February 12, 2017, The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

What is life like in the Kingdom of God? Jesus talks about this in the Sermon on the Mount. Today I want to look at the passage where Jesus speaks about murder and anger.

Mark 5:21-37 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

Everyone understands why murder is bad. It is because it takes away the life of another human being. Now we can debate what murder is and what is legally taking the life of a person. How about war, self-defense, the death penalty, abortion, suicide, euthanasia, accidents? They are all bad because the situation is bad. Jesus talks about something that is just as bad as murder: he talks about anger. Of course murder is a crime that is judged and punished, and Jesus says that anger and insults are also crimes that will be judged and punished.

Murder is the actual, physical doing of the evil deed. Anger is the wanting to do the evil deed. Insults are a way to hurt a person and a way to kill a person’s spirit. Insults are like half-murders, and therefore, as Jesus say, “whoever says, ‘You fool!’　will be liable to the hell of fire.”

Both the Ten Commandments and the laws of our society control the activities of people for the safety and the good of society. People justify themselves and say that they have never killed anyone, never stolen anything, have been faithful to their spouse; have not lied in court, have never been caught. Jesus says that that is all on the outside. What is important is what is in the heart. Salvation is not based on what we do, but on our faith.

I have never murdered anyone, but I have been angry. I think all of us can say that. Is Jesus really serious about how he wants us to live? How can we live without being angry? Just about every day there is something to be angry about, or at least upset about. When we get really angry we would love to strangle someone, wring their neck, open a hole in the floor so that they fall in and disappear from the face of the earth. We want to remove them from our lives. Or we want to punish them: hit them, insult them, make them sorry, get even with them. If we cannot do it ourselves, we want the government to do it. In our anger we pray that God would destroy them. That prayer is a curse, “God d--- you.” That prayer is so horrible that I do not even want to say the words out loud.

Is Jesus really serious? We get angry easily. Everyday there are frustrations. And there are times when we Christians should get angry. When we see evil and sin and poverty and discrimination and intimidation and greed and stupidity and foolishness – it is just natural and even proper, to get angry. If anger is a sin, so is complacency. Why even Jesus became angry when he cleansed the Temple and drove out those who sold things and changed money inside the Temple area. So maybe there is a time to get angry and work for justice and peace and equality. But righteous anger can never be an excuse for sin. St. Paul gave this advice in Ephesians 4:26, “"Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 4:27 nor give place to the devil.” Still anger is a very big problem for us. Jesus says, “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

Murder is bad, our anger is bad, but even worse for us is the anger of God. When God gets upset, the whole world is in danger! That is the story of the Bible. In the story of Noah and the Ark, we see the anger of God. His wrath was so bad that he wanted to wipe life off the face of the earth. We see God’s anger when he saw how the Egyptians had enslaved the Israelites. We see God’s anger in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Exile in Babylon. And yet constantly, we see the love and mercy and salvation of God in these events. John 3:16 is a famous Bible passage. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Perhaps it could be paraphrased this way, “God was so angry with the sin of the world that he sent his only begotten Son.” God was so upset with sin and evil, that he sent Jesus to this sinful and evil world. But not to destroy it in wrath, but to forgive and to renew it in love. There on the cross, Jesus received the hate and slander and insults of the world. He had been brought to the council and judged. He was condemned to crucifixion. Angry people murdered Jesus. The death of Jesus was the result of anger.

And this is where we can find salvation from our anger. There is forgiveness. Jesus knows our frustrations and is with us and beside us. In prayer and faith, we can turn our problems over to him. That is our peace.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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