Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:25-32 NIV)
Long ago, two monks set out on a long trip—one young and one old. As they traveled, the road took them right through the center of a town, where they were forced to stop walking. Blocking the road was a princess and her two attendants. The princess—in her beautiful dress and fancy shoes—was throwing a fit, because the next section of the road was covered with puddles. She demanded that her attendants carry her so that her precious shoes wouldn’t get wet. But the attendants couldn’t carry her, because their arms were so full of all the things the princess had purchased in the town. So the young woman whined and complained. Traffic was at a stand-still.
Without saying a word, the old monk walked up to the princess, picked her up on his shoulders, and slogged through the muddy road to the other side. He gently put her down. Without even saying, “Thank you,” she gave him a rough shove and went on her way. The two monks walked on in silence, but the young monk was visibly angry. Finally, after several hours of silence, he blurted out: “I am so angry at how that spoiled young women treated you. I can’t believe it. She didn’t even say, ‘Thank you!’” The old monk stopped and smiled a wise smile: “Friend,” he said, “I put down my burden hours ago, but now you have been carrying her all afternoon.”
What burden have you been carrying all day? All week? All year? Isn’t anger an awful thing? In that story, the old monk carried the physical burden of that young woman for thirty seconds, and then his burden was over. But what did the young monk’s anger do? It resulted in him carrying a spiritual burden all day. Isn’t that the way anger works? Think about the bitterness and anger in your heart. From ancient times, Christians have recognized the danger of this deadly sin: Anger.
That’s why the Bible gives this advice: “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.” Notice something: There is a place in life for anger. Not all anger is wrong. God himself gets angry at the sin and wickedness in our world. The problem is that we human beings are not able to handle anger for long without sinning. Would you agree? Anger is a sin that grows. Soon, you aren’t just angry about what happened. You don’t even remember what happened. You are angry about what you tell yourself about what happened. More and more and more. Like a car going down a hill. It consumes you. It clouds everything. Can you tell I have experience with this? Watch out! “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”
I noticed that Paul in our lesson used six different words to describe anger. Look at verse 31: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, malice. People wonder if those words are listed in a progression: First, a little bitterness. Then inner rage. Then boiling anger. Finally, it breaks out in brawling and slander. It ends in evil malice—looking for the best ways to hurt that other person. Sadly, we’re all familiar with this. In our lives. Even in Christian churches.
The devil loves it. Another name for the Seven Deadly Sins could be, “Satan’s Seven Favorite Sins.” “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Do not give the devil a foothold.” Anger is like giving the devil a foothold into your heart. The devil looks at Christians. He wants to drive us away from God and from each other. So, he says, “If I can get her angry, I can get her to do anything I want.” “If I can make him mad about something, there’s no limit to what I can get him to do.” Isn’t that true? Anger gives the devil a foothold.
Just think of Cain. Remember the story of Cain and Abel? They were Adam and Eve’s sons. Cain killed Abel. Why? Because he was angry. The LORD had warned him. “The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it’” (Genesis 4:6-7). Isn’t this scary to think about? When you are angry, you are giving the devil an open door into your heart and life. Do you want that?
Of course not! But here’s the problem: Anger is a sin that feels so good and so right. Last week, we heard about envy. We said that envy rots your soul. It doesn’t feel good to be envious. But anger is different. When you start to get angry, when you make a list of all your grievances, what happens? Your body wakes up! Your heart starts beating. Your adrenaline kicks in. Your sinful nature goes into overdrive. It feels good! It feels like you’re righteous. It feels like you’re powerful. It feels like you should get what you want. It feels good to be angry. Watch out!
Because here’s the worst part: Anger denies Jesus. If we hold someone else’s sins against them, what are we saying to Jesus? “You didn’t do enough.” Or, “I don’t believe in you.” Instead, anger kicks Jesus off his throne and sets me up in his place. “Jesus, you’re not the judge. I am! Jesus, if you don’t make things right, I will! I will make them pay!” And the devil laughs. What a deadly sin! Anger consumes our minds, gives the devil a foothold, and denies the cross of Jesus.
But there’s hope. In the story I told, the young monk carried his burden of anger all day long. What was the irony? The old monk had already done all the work, and it was done: “I already carried her! I put her down. It’s done!” Isn’t that what Jesus has done for us? Jesus already bore all our burdens and our sins on the cross. The cross of Jesus is where every wrong was righted. Where every sin was punished. Where forgiveness was won. It was foolish for that young monk to carry around a burden that the old monk had already born. Just like it’s foolish for you and me to carry around burdens that Jesus already carried for us. There’s a better way: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
When someone insults us, we get upset and think, “Someone needs to be punished!” Know what Jesus says? “I agree. When someone sins, someone needs to be punished! That’s why I died on the cross.” When someone cheats on us, we get angry and think, “Someone needs to pay!” Know what Jesus says? “You’re right. When someone sins, someone needs to pay! That’s why I died on the cross.” When someone mistreats us, we feel enraged and think, “Someone needs to suffer for that!” Know what Jesus says? “Of course. Sin is awful. Sin is inexcusable. Someone needs to die for sin! That’s why I died on the cross.” At the cross, we see that God takes sin even more seriously than we do, and we also see that God took sin away through Jesus’ death for us.
Hopefully, you’re familiar with the idea of laying your sins at the foot of Jesus’ cross. This is what being a Christian is all about. Every day, we repent. We humbly lay our sins at the foot of Jesus’ cross and trust in Jesus’ forgiveness. Here’s what we need to learn: To lay other people’s sins at the foot of Jesus’ cross too. Whose sins did Jesus die for? Everybody’s. That wonderful news of the Bible is what makes anger so out of place in our hearts. To rejoice at God’s forgiveness for us, but to refuse to forgive others? That doesn’t make any sense, does it? “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
I should have known this, but I learned something as I was studying these verses in Greek. The work for “forgive” is the same word as the word for “grace.” Remember what grace is? God’s undeserved love for sinners. When our lesson says, “just as in Christ God forgave you,” it actually says, “just as in Christ God graced you.” God undeserved loved you. What does that mean? He forgave you. Doesn’t that put forgiveness in perspective? How is it possible to forgive? By grace. No one deserves forgiveness. It’s all by grace. “In Christ God graced you.”
Here’s part of Jesus’ grace to you: You don’t need to carry burdens that he has already carried for you. You and I can’t carry our own sins, but Jesus carried them for us. So you certainly can’t carry someone else’s sins either, right? Jesus already carried them too. Someone once said, “Forgiveness is setting a prisoner free and then discovering the prisoner was you.” The more you hear God say to you, “You are forgiven!”, the easier it will be for you to say those hard words to others, “I forgive you.” You can’t give something that you don’t have. But now that you have and know and trust in Jesus’ forgiveness, you have forgiveness to give to everyone who needs it.
So, “do not let the sun go down while you are still angry…” Don’t ever go to bed angry. That doesn’t mean that you are going to be at perfect peace with everyone in the world. But it does mean that you don’t have to go to sleep angry. Because forgiveness doesn’t depend in any way on that other person. Whom does it depend on? Jesus. Every day, before the sun goes down, take your burdens to the cross. Let Jesus carry them. Take your anger to the cross. You will find rest. “Lord Jesus, grace me. Forgive me. Lord Jesus, take away my anger. Lord Jesus, help me to grace others. Help me to forgive others, just as you have forgiven me.”
(To listen to this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the link below.)
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