Psychologists urge us to acknowledge it as a perfectly natural emotion.  Moral theologians have classified it as one of the seven deadly sins.

We have all felt it in our hearts and weathered it from others.  Everyone agrees about one thing when it comes to anger.  Anger can make a terrible mess of things and learning to deal with it is an important part of our lives.

In our fourth week together studying the Sermon on the Mount, we will explore what Jesus teaches us about anger.  The passage for the week is Matthew 5:21-26:

‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.” ²²But 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. ²³So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister^* has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister,^* and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court^* with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.’

Last week we saw that Jesus does not overturn the moral law.  He fulfills it and teaches us to embody the moral law in our own lives.  But he wants more for us than a grudging adherence to a set of rules that feel like unwelcome intrusions and disruptions in our lives.  Fulfilling the moral law involves right action directed by a heart that desires God’s good purposes.  In other words, being moral involves letting Jesus give us a new heart.

So it is no surprise that Jesus turns in this next part of his teaching to the subject of anger.  Jesus knows us so well.  When anger rises in our hearts, we sometimes say and do things that we almost immediately regret.  And yet when we repress our anger it often comes flying out at innocent bystanders at some unpredictable later date.

We seem to make a mess when we express our anger, and when we try to hold it in.  Jesus teaches us a better way. When are actions are directed by hearts renewed by God, we will desire what God desires—not the satisfaction of our anger, but the redress of how it has broken relationships and disrupted friendships in our lives. Hearts directed by God’s desire will yearn to heal the ways our own rages have hurt others – they will yearn towards reconciliation: to seek, and grant, forgiveness.