Anger – A Dubious Luxury
Sermon preached at The Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia on Sunday August 9th 2009
by The Reverend Alan Neale
“Anger – A Dubious Luxury”
Ephesians 5:26 “Be angry but…”
Some years back, when living in Rhode Island, I remember having a discussion with a very good friend and respected mentor. We were talking about anger (I hope calmly!)… Sean was arguing with passion and logic that it is often (if not generally always) wrong… unhelpful… inappropriate to be angry. He quoted, with approval, Bill Wilson (co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous) who wrote “if we were to live, we had to be free of anger… the grouch and the brainstorm were not for us… they may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for the alcoholic these things are poison”… “anger… the dubious luxury of normal men”. Sean must have seen my eyes widen for he then said, “But Alan, as far as you’re concerned, normal is the setting on a washing machine”.
At heart we all know, I hope, that anger is often a “dubious luxury”… we are wise to avoid those who are continually, habitually, angry. And yet… we read in today’s passage from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesian Christians these words… “Be angry but… do not sin; be angry but… do not let the sun go down on your anger; be angry but… do not make room for the devil”. As the Message Translation reads with its usual vigour… “Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life” (Ephesians 4: 26-27).
But then a few verses later (as if to intentionally muddy the emotional waters) Paul writes… “Put anger away from you”.
I find it profoundly interesting and significant that writing to a nascent church… a church struggling to find its identity and mission and belief in a world at best indifferent, at worst antagonistic… Paul addresses issues not only of theological import but also issues of personal and daily living! The Christian fools herself/himself, the Church fools itself when it is seduced into thinking there is only time for high-falutin’ conversations about theology or urgent discussions about finances. For our health, for our safety, for our well-being… for our maturity, we are called to consider the place of anger in our lives!
I believe St. Paul offers us three criteria by which we may decide whether our anger is appropriate or whether it is something about which we should repent and something which we should flee with all speed.
First, “be angry but… do not sin”. When our anger moves to the place where harm is done harm and damage is done to others as well as to ourselves then it is inappropriate. If nothing else sin is that which damages us and causes us to be separated from God… so if we stop for a moment and realize that our anger is doing serious harm to our lives… physically, mentally and spiritually then… we need urgently pray, “Good Lord deliver us”.
