[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermon Resources for February 13 - Part 1

[Joe Parrish]

Sermons for the Epiphany 6:
 
     Matthew 5:21-26 - "The Forbidden Anger" 
     Deuteronomy 30:15-20 - "Stand Up and Raise Your Voice" by Leonard Sweet
 
Matthew 5, the sermon titled "The Forbidden Anger" 
 
It was my most embarrassing moment in the sixth grade. At recess my friend Johnny had done something I did not like. After returning to class I decided to send a message to him. As Mrs. Ferguson wrote on the blackboard I scribbled a message on a piece of paper, folded it into a type of glider that would sail, then tossed it in the direction of Johnny. That aerial production must have been flawed. It made a left turn and headed toward the teacher's desk just as she turned away from the blackboard. Then with horror I remembered that I had signed the note. She retrieved it and read it out loud. After all these years the memory of what I wrote is still clear: "Johnny, you are a fool. (signed) Billy."

Mrs. Ferguson, a staunch Calvinist Presbyterian, took her well-worn Bible from her desk. In those days we had scripture and prayer each morning. She turned quickly to Matthew, chapter 5, and read verse 22: "But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire." I felt lower than a whale's belly. She launched into a fervent sermon that would have made even the vilest sinner repent. She capped it off by saying, "And you, Billy, should be particularly ashamed for writing such words since your father is a minister." That was hitting below the belt, don't you think? 

I could not attempt a sermon on the Sermon on the Mount without devoting one sermon to Jesus' words about the forbidden anger. I dedicate it to Mrs. Ferguson. 

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, given in chapters five through seven of Matthew's Gospel, could be called "Lifestyle in the Kingdom of God." Here we have the party platform of the Kingdom. It contains exalted expectations, the most radical ethical standards ever articulated. Notice that in verse 21 Jesus said, "You have heard it said of old...but I say unto you." That one who spoke of old was Moses. Jesus was placing himself on the same level as Moses or higher. Some regarded that as the height of presumption. 

Jesus is not claiming here that all anger is sin. The Hebrew word for anger occurs 455 times in the Old Testament; 375 of these refer to the anger of God. The Lord does get angry. Nahum the prophet asked, "Who can stand before his indignation? What can endure the heat of his anger?" (Nahum 1:03) 

Jesus got angry at times. In Mark, chapter 3, we have an example. One Sabbath Day in the synagogue Jesus met a man with a withered hand. Some of the Pharisees were standing around ready to pounce on Jesus if he healed the man, because healing was considered to be work, and that was prohibited on the Sabbath. The Bible says, "Jesus looked around at them with anger." It burned Jesus to see religious people care more about their rules than the well-being of a human being. Jesus became angry when people got hurt or God's house was desecrated. Jesus' anger was never selfish. 

St. Paul went so far as to commend anger. He wrote, "Be angry but do not sin." We ought to get angry about certain things. It ought to anger us that young women are being victimized by businesses that exploit sex in our community. It ought to anger us that our newspapers make money by advertising such businesses. It ought to anger us that approximately people in our community have no access to basic medical care. It ought to anger us that a child is killed by gunfire somewhere in the United States every two hours. It ought to anger us that over 1 million abortions are performed every year in America. It ought to anger us that in some schools it is easier to pass out condoms than it is to have a graduation prayer. We call this kind of anger righteous indignation. It is godly anger, anger that motivates us to overcome injustice and extend mercy.

That's not the kind of anger Jesus condemns in the Sermon on the Mount. He is attacking a much more common variety that lurks in all our hearts. This is selfish anger. This kind of anger, says James, "worketh not the righteousness of God." Paul was referring to this emotion when he wrote, "Put off all anger, wrath, and malice." (Colossians 3:5)...
 
The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining http://www.sermons.com/signup
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Deuteronomy 30, the sermon titled "Stand Up and Raise Your Voice" by Leonard Sweet 
 
Why is it that the first directive every teacher learns how to give is "Okay, everybody, sit down and be quiet?" Or less politely, "Sit down and shut up!" 
 
When did learning become yoked to being sedentary and silent? When did learning have more to do with anesthetics (that slow down your senses) than with aesthetics (that wake up your senses)? 
 
Sure. Sometimes we have to "listen up" in order to learn. But how can we get answers if we cannot first voice our questions? The best teachers and the most gifted learners know this: the more voices that contribute, the more learning will happen.
 
Finding your voice. That is the theme of the surprise Academy Award favorite movie "The King's Speech." Royal watchers and romantics have focused forever on the king who gave up the throne for the woman he loved, Edward VIII, never giving much thought to the "spare" who replaced the "heir." With a profound stammer and knock-knees, Prince Albert, aka "Bertie," hardly rated a second glance until he was suddenly his country's "second chance" at having a new king.
 
The greatest obstacle preventing Prince Albert from becoming King George VI was his inability to find his own voice. The movie focuses on how the royal monarch's relationship with a gifted speech therapist, Lionel Logue, enabled a stumbling stammerer to become a beloved sovereign. Logue is self-taught and without credentials. But he utilized the most advanced technology he had at hand to help his royal student. He even used phonograph recordings of the king's own voice so that Albert could truly "hear" himself for the first time. 
 
But Logue also used something more important and powerful: the age-old power of relationship to tune and tone the king's voice. It took years of coaching, learning to trust each other, and building respect for each other, before Logue could declare to Albert "You must have faith in your voice!" But when that point came, it was their relationship that enabled the man no one ever thought would be king finally to respond "I have a voice!"
 
Do you have faith in your voice? Have you used your voice? 
 
In the past week young pro-democracy protestors in Egypt have shown...
 
The rest of the sermon dealing with the Egypt crisis please join http://www.sermons.com/signup 
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Anger: Kilkenny Cats
 
Jesus warns us against anger, and reminds us to find a better way to resolve our conflicts.  It is impossible to avoid confrontations and conflict, but we should never let anger poison our relationships or lead to damage that is impossible to undo.  It reminds me of a traditional Irish poem:
 
There once were two cats of Kilkenny,
Each thought there was one cat too many;
So they fought and they fit,
And they scratched and they bit,
Till, excepting their nails,
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats there weren't any.
 
When anger takes over, irrational actions can lead to self-destruction and harm to others.  While the cats of Kilkenny might not be unable to control their animal nature, Jesus reminds us we certainly can.
 
Traditional
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The Skeleton at the Feast
 
Of the 7 deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back--in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.  
 
Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking Transformed by Thorns, p. 117. 
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Truth Tellers
 
For generations, the Quakers refused to follow our legal system's requirement that witnesses in court must place their hand upon a bible and "swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." They were criticized, and ridiculed and in some cases, incarcerated for their refusal to take an oath. But because they have gained the reputation of being honest people, they are, in some courts, no longer required to swear on the bible. They are known as truth-tellers.

Perhaps the old joke that we have told for generations is not just funny but also true. Lena says to her husband "Ole, why don't you tell me you love me anymore?" And Ole replies "I told you fifty years ago that I loved you, and if that ever changes, I'll let you know." Even Ole was a truth-teller.

Steve Molin, The Power of a Promise 
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Destructive Anger
 
In the Spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball game. But what happened that day was anything but routine.

The Orioles' John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. Within minutes all the players from both teams had joined in the brawl. The warfare quickly spread to the grandstands. Among the fans the conflict went from bad to worse. Someone set fire to the stands and the entire ballpark burned to the ground. Not only that, but the fire spread to 107 other Boston buildings as well.

Anger, my brothers and sisters, is destructive. It poisons relationships. It often brings violence. 
 
Adrian Dieleman, Be First to Seek Reconciliation 
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