Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of
Trinity Sermons. This week we are continuing
our sermon series titled The S Word, where we're
taking a deep dive into the seven deadly sins.
And this week we come to the sin known as wrath.
Wrath isn't a word that we use very often, but
it's sort of like anger. And as you might know,
anger can be a bit of a double -edged sword.
It can be really great to help us motivate and
move forward into action, but it can also be
really harmful. And so tune in as Rob unpacks
the helpful and harmful sides of anger and how
we can find a way forward. Today's reading is
from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 11, verses 1
to 11 and 15 to 19. As they approached Jerusalem
and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount
of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying
to them, Go to the village ahead of you, and
just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied
there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it
and bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are
you doing this? Say, the Lord needs it and will
send it back here shortly. They went and found
a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway.
As they untied it, some people standing there
asked, what are you doing untying that colt?
They answered as Jesus had told them to and the
people let them go. When they brought the colt
to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat
on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the
road while others spread branches they had cut
in the fields. Those who went ahead and those
who followed shouted, Hosanna! Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is
the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna
in the highest heaven. Jesus entered Jerusalem
and went into the temple courts. He looked around
at everything, but since it was already late,
he went out to Bethany with the twelve. On reaching
Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and
began driving out those who were buying and selling
there. He overturned the tables of the money
changers and the benches of those selling doves
and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise
through the temple courts. And as he taught them,
he said, is it not written, my house will be
called a house of prayer for all nations, but
you have made it a den of robbers. The chief
priests and the teachers of the law heard this
and began looking for a way to kill him, for
they feared him because the whole crowd was amazed
at his teaching. When evening came, Jesus and
his disciples went out of the city. The word
of the Lord. I hope you guys don't mind if I
brought my sword to church. No ordinary sword,
actually a double -edged sword, and I like to
keep the blades. Nice and sharp. And the reason
I brought this to church is, no, I'm not planning
on reenacting the book of Revelation right in
front of you. And I'm not planning on actually
reenacting our last board meeting here at Trinity
Streetsville either. No, I brought this because
we are now in week six of our teaching series,
The S Word, where we're looking at the seven
deadly sins. And the sixth deadly sin, the one
we're looking at today, is the sin. of anger,
or more specifically, the sin of wrath. The question
is, is anger a good thing? Or is it a bad thing?
You know, many people will say anger is absolutely
essential. We have to have anger. In fact, if
you're not angry, then you're not paying attention.
The good that happens in this world is fueled
by anger. And so anger is, in fact, our friend.
That's what some people say. But there are others
that say, no, no, no, no. You cannot fight fire
with fire. There's already enough anger in the
world. You can't use it. resist anger. You need
to resist it and put it away. And then, of course,
we could listen to the monks who gave us the
seven deadly sins to begin with. And some of
those monks say that, no, yes, properly used.
Anger is a tool that can attack evil and, in
fact, can even be considered a holy type of anger.
But there were other monks that said, no, are
you crazy? Who can wield anger? without hurting
the people around them or even injuring themselves.
And then you have people like Martin Luther.
Martin Luther once said that when he's angry,
that's when he does his best writing, his best
preaching, his best praying. It lights a fire
in him. And so anger was a good thing. But actually...
Martin Luther, some of his worst writings, some
of his most horrendous and anti -Semitic writings
that he ever wrote happened because of anger.
So anger twisted it and made it into something
awful and destructive. And then what about, you
know, People like Moses. Moses comes down Mount
Sinai. He sees the people of Israel worshiping
the golden calf and he is angry. He breaks the
Ten Commandments. And then, I don't know if you
read the rest of the story, but he goes on to
slay 3 ,000 of the Israelites. That's a lot of
anger. But at other times, Moses is like, oh
God, please turn from your anger. God, please
have mercy on us. God, you know, turn back from
your wrath. Or let's take, for example, someone
like Jeremiah. Jeremiah once said that I am full
of the wrath of God. It's bursting out of me,
he said. But then, at other times, Jeremiah said,
seek the peace and prosperity of the city in
which you live. Well, which is it, Jeremiah?
Let's talk about God. I mean, God says, vengeance
is mine. God says, I will repay. I'm a vengeful
God, he says. But then God also says that I am
slow to anger, forgiving my people to a thousand
generations. Or take the story of the flood.
God was obviously so angry with humankind that
he flooded the whole earth. It was so wicked,
he wanted to strike them all out. And yet, after
it was done, he hangs a rainbow in the sky. He
lays down the sword and says, I will never do
that again. And what do we do about Jesus, even?
