Anger

Introduction

7 Deadly Sins

Week one, Pride - Peter telling his readers that we are to be dressed in humility

Week two, Gluttony - Where Roger made us all feel bad for eating pizza

Anger

What comes to mind when I say anger

maybe you think of a person that you think is always angry

maybe it is different things that make you angry

How would we define anger

a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility

“Anger is how we respond to whatever threatens someone or something that we care about.” Keller.

If we want to know if anger has become sinful, we look for how our loves have become distorted. - from book; Killjoys

today we will look at the prophet Jonah, who had an issue with anger

he was so angry that he ran the opposite direction that God called him to go

he was so angry he wanted to simply die

Jonah 4:1–11 (CSB)

1 Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious.

2 He prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster.

3 And now, Lord, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 The Lord asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

5 Jonah left the city and found a place east of it. He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.

6 Then the Lord God appointed a plant, and it grew over Jonah to provide shade for his head to rescue him from his trouble. Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.

7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.

8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head so much that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”

9 Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “Yes, it’s right!” he replied. “I’m angry enough to die!”

10 And the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night.

11 So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?”

Prayer

It strikes me that this is another prophet that wants to die in the stresses of being a prophet

I am not trying to draw any lines, but we know that Elijah wanted to die, now Jonah

the heroes of the Bible are not super human

they go through the same struggles as we do

Tell the story of Jonah, chapters 1-3

Jonah is told to go to Nineveh and proclaim that God is bringing judgment on Nineveh in 40 days

who are the Ninevites

city in modern day Iraq, by Mosul

a region known for their violence and cruelty in warfare

when they fought, they did not fight fair,

they did not offer a lot of grace

I would imagine this would be similar to telling a Jewish person today to go and tell the people in Gaza that Judgment is coming

Jonah of course does not want to deliver this message

not out of fear of death

but because he knows that God will offer grace

Jonah runs the opposite direction and gets on a boat

storms come up by God’s providence and they finally realize that it is because of Jonah

at his urging, he gets tossed overboard

same way God sent a storm, God sends a big fish

Suddenly inside the fish, Jonah finds a new heart

not literally… but has a change of heart

The fish spits him out on dry ground

smelly and gross he heads off to Nineveh

Jonah proclaims that judgement that is coming to the city

the king tells everyone to repent in hopes that God would give them grace

leaving us right where we started… Jonah not wanting these people to receive God’s grace, now sitting outside of the city just waiting to see what happens

hoping to see another Sodom and Gomorrah, fearing nothing will happen because God is merciful

Anger comes from a place of something we love being threatened or hurt. We must see our own sinfulness and live in the understanding of the grace we have received.

Jonah’s Love for God

There is a desire to justify ourselves - The Bible says to be angry without sin

I will say from the start, there is a righteous anger

Too many believe they can go out and flip over tables in the temple like Jesus

as long as they have righteous anger

but your anger is most likely not righteous because you are not Jesus

Jonah 4:1–4 (CSB)

1 Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious.

2 He prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster.

3 And now, Lord, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 The Lord asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Look deeper than a mere racism as to why Jonah would not go to Nineveh

I know… Ex 34:6

Exodus 34:6 (CSB)

6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth,

Jonah did not want those who hate God to find grace

I find it fascinating that the first four verses take place while he is still in Nineveh

