Anger & Contempt

Kingdom Heart Sermon Series

Expressions of Anger

When I was kid, I remember watching New Year’s Day college football, it was January 1, 1978 and Texas Longhorns were playing Notre Dame.

I wasn’t big college football fan back then (much more about Cowboys), but I certainly was cheering for my Texas team over Notre Dame. Had Earl Campbell, surely they’d win.

It did not go well for Longhorns. It was one of those incredibly frustrating games - Longhorns committed 6 turnovers! Every time you thought they might be getting back into it, turnover. 24-10 at halftime - no better in second half, final score was 38-10.

My younger brother saw this. Now, Marty was no fan of Notre Dame. But he’s younger brother, sees my team losing, sees I’m getting frustrated, and all of a sudden he’s cheering for Irish. He’s celebrating just little too much, as far as I’m concerned. I’m already mad - and he’s stoking the flames.

So what do I do? I take it out on him. I slug him. I take my anger out on him.

Years later, I’m in argument with family member. I’m convinced I’m right, so are they. As we go back and forth, I can tell they are hurt. I sulk a while, wrestling through what to do.

I decide that I should apologize for how I engaged argument - I was too heated, too pointed. It was hurtful. So I do. But I still think I’m right.

However, they take my apology as admission of being wrong and start re-emphasizing why they were right in first place. How could they! Inside I’m boiling! I’m trying to ease tension between us and they’re using it against me!

But I can’t re-engage debate. This time I take my anger out on pencil I’m holding. While they’re talking to me, keeping this stoic look on my face. I’m snapping this pencil in two.

Anger. Rage. Irritation. Contempt. Malice. Spite. Utter indifference. In Jesus’ Masterpiece on teaching us what it means to have true inner goodness, to be righteous - this is where he starts. This is where he goes first. And it is not arbitrary decision. He knows that so much of what is wrong with world - what is wrong with us, begins here.

We began our journey into Sermon on Mount several weeks ago, looking at bigger picture, what does it mean for us to be a part of God’s Kingdom, His House (Bethel).

Now we want to really start digging into what it looks like to be kind of people who belong in Kingdom of God, who have, what Dallas Willard calls, Kingdom Hearts (new sermon series).

Starting two very important premises

Kingdom Heart is all about having greater righteousness, being truly good - which, if you remember, is about growing towards perfect (complete) love for God and all others, and has to do with our hearts, from inside out. In essence, to have a Kingdom heart is to have heartfelt love for all others, no exceptions.

Second, Jesus is one (only one) who can teach us this. He’s Master Teacher, smartest man in world. Requires us not only hearing his words but putting them into practice. Hearers and doers of the word.

Let’s get started. Prayer / Matthew 5:21-26

Anger & Contempt

Jesus starts with righteousness of Pharisees and teachers of the law. And it’s good teaching.

You’ve heard it said, “You shall not murder.” If you do, you’ll be subject to judgment. You will be held accountable for committing such heinous act.

And we would all agree, murder is heinous act. To take someone else’s life is terrible thing.

Why there was such uproar over death of George Floyd. Why mass shootings at schools or wherever they take place stir up such heated debate. Why so many of us deeply oppose abortion, because we believe it is the taking of innocent human life. Life is precious gift from God - lives matter.

But Jesus is taking us into greater righteousness, teaching us true inner goodness.

Because you can spend your entire life without ever murdering anyone (true of most people, thank God), and still harbor hatred in your hearts for many. You can be long, long way from heartfelt love for all.

Jesus gives us three examples of how this is true of us, three ways we “murder” in our hearts.

Everyone who is angry with his brother (that was definitely true of me watching that football game!), will be liable to judgment (same as murder, you’ll be held accountable)

If you insult your brother, Jesus uses Aramaic term, Raca! (which just sounds ugly)

Not sure exactly what it meant (some suggest, “empty-headed”, idiot, moron) - but whatever exact meaning, it was term of contempt.

Contempt is type of anger, it’s particularly evil. Dallas Willard describes anger as wanting to hurt others. But contempt is not caring whether they’re hurt or not. Because you matter so little to me.

Last example is “You fool!” In Bible, “fool” has much stronger sense than we use it today, because it had moral sensibility to it.

To call someone else “fool” immediately evoked sense of moral superiority. I’m better than you. It comes out of a place of malice.