Today, Jesus goes into the temple and he starts,
well, first of all, he makes a whip out of cords
and he starts thrashing things about. He flips
over the tables. The coins are all over the place.
Jesus is good and angry in this scene. But actually,
when Jesus came into Jerusalem, He was riding
on a donkey, on one of the most innocent and
gentle and meek and mild creatures you could
ever imagine. So what do we do with this? What
do you do with this? Because some of you, frankly,
you're the type of people who don't hold back.
Right? You're like, oh, I like to speak my truth.
I like to get it out there. I like to tell people
what I think. And I don't care if I burn the
whole place down when I do it. And then there
are others of you that will say, oh, no, I never
get angry. Any angry feeling that comes to me,
I repress. I shove it deep, deep down. It's always
bad. And I just try to smile. And I just try
to be nice. So what gives? Is anger good or bad?
Is it always sinful or can it sometimes be righteous?
Should we be afraid of this sword or should we
be grateful for it? Well, today what I want to
talk about are, in fact, the two edges of anger.
Like a sword, you see, anger cuts both ways.
It can either cut and destroy, or it can actually
cut through things and provide healing. I mean,
when used righteously, we get people using anger
like William Wilberforce or Mother Teresa or
Desmond Tutu. They channeled their anger for
the injustices that they saw in the world, and
they caused great and positive change. But then
there were other people who used the other blade
of anger and they just mishandled it. And they
wounded their relationships. They broke their
families apart. And even whole countries fell
into disorder because of unbridled anger of some
of the leaders. So it really depends on who is
wielding the sword and why. Because it cuts both
ways. And the other thing that we therefore learn
about anger is that it must be handled very carefully.
It must be handled with great skill and care,
just like handling a sword. You must have great
skill and care to handle a sword, otherwise you'll
cut yourself or you'll cut others. The same is
true with anger. You have to have great spiritual
maturity. You have to have great discernment
to know how to use anger properly. Look, you
don't just give a sword to a toddler. And yet
many of us, spiritually speaking, when it comes
to anger, we are like toddlers. So it must be
handled with skill and care. But thirdly, what
anger does is it actually reveals what's on the
inside of us. Just like a sword would cut through
me and reveal my innards, my insides, anger also
reveals what's going on inside of our heart.
And inside of our thoughts. Are we angry because
we see an injustice that has to be made right?
Or are we just angry because our ego got bruised?
And our pride is a problem. That all comes out
when we get angry. So you see, when Paul wrote
these words. When he said, be angry but do not
sin. Do you see the tension there? Anger is both
good and it is bad. We are at our worst. When
we are most angry, and yet some of the greatest
good in this world has been done through anger.
We need to learn the difference between these
two edges. The edge that I will call the sinful
edge of wrath and the edge of righteous anger.
Let's start with the first edge. The edge of
wrath. The first edge of wrath, why is wrath
considered a sin? Well, put simply, anger becomes
a sin, becomes wrath when it's too hot, it lasts
too long, and it's too misguided. What do I mean
by that? First of all, When anger gets too hot,
it turns into sin. It turns into wrath. It's
too explosive. It's when you blow up in the car
because somebody cut you off. It's when you're
snapping at your spouse for no particular reason
at all. You're barking at your kids and they
haven't really done anything wrong, right? It's
firing off an angry email. It's slamming the
door when you leave the room just so everybody
knows you are good and angry. Wrath is when our
emotion, the heat of emotion overtakes us. It's
okay to be intense, and having passion as a person
is important, but wrath turns anger into a flamethrower,
and it burns up everything. It burns up your
relationships, but more than that, it actually
burns up your reputation, and you become known
as that angry guy. You know, stay clear of him.
See, when your anger is too hot, the sword cuts
too deep, or it cuts in the wrong direction.
That's wrath. That's wrath. But the second thing
is, it's wrath when your anger lasts too long.
