Too Angry (Oct. 2009, revised May 2010) "Human anger serves only to praise you, the survivors of your anger [after judgement] will huddle around you." Psalm 76,10 Using anger is like throwing a bowling ball down a lane that has no gutters. It's easy- you're going to knock down something, or someone. Watch Out here comes anger!  I even have to question righteous anger. It fuels so many good causes and the seeking of justice. Jesus overturned the money changers tables in the temple, the proximate cause of his assasination (Mk11,15; Jn2,15). In other words,  he stopped Wall Street! But if anger, even righteous anger doesn't change into something better, it rots us from the inside out as we shall see. Depression anyone? It's just anger turned against oneself. We may feel secure in our anger, but it brings no joy today and robs our future of life. It is satan's chief tool to kill, rob and destroy everything around us. You may have seen the television expose of a mother who lost her adult daughter on a cruiseship. Perhaps a wicked injustice was done. Her anger in this case is temporaily justified, perhaps even righteous. But as time has passed it has made Mom deaf to any wisdom, and blind to any insight. Inconsolable. Not even God can get a word in edgewise through her anger.    The physical death story of the daughter has become the spiritual death story of the mother. Whereas the word of God says: "If today you hear his voice harden not your hearts." (Hb4,7) And "Be angry, but do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger" (Eph4,26). Not one day should we go to bed angry. Because anger has no half life. It either ends today, or it keeps on killing day after day, a fusion reaction, a bigger bomb waiting to explode. Today's anger is a problem. Tommorrow's anger is a disease, with a life of it's own. It makes us weak because it takes the joy of the Lord out of our lives, which is our strength.  Anger is a also dirty rat. It just needs someone or something to feed on- a perceived slight from a friend or enemy, the person nearest at hand-just a little something to feed on- the slightest hurt, frustration, or misunderstanding will do.   We live in a media age where anger is harder and harder to hide. It's caught on tape everywhere, and it gets folks the wrong kind of attention- at work, at home, on the roadways, in pews, in pulpits, in congress. You name the place- people are mad, and showing it, flaunting it, and we are all getting too used to it.    "Vengeance is mine" says the Lord. Good- because we human beings are making a mess of this world seeking vengeance. Have we forgotten that our faith is and our ability to live together, is based on His mercy and our mercy?   Can't Be Hidden And Ruins Public Prayer Anger can't be hidden. It shows through smiling faces. Through good manners. Betrays questionable motives. It even shows through public prayers at church, prayers for the salvation of all, the good and the evil. 1Tm2,8: "In every place, then, I want the men to lift their hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument."  Paul brings this up because there in Ephesus there apparently was angry and argumentative prayers for, or about, public officials. We have all heard these types of political zinger prayers, full of more anger than piety. As Paul notes such prayers are out of place and hypocritical in that we use the words and posture of supplication but only to carry out personal agendas. Such prayer blemishes the reconciling work of our one mediator and Lord, Jesus Christ, who saved us all from sin. Thus, how can stand in public and pray against or about people, as if God's mercy could never change them.  Wolves in Sheeps Clothing Our messiah came from a pastoral culture. So false prophets are "wolves in sheeps clothing." (Mt7,15) Presentable, dressed for solicitude, but inside they were preyful not prayerful, well presented on the outside, but ugly with anger on the inside. False prophets wanting to consume you and your money. All to maintain the energy of the prowl!  Wolves in sheep's clothing. Uttering the kindest words. Making "una bella figura" as the Italians say. Verse 16: "You will be able to tell them by their fruits." Is there any kindness, goodness, compassion, selflessness in them? Not likely if their anger rules them, consuming while blathering, playing nice while planning destruction.  All throughtout history, there's been a back and forth rivalry and admiration between leaders of churches and leaders of state. This mutual admiration is most evident in these angry days with each wolf adopting the wolfiest strategies of the other. I think this is so because the political wolf sees that the religious wolf enjoys the extra smooth power of the devil, while claiming the name and piety of God. Nothing is so slick as the anger of a wolf in sheeps clothing. Jesus knew this and he warns us.   Follow Christ Why is the wolf in sheep's clothing so angry? He hates the righteousness of the sheep who follow the Good Shepherd, and therefore don't need him, or her, as their guide. Oh thank you for the Good Shepherd, our Great High Priest, when the false prophets of Baal prey on your people, You shepherd us (John 10,11ff; Hb13,20; Rev7,17).  