MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK SERIES
THE ANGER MASH-UP SERMON
JAMES 1:19-20
#JAMESatCCC
READ JAMES 1:19-20 (KJV)
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”
THREE LITTLE PIGS SECTION 1
Once upon a time, there were three little pigs named Porky, Porkie, and Wilbur. Porky, Porkie, and Wilbur lived with their mother and the time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes. Porky, Porkie, and Wilbur had to have a pioneering spirit if they were going to make it outside of the pigpen. The three little pigs got into a three little pigs huddle, made a plan, and left the pigpen into the world.
The first little pig, Porky, built his house out of straw because it was the easiest thing to do. His house was up in no time and he was sipping on sweet tea in a hammock in no time. The second little pig, Porkie, built his house out of sticks and spent a little more time on fashioning his home. Once he was done, he rested in his easy chair drinking a soda. The house of sticks was a little bit stronger than the straw house and he was feeling pretty good about himself. The third little pig, Wilbur, built his house out of bricks and took a long time and a lot of effort to make his home. Wilbur’s brick house also took a long time to build because he made a friend with a spider named Charlotte and went to the county fair. Anyway, all three little pigs made their houses and rested from their labors.
What Porky, Porkie, and Wilbur didn’t know was that they moved into a neighborhood with a Big Bad Wolf. He loved to have little pigs for dinner, not to invite them over for dinner mind you, but to literally have little pigs for dinner. The Big Bad Wolf was quick to anger. He got angry they were in the neighborhood. He got angry that they were different from him. He got angry that they smelled tasty when they walked by. He decided in his anger that he would eat the little pigs, but first, he would scare them by toppling their houses over.
One night the Big Bad Wolf, who had a hankerin’ for little piggies, sat on his front porch and saw one of the little pigs trot by on his way home. It happened to be Porky and he had just gone to the market and had roast beef and then went wee wee wee all the way home to his straw house. The Big Bad Wolf got so angry and hungry and went along and saw the first little pig in his house of straw.
He said, "Let me in, Let me in, little pig or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!"
Porky said back, "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.” So the Wolf huffed and he puffed and he blew with mighty breath and he blew the house down in anger and the first little pig escaped and ran to his brother Porkie’s house made of sticks.
BASICS OF ANGER (blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=anger&t=NIV#s=s_refWorks)
Anger is a basic emotion that all of us deal with and we would most likely put it in the category of negative emotions. Anger in the Old Testament is the translation of several Hebrew words, especially of [aph] which means "nostril" "countenance" which in my mind means the feeling when we [blows out air from nose]. Believe it or not, that is what the 😤 emoji is expressing that some of us use while texting. Who knew emojis were based on proper language studies?! In the New Testament, anger comes from a Greek word which means “insides rise up like a mountain” or “insides stretch out” which to me sounds a lot like getting “bent out of shape” to me… which is a phrase that describes anger. Anger is an emotion of instant displeasure on account of something evil that presents itself to our view. Anger doesn’t have to be sinful, but for most of us, it is. It may become sinful when anger is without cause, or excessive, or we are angry for a long period of time. God is described as angry in the Bible and it denotes His displeasure with sin and with sinners.
ILLUSTRATION… https://urbanthesaurus.org/synonyms/angry
Anger is complex even though we all know what it is and deal with it. I know it is complex because there are about 100 or more synonyms for anger and phrases that mean being angry. Some of the phrases are quite descriptive in trying to convey this complex emotion: cheesed off, fired up, fit to be tied, going crook, seeing red, fly off the handle, hacked off, honked off, bitter biscuits, huffity puffity, bee in the bonnet, shouty crackers, irritable fowl syndrome, mad as a cut snake, scarface mode, burning my crumpets, meaniemeaniebobeanie.
READ JAMES 1:19-20 (MSG)
“Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger.”
THREE LITTLE PIGS SECTION 2
Porky ran from his toppled straw house to Porkie’s house made of sticks. He banged on the door for Porkie to let him in. He knocked and knocked and Porkie did not come to the door right away. While he was knocking and knocking he smelled a strange odor coming from the house. Porky looked inside the window and was horrified. Porky’s brother Porkie was eating a BLT. Yes, a BACON, lettuce, and tomato sandwich! Porkie knew he had been discovered and was ashamed and angry and sad all at the same time. Porkie with bacon breath opened the door angry and yelled at his brother for imposing on him.
“I am not angry at you for eating a BLT,” Porky said to his brother, “We obviously need to have a chat where you talk and I listen. I will be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” Porkie confessed his love of BLTs and that he had been eating them for some time. Porky told his brother all about the angry Big Bad Wolf and how he blew down his house made of straw. The two pigs became afraid of the angry Big Bad Wolf. Then they heard heavy steps outside that could only be the Big Bad Wolf.