Anger doesn't always explode. Sometimes it just
simmers away for days and weeks and months and
years, and it shows up in grudges, in resentments,
and it calcifies over time. You find yourself
replaying those scenes in your head over and
over again. You find yourself thinking of great
lines that you're going to say to someone whenever
you come face to face. I'm going to let them
have it. But you never actually do say anything
to them. You just talk. about them behind their
back, but you don't actually talk to them face
to face. You see, wrath doesn't always destroy
with heat. Sometimes it destroys through cold
silence that just eats away at you and your community
and even your church. So you see, wrath is too
hot and it's too long. And thirdly, it's too
misguided. Wrath is often aimed at the wrong
thing, right? We get angry and we lash out, but
we lash out at the wrong person, right? We lash
out at a spouse or a friend or a colleague or
a coworker, some innocent bystander, but it's
not about them. The real problem was over here,
but we lashed out over here. The real problem
was in us, but we attacked someone else. So often
we think we're standing up for truth, But all
we're really standing up for is ourselves. So
you see, when it's too hot, when it lasts too
long, and when it is misguided, that's when anger
stops being righteous and becomes sinful wrath.
Question for you. When have you let wrath rule
your responses in this way? Proverbs 29 .11 says,
Fool gives full vent. to their wrath. Fools just
let it fly. They've got no reflection. There's
no restraint. They have no regard for the people
around. They didn't care how they look, right?
But let me ask you another question now. When
have you felt anger? And instead of, you know,
lashing out and burning something down, you actually
let it build something up. You use that anger
in a good way. You use that anger to speak up
for someone who couldn't speak for themselves.
You use that anger to stand up for someone who
couldn't stand up for themselves. That is the
difference between sinful wrath and righteous
anger, right? One cuts down, but the other actually
builds up. One wants to start a fight. The other
wants to fight for what is right. If wrath, therefore,
is anger gone wrong, then righteous anger is
when anger is being used in the right way. It's
not about ego when it's righteous. It's about
justice. It's not about payback. It's actually
about healing. It's about restoring. Anger should
be your normal response to when you see this
world gone wrong. When you look at the world
and say, this isn't how it was supposed to be.
When you look at the world and say, this isn't
how God intended it to be. It's okay to feel
anger. Actually, frankly, you should. feel anger,
but the question is, how do I know if my anger
is the bad edge or the good edge? Well, the first
thing you should look for, the first question
you should ask yourself is, am I angry for the
right reason, right? Am I angry because the cause
is just? Is there something really wrong in the
world here, and that's why I'm angry, or am I
just annoyed and tired and worn out? Is this
about someone else's suffering and I want to
defend them? Or is this really about my own wounded
pride and I want to defend myself? Righteous
anger says, how can we let this happen to them?
We've got to do something about it. But sinful
wrath says, well, how dare they treat me like
this? We've got to do something about them. You
see, if Jesus had gone to the temple and he had
turned over all those tables and scattered the
coins, all because someone butt ahead of him
in line, then that would not be righteous anger.
That would be wrath. But in fact, Jesus had the
right reason for what he did. He saw that the
poor were being exploited. He saw that visitors
were being excluded. He saw that the name of
God was being defiled in the temple. He had the
right reason. He had the right cause. That was
worth getting angry about. When you get angry,
are you angry? angry for the right reason. But
secondly, when you get angry, are you angry to
the right degree, right? You got to be angry
sometimes, but what about how far do you go in
that anger? Is your anger appropriate to the
situation that you're in? Or do you just go nuclear,
right, every time, even if it's a small matter,
a small thing? That's where a lot of us get it
wrong. It isn't because our anger is wrong. It's
just that it goes to the wrong extent. It's too
big. It's too loud. It's too quick. If you have
righteous anger, the good kind of anger, it doesn't
blow up. It doesn't escalate. It actually tries
to heal. Its goal is to heal. Jesus' action in
the temple wasn't a temper tantrum. Actually,
a lot of people think it was a planned... It
was a planned demonstration where he was trying
to point out a problem with the temple and ultimately
point people toward healing. But when our anger
is too intense and it's too loud and too over
the top, you know what? It actually even drowns
out the point we were trying to make. Nobody
even listens to us. When our anger is extreme,
the volume overshadows the message, right? The
rage overshadows. your righteousness, which means
you can be right about a cause, but very wrong
in how you respond. When you get angry, when
you get angry, is your anger measured and controlled,
or are you just swinging this thing all over
the place? So anger is good when it's for the
right reason, and it's to the right degree, but
it's also for the right duration. Righteous anger
is always short -lived. The Bible never says
you can't be angry, but the Bible does say you
can't live there. You can't live in a constant
state of anger. A lot of times married couples
are familiar with this verse, do not let the
sun go down on your anger. But this isn't just
good relationship advice. This is spiritual survival.
