WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.919 We've been going through the Sermon on the Mount. 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:07.599 I feel like on a holiday weekend I should reward you in some way and give you some great cheerful topic. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:09.279 But our topic is more anger. 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:11.359 So sorry about that. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:12.400 Sorry about that. 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:18.239 Here's our text for this morning, Matthew 5, 21 through 26. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:20.320 It's in your bulletin and the handout. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:21.600 And here we go. 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:27.120 You have heard that it was said to those of old, by the way, this is Jesus talking, if you're picking up with us. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:35.359 And here's what he says you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:40.159 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:46.960 Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel, and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:54.399 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:57.600 First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:07.359 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:12.879 Truly I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:18.159 So, like I said, this is Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount, the core of Jesus' teaching. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:20.560 Now, this section is called the antithesis. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:22.400 So this comes right after last week. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:25.760 Last week we talked about in this core of Jesus' teaching. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.400 He says he's the completion of the law, and we talked about this last week. 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:31.439 We went in depth that the law is all the shoulds in life. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:39.120 It's all the shoulds in Scripture, every should of what you should be in the Old Testament, every should of what you should be in the New Testament. 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:45.920 Every should that you feel in this world of what you should be, that is law. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:52.560 And Jesus comes along and he says, you know, all that law of what you should be as a good Christian person. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:56.159 I completed all of that because you don't. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:58.400 And he says, Oh, you don't believe me. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:01.680 Let me break it down a little bit for you in these antitheses. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:03.439 And so the antitheses are these. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:06.879 You have heard it said this, but I tell you this. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:09.360 You have heard it said this, but I tell you this. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:11.039 So this week he talks about anger. 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:14.080 Next week we'll be looking at where he talks about lust. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:15.120 So another great subject. 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:17.759 I'm sure you'll be excited to come back for that one. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:25.280 And so he starts this contrasting view of what you've heard before and now what I'm teaching you, and it's very emphatic language, right? 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:32.479 And some of this is very clear, contextual to the time, but what's clear for us is we don't live up to the standard of righteousness. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:33.759 That's what he wants us to get. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:36.800 What he wants us to get is that you're not gonna make it by your merit. 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:44.240 You're not gonna make it before right standing before God, and you're never gonna feel like you're in right standing before God on a day-to-day basis. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.520 You're not gonna wake up and feel like, oh, I really had it together today. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:49.039 I really feel justified today. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:51.360 I feel like I've done a perfect job today. 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:52.879 You're not gonna feel that. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.039 And by that, you you fall before the law. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:56.479 You are falling short. 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:58.639 He says, I completed the law. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:02:59.840 I completed the law. 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:01.599 And that's what's clear out of this passage. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:14.080 And so he just starts to hammer home for us the importance to go to the inner life, to go deeper than behavior, and to hammer home the importance for us to live life deeper than behavior. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:16.719 Now, maybe you're here and you have murdered someone. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:18.000 I mean, don't raise your hand. 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:19.360 You know, don't raise, you don't have to. 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:20.319 You don't have to raise your hand. 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:21.759 You don't want to, we don't want you to. 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:23.360 So maybe that's true. 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:24.719 It's very, very possible. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:25.280 It's possible. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:30.080 Maybe you made a stupid decision when you were 19, you drank too much, you got in your car, you ran somebody over, and you murdered somebody. 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:31.599 Maybe you murdered somebody with a gun. 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:36.879 But Jesus even takes it further, and he says, hey, maybe you've murdered somebody with your words. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:39.680 Maybe you've murdered somebody with your thoughts. 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:45.120 And he's saying, hey, all of it is falling short of what you should be. 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:52.400 You should be perfectly loving and accepting presence in this world. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:56.159 And is anybody, anybody lining up with that? 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:57.120 Well, no. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:03:58.639 Right? 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:03.280 I mean, it's just that little spinning circle on your Mac laptop. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:09.039 The laptop's been on for a while, and you should be able to just open up a Word document very quickly. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:10.719 This should not be that complicated. 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:17.120 And that little disk comes up and it starts spinning and they make it a rainbow because they need it as joyful as possible because you're getting angrier. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:20.959 There's a reason why it's not like black and red and yellow. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:29.279 I mean, like it's rainbow colors to kind of you know to make you feel a little bit more joyful, is trying, but it's not working because you're getting you just want to explode. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:32.800 How dare, how dare we have to wait, right? 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:37.040 And you're like, how can I feel this angry toward a laptop? 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:38.399 Like, what how could this be? 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:44.800 Or you feel it in the Kroger line, and sweet Judy is just checking people out up there and she's having a great day. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:54.240 Obviously she is, but she's talking to everybody, and you have your schedule, but sweet Judy doesn't know your schedule, and you're like, how can I be that angry at Judy? 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:57.759 But you are, you really are that angry at Judy. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:00.879 And I I live on a dead-end street. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:04.879 At the front of the street, it says dead end street. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:06.000 There are two signs. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:08.399 At the front of our street, it says dead end street. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:16.319 And we get about 27 cars down our street a day, half of which turn around in my driveway, the other half turn around Ted and Cookie's driveway. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:17.199 Her name's Cookie. 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.279 She got the name because she's cute. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:21.680 And so that's her nickname, Cookie. 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:26.639 Half in Ted and Cookie's driveway, half in my driveway, and I hate them all. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:28.079 I hate all of them. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:30.959 I give them dirty looks. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:36.720 Like maybe if I look angry enough at them, they will never turn down this road again, right? 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:40.639 You know what I'm talking about because you get angry about this kind of stuff too, right? 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:42.240 Like ridiculous things. 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:44.720 But maybe it's bigger things. 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:46.720 And you know angry people. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:51.040 You know angry people that are defensive, you know angry people that are offensive. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:55.519 I mean, you know your roommate, your dad, your mom, your aunt, you. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:05.439 And so Jesus is expounding on last week, and what he's telling us this week is like, hey, you y'all, y'all fall short before the law. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:13.120 You you are not an endless, joyful, perfect Christian handing out lollipops every day. 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:16.319 Like, that's not who you are, because you do fall short. 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:18.560 You you you are angry. 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:34.319 So last Saturday afternoon, I went out and I was working in the yard some, and I'm in the backyard and working underneath this oak tree, and I'm just pulling out all these weeds growing up between some ground cover, and I'm down, I got a shovel and I'm shoveling some, and I'm reaching out and I pull them out after I kind of pull them up. 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:49.439 And so I have gloves on, and so I reach down, and I reach down, and right when I reach down, I feel this sharp pain right between these two knuckles, and I know right when I feel the first one what's about to happen. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:07:02.399 And so I figure in my head, I I'm gonna take off running, and there's gonna be about seven or eight stings, yellow jacket stings, before I get out of this mess, is what I figure inside of my head. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:09.199 And so I get the first one hits me, and I turn, drop everything, and I just start running, but I run toward the backyard. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:42.480 I'm in the backyard, and I run further into the backyard and realize very quickly, not a great move because I'm locked in back there, there's nowhere to go, and there's a swarm following me, so I so I have to do like kind of a U-turn at the cross back across the nest, and they're lighting me up, and one got my shirt, a couple got my shirt, and I take take my shirt off, I'm running down the driveway, and so I get out in the front yard and I'm yelling, all my girls are looking through the window, they hear me hollering and stripping, and they're looking out the windows, and I'm like, don't open the door, don't you know, stay inside, stay, and I'm yelling and I'm getting lit up, and I get about eleven. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:44.800 I get hit about a I get hit eleven times. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:50.720 Hey, don't worry about those yellow jackets, because they got a rag lit on fire put into their home. 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:57.920 So I won, lost the battle, won the war, but I got 11 stings, right? 00:07:58.240 --> 00:07:59.839 And I mention all that, right? 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:09.199 I mentioned all that because I had threatened their home and they were angry, like yellow jacket, angry. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:12.000 And I mentioned that because we felt that kind of anger. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:22.639 Like we have felt that kind of that's just yellow jacket, swarming, mad, overflows, destroys type of anger. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:25.439 So there's a quote in your handout. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:25.920 Dr. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:29.680 Henry Kellerman is a renowned psychoanalyst who's interviewed on MPR. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:31.680 Here's what he says about anger. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:35.360 Anger has an aggressive drive. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:38.559 Like all primary emotions, it's inborn. 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:42.480 Anger is expansive, it wants to get bigger. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:45.840 It has explosive potential. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:48.000 It wants to burst out. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:50.639 It has a confrontational inclination. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:52.080 It wants to get tough. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:55.679 Anger has an attack inclination, it wants to attack. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.799 It has an entitled frame of mind. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:00.240 It feels the right. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.039 It feels it has the right to get tough. 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:04.879 Anger is an empowerment. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:09.440 It illuminates, eliminates feelings of helplessness. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:09.919 Right? 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:15.120 Hold on to that idea that anger eliminates feelings of helplessness. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:16.080 That's why we love it. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:17.440 That's why we're fascinated with it. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:25.679 So last weekend, a couple weekends ago, we were at Whitewater, walking around in our swimsuits all day, as if that's not awkward for anybody at all at Whitewater, right? 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:27.360 And just like maybe a robe. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:31.679 And we like at the top of the water slides, we take the robes off, and we're all walking around in robes. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:33.120 I don't know, maybe classier. 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:35.600 All right, so, anyways, we get to the Wahoo Racers. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:37.519 You remember the Wahoo Racers? 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:44.879 The Wahoo New Ride, Wahoo Racers, you got the mat, little handles, and so you pick up the mats at the bottom of the Wahoo racer and you walk them up. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:48.960 And so we show up at the bottom of the Wahoo Racer, and there is a mom there. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:50.879 I'm pretty sure she's not here. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:52.879 Uh if she is, it's okay. 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:57.919 We've all had yellow jacket anger, and she is yellowjack anger all over her 12-year-old. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:09:59.600 We don't know what the 12-year-old did. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:02.159 This 12-year-old could be the worst 12-year-old in the world, right? 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:06.240 I mean, she could have been being a brat for months, and this could have just been the tipping point. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:20.879 We don't know, but all we see, mean like we, like 30 of us, we see this mom just overflowing onto this 12-year-old girl and her in front of about 30 people just being demolished to tears. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:22.320 And you know what we're all doing? 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:23.759 Just judging this mom. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:28.000 Like, you are the worst mom, we can't stand you, you're horrible, right? 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:32.559 I mean, all of this, all of this judgment towards her. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.159 Because this is not socially acceptable anger. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:38.159 This yellow jacket anger, right? 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:39.759 We don't do that. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:40.480 Right? 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:44.080 I mean, I mean, if you do it, I mean you just kind of you need to hide that, right? 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:47.279 I mean, because what's socially acceptable is my kind of anger. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:49.279 I get upset. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:50.000 Right? 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:51.120 I don't get angry. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:52.240 I don't get angry. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:53.919 I'm too spiritual. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:55.360 I get upset. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:57.200 I get frustrated. 00:10:57.360 --> 00:10:58.559 I don't get angry. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:02.720 Those are all code words, by the way, for anger that's suppressed is what it is. 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:07.039 And I'm just gonna passively steam or passively make you pay in some way. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:10.639 What Jesus is telling us is something we should have picked up for a long time. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:12.879 Kurt Cobain's been writing, was writing about it. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:15.759 Beyonce, she's angry, apparently, she's been angry for a while. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:19.440 Donald and Hillary are very angry just all the time. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:25.120 Your dad is probably angry, your mom might be angry, your roommate, your friend, you, and here it is. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:28.000 Here's what Jesus is saying, here's what all those other people are telling us. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:32.879 Everybody's angry, but none of us really want to admit it. 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:34.799 We're just upset. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:36.879 We're just frustrated. 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:46.240 I kept asking the Lord this week something I'm not really comfortable with, and that's this question: what am I still angry about? 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:49.840 What am I angry about? 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:57.039 What is it from whenever that I'm actually still angry about? 