The Big Bad Wolf had indeed followed Porky right to his brother’s house of sticks. "Let me in, Let me in little pigs or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in." The Big Bad Wolf could smell cooked bacon and could almost taste the fresh piggies he would have for dinner. He was hungry! He was angry! He was hangry!
"Not by the hair of our chinny chin chins,” said the little pigs. So the Wolf huffed and he puffed in his anger and he blew with mighty breath and he blew the house down and the first and second little pig escaped and ran to their brother’s house made of bricks.
IMPORTANT QUESTION: WHY IS ANGER SO DANGEROUS? (adapted from Collins, Gary, ‘Christian Counseling’ Chapter 10)
Anger is dangerous because when anger mixes with our sinful nature, it leads to destructive sin. By destructive, I mean harmful to other people, harmful to ourselves, and even damages property. Anger is also destructive to our relationships with God. Anger can make us feel self-powerful and controlling of others. Anger can make others feel isolated, hopeless, and ashamed. Anger can easily get out of control… that’s why we consider it a negative emotion.
Anger is dangerous because it can lead to abuse. Controlling our words or actions are difficult and can seem almost impossible when we are feeling angry. Verbal abuse is a powerful form of mistreatment that comes from anger. Physical abuse is as well. Sexual abuse also comes from anger. Most abuse comes in our homes from people we love and trust and so I know that there are some here today who have abused others and others that have been on the receiving end of abuse. Abuse is a destructive pattern. Angry people do foolish and destructive things to those around them (Job 5:2, Proverbs 12:16, Proverbs 14:16, Proverbs 17:12, Proverbs 20:3, Proverbs 29:11, Matthew 5:22). James knows this about anger which is why he commands us, “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
Anger is dangerous because we can bury it or ignore it. Buried anger can lead to being passive-aggressive with others and sometimes even leads to gossiping. Gossipers are often angry about something or someone and share information to tear others down to make themselves feel good. Ignored anger can lead to depression. Ignored anger can lead to bitterness. Depression and bitterness are children of anger when anger is left alone. James knows this about anger which is why he says that anger, does not “bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
Anger is dangerous because it can lead to the need for vengeance. Bitterness, the need for revenge, and judgmental-ness all come from anger and the need for wrongs to be made right at any cost. Anger leads to hostile attempts to get even. James knows this about anger which is why he says that anger, does not “bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
What am I saying? I am saying that anger is a root of all kinds of sin. It is not the root, but a root that when present in our hearts leads us to act, think, and say things that are sinful. And at times because we are angry we don’t even care that we sin! Anger does not lead to the kind of standard of behavior that God wants for us.
READ JAMES 1:19-20 (AMP)
“Understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be a careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and], slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving]; 20 for the [resentful, deep-seated] anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God [that standard of behavior which He requires from us].”
THREE LITTLE PIGS SECTION 3
Porky and Porkie ran from the toppled house made of sticks to Wilbur’s house made of bricks. They fearfully and vigorously banged on the door for Wilbur to let them in. They knocked and knocked and Wilbur let them in. Porky and Porkie both oinked at the same time and Wilbur could not understand either of them. Wilbur said calmly, “We obviously need to have a chat where you both talk and I listen. I will be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
First, Porky told Wilbur all about how the angry Big Bad Wolf huffed and puffed and blew his straw house down. Second, Porkie told Wilbur all about how the angry Big Bad Wolf huffed and puffed and blew his sticks house down. They both agreed the Big Bad Wolf was angry. They both agreed he was hungry. They both agreed he was hangry! It wasn’t long until the angry Big Bad Wolf tracked the two pigs to the house of bricks. "Let me in, let me in" cried the Big Bad Wolf. He beat on the door and he said, “Or I'll huff and I'll puff till I blow your house in.”
Just as he was on the porch banging on the door, a girl with golden blonde hair walked by holding hands with three bears. The Father Bear looked and saw that the Big Bad Wolf was angry and hungry. The Mother Bear looked and saw that the Big Bad Wolf was angry and pounding on the door. The Baby Bear looked and saw three scared pigs in the window. Goldie Locks, that was the golden blonde-haired girl’s name, wanted to help.
Goldie Locks went up to the Big Bad Wolf and got his attention. “You seem very angry. We obviously need to have a chat where you talk and we will listen. We will be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
The Big Bad Wolf asked, “Why should I listen to anything you have to say?!”
Goldie Locks said, “Once upon a time there were three bears who lived in a house in the neighborhood just over there. One morning, their breakfast porridge was too hot to eat, so they decided to go for a walk in the neighborhood. I was wandering around and found their house. I knocked on the door and pushed it open and went inside. I sat in each of the three chairs at the table and I ate all three bowls of porridge. You see I was homeless and I hadn’t eaten in days.
Then I went upstairs, where I found three beds. There was a great big bed, a middle-sized bed and a tiny little bed. I wasn’t going to waste my time like in some nursery rhyme so I picked the tiny bed that was just my size. In no time at all, I fell asleep. I can’t get any sleep on the street, I’m too scared.