he sees them repenting from the warning that he gave

he know that God is merciful to the repentant heart

he is furious…

are there things that make you that angry when it comes to how people treat God

I hate it when politicians use the bible… then lie, cheat and steal

we have a lot of people in the world who hate God

many that we would have a hard time truly saying we want them to find grace

my fear is that is not the hardest people to offer grace

We acknowledge that our political climate is way to hot

do we had to it, or are we as believers helping to bring it down

but we fail to remember, we to hated God

the bible says to be a friend of the world is to be an enemy with God

before you came to know Jesus, you were fighting God

Death seems like a better option if your wrath will not rain down

as if God’s people are some how perfect

God’s chosen people means they did nothing

they were not perfect so that God would choose them

in the same way, you did nothing for God to love you

You did not do anything for him to die on the cross for you

Though he loved God, he did not love like God

he hated the ones created in the image of the one he claimed to love

Our desire for wrath only shows the hatred we have for people

the Ninevites did not sin against Jonah

their sins were not worse than Israel’s

their sins were not worse than yours

Jonah’s Love for a Plant

Anger arises when the things we love are threatened or do not go the way we want

I thought of this yesterday as I we were in Wichita

I stay out of stores on Saturdays as much as possible

Saturdays in Wichita are eve worse…

Saturdays in Wichita when all the students are moving into Wichita State

as we drive home, knowing what I am preaching on today all I can think of is verse 4… Is it right for you to be angry?

This was a question that the Lord asked Jonah while he was in the city

Jonah does not answer but instead, he leaves

Jonah 4:5–8 (CSB)

5 Jonah left the city and found a place east of it. He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.

6 Then the Lord God appointed a plant, and it grew over Jonah to provide shade for his head to rescue him from his trouble. Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.

7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.

8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head so much that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”

There were a lot of plants that Jonah did not mourn for when they died

he rejoiced when it covered him

meaning he worshipped that he was being served and pouted when he wasn’t

We get mad when people do not do what we wish, when we wish and how we wish

because really, we love ourselves

We can come up with different times we have been mad because we think that our spouse, kids or even the under dogs have been wronged

we can come up with causes that we see some sort of injustice and get angry

most of our anger comes when we do not get what we want, when we want and how we want

kids do not mind

is it in our righteousness we are looking out and know that because they did not take out the trash they are wondering away from God

no, it is because we have trash in our house

or they will not stop fighting each other and we fear the lack of love between siblings and how that should reflect God’s love for them and the fellowship we have in the church

no, its because we do not want them to hurt each other to where we will have to do something

and we are tired of listening to it

We have to understand that this anger hurts multiple people

In anger, people lash out

in words

physically

even to death,

but it is not just what is done to others in anger

Jesus said that anger in your heart is murder

an unrighteous anger is sin and separates you from God

God’s Love for His Creation

The only one who is just in giving wrath is the Lord

As creator, God is the one who set the standard by which we live

the clay does not say to the potter, here is how you are to make me

or even now that you have, here is what you are to do for me

He desires mercy

we want to be like the disciples, asking if we should call down fire from heaven

and then we are like Jonah when we see him extend mercy to those who have not done enough, according to us, to deserve his mercy

Jonah 4:9–11 (CSB)

9 Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “Yes, it’s right!” he replied. “I’m angry enough to die!”

10 And the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night.

11 So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?”

Is it right for you to be angry

right - adorned

should you be rewarded for your anger

we think yes,

Jonah thought yes

get the idea he did not answer in vs 4, but wanted to

in verse 9 he explodes on God

Yes! I am angry enough to die!

God did not come dow with wrath on Jonah

but shows him patience, even in the object lesson

the same grace that he is frustrated with is being shown to him

that same grace is also offered to you!

There is grace available in our anger

when we realize that our love is focused on the wrong thing

That we love ourselves more than God

when we love the things of this world more than God

when we believe that we are the arbiters of truth and should be able to call down fire from heaven

for all of these things… God offers grace.

James 5:14–15 (CSB)

Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Exalting Jesus in Proverbs Wrath (Proverbs 20:22; 24:17–18; 25:21–22)

Reflect and Discuss

1. What are some famous revenge stories that you love?

2. Why do we love revenge stories?

3. What is right about our desire for revenge and what is wrong about it?

4. What are some ways that we are wrathful that are not necessarily violent?

5. According to Proverbs 24:17–18, how does God feel when we rejoice over our enemies’ failure?

6. How did Jesus endure the injustice of the cross? What does his model mean for us?

7. What are the two possibilities for those who have wronged us?

8. How does the cross of Jesus help you forgive others?

9. How does hell help you forgive others?

10. What are some practical things you need to do as a result of this study?