It’s the spring of 1894. It’s a much simpler time. And a beautiful day for baseball in Boston . The Baltimore Orioles are in town and everything is shaping up to be a great game on a great day. Until the Orioles' John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. It started out as a minor disagreement between the two but quickly spread to all the men on both teams. And then, as so often happens, a similar fight broke out in the stands among different fans. That too spread until almost everybody at the game was fighting with somebody. Then somebody actually set fire to the stands and the whole ball park burned down. But it didn’t end there. That fire actually spread to 107 other Boston buildings as well. What started out as a minor disagreement nearly burned down a whole city. And it started at a baseball game.
Isn’t that ridiculous? I will say, though, that not much has changed in 120 years. Just before Christmas in the Bronx , huge fights broke out over the new Nike Air Jordan 11 Gamma Blue sneakers. Multiple people had serious injuries over $185 pair of shoes. Isn’t that crazy?
A while back, a man in Topeka , Kansas was arrested after he drove his car through the front doors of Dillon’s Grocery Store. When asked why he did it he said he was angry because the wind blew a shopping cart into his car and scratched it…so he crashed the car into the building. Sometimes I think the world has gone crazy. Or at least I would if I didn’t know that this kind of thing has gone on literally since the beginning.
Now, the Bible doesn’t say anything about Adam and Eve getting into any arguments, although, I’m sure there was plenty of heated discussions about whose fault that whole apple incident was. “I told you not to eat that thing!” “Well, I wouldn’t have eaten it if you had been sensitive to my needs!” But their 2 sons did have a problem one time as you may remember. And it did not turn out well. Turn to the very first book in the Bible, Genesis, and let’s look at chapter 4, verses 2-8.
As you turn there, I want to build on something we talked about last week. Everybody says they hate to waste time and yet we do it every day in one way or another. Some people watch too much TV. Some people spend too much time on Facebook. Others may gossip. People do all kinds of things that are a waste of time but I want to focus on 2 things that really gobble up large amounts of people’s time but also do damage in other ways as well.
Last week we talked about how worrying was such a waste of time. We know that worry is a waste of time and that we are not supposed to do it but we also saw that it is a sin, creating a barrier between us and the One Who is able to help us, God. This week we will look at the sin of anger and see that it too is a timewaster but that it also does great damage as well. Let’s read about the first murder ever committed, a murder born of anger.
Genesis 4:2-8 says,
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
I mentioned earlier that anger is a sin. I think we all know that not all anger is a sin but the kind of anger we are going to be talking about today most definitely is. The other kind of anger is anger like Jesus expressed toward the men who were selling things in the temple and defiling the temple in such a way that Jesus got very angry and even started turning their tables over. That kind of anger is what we might call “righteous indignation.”
Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry and do not sin.” The problem is that when the time comes for us to show righteous indignation most of us sit on our hands and wait for somebody else to do it. But when somebody gets our parking spot at Walmart, then we want to emulate Jesus and go off on somebody. But it doesn’t work that way.
Let’s look closer at the true story of Cain and Abel again. I’m sure you have all heard a hundred sermons preached or lessons taught about this passage since you were a little kid. And there are volumes and volumes of books written about this with the common conclusion basically being that God was not so much displeased with the offering of Cain itself as He was with Cain. It was Cain’s attitude that spoiled the offering. And that is a huge lesson to be learned for all of us.
But what fascinates me most this morning in relation to our topic of how anger is a waste of time and more is what God says to Cain in verses 6 and 7. And in these 2 verses we will see how we can either be accepted by God or acquired by sin. Then we will look at some practical ways that we can achieve victory over anger.
So, let’s read verses 6 and 7 again. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” The word accepted is to be accepted by God and means to be raised up or have dignity in the eyes of God. That’s fascinating to me because Todd has a hard time believing that God could ever respect him. But that’s what is meant by that phrase and it comes from the mouth of God Himself. When we overcome the sin of anger, God has respect for us.
I’ll be honest. I had a hard time writing that in my notes. I really had to study that phrase and what it meant over and over to be sure I was right. You know, it has always amazed me when I think about God wanting to be my friend. We sing about it and we hear that Abraham was called God’s friend. Jesus even said in John 15:14 that, “You are my friends if you do what I command.”
But when I think of who I am and Who God is it is hard for me to understand it. But as far as I am from deserving it, I have to believe it. And if we are God’s friend then I can believe that He has respect for us when we overcome sin, like this sin of anger that Cain is dealing with.
And at this point I want us to see that it is not too late for Cain. He has not sinned yet and God is encouraging him not to by telling him the pros and cons of the choice he has to make. We have all been there. Something negative happens to us. Somebody cuts us off on the highway. Somebody cuts us out of the will. Somebody cuts us with a knife. Whatever it is, big or little; it’s the same sin of anger if you respond incorrectly. But at the moment it happens, you have a choice.