Anger Makes a Mess Out of Service To God Anger messes up our service to God in so many ways. It makes old folks foolish and puts young folks into the criminal justice system, perhaps never to escape. Let's count the ways anger messes up our service to God. 1. Anger Curses Families And Tribes   Please turn to Genesis 49,5-7, Jacob's testament about his twelve sons: "Simeon and Levi are brothers in carrying out their malicious plans. May my soul not enter their council nor my heart join their company for in their rage they have killed men and hamstrung oxen at their whim. Accursed be their rage for it's ruthlessness, their wrath for it's ferocity. I shall disperse them in Jacob, I shall scatter them through Israel." Thgis is a father turning against two of his sons because of their anger. Here's the background. Jacob and Esau have made peace with each other, Genesis 33. But they still have to make peace with the native peoples of Canaan (this was Israel before the famine and flght to Egypt, Genesis 42). Jacob is no dummy- he's going to do everything right as he arrives at Shechem in this new and potentially hostile Canaanite territory. Genesis 33,19: "He encamped opposite the town and for one hundred pieces of silver he bought from the sons of Hamor father of Shechem a piece of land on which he pitched his tent. There he erected an altar which he called 'El, God of Israel.' " So far so good. But his daughter Dinah goes a visiting and captivates Shechem, who then rapes her, and at least wants to marry her. Oh this is potentially a big problem for both clans. So Shechem's father Hamor hurries to Jacob and proposes intermarrying between the two clans, and Shechem agrees to any bride price the Israelites demmand (34,12). Again so far so good, keep the anger in check.  But not so Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi.  Because of their anger (v. 13), they "gave Shechem and his father Hamor a crafty answer." They agreed to the marriage if all the Shechemites males agree to be circumcized. Yet, Verse 25, on the third day when all the Canaanite men were still in pain, Simeon and Levi slaughtered all the males in revenge. At Verse 30 Jacob utters his assessment of this rashness:"You have done me an ill turn by bringing me into bad odour with the people of the region, the Canaanites and Peizzites. I have few men, whereas they will unite against to defeat me and destroy me and my family."  And thus all Israel was forced to move to Bethel, and settle there, all because of anger of Jacob's two sons.  Note that Simeon and Levi share with all false prophets their skill in using religious or Godly pretexts to carry out their own personal evil plans. For this evil, God allowed them to be cursed. No Man Has The Right To Stay Angry My friends it has been a lie of the devil right from the start that we human beings have a right to be angry. We don't. We can feel angry. It often protects us, and what we hold dear. But we don't have the right to live angry. God told us not to allow the sun to go down on our anger because God knows that anger unckecked always leads to violence, and ultimately to murder. And God has power over all life and death, not us. We Northamericans live in a sort of cold western and private culture- we don't run as hot as some other cultures- and thus we tend to minimize anger, internalize it (which carries it's own price), but the eastern bible culture is a hotter and more public culture, and knows that anger always leads to violence, up and to and including murder. We have the right to feel angry, we do not have the right to stay angry. 2. Anger Ruins God Given Relationships And Invites Demons It would be easy to forget that Saul began as David's mentor and protector. David was brought into Saul's court as a young heroic soldier and a musician. He helped Saul's son Jonathan. He won battles for the king and for Israel. But soon, amidst David's successful service, Saul had a choice- gratitude and mutual esteem or jealous anger.  Saul chose jealous anger. 1Samual 18,7-10: "Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands. Saul was very angry; the incident displeased him. 'They have given David the tens of thousands,' he said, 'but me only thousands; what more can he have, except the throne? And Saul watched David jealously from that day onwards. The following day, an evil spirit from God seized on Saul..." Saul refused to let it go. He could have just as easily said. "Hey- I'm the first king of Israel. I helped this kid David along, taught him everything he knows, and left it at that." But no, the most powerful God given relationship in all Israel, to the detriment of the nation and all concerned, was ruined because Saul nursed his feelings of jealousy, and relished his thick headed ignorance, his lack of discernment, and his Esau nature. 1Samuel 19,10- David had to flee, hide in caves for years. Sounds like a jealous spouse that ruins a marriage. Married couples, three things kill marriage relationships, infidelity, jealousy, and control freaks, and all three usually mixed with the toxic substance of anger-unforgiveness.   If anger can ruin a relationship between two of Israel's powerful and anointed men, and ruin marriages, it can also ruin the relationship between Father and Son, between David and Absalom. Who is more at fault- David the father who created the power and money struggle that comes from multiple wives, or the son Absalom who kills David's first son Amnon without having respect enough to go to his father about the matter of Amnon raping Tamar? Hey you younger people out there, learn something, you may not agree with your father about much- but if "honor your father" means anything, and it does, it means when you have an issue that directly relates to your father's honor- same issue as Levi and Simeon- you must bring the matter to him. You may have not ever agreed with your father in your whole life, but there may come a time in your life when no other person in all the world will help you but him. So Absalom messed up, more than David. His anger and vanity got the best of him. My friends anger ruined Absalom. He was a gifted man. He cared for his sister. He took her in after the rape, he consoled her. He was wise enough to tell her at 2Samuel 13,20: "do not take the matter to heart." Yet that's what he did!  