; “you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. The quick response, patience, gentleness are the choicest food from God’s dinning table while impatience, hot-temper, rude response is the garbage from the dumpster. May God equip us with righteous anger while putting off unrighteous anger!

[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/4982556/German-shooting-Gunman-had-failed-to-turn-up-to-therapy.html

[2] http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE52A01D20090312