In a little while, the three bears came back from their walk in the neighborhood. They saw at once that the door of their house had been opened and all the breakfast was eaten. The bears went upstairs and the Little Bear looked at his bed and said in his small squeaky baby voice, "Somebody is sleeping in my bed!" He squeaked so loudly that I woke up!
Even though I broke into their house and ate their food and made them feel unsafe by sleeping in their kid’s bed, the Big Bears said, “We obviously need to have a chat where you talk and we will listen. We will be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
That was last week and they let me stay with them and today we are all out for a walk together.”
The Big Bad Wolf didn’t know what to say.
The three pigs in the window were in awe of the crazy story told by Goldie Locks.
Goldie Locks again went up to the Big Bad Wolf and said, “You seem very angry. We obviously need to have a chat where you talk and we will listen. We will be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
On hearing that someone would genuinely listen to him, the Big Bad Wolf’s anger dissipated and he was willing to talk to Goldie Locks and the three bears. The group of them sat down right there on the porch and a crisis was averted. The three little pigs were in such shock that they all three fell over and died. Mother Bear decided to use all the pork to make a pizza at her restaurant and called it “Divine Swine.” It is a customer favorite to this day.
READ JAMES 1:19-20 (NIV 1984)
“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
DEEPER INTO JAMES 1:19-20
God wants you and I to have a righteous life. Verse 20 tells us as much. He desires us to have hearts that seek after Him. He wants us to manage our emotions well. He wants our minds to be captured for Him. He wants us to live properly. In this particular passage of Scripture, James focuses on a root of sin, anger. James mentions three areas that we can lean into as we deal with our anger and I believe as we deal with the anger of others. James’ commands address both our anger and when we are faced with someone who is angry with us.
QUICK TO LISTEN
A lot of times when we are angry we don’t want to hear what the other person has to say. Many times when people are angry with us we choose not to listen because they are speaking angry words. Why does James ask us to take note to listen first? Listening is an investment in another person. When you and I listen to someone we communicate that we value them and their situation is important to us. When we are angry, we want someone to hear our concerns and why we are so upset and that’s it. When someone is angry with us, they want the same thing. May we invest in each other by listening when anger is the emotion driving us. That’s living happily ever after.
SLOW TO SPEAK
I don’t know about you, but whenever I am angry, without fail I always say the wrong thing in my anger. Angry words are always harsher than they need to be, sharper than necessary, and always have a touch of irrationality. Whenever someone is angry with me, I also am not always sure what to say to help the situation. James asks us to take note that when anger is present, it is best if we zip our lips. Proverbs 10:19 agrees, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.”
I believe it is human nature when angry to express it first. I believe it is human nature to feel the need to defend oneself first. Then after anger, we listen, if at all. James wants us to turn our nature on its head and seek after righteous character which is listening first and then speaking if necessary. Anyway, when we do speak, we need to figure out what to say, how to say it, and if it needs to be said at all. That’s wise living.
SLOW TO BECOME ANGRY
What is the most often felt emotion when someone is angry with us? Anger in return! Anger is one of those emotions that seems to spread from person to person as words are said or actions are taken. Anger breeds more anger which gets hotter and hotter. Instead of anger right away, James asks us to take note that we should listen first and speak if necessary in order to control our anger or to respond to anger around us. I would add to that giving grace, praying for self-control, praying for the other person, thinking about the situation from someone else’s position, taking a breath and counting, waiting 24 hours before speaking to someone about an issue, writing thoughts down, or writing thoughts down and then throwing them away. In this way, we are controlling our anger rather than the other way around.
Anger is not always wrong. Anger can be righteous. Anger can be proper. Quick anger with biting words and destructive intent is always wrong. Sometimes a situation is not as it seems and being slow to anger will prevent us from making mistakes. Sometimes patience and grace are needed while people self-correct and anger isn’t even needed. Slow anger is better than a quick temper. Slow anger is better than explosive anger. Slow anger is better than loud hurtful anger. That’s living happily ever after.
SUMMARY
Once upon a time, when we feel like huffing and puffing and blowing someone's house down, we should be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
Once upon a time, when someone is at our door huffing and puffing, we should be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
It’s a place to start.
GOSPEL MESSAGE
Anger is a part of God. Sometimes that makes us uncomfortable to say because in our anger we sin. God does not sin in His anger ever. I want you to listen to what sounds like a hopeless passage about God and His anger: Exodus 34:6-7, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." I know this passage says God is love and faithfulness, but it also says that punishment comes to those who are guilty. Is there any hope?
Hope is found in Jesus Christ who took on our sin and provided a way out from under the slow-burning anger of God. God is angry with sin. God pours out His anger on unrighteousness and evil and wickedness. God made a way out from under the anger, guilt, and judgment of sin through Jesus Christ His Son Who died on the cross for you and for me. Romans 5:8 says very clearly, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
CLOSE IN PRAYER
