Sermon on November 5 by Pastor Roland Eskinazi

(‘Proverbs’ – Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times)

Whoever is patient has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy (passion) is rottenness to the bones. (14:29-30)
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (15:1)
A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel (15:18)
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city. (16:32 NASB)
A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offence (19:11)
A hot-tempered person must pay the penalty; rescue them and you will have to do it again (19:19)
Do not testify against your neighbour without cause, would you use your lips to mislead?
Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me; I’ll pay them back for what they did.” (24: 28-29)
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you. (25:21-22)

If the Bible is a house, there are many angry rooms and people in it. So what do we do with anger?

1. THE LETHAL POWER OF ANGER!

• … disintegrate your body (14:30)
• … damage community and relationships (15:1 ; 19:11)
• … destroy your will to make intelligent choices at all (14:29; 19:19)

2. THE CRUCIAL GOODNESS IN ANGER!
The ideal is not no anger or hidden anger. It is not blowing anger, but slow anger. (Prov. 16:32; Exodus 34:7)

‘He that is angry without cause sins. But he who is not angry when there is cause, sins … unreasonable patience is the hotbed of many vices’
(John Chrysostom)

3. HOW DOES IT GO WRONG?

• Disordered love leads to disordered anger (24:28,29)
  If you love a person, a cause, even your ego more than God your anger will not be appropriate to the offense
• Concealed anger can drag us into self-pity and blaming God
  Do some self-talk: ‘…pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge’ (Psalm 62:8b)

4. HOW DO WE HEAL OUR ANGER?

• Admit your anger
• Analyse your anger (24:29)
  What makes us angry not what happens to us but what we tell ourselves about what has happened to us.
• Transform your anger (25:21-22)

Remember! In a moment around the Communion Table we remember that we were mad at God. When Jesus became killable, we killed Him. If He absorbed all the wrath we deserved, we can absorb rage without striking back.

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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. What makes you the most angry? Do you think there is any connect with your anger and how much you care about or love something? Can you connect it to something you are defending?
2. How do you typically respond to situations that cause anger? What have you learned about yourself that has shaped how you respond?
3. Does the concept of disordered loves creating disordered anger resonate with you? Why or why not? Can you share any experiences that demonstrate one or the other? How should the sacrifice of Jesus transform the way we deal with our frustrations and anger?

 

Photo credit FreeImages.com/Daniel Battiston