Week commencing Sunday 4th September 2022

‘Prayer’

‘Reconciliation

O King of Kings, O King of the universe, King who will be, who is,

may You forgive us each and every one. Accept my prayer, O King of grace.

Anyone who claims to be in the light, but hates his brother or sister

is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother or sister lives in the light;

and there is nothing to make that person stumble

Examine your heart

Lower my vengeance, my anger and my hatred, banish my wicked thoughts from me;

send down a drop from heaven of Your Holy Spirit to vanquish this heart of rock of mine.

Lord, let our memory provide no shelter for grievance against another.

Lord, let our heart provide no harbour for hatred of another

Lord, let our tongue be no accomplice In the judgement of a brother.

‘Prayer of the heart’

My eyes, my eyes have seen the King. The vision of His beauty

has pierced me deep within. To whom else can I go?

My heart, my heart desires Him. He’s touched something inside of me

That’s now reaching out for Him. And I know that I must go.

My God is my love, my guard, my healing one;

My bright love is my merciful Lord; my sweet love is Christ;

His heart is my delight; all my love are You, O King of glory. Amen.

(from ‘Celtic Daily Prayer’)

The Lord’s Prayer

Reading. Ephesians 4:17- 5:2

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵ Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶ “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸ Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 5 ¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Hymn.

‘Purify my heart’ MP 921 (Piano)

Brian Doerksen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgxIg9mMooU

Sermon. ‘Dealing with Anger’

When most people think of anger, they imagine a person in a rage. They picture red faces, slamming doors, shouting and intimidation. This is one aspect of anger. But anger takes many forms. Many do not regard themselves as angry individuals because they do not realise the many disguises anger takes. Here is a list of 16 variations of anger: bitterness, malice, clamour, envy, resentment, intolerance, criticism, revenge, wrath, hatred, seditions (party spirit), jealousy, attack, gossip, sarcasm, unforgiveness.

The passage from Ephesians contains specific teaching about dealing with anger which we will look at. It also gives a wider theological framework which helps us to discern what a specifically Christian response should be. We will look at these wider principles first.

The passage shows us that our perspective on anger- is radically influenced by our belonging to Christ.

We believers are now to exhibit a new lifestyle that contrasts with the old lifestyle we had before we came to know Christ. (17-21) As Christians we are no longer to conform to the world around us- we must “no longer live as the gentiles do” says Paul, and he describes the darkness of their futility of thought, their hardness of heart towards God and their indulgence- Once I believe the lie that God isn’t there, then I become the centre of the universe. As a self-made man I worship my creator. And I give myself every form of self-indulgence. (vs 17-19). However, there is now a new life style available for those who belong to Christ. We believers are now children of light. There is an alternative to the old life style, we can be set free. A new way of living once you come under Christ’s Lordship. The new life style is characterised by renewed thinking. Paul says you did not come to know Christ that way, and verse 21 “you were taught in him in accordance with the truth in Him”. The idea here is that of learning about how our faith in Jesus has implications for everything else we do, including our value system. As we join with other believers in learning the priorities of God’s Word, as we see these exemplified in Christ’s example, there is less room for conflict/anger over what people want. As we learn the priorities of God’s Kingdom, the more unity there is in our wanting the same things. More light, less darkness.

Further we believers have “put off our old self” and “put on the new self” (22-24). Paul reminds them of a fundamental change God has brought about within them. Resources they now have to help them live the Christian life. When we became Christians, Christ by His Spirit put to death our old sinful nature- so we were repulsed at its corruption and deceit. Instead we were made alive to God, so we now desire Him and His goodness instead. Once a person is converted by the Spirit of God the old nature no longer has that power/grip it once had over them. By the Spirit there is now an inner power/ motivation to instead live for God. When you read of powerful conversions, where a person has been converted from an addicted lifestyle- alcohol addiction, sexual immorality, greed, violence, whatever it might be, to a person in love with Christ and wanting to spread His Kingdom. There, conversion has taken place. In that person’s spirit, God’s Spirit has crucified the power/grip of the old nature and that person is now alive to God. Here is a testimony of a person converted from their anger:

Pastor Tim LaHay describes a young man’s visit. “As soon as he was seated, he went into an angry, twenty five minute description of all the misery his wife had caused him and how psychotic she was. When he had finally unburdened himself, I began to present to him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The young engineer quickly informed me, “Well, I don’t believe in Christ; it’s not that I’m an atheist, I just don’t believe” Restraining for the first time my ministerial inclination to present the wonderful claims of Christ and the abundant proofs for his deity, I continued….I then explained about Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross and how when he comes into a life, that life is no longer Self on the throne and all else subservient to Self, rather Christ comes in and effects the radical change we have been thinking about, so that person’s love is first given to God- since God is now on the throne of that person’s life) and that first allegiance now benefits their relationships and values in general. I drew 2 circles representing the non- Christian and the Christian life accordingly. I said “Which of these 2 circles represents your life? I was rather surprised when he replied pointing to the non- Christian circle, ‘Oh, that represents my life. That’s a picture of me right there.’ Then, rather hesitantly, because he claimed not to believe in Christ, I said, ‘Well, do you know of any reason why right now you couldn’t invite Jesus Christ into your life?’ To my utter amazement, he looked me straight in the face and said, ‘No, in fact, that is exactly what I need.’ With that he got down on his knees and began to pray. He first confessed what an angry, bitter, resentful young man he was, and he asked Jesus Christ to forgive him and come into his life. When he finished, he sat down and began to weep. I watched him for several minutes, after which he sighed and said, ‘I’ve never felt so relaxed in all my life!’ then it was that I saw the evidence of the working of God’s Spirit in his life as a new Christian, for he said, ‘By the way Pastor, all those things I told you about my wife aren’t really true. Forget it. Most of the problem has been me.’

Two weeks later when he returned, I was intrigued by the fact that he had memorised some biblical verses I had assigned to him, completed a Bible study, and read his Bible every day simply because he was that kind of methodical individual. When I asked him, ‘How is your wife?’ he again revealed the complete transformation miraculously accomplished in his life by the Holy Spirit when he said, ‘She’s not doing too good, but I guess that’s understandable. It’s going to take a long time to overcome the effects of all the things that I have done to her in our married life.’ This loving, gracious, compassionate young man was nothing like the angry, vitriolic, bitter individual of two weeks before- another evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome man’s natural weaknesses.

An interesting result of this experience appeared two months later. His wife, got down on her knees in their home and invited the Lord Jesus Christ into her life. She has been delivered of her problems of fear and no longer sees a psychiatrist.’ (From ‘The Spirit Controlled Temperament’ Tim LaHay).

I hope you can see from the principles we have already looked at in Ephesians, and this man’s conversion, that the distinctively Christian response to anger or any other sin is supernatural. A deep, internal change in a person’s life, wrought by the Holy Spirit of God. Later we will see that kindness, compassion and forgiveness should replace bitterness, rage anger brawling and slander (31,32). But these positive qualities are not natural- that we could produce them ourselves- they are fruit of the Holy Spirit. God’s own presence and enabling in the believer, to effect change in our lives.

Notice too that if a person belongs to Christ, their concern for purity of lifestyle is a concern for the unity of the Church. (v25) “We are all members of one body”. The concern to lay aside anger, stealing, lying and so on is because these are sins that hurt our relationships with one another. The Spirit’s fruit produces qualities like love and longsuffering and self-control which deepen our love and unity. A true Christian understanding of purity is never self-righteous, never “holier than thou”. True purity of motive eradicates hostility, deception, gossip, passing blame, lust, selfish ambition and so on. These hurt fellowship. Rather, true holiness is conducive to love, forgiveness, encouragement and trust between God’s people. You are still locked into anger if you separate yourself from a Church and judge it. To overcome anger God wants you to learn to do that within real relationships with other believers. To learn to love, so we smooth the rough edges off one another and so grow effectively.

With these wider principles in mind we come to the first specific verses about anger “In your anger do not sin…. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold” (26, 27):

“in your anger do not sin”

Here we see there is such a thing as Christian anger. God gets angry. He’s angry at sin and injustice. John Stott writes “There is a great need in the contemporary world for more Christian anger” in the face of blatant evil we should not be tolerant, but indignant. Not apathetic but angry.

In one of the chapters of the book “The Art of Compassion”, musician Martin Smith writes about “Prem Kiran” a Christian organisation working with the children of prostitutes in India. He says

“We tread the path to the houses. They’re not houses, though, they’re a few bricks, a collection of pens with roofs and doors and not much else. They have taps that offer clean water at a trickle, but these homes are nothing I’ve seen before. I’m close to being sick as we walk around, treading over the sewer and feeling so dumb for wearing flip flops. It’s the spirit of the place as well as the smell that’s getting me- the fact that under these beds children hide while their mothers collect a few rupees from men they have sex with.”

Smith’s indignation at what is going on so consumes him that it motivates him to adopt one of the children and so save her from the same fate. Christian anger at evil is the companion of love. Paul says “in your anger do not sin” There is a place for Christian anger, but in this phrase there is also the admission that unrestrained anger leads to sin.

