Dealing with Your Anger Matthew 5:21-26
Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted
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Intro:
Intro:
Fran Stinnett Update
As we get into this next section of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus starts to address common struggles that every disciples faces
He has dealt with the inner person thru the beatitudes and how that should play out in everyday life
Now he is going to show us how to deal with struggles that trip us up
It is no coincidence that he starts with anger
Anger is common to everyone
No one is isolated from its presence or immune from its poison
This shows us that there are several types of anger that we need to be aware of
The problem is that people recognize their anger issues and instead of dealing with them, they have turned it into a badge
Hulk always angry
In the first Avengers movie where they are battling Loki, in the final battle scene it all comes to a culmination when the Avengers gather in one place
You have Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Hawkeye fighting on the ground with Iron Man in the sky
As the aliens are about to converge on the group Bruce Banner putts up in a motorcycle
He gets off and says “This looks horrible.”
Iron Man tells him to suit up and Captain America tells Bruce that it would be a good time to get angry
That’s when the Banner turns and says, “That’s my secret, I’m always angry.” and then transforms into the Hulk
It’s one of the memorable moments of all the Marvel movies
AND it has been used by a lot of people to justify being a jerk
No one would argue we are dealing with an anger problem of pandemic proportions.
Jesus shows us how to deal with our anger
Read Matt 5:21-26
Read Matt 5:21-26
Transition:
Jesus took six important Old Testament laws and interpreted them for His people in the light of the new life He came to give.
He made a fundamental change without altering God’s standards:
He dealt with the attitudes and intents of the heart and not simply with the external action.
The Pharisees said that righteousness consisted of performing certain actions, but Jesus said it centered in the attitudes of the heart.
The person who says that he “lives by the Sermon on the Mount” may not realize that the Sermon on the Mount is more difficult to keep than the original Ten Commandments!
Define Anger
Anger is easier to describe than it is to define
We can easily see it in others or feel it rising in our veins
Anger is our active response to a judgement we have made against a perceived evil
Anger is our active response to a judgement we have made against a perceived evil
Anger starts in the heart
The Bible states multiple times that is radiates emotion
Anger is hot, and often burns
Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.
There are 3 types of anger
Divine anger (from God)
Righteous Human anger (Think Jesus overturning tables)
Sinful human anger (Focus of this message)
I. Recognizing Your Anger vs. 21-22
I. Recognizing Your Anger vs. 21-22
If you can’t recognize and admit to your anger there is no way you deal with it
In these verses Jesus hits three areas of anger that are common to man
Murder vs. 21
Murder vs. 21
Jesus takes the 6th commandment and adds some stipulations to it
This is also a direct confrontation with the religious elite
Like most people throughout history, the scribes and Pharisees thought that if there was any sin of which they were clearly not guilty, it was murder.
Whatever else they may have done, at least they had never committed murder.
The teaching of the scribes and Pharisees (“You shall not murder”) was true enough.
Murder is the ultimate action on our anger
It is premeditated and a result our biased judgment
Yet they also taught that anything short or murder might be allowed.
Jesus tells us that anger and contempt will be judged as well
Aaron Rogers
Rogers is the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers and the best quarterback in the league
He got covid in November and it was discovered that he wasn’t vaccinated
The press went crazy trying to cancel him and people wanted him thrown off the team
One reporter said he wouldn’t vote for him for MVP because he wasn’t vaccinated
People wishing he would die of COVID because he is not vaccinated
This is exactly what Jesus is getting at here
No one was going to murder Rogers but thousands wanted him to die
This is exactly what Jesus is addressing in this passage
You may not murder anyone, but if you want someone dead you’re angry at then you are just as guilty
A little close to home
Am I stepping on anyone’s toes?
Angry at Your Brother vs. 22a
Angry at Your Brother vs. 22a
II. Insults vs. 22b
II. Insults vs. 22b
The second area Jesus addresses is being angry at your brother
Brother means anyone you are close
Listen to what the Apostle John says
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Is anger always wrong?