Verse 21-22 make the situation clear: "When King David heard the whole story, he was very angry; but he had no wish to harm his son Amnon, whom he loved because he was his first-born. Absalom, however, would not so much as speak to Amnon, since he hated Amnon for having raped his sister Tamar." Two very angry people young people and an angry Dad is a recipe for disaster. Let's take a closer look at Absalom's anger, because sometimes our anger has less to do with justice and more to do with our stature in our own families and society. Absalom was second to Amnon in the eyes of David and society. So perhaps his killing Amnon was more about eventually gaining the throne than avenging his sister. Sure he loved his sister, but again he was ambitious. Again apparently righteous anger is used as a pretext for violence and murder and power grabs. At Verse 32, one of the king's men gets it right "for Absalom has been promising himself to do this since the day when Amnon raped his sister Tamar." Some people nurse anger. They dress it up, and milk it, and use it for their own glory, not God's glory. "Be angry but sin not. Do not let the sun go down on your anger" because it will curse you, control you, and ruin your most important relationships. 2Samuel 13,38-39 makes clear that it took David three years for his anger against Absalom to subside. Now you still have an ominous stand off, because Absalom has designs on the throne. He has totally defied his father. In essence, when he killed Amnon, he declared war on his father. But what's to become of it? Should David kill Absalom and lose two sons out of the deal, and throw the country into civil war? So Joab, David main general, has to intervene. Joab is clear headed- he knows that peace must be made at this opportune moment. And by a long ruseful story from a woman from Tekoa 92Sa14,7ff), sent by Joab, David realizes he has to get over his anger at Absalom. Five years later David receives his son Absalom. Five years later- this was perhaps David's greatest sin in this matter: he could have received Absalom earlier, and swallowed his public pride earlier, and perhaps eased the wrath of Absalom. Thus, Colossians later taught (KJ) 3,21; "Fathers provoke not your children to anger lest they be discouraged." In other words, make up fathers and sons while it's still possible.   But despite David's delayed willingness. And despite Absalom's prostrating himself before the king (2Samuel 14,33), despite the kissing and making up, the anger of Absalom was still in charge. Anger had become so fixed and big in his life that it and his ambition had become his master, not God, not his father. The anger taught him the ways of treachery, morning, noon and night. So 2Samuel 15,7 has him supposedly fulfilling a vow to God to worship at Hebron, yet instead he sets himself up as a judge and king there, and thus takes the allegiance of the men of Israel. Then he takes his own father's concubines 2sa.16,20. This family relationship would be a field day for phychiatrist, make Dr. Phil go on vacation, but the main point is Absalom refuses to get over his anger, to lay it down. And thereby it owns him. And David is not without some responsiibility, for indirectly and by necessity, by the military norms of protecting his crown, he accepted the eventual ruthlessness of Joab (2Sam.18,14) who ends up killing Absalom. Thus a father ends up, despite his biological protest, indirectly killing his own son, for the good of the nation. This explains David's cry at 2Samuel18,33  "Oh my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!" This is a father's anguish. But as King he knew the norms of war and knew it could have all ended like it did, with death of his son and a family cursed with death and division. 3. Anger Causes Disobedience, and Delays Our Service to God Moses was the great intercessor and leader of God's people. He also was a hothead, prone to both calculated and rash anger and violence. We know this stuff. At Exodus 2,11 we learn that he killed an Eyptian who was mistreating one of his fellow Hebrews. Moses fled to Midian and married a foreign gal, Zipporah, and had a son. But meanwhile, for a long while, God's people back in Egypt had no leader. His anger created disobedience and delay for God plan of liberation.  Exodus 2,23 tells us that Moses had to wait out "this long period" before the king that knew what Moses had done died, before God could call him back, and get him back to the mission of helping God's people. Numbers 20,7-8 also tells that Moses was ordered by God to speak to the rock to give water to the complaining Israelites. In his anger Moses struck the rock, with his staff, the instrument of his pastoral guidance. Well you can't use the instrument of your pastoral gudiance as the very instrument with which you disobey God. He misused his authority and mispresented how God does things. Thus, he delayed the revelation that God does things throough faith, rather than anger. In punishment Moses was denied his entrance into the promised land (Numbers 27,14). Then Exodus 32,19 tells of Moses getting mad at the sex immorality of the impatient people at the foot of the mountain, so he breaks up the tablets he had just carried up and down, tablets just authored by God's very own hand. God didn't tell him to do that. Again God's mission of faith covenant with his people was delayed by man's anger and disobedience. We all know the similar