You have heard it said that you can’t keep a bird from flying over your head but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair. Well, that bird had flown over Cain’s head but had not yet landed and so it was not too late for him to make the wise choice and to respond properly. And God was encouraging Cain to do just that. Respond properly and be accepted and respected by God.
We might not think about it but God knows how difficult it is for you to overcome sin. He created you and He knows you. He also knows about sin. Jesus was tempted just like we are and He never gave in but He knows the struggle. He knows how hard that is.
That’s why when we as believers have been obedient we can expect God to welcome us into Heaven, not with, “Ok, next!” but with, “Well done my good and faithful servant! I know how hard that was for you. I was with you every step of the way and I saw how hard you tried and I saw you fail but I also saw how you stored my words in your heart and allowed me to work in and through you to overcome that sin. So, I respect you for that and welcome you in to my Heaven!”
In Acts 10 it says, “So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Again, that word “accepted” means to be raised up or have dignity or be respected by God. And how do we do that? God told Cain to do what is right. Peter said if we do what is right. And we will see in a minute some practical ways we can make sure we do what is right.
But first let’s look at the consequences of not doing what is right. Let’s see what will happen if we allow that bird of anger to build a nest in our hair. Read the end of verse 7 again. “But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” This verse reminds me of 1 Peter 5:8 that says, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
So, we have 2 choices: we can either do the right thing and handle our anger correctly and it says we will have the respect of Almighty God or we can poke the lion with a stick. It says that sin is crouching at your door and that gives the picture of an evil demon crouching there waiting for you to open the door so he can devour you. When you open the door to sin, you are opening the door to the powerful being that wants nothing more than to kill you dead.
Anger doesn’t just waste time just like worry is not just a waste of time. Both are sinful and sin puts a barrier between us and the One that can and will help us and opens the door to the one who wants to kill us.
But the last part of verse 7 says that we must master it. We must master our anger so there must be a way to do that. Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, was angered by an army officer who accused him of favoritism. Stanton complained to Lincoln, who suggested that Stanton write the officer a sharp letter. Stanton did, and showed the strongly worded missive to the president. "What are you going to do with it?" Lincoln inquired. Surprised, Stanton replied, "Send it." Lincoln shook his head. "You don't want to send that letter," he said. "Put it in the stove. That's what I do when I have written a letter while I am angry. It's a good letter and you had a good time writing it and feel better. Now burn it, and write another." http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/a/anger.htm
There are ways of handling your anger. You can go to anger management classes and they will probably teach you things like Lincoln was teaching. They might even teach you to count to 10 before responding or to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. But I want to show you what the Bible says about it, written by a man who had reason to be angry lots of times.
He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, left for dead, starved, robbed and put in prison all for just preaching the Gospel and nowhere does it mention him being angry at the ones who did it to him. When talking about anger, some people use the excuse that that’s just how they are and they can’t help it. God made them that way.
That excuse doesn’t fly when you see that Paul was once Saul and it says that he was “breathing out murderous threats” on one day and the next thing you know he was the Apostle Paul who gave great insight into overcoming anger in the book of Ephesians. Turn there if you will, to the 4th chapter, starting in the 25th verse and let’s read through the end of the chapter.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, 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.
There are 92 more sermons right there but I promise I’ll be brief and just give you 3 helpful, practical ways you can overcome the sin of anger as written by somebody who has done it. Paul says in verse 25 to speak truth. Now, why would he say that in context of anger? Well, it makes perfect sense. What happens when you are dishonest and you are found out? Somebody gets mad at you and you get mad at them in return. It doesn’t make sense but tell me it doesn’t happen because it does.
And Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” And that means to always speak the truth and do not deceive.
So, #1 is to speak the truth. #2 is from verse 26 and that is to stay current with your anger. It says not to let the sun go down on your anger. And that is whether it is righteous indignation anger or sinful anger, let it last no more than a day. I have heard it said that a person who is angry on the right grounds, against the right persons, in the right manner, at the right moment, and for the right length of time deserves great praise.
And #3 is to attack the problem not the person. This is from verse 29 that says to build others up with your talk. I just quoted Romans 12:18 but let me read the whole paragraph that it comes from. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. That’s Romans 12:17-21.
So, God told Cain to overcome the sin of anger. And Paul said it and proved it could be done. So, we can do it too. God knows that anger and worry both are not just a waste of time but they can be extremely harmful to us, our friends and relatives and to our relationship with God. A lady once came to Billy Sunday and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. "There's nothing wrong with losing my temper," she said. "I blow up, and then it's all over." "So does a shotgun," Sunday replied, "and look at the damage it leaves behind!" Billy Sunday.
So, this year let’s all try not to waste any time with worry or anger. But the real secret to not doing that is by first making sure that you have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus. Because it is through that relationship that we not only have forgiveness for doing those things but the help we need to overcome and not do them again. And those are just earthly benefits. I would love to tell you more as the music plays and we enter into our time of invitation.
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