Sermon on the Mount: Anger, Un-forgiveness and the Way of Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Matthew 5:21-26
Anger, Un-forgiveness and the Way of Jesus
Introduction: If you’re joining us for the first time - welcome. We’re
currently teaching through Jesus’ most famous teaching known as the
Sermon on the mount. Contrary to what some may think the Sermon on
the Mount is not teaching us how to get into the kingdom of God- the
Bible makes it clear that entrance to God’s kingdom is only through grace
- by the sacrificial work of Jesus. The sermon is also not teaching us how
we stay in the kingdom. Rather it is a description of the character and
conduct of those who already belong to God’s kingdom. The Sermon is
not a call to repentance, though that may be involved at times, it is a
description of the expression and evidences of true repentance.
Though anyone can listen and learn from this sermon, and respond to it’s
offer of the fulness of life, it's primary audience and focus is the disciple of
Jesus. - The life of the true disciple. It describes the life that necessarily
results from genuine salvation. What God is doing in us and wants to do in
us. What he is making us into by the work of his spirit and grace upon us.
So the purpose of this sermon, I believe, is for God to work his kingdom
characteristics, his virtues in us. So that we can achieve the human
flourishing that God intends for us, and so that we properly represent him
and his Kingdom.
Jesus Christ came from heaven on a rescue mission to invite all people
into his Kingdom of righteousness and Peace. Here at RCF we teach and
seek to practice the way of Jesus, having responded to his offer of
salvation; and this sermon has been used for centuries to shape and form
God’s people into the way of Jesus and we are believing that this is what
God will do with us as well.
We started with the beatitudes and worked our way through Jesus’ vision
for Human flourishing and now we have moved into Jesus’ teaching on
what a fulfilled or greater righteousness, than even the scribes and
Pharisees looks like.
I know I’ve said it before, and Nicolai has said it as well, but it is so
important to understand that Jesus is presenting us with a task we cannot
fulfill on our own - he is in fact lifting the bar so high that no one can attain
it. But simultaneously Jesus has invited us and is inviting us into his
kingdom and he offers us his righteousness - imputed and infused.
Imputed meaning he gives us a status we could never attain - Justification
and Adoption as children of God, but he also offers us an infused
righteousness - (regeneration - new hearts, new minds, and a new spirit
according to Jeremiah 24; 31) so that we become a new kind of people his people, who do God’s kingdom righteousness because that is the kind
of people we have become through his grace and spirit at work in us. This
is what Paul is talking about when He says, “For God has done what the
law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the
flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to
the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)
Jesus is going to show us what greater righteousness looks like in
regards to Murder, anger, and bitterness.
1. The Teaching
1. Jesus brings up the Law of Moses, specifically the commandment
about Murder.. But Jesus tells us it’s not enough to simply not
murder someone; the righteousness that he’s talking about avoids
all vengeful anger and any speech that is wrathful, condemning,
degrading or dismissive. So what Jesus is doing is exactly what he
said he came to do - to fill up the Law, to show what it really aimed
at and pointed to, to show the true intent behind the teaching.
1. Jesus is calling his kingdom people not simply to not be
murderers but to not be a people of vengeance, anger, or wrath,
to even avoid such condemning, insulting, and dismissive
speech.
2. Getting God’s view of People - Of course the whole
commandment about murder went back even further than the
Law of Moses - the first place it is prohibited is in Genesis 9. God
says, to Noah and his family -“Whoever sheds the blood of
man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in
his own image.” (Gen 9:6)
3. Though of course, this commandment, and Jesus interpretation
of it, is about anger in the heart, I think it’s even deeper than that
- it’s about a dismissive view of humanity. To take a lowly view of
any human is totally demonic. Scriptures teaches that mankind,
and mankind alone have been made in the image of the one true
God! A low or dismissive view of humans can only be described
as coming from the true enemy of humanity - the Devil. And
that;’s what we find again and again in scripture - Murder, hatred,
envy, bitterness, resentment, are characteristics not of God but
of the devil himself.
4. Remember when we talked about Mercy and Peacemaking and
saw that these are intrinsically wrapped up in the character of
God, and that is first and foremost why Jesus’ followers are
called to this way of life
1. (A great example of how we do this is by what is going on
down at the border - for us this is about our view of humanity
- this isn’t and shouldn’t be about immigration for Jesus’
people. This is about respecting human life and honoring
families and protecting them first and foremost. - whatever
side of the fence you are on politically I hope you see that)
2. Is Jesus teaching against ever getting angry? Didn’t Jesus get
angry? I think Martin Luther had a good way of putting it when he
talked about temptation. He said I cannot help a bird flying over my
head but I can keep him from building a nest on my head…
3. So also with anger. We cannot help but get angry - there are many
angering situations in our world - sin, brokenness, broken promises,
hypocrisy, extortion, kidnapping, sex trafficking, slavery, abuse,
genocide, world hunger... to name a few. Not to mention aggravating
people and situations that seem to be a necessity to daily life. The
question I think is - What will we do with our Anger?
1. Remember Jesus has already told us that his people are being
called to a way of being that is meek, peacemaking, and merciful..
if we are to be those kind of people then of course we must be a
people who deal properly with our anger or resentment…
2. Another point is that Jesus is not satisfied with a righteousness
that simply checks the box on the 6th commandment. Remember
Jesus is calling his kingdom people to a greater righteousness. A
fulfilled righteousness that goes beyond the law and the prophets.