story of Jonah and the Whale. Jonah got mad at God because God told him to go one hundred miles north to Assyria, to Israel's enemies and preach repentance. And Jonah was so sore at God, he hopped the nearest ship, to make a fast get away, as far away from Ninevah as possible. Well even the pagan ship hands could figure Jonah's disobedince was going to sink the ship, so they called on the name the Lord!, and asked for mercy for Jonah, but still threw him off the boat. And then the big fish swallowed him, and in the belly Jonah remembered that a good Israelite agrees to do all that His God asks (Jonah2,10c), not just what he likes. So God has the fish spit him out in Nineveh, and Jonah finally preaches, and the people do repent, and God's threat to destroy is lifted. But Jonah is still mad, perhaps madder than when he was just plain disobedient and delaying God. Jonah 4,1-4: "This made Jonah very indignant; he fell into a rage. He prayed to Yahweh and said 'Please, Yahweh, isn't this what I said would happen when I was still in my own country [Jonah raising angry hands!]. That is why I first tried to flee to Tarshish, since I knew you were a tender, compassionate God, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, who relents about inflictiung disaster [pious angry blather]. So now Yahweh please take my life, for I might as well be dead as go on living [self pity party anger]." Yahweh replied, ''Are you right to be angry?' Oh their repentance just ruined Jonah's week, filled up his church, changed his schedule, and caused him all sorts of theological consternation. So he sits under a tree hopng God will disallow their repentance, as if saying "Oh Lord those kind of people in our church, I just can't imagine them being saved like us Israelites." And low and behold God causes a caster-oil plant [for the spiritually constipated] to grow and shade him from the sun, and sooth his ill humour, but to no avail. No, Jonah is a first class religious type. But then God takes away the plant- it withered, and that also makes Jonah more hot and bothered, and leaves him faithlessly begging for death. But Jonah 4,9 God persists in his unrelenting mercy: "Are you right to be angry about the castor-oil plant?' He replied, [the faithless preacher!]"I have every right to be angry, mortally angry!" Verse 10- Yahweh replied, "'You are concerned for the castor-oil plant which has not cost you any effort and which you did not grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. " In other words, God says "what's eating you? I have taken care of you, and saved you from delaying and disobeying me, even when you have no right to be taken care of, as your lack of faith and angry disobeience prove." Verse 11 "So why should I not be concerned for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left..." In other words, at least they- the pagans- have repented before my mercy! Whereas you just get mad at my mercy! Oh Jonah is one serious book for committed religious types.  However you look at it, anger leads to disobedience, betrays a lack of faith, and delays God's universal salvation plan. Modern Day and Historical Application of Jonah's Anger Think of the present and historical disobedience and anger we in the body of Christ have shown toward Holy Ghost baptism. Think how God's pastors have kept this gift exclusive and untaught, begrudging it to folks in the pews. Think how man's anger at this sublime and merciful gift has slowed down the universal mission of Christ. If we would stop being angry over the role of the Spirit of God, and instead seek it's fullness, all the Muslim-Ninevites would soon hear the gospel and Jesus would be on his way back, because it was preached fully and powerfully and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1,8; 3,19; Mt. 28,19-20).       4. Makes us Say and Do Things We Should Not Proverbs 15,1 "A mild answer turns away wrath, sharp words stir up anger. 2 The tongue of the wise makes knowledge welcome, the outh of a fool spews folly. 3 The eyes of Yahweh are everywhere; observing the wicked and the good. 4. The tongue that soothes is a tree of life; the perverse tongue, a breaker of hearts [spirits]." One could preach on the power of life and death in our tongues- but for today we need only take note that if we can control our tongue, this mighty small instrument, we have a sufficient rudder to control our whole lives (James 3,4), free from allowing anger to consume us. Conclusion: Anger Rarely Serves A Useful Purpose I am not out to spook people but so much of demonic activity (40%?) is somehow directly connected to our own anger or anger directed against us. It Satan's best tool to devour folks, make us preyful, rather than prayerful. We have no right to sleep on our anger because vengeance belongs to God. We have the right to feel and express it, ocasionally, but not to live it. For we know from God's word that it curses whole tribes and families and nations. It ruins God given relationships and invites demons. It causes disobedience and delays the mission of God, and it causes us to say and do all manner of ungodly things.   If and when you feel angry, remember that one day the Lion of Judah will roar in judgement. He'll get it right too, exactly right, unlike us. Yes in a moment of righteous anger, He will devour the devourers, the preyful wolves in sheep's clothing.  Ah what a relief that day will be. The sun won't go down on his anger. That's how quick it will be. In the meantime, we keep the faith, we love our way into Zion, by God's grace, and nip any anger in the bud, by looking at the cross, Babylon's instrument of anger. Peace out Brothers and Sisters.