So, Jesus says we’ll be liable to fires of Gehenna - Gehenna was Valley of Hinnom that sits to South of Jerusalem - child sacrifices were conducted there. Became associated with fire and evil. Jesus was saying, you belong in smoldering garbage dump of human existence.

I hope you’re hearing how seriously Jesus takes anger and contempt within us.

Why, why does Jesus warn so strongly against anger? Everyone gets angry. In fact, It seems at times we should be angry!

When we see injustice in world, shouldn’t that makes us angry?

God himself gets angry - is he subject to judgment?!

Let me say some things about nature of anger (courtesy of Dallas Willard)

First of all, anger in and of itself is not wrong. It’s feeling. Natural response - vital function in our lives. It alerts us to obstruction of our will (which is so central to who we are, rule, reign!)

It seizes us whenever our wills are thwarted and someone interferes with our lives or way we think things should go.

So when I want my team to win and they keep messing it up, I can get angry.

Then when my brother starts throwing that in my face, I get really angry.

When someone cuts in traffic - especially in front of me - spurs anger. When someone asks me to do something and I’ve got it settled in my mind that this is how I want to spend my time - anger bubbles up. When political commentator starts attacking things I hold true - anger. If I feel disrespected or dismissed - contempt. If someone is not acting or dressing or speaking way I think they should - anger.

Here’s big problems when anger arises up in us - two, really.

If I know you are angry at me, I am already wounded (unless I have such contempt for you that your opinion doesn’t matter…which of course is miles away from heartfelt love for others). When I discover your anger, it crosses my will, places restraint on me.

And thus, anger feeds on anger - which is want makes it so dangerous.

We know this. Why we give each other silent treatment. I want you to know that I am angry with you. Because I want to hurt you. That’s what anger spurs in us.

Second big problem is that we indulge anger. We choose or will to be angry.

It’s spontaneous feeling, it arises within us, but then we receive it and stew in it.

It’s how we become angry people. It’s how we have low burning irritation within us.

We don’t, as Paul encourages us to do in Colossians 3, lay aside our anger. We hang on to it.

Because there’s sense of self-righteousness to it (I was wronged!)

It plays on our pride, our vanity (lives are primarily about us).

Willard: Most people carry a supply of anger around with them.

I used to think that anger wasn’t problem for me, because I didn’t yell at others and other than my brothers, didn’t punch them. But I had no idea how much and how often and how easily anger and contempt is stirring right there in my heart.

Why Jesus starts right here, because so much of what’s wrong today stems out of anger and contempt. How deeply rooted it is in human heart - in our hearts.

It’s only as we pursue heartfelt love for all others that we begin to see how true this is. When you seek to have genuine, for good of others - all others - love, you’ll begin to discover more and more how easily you slip into anger or contempt.

Because we live in culture that is so far removed from Way of Jesus - culture that has embraced and even celebrates anger and contempt.

I want to take few minutes to look at this, because this is so vital, I have deep conviction about this - that unless we take seriously Jesus’ words, putting them into practice, we will only add to deep pain and woundedness going on all around us. We will not have kingdom hearts.

For while I was getting these unsolicited emails, kind you just hit delete. You can read enough to know you don’t want them - headline always had something along lines of “if you’re not outraged, you’re now paying attention”

Consider that assumption. You should be angry! You should be outraged!

Because we live in culture of outrage. Culture of unabashed anger and contempt.

Examples

Hear it in our language constantly, I can’t ever remember time when foul language was so easily and publicly used

Celebrities get up to podium and say, “F- Trump”. I point to Trump because I’ve never seen public figure who has spurred as much anger and contempt - anger and contempt that has felt fully justified because he’s considered worst human being ever. So, of course, “F- Trump”.

And people who openly support Trump will often get treated same. Because somehow it’s OK to hold contempt for them.

And it’s on both sides of political aisle...

If you come against Trump, he’ll release barrage of tweets bashing you back, usually with derogatory nickname of some sort.

And it’s not just Trump, there’s plenty of contempt on the right for those on left.

Much of time it doesn’t come out as outright anger, using foul language - it typically comes in form of being dismissive of others, they’re laughable, you just mock them. Which is contempt.

I say all this, not to take political sides, we all have our political views - in fact, one of the sobering signs that we don’t have Kingdom hearts is our inability to discuss differing political views. We can’t even have conversations about it.