A law of love by the Spirit of God that will go far above and
beyond the righteousness of the law of Moses….
2. The Exhortation to us
1. Deal with your anger quickly - Jesus gives two examples:
1. If you are going to offer a gift to God, make peace with your
brother or sister first.
1. Think of the level of importance that Jesus puts on this
teaching - we often associate church attendance, tithing/giving,
public worship, Eucharist, or charity with deep religious
commitment. Jesus tells us more important than these is make
reconciliation and living at peace with people, especially his
people…
2. Come to terms quickly with your accuser…Don’t give time for
anger or resentment to build on either side - Jesus says, go make
peace!
3. Early Christians were so intent on keeping Jesus’ teaching on
dealing with anger and resentment that they would make space
each gathering asking - "Is there anyone that is keeping anything
against their neighbor?”
1. What a convicting word. How many times have we “offered our
gift at the alter - praised, worshipped, study diligently all the
while holding anger and bitterness against another Christian??
Jesus is basically saying that all that worship and prayer and
whatever other religious work does not matter - You cannot
have peace with God while living in bitterness and hatred
toward another person - “If anyone says, “I love God,” and
hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his
brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has
not seen.”
2. I think at times it’s easy for us to look at reconciliation or
peacemaking on the global, national, or cultural plain and think
and be concerned only on that level. But Jesus won’t let us off
that easy -it’s like what lewis says, loving people in general is
often times a way of loving no one in particular. Are we living at
peace with the people we are connected to? Are we for
reconciliation in our personal relationships? Jesus vision for his
people is that reconciliation and peacemaking would flow first
from within, out to neighbor, enemy, then to nations, cultural
issues, etc. Jesus vision of flourishing and greater
righteousness is holistic but it begins with me, my wife, my
kids, my roommate, my parents, my siblings, my christian
brothers and sisters, my co-workers, friends, enemies, nations,
peoples….
3. We must be intentional about reconciliation with those in front
of us if it is going to become our way of being
4. Even this morning - are you harboring anger, bitterness,
or resentment against a brother or sister… have you gone to
that person and tried to work things out?
5. Jesus takes this even further - Does anyone have something
against you? You might feel as though you’re good, you’re
okay with everyone.. but do you know of someone that has a
problem or grievance with you? Jesus says to make it right
before you do anything else…
6. I know we can probably think of a hundred things we would
rather do than hash out things with someone who is mad at us,
or expose old wounds. But here’s the deal - Jesus moved
heaven and earth to make peace with a rebellious sinful world,
can we not cross the room, or our small city to make peace in
a broken relationship???
1. But what about my anger? What about the injustice of the
whole thing??
3. The Power to do it
1. We forgive. We make reconciliation. We put it to Jesus’ account.
This is where we have to remember that following Jesus means that
we are people of the cross. Everything we do is shaped by the cross,
our humility, our self sacrifice..everything. It’s in the moments maybe
more than another that the work of Jesus cross can become so real
to us - what do I mean? It is not only my sin that was paid for and
dealt with at the cross, but also the sin that was done to me.. Sin
done by me, sin done to me, and sin done in my presence that
defiles me - all of these were and are dealt with on Jesus’ cross. I
must therefore hand my anger over to God, and allow the cross to
be the final judgment not only on my sin but on sin done to me…
(The parable of the unforgiving servant)
2. But maybe for some of you, you feel that you have forgiven
someone, you are trying to move on but you just can’t. St. Peter
asked Jesus this question - “How many time shall I for give
someone who sins against me; Seven times? Jesus replied, not
seven times but seventy times seven.” Jesus’ point with Peter,
and with us, is that we are to keep on forgiving; every time the desire
to retaliate comes, every time a thought of bitterness or resentment
comes, an ill word or insult. When we are tempted toward back
biting, dismissing people and writing them off as worthless we take it
to the cross of Jesus Christ. We remember that twisted, bloody
tortured man, drowning in his own blood - paying and rescuing us
from our sin, rescuing us from the bitterness and resentment of sin
done to us, from the shame and disgrace that sin has caused for us.
And as we do this we become a cruciform people a people shaped
by the cross.
1. “Those who would conform their lives to the way of life described
in the Sermon on the Mount will find themselves transformed into
peacemakers as a consequence of God’s work among them. It is
not a matter of obeying a command to become a peacemaker or
striving after an abstract virtue called “peacemaking.” Rather, it is
a matter of our participation in the life of the risen Christ, who is
our peace and who is our virtue. Peacemakers are who we
become when we conform our lives to the Sermon on the Mount,
which is the form of Jesus’ life with us.” - Unknown
2. May it be so with us. May we be known as a community that loves
one another well. That confront one another with mercy, grace
and truth when we sin against each other. May we show our city
what it looks like when Jesus reigns over his people.
1. This morning as we take the bread and the cup we have an
opportunity to practice Jesus’ words. Please don’t pass this up.
If you have something against someone, or if someone has
something against you; go and make reconciliation that you
may experience a fresh an anew the peace of Christ in your
own heart and life, and that you might experience the
flourishing life that Jesus purchased for you. Amen