Sermon Central
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Too Angry To Dance Series
Contributed by Rick Stacy on Aug 22, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: Message 1 of 6 on Emotions. Anger. Maybe Snoopy was right: To live is to dance! To dance is to live! Maybe we’d all live a lot more gracefully if we realized that it’s all a dance.
Learning to Dance Every Day
To Live is to Dance
Maybe Snoopy was right: To live is to dance! To dance is to live! Maybe we’d all live a lot more gracefully if we realized that it’s all a dance.
Managing your emotions is an important part of learning to live the abundant life that Jesus wants us to live. In the next few weeks we’ll explore what Jesus and the Bible says about anger, fear, loneliness, guilt, depression, and worry.
Come with us during the rest of July and August as we learn how to dance and live life abundantly as we keep our emotions in balance and first things first.
I will dance like David Danced
Anger and Rage
Too Angry To Dance
8 Don’t get angry. Don’t be upset; it only leads to trouble.
The first murder was committed by an angry man
2 After that, Eve gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel took care of flocks, and Cain became a farmer.
3 Later, Cain brought some food from the ground as a gift to God. 4 Abel brought the best parts from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry and felt rejected.
6 The LORD asked Cain, “Why are you angry? Why do you look so unhappy? 7 If you do things well, I will accept you, but if you do not do them well, sin is ready to attack you. Sin wants you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out into the field.” While they were out in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Why Are You Angry and Unhappy?
6 The LORD asked Cain, “Why are you angry? Why do you look so unhappy?
Genesis 4:4b-5
The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry and felt rejected.
Anger is pain – expressed as rage or repressed as bitterness
The cause of the pain can be yourself – and yet still produces anger at others.
It can be expressed
It can be repressed
“Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back -- in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is thatwhat you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.”
Frederick Buechner.
If you do things well…
7 “If you do things well, I will accept you…”
Anger is not sin
Anger is a God Given emotion
Anger is a powerful emotion motivating us to action
Dr.David Seamands said “Anger is a divinely implanted emotion. Closely allied to our instinct for right, it is designed to be used for constructive spiritual purposes.
The person who cannot feel anger at evil is a person who lacks enthusiasm for good. If you cannot hate wrong, it is very questionable whether you really love righteousness. To not express anger is to not be human."
Anger can be right – Jesus and anger
Let me read to you from Mark 3:1-5. This is a passage that deals with a situation in the life of Jesus that I think is very revealing. It says:
"Another time he went into the synagogue, & a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. And Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, `Stand up in front of everyone.’"
"Then Jesus asked them, `Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent."
"He looked around at them in anger &, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts" Then Jesus said, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, & his hand was completely restored."
You see, the focus of His anger is their hearts. He is angry because of their stubborn hearts & their stubborn anger. The sun has gone down. The sun has come up. And the devil has established a foothold in their lives. And Jesus is angry at their stubborn anger.
Maybe an infusion of anger is the very thing that the church needs. To become angry at the corruption of the world. To become angry at the forces of evil. To become angry at pornography that reaches into every segment of society.
