Sermon - Trinity VI 2023 - Matthew 5:17-26

Moses with the Ten Commandments, Rembrandt, 1659

Anger

1. It’s easy to be angry with each other.

2. There is such a thing as righteous anger, but not all anger is righteous

3. We should seek reconciliation, not anger

4. Our Lord forgives us, even though we clearly don’t deserve His mercy

You know, it’s not always easy to get along with each other. We are certainly prone to anger. Obviously we’re all sinful, so we make mistakes and do wicked things, provoking each other to anger. But we’re also just different people, so we have different interests, personalities, and gifts. Additionally, we are easily offended, getting upset and emotional over everything. All of these things combine to make it difficult to get along and easy to be angry. Jesus taught us: “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” 

Jesus’ words are hard to hear because we are so quick to anger and outrage. This is why what Jesus says is so valuable for us today, because it teaches us to get along with each other. It also makes our lives better. Because when you hold onto anger, resentment, bitterness in your heart, it erodes away and destroys your faith and makes you a sad and lonely person. Anger is not good for the soul, it’s a serious spiritual danger. So when you let go of your anger, it actually makes your life much better. 

 Remember who we’re dealing with: “everyone who is angry with his brother.” The word brother was commonly used in the New Testament to refer to fellow believers, so we’re talking about the family, the household of faith. We’re aren’t talking about trying to get along with our enemies here, we’re just talking about trying to get along with other Christians, our own people. 

Because if we were talking about our enemies, then there is room for righteous anger. Like St. Paul wrote in Ephesians: “Be angry, and do not sin.” So, obviously, you can be angry without sinning. Jesus did this when He overturned the tables and chased out the money changers with a whip. Sometimes anger is necessary. For example, if I come across someone attacking my wife or children, it would be sinful for me not to be angry, since I have to be angry enough to defend my wife and kids. In a sense, anger is part of love, since anger is how we feel when someone we love is being attacked. So, righteous anger is a thing, and it’s a proper response in certain situations.

However, it’s a human tendency of ours to assume all of our anger is righteous anger and is justifiable. But that’s not true, because far too often our anger doesn’t spring from a righteous love of another, but from selfishness. That is the type of anger Jesus condemns: anger that springs from selfishness and pride instead of love for another. If our brother has sinned against us, our response shouldn’t be anger, but to seek reconciliation. If we’ve been offended, then we should talk to them, but anger has no place. If they called us to repentance, showing us our sins from the Bible, we definitely shouldn’t be angry, but repentant. Or if they just did something differently than we might do, or they’re merely not like us, but they didn’t sin, then anger is really out of place. As difficult as this is, whenever we’re dealing with the household of faith, other Christians, anger has no place in our hearts.

Instead of anger, we are to seek reconciliation with our fellow Christian. “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” This instruction goes both ways: we reconcile with those who have sinned against us, and those against whom we’ve sinned. 

I know that is difficult for us to do. For that reason here are a couple things that help you to reconcile with others and not feel angry and harbor grudges towards them. First, pray for them. Jesus says later in the Sermon on the Mount: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” This is helpful because it changes your perspective on this other person. Instead of thinking about them for the reasons that make you angry, you rather pray for them, asking God’s blessings on them. You learn to see them as one of God’s children, not your enemy. 

Secondly, only compliment them and say good things to them. This doesn’t mean that you must lie and make up good things, but it forces you to look for the good things they are doing. Instead of only looking at their problems, real or perceived, you look for their good traits and learn to love them. It’s like the explanation to the 8th commandment: “we defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.” Again, what this does is it changes your attitude and perspective on this other person. Because remember, that other Christian who you’re angry with isn’t your enemy, but your family, God’s child. Your goal isn’t just to outwardly act nice to them, but to change your heart through your outward behaviors.

This is also especially helpful within marriages. When a marriage is starting to get rough, it can be very helpful for spouses to force themselves to say I love you and kiss each other. When you say it outloud to the other person frequently, you change the way you think and feel about them so that you actually start to love them more. In a way, if you say it enough you start believing it. So in healthy marriages this sort of intimacy or romance is also a good thing because it keeps your love active.

All of this is extremely important because of what Jesus also says in today’s Gospel reading: “Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” It’s a very similar warning to what Jesus says after the Lord’s Prayer: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” The point being, if we refuse to forgive others, if we hold onto grudges, if we’re angry with other Christians, God will not forgive us our sins either.

This doesn’t mean that God’s forgiveness is dependent on our forgiving others, but it does mean that if we’re not willing to let go of our anger against others it shows that God’s forgiveness doesn’t dwell within us. We love others because God first loved us. But, if we’re not loving others and we’re just filled with anger, then it shows us that we’re not terribly familiar with God’s love. So, in order to let go of that anger and resentment towards others, let us first know the love of God for us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God has every reason to be angry with us because of our sins. We don’t deserve life, we deserve death, we deserve hell. Yet, God doesn’t hold onto a grudge against us. Instead, the Father sent the Son to die for us. God’s righteous anger was satisfied when God died for us on the cross. So, God should be angry with me, but instead He forgives me and loves me. I deserve His punishment, but instead He gives me many blessings. I deserve hell, I deserve to be far away from Him, but instead He gives me heaven, and draws me nearer to Him. Even when my love for others has faltered, God’s love for me never fades away; His love never ends.

Seeing the richness of God’s love for us in Christ, let us learn to also love one another like Christ. May our anger, resentment, and bitterness dissolve away, and be replaced with love, respect, and forgiveness. The holiness and righteousness of God is yours through the love of Christ Jesus.