No, there is righteous anger Jesus showed with the money changers
The mark of Jesus’ nature was that he was slow to anger
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
His anger was mingled with grief over sins like hypocrisy and fruitlessness
He did not become angry at personal mistreatment
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
We burn with anger at petty offenses
We scream at the officials
We become offended at minor snubs
We rage at incompetent drivers in traffic
We are quick to anger at personal offenses but slow to anger over sins that offend God
These are just my confessions
You may have your own list
Contempt vs. 22b
Contempt vs. 22b
The third type of anger is contempt
Contempt is the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn.
Contempt is the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn.
Besides anger Jesus prohibits casual insults and contempt
The terms Raca and Fool are not quite identical
Raca Insults Intelligence
Raca Insults Intelligence
Raca expresses contempts for a person’s mind
Raca means Stupid Idiot
Fool Insults the Heart
Fool Insults the Heart
Fool expresses contempt for someone’s character
Fool means good for nothing
It implies that someone is worthless
We should avoid contemptuous words, but we should avoid every whiff of condescension
We should treat no one as if they have no value
Jesus says whatever violates this principle is liable to judgment
He mentions the council. That was the Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was the highest court of law in Israel
He also mentions “the hell of fire.”
The Greek word there is Gehenna
Gehenna was a smoldering rubbish heap outside of Jerusalem
Jesus uses these two to show that disciples guilty of these are liable to God’s fiery judgment
Anger and contempt are inner states that can lead to murder
If you have ever wished someone would die or said, “I’d shed no tears if he were dead.” you are guilty
A contemptuous heart and tongue can lead to action
Abortion causes people to judge an unborn human being as worthless
Neglect of the poor and homeless can be a result of us judging them as worthless
II. Making Peace vs. 23-26
II. Making Peace vs. 23-26
Jesus has forbidden murder, hatred, and contempt
Next, he says we must not simply refrain from violence, but make peace with others
We need to make peace with a brother in the faith and with our adversary
Making Peace with a Brother vs. 23-24
Making Peace with a Brother vs. 23-24
IV. vs. 25-26
IV. vs. 25-26
The first people we need to make peace with are our fellow Christians
Jesus addresses two areas that might surprise you
First, If you come for worship and have an issue with another brother you need to put your sacrifice down and go and make things right
Worship was a sacred duty
Men had to make pilgrimage to the temple three times a year
They had to bring extensive and expensive offerings to sacrifice
This took planning and wasn’t something done spontaneously
Jesus wants the act of reconciliation to be just as important as planned worship
He tells everyone to set down their offering and go and make things right
It is more important to be reconciled to your brother than to go to church
Worship is a sham if anyone hates his brother and fellow worshipper
Worship is a sham if anyone hates his brother and fellow worshipper
You may be sitting here thinking “I don’t have anything against a brother” so I am good
That’s not what the verse says
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
If your brother has something against you
vs. 24 says you are to go to them
We should love our brothers enough to remove their anger against us
Jesus doesn’t even say that the brother has to be right
If enough tension exists that we remember, we should stop and seek reconciliation
Making Peace with an Adversary vs. 25-26
Making Peace with an Adversary vs. 25-26
The final area is making peace with an adversary
First, Jesus forbids murder,
Second, he prohibits attitudes that lead to murder
Third, he commands us to seek peace with an angry brother
Finally, he commands us to remove anger in an adversary
Jesus uses the illustration of going to court
vs. 26 shows us that it was over a debt
As angry as the two people are when they get lawyers, disciples must try to make peace
The picture of doing it on the steps of the courthouse show working things at the last minute
We need to be careful about insisting on our rights
We have to watch ourselves to see if we are harboring anger
Make peace if you can
It takes more than one party
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
It may be impossible but at least try
In order to make peace, we must take responsibility for our mistakes
III. Heart of the Matter
III. Heart of the Matter
Do not murder seems so simple
But Jesus came to fulfill the law, to disclose it’s full meaning
We must give up rage and contempt
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
We must be peaceful and make peace with both brothers and enemies
Jesus’ will is quite clear
His clarity becomes a problem because we cannot follow his will
We do grow angry
We are reluctant to heal broken relationships
Jesus’ word exceeds our capacity
But there is good news
The same Jesus who issues these commands also blesses the poor in spirit
Those who cannot obey
Jesus gives empowering grace
He sends his Spirit to give us to begin to obey him
Your obedience is imperfect but you can make progress