Anger can easily get mixed up with pride or spite, or the desire to get even. Unrestrained anger gives the devil opportunity to undermine Church unity. Instead, Paul says, “don’t let the sun go down on your anger” it’s impossible to be in any family without finding a reason to get angry at some point. That’s true in a Church. Anger can too easily lead to bitterness and resentment. Dr McMillan in “None of these diseases” says

“The moment I start hating a man, I become his slave. I can’t enjoy my work anymore because he controls my thoughts. My resentments produce too many stress hormones in my body and I become fatigued after only a few hours work. The work I formerly enjoyed is now drudgery. Even holidays cease to give me pleasure…the man I hate hounds me wherever I go. I can’t escape his tyrannical grasp on my mind. When the waiter serves me porterhouse steak with French fries, asparagus, crisp salad, and strawberry shortcake smothered with ice cream, it might as well be stale bread and water. My teeth chew the food and I swallow it, but the man I hate will not permit me to enjoy it…the man I hate may be many miles from my bedroom, but crueller than any slave driver, he whips my thoughts into such a frenzy that my innerspring mattress becomes a rack of torture.”

Once you have become a slave of the person who has angered you, the devil is given a foothold with which to damage our unity in Christ. Paul urges us to deal with anger like that promptly- do it today before the sun sets, or at least before the bed light goes out. Be reconciled. This may mean a painful working through of the issue and apology for your own part where you have sinned. On most occasions this humility on your part is powerfully used by God to stir the conscience of the other, so they confess their sin and seek reconciliation too. But if that person has sinned against you and they refuse to acknowledge their own part, you do not have to be controlled by them. As Minirth writes: “You are not obligated to lock yourself in mortal combat with the other, correct his or her illogic, or continue trying to move the person to your point of view when it is clear that his or her feet are stuck in stubborn concrete. You can make a choice…” So, state your position, pray for that person, commit it all to the Lord and His oversight then get on with your life free of burden. You have done your part. Do you need to do that today? Maybe your marriage partner, maybe a child, maybe someone in the Church. Seek reconciliation: “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry”.

Verses 30-32 also directly address anger. They teach us that we are to be like God in the way we deal with broken relationships.

Read 31, 32 “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you”.

We can see how anger escalates if left to itself: bitterness- that hardness of heart, resentment about the past. If not dealt with these lead to anger and wrath. First an explosion of rage but then a settled state of seething anger. And if they are not dealt with, these lead to brawling (clamour) and slander. The unrestrained yelling. The public quarrel and verbal abuse. God says clearly- put that kind of anger behind you. It’s part of your old nature. It’s part of the old way you used to relate to people.

Rather, says Paul, we are to deal with others in the way God has dealt with us, so verse 32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”

This is the way God deals with broken relationships:

All of us by nature deserve the anger of God. We deserve God’s anger for the way we push him aside. But God in Christ chose to be kind towards us. Compassionate towards us and forgive us.

God’s forgiveness cost Christ all that he had, but it is freely offered. This is to be the pattern of our own relationships within the Church family. It will be costly. It will be costly to deal with resentments- resentments perhaps carried for years. Someone says “I can’t look certain people in the face because of the way they have hurt me!” But this is where forgiveness must come in. God says be like me in the way you deal with those kind of broken relationships.

Reading inspirational accounts of costly forgiveness always get our own battles in perspective. It’s unlikely that any of us will ever have to deal with the kind of anger Susanne Geske must have felt when her husband was murdered by Muslim extremists. She and Tilmann were missionaries in Turkey. But somehow she was given the strength to forgive. Only possible by the Holy Spirit’s enabling. This is her statement to the press:

“We came to this country to live a normal life, the same as the Turks came to Germany as Muslims. We wanted to come to Turkey and live here as Christians. For us this is a very hard time. I have lost my lifelong friend and the children have lost their father. But I know that Tilmann died as a martyr in the name of Jesus Christ. His blood was not in vain. For Turkey this is a new start. Jesus said from the cross to the people around him, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ And I want to do the same.”

“Father forgive them for they know not what they do, and I want to do the same” Susanne Geske’s words remind us of the One we are to imitate, the One who shows us the Father. Paul affirms that we are to be like Christ in self-giving love towards others. Chapter 5:2 “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us”

We get angry when we feel devalued, or that our worth as a person has been insulted, or some need of ours has been ignored/unmet, or someone has shown contempt for our values or convictions. It’s like our anger keeps score of a record of wrongs. Anger is essentially selfish. But to be like Christ in self-giving love is to rip up the score sheet and throw it away. It’s remaining quiet when you want to defend yourself because you’ve entrusted yourself to the Father. It’s ignoring my rights; the Son of God had every right to receive worship and honour, but he was abused by His own Creation. Instead his love looks completely to the interests of the other. Through the very act of  being unjustly treated- the act that should give vent to Christ’s deepest anger and lead to his calling down legions of angels to strike those who have done this to Him-  through that very act Jesus gives himself up for us.

“live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” None of us will love one another to the degree Christ has loved us- but where He enables us to do so in some measure, then that is the love that overcomes anger and every evil.

“God demonstrates his love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”

Hymn

‘O for a heart to praise my God; a heart from sin set free’ MP 495 (Piano)

Charles Wesley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MWRgPxwtMs 

Blessing.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, evermore. Amen. 

David Barnes 1/9/22