Dealing with Rage

Sermon 3 in the series based on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached: A Spiritual Overhaul by the Master.”

The first sermon, “A Change in Goals,” focused on the Beatitudes; we talked about knowing our need for God and about seeking God’s ways above all else. The second sermon, “A Change in Standards,” focused on the standard for Christian life, not a set of rules, but representing the perfect character of God. We all fall short, but we cannot settle for any lesser standard and claim to have arrived. We need the help of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

The next four sermons in the series deal with some of the big problems we have with our inner attitudes in the areas of rage, lust, deception, and enmity. How do we deal with such problems and come out of the battle representing the character of God. Today, rage is the problem. Listen to what Jesus says:

5:21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Jesus begins “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’” “You shall not murder,” is the proper translation of the sixth of the Ten Commandments. It is the law of God. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ Then Jesus says, “But I say to you….” For a moment, it sounds as if Jesus is about to contradict the Sixth Commandment, but nothing Jesus says can be seen as undermining the importance or the substance of that commandment. “You shall not murder,” stands. Jesus is strengthening the command. He is saying that, when God made that law, he had more in mind than our simply refraining from murder. God had in mind our recognizing and valuing one another as people made in the image of God. God had in mind our building and maintaining relationships that show this value. As children of God, we have a common bond with other children of God and even with potential children of God; we are to treat them as brothers and sisters in the family of God. We are to do nothing to tear them down, to discourage their growth in godliness, to repudiate their identities as children of God. When Jesus says, “But I say to you…,” he is saying that there is a lot more involved than simply refraining from murder.

In order to understand exactly what Jesus is saying, we have to proceed carefully in our reading of this passage. The text seems to command us never to be angry with our brothers and sisters, and there are situations when that seems neither possible nor desirable. There are times when we need to be angry. There were times when Jesus himself was angry, and he was not sinning when he was. Once he called the Pharisees “Blind fools,” and he was not sinning when he did so; he was warning them of their spiritual state; they needed to be so strongly challenged if there was to be any hope for them. There are times that the apostles were angry, and at least some of those times they were not sinning by being angry, but were defending the integrity of the gospel and church for which Jesus died. Sometimes anger is right and beneficial.

The general consensus of Bible scholars today is that early Christians were quite uncomfortable with this text because of its seeming to forbid anger altogether, and so, after the phrase, “Do not be angry,” they added the phrase, “without cause.” The phrase shows up in the King James and the New King James Versions, but not in most newer translations. The phrase was not in the manuscripts that most scholars believe to reflect the earliest sources. Adding the phrase “without cause” fixed the problem by creating a bigger one. What angry person does not think that there is a cause for the anger? The added phrase lets them off the hook completely.

There are better solutions already in the original text. The Greek word for angry in this text is a very strong word, not just a minor irritation, but something more like rage. Furthermore, it is a form of that word that appears only here in the Bible and seems to mean something like “sustain a rage” or “give a home to rage.” What is being forbidden is nursing rage into a sinful breaking of relationships. The speech that is being forbidden is the kind of name-calling that demeans the worth of someone with whom we should or could have a common bond in the family of God.

Elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells us how to deal with a situation when we are angry at someone because we perceive that they have treated us wrongly. We are to go to them directly and talk about it. If that doesn’t work, there are prescribed follow-up steps. Many problems can be solved if Christians will only follow the steps.

In this passage, Jesus instructs us about what we are to do when someone has something against us. We may be in the middle of an act of worship when we remember that we have done something wrong. We are to drop everything and go to make amends and to seek reconciliation.

The value here is that we should take the risk of trying to solve problems in our relationships as they come up. The counsel in Ephesians 4:25-27 applies; I am quoting from the NET Bible which I believe catches the nuances of this: Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. Do not give the devil an opportunity.

The point then is to do whatever we can to sustain healthy relationships with fellow Christians and with people whom we might bring to faith in Christ. If there is a cause for anger, don’t let it simmer; address it.

There are two main rules: (1) be pro-active, and (2) avoid name-calling.

(1) Be proactive in sustaining healthy relationships. I have already talked about two ways of being proactive. Let’s talk a little more about them.

(a) When someone has a legitimate complaint against us, we are to seek to make proper amends and to reconcile as soon as possible. That includes making sure that they know we have heard their concern and are trying to address it insofar as we conscientiously can, paying legitimate debts as soon as possible, doing all that we can to restore someone’s reputation if they feel that we have we have demeaned them, and so forth.

(b) When we have something against someone else, we are to go directly to them and speak the truth as we see it, relying on them to make amends. If that effort fails, and only if it fails, we are to try to arrange to take a spiritual leader or two with us on a second visit. If the person simply will not address the problem and make it right to the satisfaction of the church body, there are procedures for breaking the relationship on clear grounds, but that is a last resort to be reserved for extreme situations.

(c) There is a third sort of situation. In most situations when two people feel alienated, there are two sides to the story, with some legitimate complaints on both sides. If attempting to work out the problems privately is simply not working, a counselor or mediator or arbitrator might be needed. Our church connections should be able to provide someone to help. Sooner or later, most married couples need help from a counselor at resolving problems. The wise ones get the help. The point is, “Be proactive in sustaining healthy relationships.”

(2) Avoid name-calling. Today’s text warns against insulting someone. Two insults are given as examples: calling the person an empty-headed fool or calling the person a rebellious fool. We could greatly multiply the examples. Calling a child of God or a potential child of God by a derogatory name can cause great harm. If the person has low self-esteem, name-calling can wound them deeply, placing a curse upon their life, or even reinforcing a curse that has been upon their lives from early childhood. If the person you call a name sees you as a representative of Christianity, calling them a derogatory name can place a wedge between them and the gospel and may hinder their salvation or their service to Christ. Parents, calling your children derogatory names can be terribly destructive. Some children never recover. If in a moment of rage, we find ourselves blasting the worth of another person, prompt confessions, repentance, and sustained efforts to make amends are called for.

Handling our anger by being proactive in sustaining healthy relationships and avoiding name-calling are challenging tasks. We need all the help we can get to pull it off.

Chances are we won’t do it unless three things are in place:

1. We must have submitted ourselves to the will of God as that will has been revealed through Jesus Christ, surrendering our own will to his. We must be living by the highest and best goals and standards.

2. We must be immersed in the grace of God so that we do not have to defend our own righteousness. Jesus died to offer us forgiveness. When we trust his gift, he will cover us with his righteousness while we grow into it.

3. We must be in touch with the renewing power and ongoing guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we are not totally dependent on our own understandings.

Now, all that is a big challenge. We can only take one step at a time, but the first step is a big one, a leap of faith into letting Jesus really be our Savior and Lord. That is precisely where the Sermon on the Mount pushes us, toward a spiritual overhaul by the Master.

I think that I have some prayerful work to do in the ways that I have handled—and not handled--anger and rage in my life. I have not been as proactive as Jesus challenges me to be. When I have done wrong to someone else or when wrong has been done to me, I need to move toward clear thinking and productive actions much more quickly than I have done in the past.

This happens when the details of my life are brought openly before Jesus and I ask for his heart, his insight, and his wisdom. In other words, the spiritual overhaul that I need in the area of rage begins with an honest and active spending time with Jesus in prayer. I suspect that I am not alone in that need.