HoHum:
In his book, None of These Diseases, Dr. S.I. McMillen says, "Medical science recognizes that emotions such as fear, sorrow, envy, resentment and hatred are responsible for the majority of our sicknesses. Estimates vary from 60 to 100 percent." One patient was told by his doctor, "If you don’t cut out your resentments, I may have to cut out your intestinal tract."
WBTU:
Talking about emotions tonight. What are emotions? Talk to various people and get various answers. Those from a more naturalistic perspective will say that emotions are physical responses to external stimuli. For instance, if we are fearful, our heart rate will go up, our lungs will breath more rapidly, our brain will release chemicals that elicit the feeling of fear. This is true that we can find all of these changes in the body when emotions are present but this fails to explain what emotions are and where they come from.
The American Heritage Dictionary states: “Emotions are a complex and usually strong response, such as love or fear. Such a response involves physiological changes to prepare the body for action.” This is better but this still leaves many unanswered questions.
What are emotions? Where do they come from? Why do they exist? Who can explain why certain emotions are triggered by certain events? It is like trying to define love, joy, hatred, anger or peace. Emotions are almost undefinable.
Thesis: Let’s talk about emotion from several angles
For instances:
I. Emotion in our Faith
We should be excited and emotional about the gospel. If we cannot be moved emotionally, we need to check our spiritual pulse to see if we are alive spiritually.
Many of the characters in the Bible were moved emotionally.
Joseph was deeply moved when he made himself known to his brothers.
Moses’ anger burned, and he smashed the tablets of stone.
Hannah was so emotional that she could not speak when she was worshipping at tabernacle.
Interesting but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, displayed emotions many times
He wept at the grave of Lazarus in John 11
He wept as he approached Jerusalem
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered” Hebrews 5:7, 8, NIV. This is most likely talking about the Garden of Gethsemane
He had compassion on the lost. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36, NIV.
He often had compassion on the diseased and afflicted
He showed tenderness toward little children
He showed strong emotions when he drove the money changers from the temple
This was not just Jesus’ human side because we find God having emotions
God
God loves. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).
God hates. “The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.” Psalms 11:5, NIV.
God grieves. “The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” Genesis 6:6, NIV.
God rejoices. “As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” Isaiah 62:5, NIV.
II. Two extremes when talking about emotions
“A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him.” Acts 17:18, NIV.
1. The Epicurean’s were not interested in emotions but they were seekers after pleasure. If it feels good do it idea. We could say that they let their pleasures or emotions get the best of them. We find some of this in Christian circles today:
Faith is better felt than focused. This is where people depend more on what they feel rather than what’s in the Bible. This is where worship is characterized by unrestrained emotion like rolling in the aisles, or bursting out in unintelligible words. In the worship if it feels good do it idea.
Emotions must always be tempered with self control. Self control is often mentioned as a virtue in the Bible. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Talk about these fruits through this series.
In certain churches of our day, people often go to extremes in their emotions. Now, Jesus was emotional, but He was always in control, even in the Garden. The NT says: “The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.” 1 Corinthians 14:32, NIV.
2. Many of us go to the other extreme of the Stoics. One of the main teachings of the Stoics (Acts 17:18) was "freedom from emotions." The word, "Stoic," itself, means "not easily excited; unmoved by joy or grief." The Stoics strove to master their feelings in order that they would not be affected by any event, even personal tragedies in their lives. They presumed that peace could only be realized by total indifference or apathy toward all things. The Stoic ethic is mainly a struggle to overcome passion (emotion), which is seen as the great enemy of reason, and a hindrance to virtue. Their ideal was a man of pure reason who was not moved by feelings like Mr. Spock on Star Trek. Unfortunately this is not how we were created. We are created in God’s image and God has emotions. We find the Stoic thought echoed in some Christians today:
They have a cold, emotionless faith. This results in a “dead pan” attitude. In worship we see this where no passion is present in the songs or in the sermon. Could be said that there is little heart in this kind of faith. Such lack of a “heartfelt” faith is contrary to what Jesus taught. “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Matthew 15:7, 8, NIV.
Emotions are necessary
1. Many of the virtues the Bible wants us to have are based on emotion:
Love- “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8, NIV.
Joy- “So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no-one will take away your joy.” John 16:22, NIV.
Hope- “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12, NIV.
Sorrow- “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10, NIV.
Hate- “Hate evil, love good” Amos 5:15, NIV.
Fear- “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28, NIV.
2. Our emotions must be evaluated upon the Word. Our minds need to regulate our emotions.
Reading of God’s love for us, we should be moved to love others. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:10, 11, NIV.
Informed of Jesus reconciling work, we are moved to rejoice: “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:10, 11, NIV.
Rebuked by the Word, this produces sorrow: “Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it.” 2 Corinthians 7:8, NIV.
Reading of the warnings in Scriptures, we are moved to fear: “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” Hebrews 10:26-27, NIV.
3. Emotion must produce the proper fruit
Notice the kind of fruit borne by Scriptural emotions:
The emotion of love bears fruit in obedience: ““If you love me, you will obey what I command.” John 14:15, NIV.
The emotion of hope bears fruit in patience: “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:24, 25, NIV.
The emotion of joy bears fruit in sacrifice: “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” 2 Corinthians 8:2, NIV.
The emotion of hate bears fruit in rejecting error: “Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.” Psalms 119:127, 128, NIV.
The emotion of fear bears fruit in departing from evil: “Through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.” Proverbs 16:6, NIV.
So what?
If we adopt the Stoic way of things, we downplay emotions. When we downplay emotions we also downplay the importance of passion. I am talking about things that we are passionate about. Some Christians are passionate against abortion, others about the immigrants, others want to do something about homosexuality, others are about poverty and hunger. Some will dedicate their lives to ridding the world of sex-trafficking, some will fight political corruption while others will strive to provide employment opportunities for the homeless. Some are passionate about missions. Others are passionate about evangelizing the lost here. Some are about finances, others are passionate about Bible study and home bible studies in their neighborhood. Many causes out there that are so biblical and needed. We don’t need to give the impression that we shouldn’t get too excited about these things. I love to see people get excited about these things and go out and do something about it. This is not the stoic way, it is the Christian way.
Brennan Manning, in his book The Lion and the Lamb, writes about two ways of discerning our passion. First, he advises us to recall what has saddened us recently. Next is the question,
What has gladdened you recently?
By asking ourselves these emotional questions we come face-to-face with what makes us tick as individuals. What are the primary motivations in our lives? Live passionately.
The Apostle Paul lived passionately. This man, who started out as an intense persecutor of the church, later converted and became one of the most passionate people in scripture. Paul; a Hebrew, a Pharisee, and a strict follower of Jewish customs, preached the gospel to the Gentiles. “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.” Romans 15:20. He was quite effective because through his efforts and many others the Roman Empire was turned upside down.