I say all this because our concern is - or should be -the Way of Jesus - Jesus is teaching us to look at our hearts and see what anger and contempt is there. Because he wants to grow in us new and different hearts. And I know that if I watch too much of news, I will find anger and contempt stirring inside of me, because it’s rooted in outrage, it’s designed to provoke it.

When we don’t deal with our anger, if we’re not honest about condition of our hearts, it will come out.

Friend of mine was telling me story about getting pulled over by police officer for traffic violation…cop was angry that he didn’t pull over quick enough...

I remember one of those jokes that had enough truth in it that it was little painful - joke was that, as parent, you could be angry 24-7. As parents, as spouses - we can harm people we love most because of anger.

Protests that have erupted and continue across our nation - significant element of them have been violent - anger run amok, looting and burning.

I think about example of Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights protests he led - lunch counter sit-ins, marches. They conducted training in preparation - because they knew anger and contempt would come against them, didn’t want to respond.

Kingdom Heart - heartfelt love for all, good overcoming evil

Dallas Willard (wrote his book) million people that year injured by violent attacks by co-workers

You might think (like me), that because you’re not violent and yelling, you don’t struggle with anger. More subtle expressions of anger & contempt, expressed by those of us who are much more socially polite

sarcastic tone to our voices, words that have bite to them

Silent treatment / avoidance - I’m just going to stay away from you

My own heart

sports car goes zooming past - contempt (thinks he’s so much better)

vacation - hogging all picnic tables, my will was thwarted - immediately anger and malice started stirring up

We’re coming into this trusting that Jesus is master teacher, that he knows our hearts far better than we do - to hear his words and put them into practice means we begin with trusting that he knows what he’s talking with…that so much of what’s wrong with our hearts is anger and contempt that we so easily fall into.

Kingdom Heart for Reconciliation

But Jesus wants desperately different hearts for us - heartfelt love for all

Because he wants that, he teaches us what it would look like to have that kind of love

give us two examples - important to recognize that these are illustrations, not rules

Because Jesus isn’t giving us list of rules to follow - because you can follow instructions, even these as instructions, and still not have kingdom heart

Dallas Willard gives example of an acquaintance whose business partner was taking advantage of him, making grievous illegitimate demands and actions. Based on this passage, man chose not to take him to court. He suffered greatly financially as result, and it embittered his heart toward God.

Goal is to have Kingdom Heart that desires Reconciliation

First illustration is that of offering gift at altar, remembering your brother has something against you - leave gift to go be reconciled to your brother, then come offer gift

Setting is worship. Jesus uses worship to show how vital this is

You are at the altar, you are about to offer your gift to God - it would be like you are about to walk into church, about to take your seat for worship service…I just remembered, I think they may be angry with me

It’s not just that don’t want to have heart of anger and contempt, you so don’t want that for your friend. So much so that you leave worship service to go be reconciled to them. That’s how vital this is. That’s illustration of what it looks like to have heart not of anger, but of heartfelt love for others, kingdom heart.

This really shows greater righteousness Jesus wants for us, true inner goodness.

Second illustration is legal setting, you’re about to go to court because someone is looking to sue you

Normally, that immediately sets up adversarial relationship, get your lawyer, get defensive, going to battle.

I think about families I know that have been torn asunder over legal battles, often involving contention over family inheritance and who gets what.

But kingdom heart says, I’m going to make good faith effort to see if we can work this out, to see if we can come to solution what works for everyone involved (it doesn’t mean you have to let others take financial advantage of you!)

But what Jesus wants us to be concerned about, heart he wants for us is not about us getting what we want, or maybe even what we think we deserve, but living in attitude of heartfelt love for all, even those who want to take you to court.

Let me finish with this, a wonderful illustration Dallas Willard gives about what Jesus is teaching us toward, kind of people he’s making us become, those with kingdom hearts

He talks about it in terms of where Jesus is trying to take us - thought is, if I’m headed to Atlanta, I don’t have to worry about going to New York or London. What does he mean by that?

If I’m pursuing heartfelt love for all, then I don’t have to worry about anger and contempt, that issue is taking care of. When I treasure others, when I treasure all others, then issue of harboring malice towards them, of thinking they’re an idiot is automatically taken care of. I don’t consider others idiots or otherwise that I treasure.

Romans 13:8 - For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Really. You’ve done exactly what Jesus wants you to do.