Anger can be good, but not when it hurts. So
again, a question for you. What anger have you
carried through too many sunsets and sunrises?
What would it look like for you to actually put
that sword down today? So if I was to... put
all of this in kind of a chart form, well, it
would look like this chart that I made, right?
Righteous anger seeks justice and restoration,
is motivated by love for others, is measured,
restrained, and slow. Sinful wrath seeks revenge
or control, is caused by a wounded ego or pride,
and is explosive, reactive, and simmering, right?
Put it this way. William Williman says, our problem
is not that we are angry. Our problem is that
we're angry about the wrong things and in the
wrong way. There is a right way to be angry.
And if you're angry for the right reason and
the right degree and for the right duration,
that can lead to actually positive change. What
about Jesus? Of course, it must be said at the
outset that Jesus was not known for being an
angry person. Crowds did not gather around Jesus.
People did not follow Jesus because he was angry.
That wasn't his M .O. Jesus' M .O. was that he
touched lepers. Jesus' M .O. was that he welcomed
children. He ate with tax collectors and sinners.
He even forgave his enemies, even from the cross.
That's the Jesus that we know. And today, as
Jesus rode into Jerusalem, his arrival is not
marked by heat or hostility, but just by humility.
He doesn't enter Jerusalem on a war horse. He's
not that kind of king, right? He's not a donkey.
And his followers aren't waving swords in the
streets. No, he's not that kind of king. They're
waving palm branches. But it must also be said
that Jesus did get angry. And when he did, it
was in the right way. For the right reasons.
Let me just give you a little survey of some
of the times that Jesus got angry. And maybe
we'll learn, you know, maybe the things that
should make us angry too. So for one, Jesus got
angry because of indifference. to suffering,
right? There was this one moment where Jesus
was in the synagogue on the Sabbath and he saw
this poor guy. He had a withered hand and Jesus
wanted to heal him. But the religious leader
said, no, no, you can't heal him. I'm not on
this Sabbath. And it made Jesus so mad. He looked
around at them in anger at these religious leaders.
He was distressed at their stubborn hearts. He
couldn't believe how indifferent they were to
the suffering that was right before him. Why
was Jesus angry here? actually out of love. He
loved this guy. He wanted to heal this guy. It
was the religious leaders that made him so angry.
Indifference to suffering made Jesus angry. Also,
Jesus got very angry at death itself. At Lazarus's
tomb, when one of his best friends died, Jesus
was moved to tears. But it wasn't just because
he was sad. It was actually because he was mad.
The Greek word here, embromaomai, doesn't just
mean sadness. It actually means a sense of anger
or outrage. My friend has died. His anger isn't
aimed at people. It's aimed at... Death itself,
that made Jesus angry. Jesus also gets angry
when he sees vulnerable people being abused.
Referring to children, he said, you know, it
would actually be, if anyone causes one of these
little kids to stumble, it would be better for
them to have a millstone hung around their neck.
That's some pretty serious verbiage, Jesus. He
sounds like he's got the sword ready to go, but
he's standing up. for the weak and the forgotten.
Jesus also really got angry with religious hypocrisy.
When religious people pretended to be better
than others, he says to some of the religious
leaders, he says, woe to you, you hypocrites.
You clean the outside of the cup and you pretend
to be so good, but inside you are full of greed
and self -indulgence. Gosh, Jesus got steamed
with people like this, the religious people.
Oh, I look so good on the outside, but actually
look at all the people that I'm neglecting and
the hurt that I'm causing. But let's look at
the moment we read about this morning. Jesus
enters into the temple. It's the center of worship,
right? It's a place where heaven and earth are
supposed to overlap. They're meant to meet. And
when he goes into the temple, what does he find?
He finds not reverence. Not prayer. He finds
a marketplace. He finds a system that is set
up for corruption. And exploitation. Money changers
charging high interest rates on the exchange.
People selling animals in the gouging prices.
And the outer court of the temple, the court
where the Gentiles are supposed to come to worship,
it's basically been turned into a shopping mall.
And so Jesus cries out. He says, you've turned
my father's house into a den of robbers. Now
Jesus was not throwing a tantrum. Again, he wasn't
flipping people. He was flipping tables, right?
He didn't lose it, but he loved it. He loved
that temple. He loved those people. And he loved
God so much that he couldn't leave it that way.
