“THE SEVEN DEADLIES: IRA

Text:

Luke 23:13-25

Selections from Proverbs

Proverbs 15:1: “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Proverbs 15:18: “Those who are hot-tempered stir up strife, but those who are slow to anger calm

contention.”

Proverbs 16:32: “One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and one whose temper is

controlled than one who captures a city.”

Proverbs 19:11: “Those with good sense are slow to anger, and it is their glory to overlook an offense.”

Proverbs 20:2: “The dread anger of a king is like the growling of a lion; anyone who provokes him to

anger forfeits life itself.”

Proverbs 27:4: “Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who is able to stand before jealousy?”

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February 2008

This morning, we continue our sermon series on The Seven Deadlies. Over the course of the

first two weeks, we have covered the deadly sins of pride, envy, and greed. On this third Sunday

in Lent, we turn our attention to anger - ira in Latin. I think it would be safe to say that anger is

perhaps the most deadly, or at least the most destructive in its manifestations; self-destructive to the

one carrying the anger, and other-destructive to those at whom the anger is directed. William

Willimon in his book Sinning Like a Christian notes that the negative byproducts of anger can be

found across the pages of scripture. He writes, for example: “In resentful anger, Cain killed Abel.

The first time the Bible mentions rage, that fraternal rage leads to the first fratricide. In anger,

Jonah refused to obey God’s call to go to Nineveh, and fled in the opposite direction to Tarshish.

Jesus’ first sermon, at his hometown synagogue in Nazareth, ended in anger. They tried to kill him,

so enraged were they by his words.” In these incidents cited by Willimon, we see self-destructive

anger in the case of Jonah whose hatefulness toward the Ninevites was “eating him alive,” and

causing him to act childishly and irrationally. Then we see other-destructive anger in the cases of

Abel who was murdered at the hands of anger, and Jesus who escaped hands of anger which were

about to throw him headlong off a cliff. Yet Jesus’ escape from those hands was short-lived, as

three years later, those who carried seething anger in their hearts had their way. As we read this

text from Luke’s gospel, note that the angry insistence on Jesus’ destruction is given three-fold

expression; the evangelist’s way of communicating that the mob was not merely angry, but wildly

angry.

(Read Luke 23:13-25)

This part of Jesus’ so-called “trial” lifts up three characteristics of anger I’d like us to cover this

morning. But before doing so, let’s spend some time generally exploring this third of the seven

deadlies.

A question we might ask ourselves right up front is this: Is anger always a sin? As with many

other passions, anger may be an emotion, or it may be an attitude. It’s important to note that the

Greek New Testament uses two distinct words in describing anger. The first Greek word is thumos

which is usually translated wrath. This word is from a Greek root which means “to boil over,” and

describes the anger which blazes up quickly, then just as quickly subsides. One way to think of it

is as a fire kindled with dry straw. The fire crackles and blazes for a moment, but having no fuel to

sustain it, it dies. Thumos then can be understood as a burst of temper, an explosion of anger, a

momentary outbreak of uncontrollable passion. We of Italian descent are renowned for such anger.

I had an Aunt Mafalda (we called her “Minnie”) who could go off like a fire cracker. The family

would gather at her home every New Year’s Eve for cards and food, knowing full well that at some

point during the game, Aunt Minnie would snap out when she was losing, throw her cards across

the table, stomp away, then return a few minutes later with a smile and a platter of ziti with sausage

and meatballs. Her wrath in a strange way became endearing, and one of the things about her we

missed the most when she passed away, even though others were frequently injured in some way in

the wake of her explosive Italian temper.

The Greek word orge on the other hand is described as anger which has become habitual,

chronic, even addictive. It is anger which is protracted, moreover becoming a mindset (if not heart

set) which nurses and feeds the wrath. Orge is anger which can neither forgive nor forget a wrong

or injury – real or perceived -- and can often last a lifetime. Found in our Italian family, I’m sad to

say, was not only Aunt Minnie’s thumos, but Uncle Fonzie’s orge. A painful chapter of our heritage

was written upon the occasion of my great grandfather Panfilo’s death in 1961. My paternal grandparents

Lawrence and Margaret (Panfilo’s daughter) were the only members of the family willing to care for

the aging patriarch, who I understand was not a very kind person, and that’s putting it mildly. While

all Margaret’s eight siblings went off to live their lives finally free of the oppression of their father,

Margaret and Lawrence chose to live with and tend to Panfilo in the family homestead, and did so

for some thirty years. Yet one particular uncle who wanted the homestead for his own always lived

with anger in his gut against Lawrence, tinged with envy and greed. A few weeks after Panfilo’s

passing, the siblings sat around the big oak dining room table in the family homestead awaiting the

reading of the will. When the attorney came to the part of the will which left the property to my

grandparents, Uncle Fonzie’s seething anger exploded in a tirade of expletives against Lawrence,

cursing him to death, with even an attempt to physically attack him. It was said that my grandfather,

who was a gentle man, never got over it, and himself died with cancer and a broken heart in 1964.

Until my grandmother’s death twenty years later, the siblings rarely if ever again set foot in that

house.

