Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus
All praise and glory to the Triune God. As we continue our walk during this Lenten period, I would like to reflect on a small portion of today's evening Gospel Reading from the Gospel of St. Matthew 5: 17-26. From this section, I would like to ponder on our Master's Voice from verses 21-26, which is on Anger.
Robert Jones, in his book Uprooting Anger, wrote "Anger is a universal problem, prevalent in every culture, experienced by every generation. No one is isolated from its presence or immune from its poison. It permeates each person and spoils our most intimate relationships. Anger is a given part of our fallen human fabric. Sadly this is true even in our Christian homes and churches."
Adding on to Robert Jones' observation about our Christian homes and churches that our anger is often directed toward those we should love most: our spouse, children, parents, or siblings in human families, and those who are true brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus in our church families. What is anger? We will mostly say, "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it, especially if it's directed toward me." We can generally define anger simply as a strong feeling of displeasure, and usually of antagonism. It is often followed by sinful emotions, words, and actions hurtful to those who are the objects of our anger.
Some people may justify their anger as righteous anger. They feel that they have a right to be angry, given a certain situation. How, then, can I know if my anger is righteous anger? First, righteous anger arises from an accurate perception of true evil - that is, as a violation of God's moral law. It focuses on God and His will, not on me and my will. Second, righteous anger is always self-controlled. It never causes one to lose his temper or retaliate in some vengeful way.
In facing up to our anger, we need to realize that no one else causes us to be angry. Someone else's words or actions may become the occasion of our anger, but the cause lies deep within us - usually our pride, or selfishness, or desire to control. We may become angry because someone has mistreated us in some way. A person gossips about us, and when we hear about it, we get angry. Why? It's likely because our reputation or our character has been questioned. Again the cause is our pride.
We get angry because we don't get our way. We frequently see this in children, but it is true of us who are adults too. We get angry as a response to someone else's anger too.
These hypothetical situations are not intended to justify our actions. Clearly they are sinful. But we can choose how we will respond to the sinful actions of others towards us. Consider Apostle Peter's words to the slaves in the first-century churches, who often served under cruel and unjust masters. According to much present-day thinking they would be justified in their anger, but here are Peter's words to them:
Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God." (1 Peter 2:18-20).
St. Peter's instructions to slaves are a specific application of a broader scriptural principle: We are to respond to any unjust treatment as "mindful of God". To be mindful of God means to think of God's will and God's glory. How would God have me respond in this situation? How can I best glorify God by my response? Do I believe that this difficult situation or this unjust treatment is under the sovereign control of God and that in His infinite wisdom and goodness He is using these difficult circumstances to conform me more to the likeness of Christ? (see Romans 8:28; Hebrews 12:4-11).
I have no doubt that in tense situations and in the emotional heat of the moment, we are not going to go through a checklist of questions. But we can and should develop that habit of thinking this way. Oftentimes, my response to someone else's unjust action is sinful anger. But in the after moments of a difficult episode, we can choose to continue to hold on to our anger, or we can reflect on such questions as above and allow the Holy Spirit to dissolve our anger.
There might be a myriad of other circumstances or actions of other people that can tempt us to be angry. But they can never cause us to be angry. The cause always lies within our hearts, usually as a result of our pride or selfishness. It is safe to say that all of us get angry from time to time. So how do we handle our anger in a God-honoring way? First, we have to recognize and acknowledge our anger and the sinfulness of it. Then we need to ask ourselves why we became angry. Was it because of our pride or selfishness or some idol of the heart we are protecting? If so, we need to repent not only of our anger but also of our pride, selfishness and idolatry.
After having dealt with the expression of our anger through recognition and repentance, we need to change our attitude toward the person or persons whose words or actions triggered our anger. If we have expressed our anger outwardly, we also need to seek the forgiveness of the person we have wounded by our anger.
Do remember our Master's Voice in St. Matt. 5:23-24
"So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer you sacrifice to God."
May the love of the Father, grace of the Son and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be unto you all and guide you to fight the issues of anger you might face in your life.
Please do keep me in your prayers.
Your Brother in Christ Jesus
Jobin George
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