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.360 And I just put it down. 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:03.600 Right? 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:11.600 Like somebody took power from me at some point, and a quiet form of anger was the way that I managed my way through. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:13.279 Right? 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:14.639 Because that's that quote. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:17.600 It eliminates the feelings of helplessness. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:21.919 So you take power from me and I feel helpless, but I don't want to feel helpless. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:26.960 And so instead of dealing with the wound and the hurt, what I'll do is I'll get angry. 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:31.600 And that anger will help me not feel helpless anymore. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:41.679 Because that thing happened, or she turned on you, or he never accepted you, and you didn't get the thing you wanted, and life hasn't turned out the way you wanted it to. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:48.879 And under all of that, under all of that, there's anger at someone for something. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:54.480 So there's these women in Brazil, uh they call it anger. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:59.600 When you suppress anger, they say it's like swallowing a frog. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:01.200 I read that this week. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:01.679 I love it. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:03.360 I love it because you can't ignore anger. 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:04.720 So you swallow a frog, right? 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:08.639 And this is the this is the metaphor, and the frog keeps jumping back up. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:11.360 Suppressing anger is like swallowing a frog. 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:12.879 It keeps jumping back up. 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:15.600 Do you remember Cameron Fry, Ferris Muller's Day Off? 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:16.480 Do you all remember that? 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:20.159 They only played it on TBS every other day, all the way through the 90s. 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:23.840 Like every other day it was on TBS at like 2.30 p.m. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:30.960 So Cameron Fry at the beginning of the movie, he is depressed, in bed, he can't even get out of bed, right? 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:35.679 And by the end of the movie, he is raging on his dad's Ferrari, right? 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:36.960 Do you remember this? 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:38.240 Why? 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:39.679 Because he's angry at his dad. 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:42.159 Because his dad never cared for him. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:47.840 And at points this anger looked like depression, and at another point, this anger looked like rage. 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:53.519 Have you ever felt like, have you ever felt like somebody should have cared for you and they didn't? 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:57.759 Like they should have accepted you and they didn't. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:01.039 You should have been accepted and you were rejected. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:04.399 You should have been cared for and you were wounded. 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:06.960 Okay, so a few points kind of guide us. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:07.679 I mentioned a lot. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:08.960 Let me let me kind of organize them. 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:10.559 Point number one, anger is deep. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:11.759 That's what Jesus is saying. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:13.039 Anger is deep. 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:14.399 That's what Jesus is saying. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:17.519 He takes us from murder, which is the action, to the inner life. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:23.120 It's so easy for us to live in the action, as if the action is more important than the thought. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:27.519 But Jesus says, no, no, no, no, the thought is more important than the action. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:29.840 Out of the heart, the mouth speaks. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:35.039 The thought's more important because any action, any word is rooted in the heart. 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:36.799 It's where it all begins. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:39.360 And Jesus doesn't relax what God asks of us. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:42.320 He actually heightens it. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:44.879 He says, Oh, you've heard, don't commit murder. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:46.159 He's like, Yeah, okay. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:48.240 Probably most of you are going to do okay at that. 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:56.960 He's like, actually, uh the the should of who you should be is a perfectly loving presence in this world. 00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:00.320 So the should is never get angry. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:08.240 And he's helping us see that we're already angry. 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:26.879 And we already need Christ's perfect work for us, the completion of the law, his work for us, and that our anger and our shortcoming is put on the cross, and his righteousness and goodness is put upon us, and we are recipients to come into right standing with God. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:28.720 Point number one, anger is deep. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:34.240 Point number two, anger is addictive because it gives us a sense of control. 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:38.159 Anger is addictive because it gives us a sense of control. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:42.000 A few years ago, a person hurt me. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:50.480 She called up to the church and she said she needed to meet with me, and you're welcome to call the church and meet with me, and you're welcome to say hateful things to me. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:51.120 That's what she did. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:52.480 She said hateful things to me. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:54.080 And she kind of messed with my life. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:56.320 She disturbed my nest, right? 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:00.480 And I I I was I was upset. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:01.279 Right? 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.840 When angry, I was upset. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:08.399 But my anger blinded me to herbs. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:13.600 I think to stay angry at somebody for a while, you have to dehumanize the person a little bit. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:20.960 And I couldn't see the fact that she was hurt and she was speaking out of a narrative that I didn't know her narrative or understand where she was coming from. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:27.679 And so I wasn't willing to see that because she wounded me, and then I felt helpless, and the way that I was going to get out of my helplessness was to feel angry at her. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:30.240 And that's the process I went through. 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:33.759 And it made me feel powerful. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:40.480 I went out of that meeting that she said very hurtful things, and 30 minutes later I felt powerful again because I was angry at her. 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:42.559 It gave me something to control, right? 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:43.759 It gave me something to control. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:45.039 That's why it's so addictive. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:49.679 Frederick Buchner, a great spiritual writer, that quotes in your handout, here's what he says about anger. 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:50.879 Anger is fun. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:17:06.000 To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll your tongue over the prospect of bitter confrontations yet to come, to savor the last toothsome morsel over the pain you are given and the pain you give back. 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:09.680 In many ways, anger is a feast fit for a king. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:15.039 The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:17.759 The skeleton at the feast is you. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:20.400 Well, that's all really cheery. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:21.200 Let's just go home. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:22.559 No, that's not that's not it. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:25.920 There's good news, and that's point number three. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:31.200 And that is, is you are not less loved by God because of your anger. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:32.880 Right? 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:37.359 I mean, I could say it the other way around and say, in your anger, you're fully loved. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:41.200 Because Christ completed all the shoulds of who you should be. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:43.440 That's the context of this scripture. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:51.519 So point number three, you are not less loved by God because of your anger, nor do you have to be defined by your anger. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:53.200 So these two thoughts are connected. 00:17:53.359 --> 00:18:02.559 Because we're fully loved by God in our imperfection and in our anger, this means we're without fear to face any of our anger. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:05.759 So we don't have to swallow the frog. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:07.599 We don't have to suppress the anger. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:13.599 We can honestly look at the anger, confess the wrong, and then check this out. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:15.519 We get to follow the anger. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:17.599 You have to follow the anger. 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:19.279 You have to see where is the anger. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:23.039 Find the hurt that's under the anger. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:28.880 Because when you are angry, there is something to grieve. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:31.920 When you are angry, there's something to grieve. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:41.680 Nobody explodes, explodes on their 12-year-old daughter at the Wahoo racer unless they need to grieve something else. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:42.799 Right? 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:53.359 For me to be in line at the Kroger, at the Kroger, and to be that upset at sweet Judy, who's just being friendly, there's something else for me to grieve. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:54.400 There's something else going on. 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:57.039 I mean, you're not just angry in that case, right? 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:00.240 Like I always say that nobody's really angry in traffic. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.279 If you're angry in traffic, you're angry about something else. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.440 There's something else to grieve. 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:14.799 And you get to, because your position with God is secure not by your work, but because of Christ's work, you get to actually follow the anger. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:21.519 And I know you don't want to feel the hurt, right? 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:25.119 Because we're experts of ignoring the hurt or escaping out of it. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:27.680 But it's swallowing a frog. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:38.880 And maybe you're here and you're just tired of being upset, tired of being angry, and you're seeing that anger, anger is like a reach where you never quite get there. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:39.440 Right? 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:44.319 It keeps promising control and gives you a little bit, and it's wearing you out. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:46.559 And see, all of this breaks us. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:50.720 All of this breaks us, and Jesus is trying to break us, is what he's doing. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:58.880 He's trying to get us to come to grips with our shortcomings so that we will rest in him, and out of that will come healing and transformation. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:00.480 And then we get that verse 22. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:03.839 But I say to you that everyone who's angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:12.160 So he's doing he's breaking, he's hammering home that he completes the law and is our righteousness because we are all angry. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:15.599 And grace enables us to ask of our hearts. 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:18.160 This is what grace enables us to ask of our hearts. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:20.000 Why are you saying that? 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:22.960 Like to ourselves, why am I saying that? 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:24.559 Why am I doing that? 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:26.640 Where did that come from? 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:29.119 Like, where is this coming from? 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:32.720 What is going on in me to create that? 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:37.680 And then you might actually do verse 23, what Jesus talks about you. 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:43.119 You might actually leave worship, which by the way, is like religiosity is a great way to swallow a frog. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:45.920 This is a fantastic way to ignore anger. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:47.519 I'll just keep going to church. 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:50.000 That's what I'll do, and I'll forget it another week, right? 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:51.359 He says, no, no, no, no. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:52.400 Leave it. 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:56.319 Like leave the religiosity and deal with your anger. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:58.720 Recognize it. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:00.319 Follow it. 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:01.839 Go to the person. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:04.000 Start to process the hurt. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:05.920 And then come back and worship. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.680 He's saying it's that important. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:12.400 And all this Jesus is helping us see once again, we're not perfect. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:17.200 It's an unbridgeable gap if our thoughts are included. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.960 Unbridgeable gap if our thoughts are included. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:25.599 And the great news is so relieving is the bridge always comes from his side. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:28.319 The bridge always comes from God's side. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:29.519 That's what Christianity says. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:31.279 And it's the whole bridge. 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:32.559 It's not like half the bridge. 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:36.559 And then like you're gonna, and then, oh yeah, by the way, it's kind of half the bridge, and you're gonna meet him halfway. 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:36.880 No. 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:41.440 It's the whole, the cross is the whole bridge to make you right with God. 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:48.160 God's grace comes from the other side of your anger and the greatness, he's not angry with you. 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:50.079 He's not angry with you. 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:55.119 This week I read this by Scotty Smith, who's a pastor. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:57.920 I love him and how he writes. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:22:01.279 And he says he is the consummate overlooker. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:13.839 It's not that he doesn't take your anger seriously, but because he is gracious and incomparably patient, he has begun a good work of transformation in you that he is committed to. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:18.480 So listen, he is more committed to you than you are to yourself. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.359 He is more committed to you than you are to him. 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:24.559 And that is good news. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:38.240 So, my brothers and sisters, may you see that glorious bridge that arrives from the other side, from the other side of your anger, and may you live in the great grace of walking on that bridge of provision. 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:40.000 Let's pray together. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:42.559 God, thank you for your grace to us. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:47.759 And we confess that we get angry. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:50.400 We get upset. 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:52.079 We get frustrated. 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:56.799 For some of us, we are angry about things done to us a long time ago. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:01.519 A thing done, a word spoken. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:09.119 Maybe we've covered it with ambition, or we've covered it with religiosity, or we've covered it with defensiveness. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:14.480 Would you give us the courage to follow our anger to the hurt? 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:23.680 Would you give us the courage to surrender and let you into places where we've never known unconditional love? 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:27.279 Where we've never known full acceptance. 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:32.880 Where we've never known our identity secured outside of our word. 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:40.480 God, we confess and ask for forgiveness for all the anger we put toward people. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:48.240 Give us the courage to follow that. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:52.880 To say those apologies and ask for forgiveness. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:55.920 God, we confess, we fall short. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.640 We need you, we need your completion of the law. 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:08.000 We receive this word this morning that Christ is sufficient for us, that your work is sufficient for us, not our work for ourselves. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:20.640 Out of the great grace of the bridge that is built on the cross from you to us, when we rest our hearts and our lives, and we welcome your transformation inside of us. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:22.000 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:22.799 Amen.