We return to the question: Is anger always a sin, be it orge anger which seethes, or thumos anger

which explodes and dissipates? Although we might laugh off one and condemn the other, both can

be destructive. At this point, we can’t ignore that infamous story of Jesus’ anger in the temple which

led to His overturning the tables of the money changers. Was His anger thumos or was it orge? I

think Jesus’ explosion of temper was a product of His witnessing for years the people being cheated

and the temple being exploited, and it came to a head that day. From that standpoint, it could be both.

But the key here is that Jesus’ anger was not directed at personhood, it was directed at principle. Jesus

did not hold ill will toward those who were buying and selling in the temple. In fact upon the cross,

He pleaded to the Father for forgiveness of those whose actions vexed Him. Jesus’ anger was against

the injustice and unrighteousness which was being perpetrated, both against people, and against God.

Moreover, Jesus’ anger was a release of very real human emotion as opposed to an expression of a

chronic, deep-seated attitude. So on this basis, dare we justify anger? Only if it can be so controlled

that it is brought in righteous response against unrighteous action; in just reply to unjust exploitation;

not against persons, but against principle; and not to bring destruction, to self, or to others. Who of us

can so control this very real human emotion? Perhaps Jesus alone, who was uniquely able to “hate

the sin while loving the sinner.” The rest of us need to be very careful in choosing to give this emotion

significant reign in our lives, for therein lies the danger of anger becoming an attitude - a heart-set or

mind-set - which runs the risk of leading us into all manner of sin. The safest course is to first imitate

Christ’s mercy, compassion, humility, gentleness, and above all, love. When these dwell in our minds

and hearts, the anger we do experience is more likely righteous in application, and quick in dissipation;

like the Lord --- slow to anger, quick to forgive.

Let’s return now to our primary text where Jesus stands before Pontius Pilate and the multitudes

gathered in Jerusalem. I believe there are at least three characteristics or features of anger which are

brought to light here. The first is that anger can lead to irrational thoughts and nonsensical actions.

This is one of the things which makes anger perhaps the deadliest and most destructive of the seven

deadlies. The unbridled passion of anger welling in the heart can on one level shut down the mind, of

both the individual and of the masses of which they are a part. However we might think of Pontius

Pilate, he alone was bringing a voice of reason: “You brought me this man as one who is perverting

the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of

any of your charges against him,” Pilate told the religious leaders and the assembled multitude.

“Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death.”

But the leaders in particular were so consumed with their orge anger that they had closed themselves

to any voice of reason. Further evidence of their irrational thought patterns is witnessed in their insistence

that a murderer named Barabbas be released in place of this Rabbi who not only hadn’t murdered

anyone, but had gone around doing nothing but works of compassion and mercy. Jesus’ greatest offense

was simply being true to who He was, and for that, they demanded His blood. In tandem with anger, the

deadlies of pride and envy led to the unjust, unfair, and senseless crucifixion of Christ.

Not only can anger be irrational, but a second feature exposed in this event is that anger can become

irradicable; that is to say, impossible to quench because it has become so deep-rooted. Anger can reach the

point of no return. Not once, not even twice, but three times, Pilate tries to reason with the people. But

at least in the case of the religious leaders, their anger had been building for months if not years. They had

been nursing and feeding their anger with every word which Jesus spoke, and every act which Jesus

performed – not because what Jesus said or did was wrong, but because Jesus’ popularity and authority

were blows to their pride, and His ministry a source of their envy. I would suggest that even if the religious

leaders were able to discern the voice of reason, they were so filled with wrath and rage that they were

beyond being able to respond to it anyway. Such deeply entrenched anger almost always results in

destruction. We need only watch the news any evening of the week to see evidence of deeply-rooted anger

becoming murderous.

A third feature of anger exposed in this trial of Jesus is that anger can be infectious. I wonder how

many people in that crowd didn’t even know much about this Jesus other than what they had been told?

There were thousands of pilgrims from all over the region in Jerusalem for the Passover, many if not most

of whom had never seen Jesus before His dramatic entry into the city on that first Palm Sunday. And they

who now called for his life may have been the very same characters who just days earlier had hailed Him

“...the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” Yet in a mob, as we well know, anger can take on a

life of its own. Further stoking the heat of anger beginning to roil in the masses were “the chief priests

and elders (who were) persuad(ing) the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed” according

to Matthew’s account. By the time Jesus stood before them, the anger of a relative few had “caught fire”

throughout the multitude; so much so that after three attempts to placate them, “Pilate gave his verdict that

their demand should be granted.” The voice of anger prevailed. This is a very insidious and very deadly

feature of anger which accounts for tragic riots which often begin as peaceful demonstrations. It’s almost

as if a spirit of anger can permeate a crowd like a noxious gas, poisoning everyone within its range.

There is so much more I could say about anger. But you are a crowd. We’ve been going for over

twenty minutes. And I certainly don’t want you to become angry with me for preaching too long. So come

back next week as we’ll continue our discussion of the seven deadlies: sloth and gluttony. It should be a

belly full.