In a nutshell, Jesus does not appear to be angry
very often. When he is angry, his anger is always
directed towards someone else's protection or...
in defense of his father's house, his father's
name. His wrath is calculated, confrontational,
and loving. So those are the two edges of the
sword of anger. There's a good kind, and there
is a bad kind. There is the edge of sinful wrath,
which we have to watch out for, and then there
is the edge of righteous anger. Now, I want to
end by actually holding out. A third possibility.
There's another way we could go here. And that
is not to use this side of the sword, for sure.
And actually also not to use this side of the
sword. But there's a third way to go, and that
actually doesn't involve using the sword at all.
One way to express our anger is to get really
steamed and lash out. But another way to express
our anger is just to pray it out, right? Anger
needs to be expressed. We all agree on that.
But the first place we should go to express that
anger should be God. We call that prayer, by
the way. God is strong enough. God is good enough
and holy enough to receive whatever anger you
want to throw at him and lob at him. He can take
it. Injustice is not too much for him. Your sorrow
is not too much for him. In fact, that's what
prayer is in a way. Prayer is saying, God, we
need justice. God, this world isn't the way it's
supposed to be. God, I can't fix this situation.
So what you should do before you get out your
sword is to get on your knees and to pray. That
is the best way to express our anger. We pray.
our anger. But secondly, when we pray our anger,
something very interesting happens. We actually
then are entrusting our anger to God. We say,
God, this is wrong. I'm telling you about it.
God, now you deal with it. Because do you know
that injustice that you see that drives you crazy?
God sees it too. And do you know that injustice
that makes you so upset? It makes God angry.
God is angry at the same things that make you
angry, if they're the right sort of things. And
of course, what kind of God would God be if he
didn't get angry at injustice and war and abuse
and trafficking and racism and greed? You know,
Miroslav Volf says, I wouldn't even want to worship
that God. A God who is not wrathful at the sight
of the world's injustice is not worthy of worship.
But here's the thing. God doesn't just get angry
at these things. He promises to do something
about it. He is the God of justice. And one day
he says, it's my job. It's my job. I will sort
it out and I will make all this wrong right.
But that is my job. It is not your job. That
is why Paul says, beloved, never avenge yourselves.
Leave it to God. Because God has said, vengeance
is his. Let him work it out. Or there's this
great moment when, you know, Egypt, the armies
of Egypt are coming upon Moses and the people
of Israel. They don't know what to do. They feel
like there's no hope. But God says, listen, let
me fight for you here. You just be still. Now
that is... the heart of it. If we pray our anger
to God, if we entrust this stuff to God, then
we have to believe God will sort it out. God
will act justly in his timing, right? And that
means we're free. We don't need this. We don't
need this because God is going to look after
it. He will be the one to mete out justice. We
don't need to. And that means that we can actually
put this sword away altogether, right? We can
put the sword away. That's what, in fact, those
ancient monks advise us. Rather than trying to
figure out, ooh, which side of the sword am I
using? Am I using this edge or am I using this
edge? You know what they say? You know, it's
better just to root out all anger than try to
distinguish between the good kinds of anger and
the bad kinds of anger. You know, sometimes even
when our anger is justified, acting on it can
be really dangerous because we're not as smart
as Jesus. We're not as wise as Jesus. And consider
this, just as we close. When the greatest injustice
that ever happened was about to take place, when
the most innocent victim ever was about to be
abused, when the corruption and hypocrisy of
the world was at its greatest, when it all came
down on Jesus, when he was arrested and he was
tried and crucified and killed. In that moment,
we would think, okay, that's the moment to fight.
That's the moment for anger. That's the time
to say, let's make this right. Pick up the sword
and let's go. But here's the thing. Even in that
moment, look what Jesus says. He says, put your
sword away. For all who live by the sword will
die by the sword. Guys, this is the invitation
of Palm Sunday. To follow this weird king, who
on the one hand makes a whip, but on the other
hand himself is whipped. Who on the one hand,
he turns over the tables, but on the other hand
he refuses the sword. Anger plays in your life,
whether you're too angry or, frankly, whether
you're not angry enough. But let's remember,
always avoid the edge of sinful wrath at all
costs. And yes, the other edge, there is a place
for righteous anger in the face of evil. But
you better be sure you're skilled enough to wield
it without doing harm. Can you tell which edge
is which? So maybe the best thing we should do
is put the sword away, pray our anger to God,
and trust that he will fight for us. And then
to believe with all our hearts that his justice
will actually be more holy and more healing than
anything we could ever work out for ourselves.
So thanks be to God. Amen.