Sermon Tone Analysis

It’s been almost 20 years (4~/25~/95) since the/ Arizona Republic/ newspaper reported the story of Steve Tran of Westminster, California.

Steve had a bug problem: cockroach infestation in his apartment.

He tried everything but couldn’t seem to get rid of the nasty creatures.

One day he heard about a product known as the “bug bomb”: an aerosol that you simply pressed a button and left for a couple of hours, then return to a bug free home.

Steve Tran was a desperate man, a frustrated man, a man who wanted to be sure he got rid of those roaches once and for all.

So he bought not 1, not 2, not 10, but 25 bug bombs and set them to spraying his apartment.

What Steve failed to take into account was 1) how flammable the bug poison was and 2)the pilot light of the stove.

The spray ignited, blasting his screen door across the street, breaking all his windows, and setting his furniture ablaze.

"I really wanted to kill all of them," he said.

"I thought if I used a lot more, it would last longer."

According to the label, just two canisters of the fumigant would have solved Tran's roach problem.

The blast caused over $10,000 damage to his apartment building.

And the cockroaches?

Tran reported, "By Sunday, I saw them crawling among the rubble.”[i]

Some people seem to have a knack at getting into explosive situations.

I’m not talking bug spray and pilot lights, but I’m talking about times when we are tempted to give in to our anger.

Somebody once observed that anger is only one short letter from danger.

Of course anger is not always evil.

There are times when anger is the proper response.

But there are other times when our anger needs to be denied.

If everything angers us, we need to repent.

If nothing angers us, we need to repent.-

Burk Parsons

          The Bible puts it this way in

          *Ephesians 4:26* /Be angry, and do not sin…/

          How do you do that?

How do you tell the difference and avoid the big blow ups?

Jesus offers us some much-needed wisdom on this subject in *Matt.

5:21-26*.

*PRAYER*

          Jesus’ words about anger come in the context of His famous Sermon on the Mount, a message about righteousness in your heart.

Throughout the sermon He stresses the importance of what’s happening inside you instead of merely wearing the mask of hypocrisy to appear righteous to others.

This is what He means in *vs.20*.

In these verses He describes the danger of anger in 3 simple statements:

*I.                 **ANGER CAN CONDEMN US (v.

21-22)*

A classified ad in a newspaper read:  Wedding dress for sale, never worn.

Will trade for .38 caliber pistol.[ii]

That ad connects two things Jesus connects: /anger /and /murder.

/

Now obviously Our Lord does not condemn all anger.

The Bible tells us God Himself gets angry.

*Psalm 7:11 */God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.//

/

/          /Jesus Himself was known to get angry at times!

Jesus is not giving a blanket condemnation on all anger.

What Christ condemns is a specific kind of anger.

William Barclay, in his /Daily Study Bible /commentary explains:

The verb here used is /orgizesthai…/[not the flash of anger in a moment] but…long-lived anger; it is the anger of the man who nurses his wrath to keep it warm; it is the anger over which a person broods, and which he will not allow to die.[iii]

This is an anger we put on the front burner of our minds, and allow it to simmer and become stronger and stronger, until it boils over into hateful words.

Jesus mentions two words which express this kind of anger:  /Raca ( /=  Stupid!

Empty headed idiot!- not spoken in jest, but a hate-filled put down) and  /fool=/ a rebel against God.

Haddon Robinson explains it this way:

Using the word /Raca/ [is] an attack on a person’s [intelligence] , but using /fool/ [assaults] a person’s moral integrity.[iv]

Jesus is not focusing just on certain /words/, but on certain /attitudes/ of anger that treat people as worthless, the wrath that condemns people as worthy only of hell.

It’s not just about calling people names, but more importantly a failure to love others.

This anger, Jesus says, has serious consequences.

It condemns us as guilty enough to face judgment from man ( …/the council//…/).

Anger is responsible for many of the horrendous crimes, but even if you never stand in front of a jury, other people are affected by your out of control temper.

Your family, friends, coworkers, even strangers see the danger, even when you may not.

*Proverbs 29:22* /An angry man stirs up strife, And a furious man abounds in transgression.

/

          This anger also makes you guilty enough to face judgment from God (/…danger of hell fire.. /) Notice Jesus repeats the phrase /liable to= in danger of.

/He doesn’t say everybody with this anger /will /be condemned, but that they are /in danger /of being condemned.

Jesus says just as a murderer is guilty enough to be convicted by a human court, an angry person is just as guilty.

If a murderer deserves to suffer in hell for his crime, so those who choose to hold on to rage and hatred deserve the same punishment.

Pastor~/teacher John MacArthur puts it this way:

It is possible for a model, law-abiding citizen to be as guilty… as anyone on death row.

It is possible for a person who has never even been in so much as a fist fight to have more of a murderous spirit than a multiple killer.

May people, in the deepest feelings of their hearts, have anger and hatred to such a degree that their true desire is for the hated person to be dead.

The fact that fear, cowardice, or lack of opportunity does not permit them to take that person’s life does not diminish their guilt before God.[v]

Do you and I take our anger this seriously?

It may not seem like such a big thing for us to hold on to our anger at someone who has wronged us, or hurt us.

We might like to say things such as, “I’ve never hurt the person I am angry with.

They don’t even know how mad I am at them!

I just keep it to myself.

After all, it’s not like I killed somebody!”

But Jesus says that low, simmering rage is just as dangerous as murder, and makes you just as guilty before God.

But the good news, Jesus says, is not only can anger condemn us.

*II.

**ANGER CAN BE CORRECTED (v.

23-25a)*

*A woman was married to a husband who had a habit of making her angry.

One day one of her friends asked, “How can you stay with a man who is so frustrating?”

The meek wife replies, “Oh, when he makes me mad I just go and clean the toilet.”

“Clean the toilet?

How does that help?” “I use his toothbrush.”

*

*          *Notice I tell this only when Jennifer is not here listening!

Overcoming the danger of anger requires more than just avoiding the danger.

We need some positive steps which help us get rid of our anger before it becomes dangerous.

Jesus offers us some strong medicine and like all good medicine, it is strong, though not necessarily pleasant.

He tells us: /be reconciled quickly.

/

He paints two pictures of reconciliation:

First in *v.

23-24* there is the portrait of a worshipper at the Temple.

He is ready to offer his sacrifice on the altar, ready to show his love for the Lord when suddenly he is reminded of his failure to love his brother.

There is an unresolved anger churning in his soul, an anger that not only separates him from his brother, but separates him from his God.

Jesus says stop right there, leave the altar and go find that brother and be reconciled.

In effect, he says /It is a waste of time for you to try and worship God when you are angry with your brother.

/

In *v.

25*, the Lord moves from a religious to a legal setting, from a brother to an enemy.

He asks us to imagine you owe someone a debt, and you are both on your way to court.

You realize there is no way you can win your case.

It’s time to settle the dispute, to settle out of court, to come to an agreement before you stand before the judge.

In both of these pictures, Jesus makes the same point: /the cure for unrighteous anger is immediate reconciliation.