Sermon Notes: May 2, 2010 Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor
Matthew 5:38-48 NRSV
38“You have heard
that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39But I say to you, Do
not resist an evildoer. But if anyone
strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; 40and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak
as well; 41and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go
also the second mile. 42Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who
wants to borrow from you. 43You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you, 45so that you may be children of your Father
in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
46For if you love those who love you, what
reward do you have? Do not even the tax
collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you
doing than others? Do not even the
Gentiles do the same? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
A.
Introduction
1. B-52
a.
After his release, one of the Americans who had been held captive
in
b. We understand his anger. We, also, understand that anger can lead us
to do hurtful things to others. Anger
can lead us in response to our hurts and wrongs to return evil for evil and to
hurt other people. We need an antidote
to the poisonous words and toxic deeds that animosity and ire produce.
2. Bug Bomb
a. In addition, as I said last week anger
very often hurts you more than it does the one you are angry at. Mildred McConnell was boiling mad, because
her kitchen was overrun with cockroaches.
She had been fighting them for a year.
Mildred had sprayed and sprayed dozens of cans of bug spray. She had the pest control company come half a
dozen times and still the filthy insects came back. One evening she could not take it any
longer. She drove to the nearest store
and bought two cases of spray insecticide.
She closed the windows of her kitchen and emptied the contents of
fifteen cans of bug spray. The pilot
light on her stove ignited the fumes which exploded, killing Mildred and
burning her house to the ground.
b. In her anger she got rid of not only the
bugs, but ended up killing herself. In
the end she hurt herself far more than the bugs she detested. When we hold on to animosity that is what
often happens. We hurt our self the
most. Clearly we need to learn how to
deal with our anger in a constructive way.
3. Henrich
Hein
a. Heinrich Hein once wrote: “My nature is the most peaceful in the
world. All I ask is a simple cottage, a
decent bed, good food, some flowers in front of my window, and a few trees
beside my door. Then if God wanted to
make me wholly happy, he would let me enjoy the spectacle of six or seven of my
enemies dangling from those trees. I
would forgive them all wrongs they have done to me… forgive them from the
bottom of my heart, for we must forgive our enemies. But not until they are hanged!”
b. Last week I talked
about how anger is a normal human feeling that we all have in response to the
hurts and wrongs of life. It is not
necessarily good or bad. It is just a
feeling. The important thing is what you
do with this feeling both inside of you and outside in terms of your actions or
response. I encouraged you and me to
deal with our inner feelings in a positive way.
c. Today, Mr. Heinrich Hein reminds us of
just how hard it is to let go of our anger and forgive and seek reconciliation
with others. I remind us of the
consequences of suppressing or dealing with your anger in a negative way. It hurts, hinders and sometimes destroys
relationships. All of us have been
guilty at some time of allowing anger to sever or strain the loving ties of
kith and kin. This is true for our
relationships with others and God. Last
week, I reminded us that unresolved anger is a spiritual problem. It causes separation between you and
God. I, also, stated that God calls you
to love others as He loves you. As I
prepared this message I decided to focus this more specifically on the call to
forgive others as God has forgiven you and me.
There is someone here in worship today that needs to mend their
relationship with God. And there is
someone here today who knows that they are being nudged by God to seek
reconciliation with some other person.
B.
Understand that unresolved anger is a spiritual problem.
1. Two Sisters
a. Amy and Jennifer, two sisters, spent
the day fighting with each other. Mother
was glad when it was time for them to go to bed. As usual they knelt beside their beds with
mommy between them to say their night time prayers. “Dear God,” eight year old Jennifer began,
“Bless daddy and mommy, bless our cat and our dog.” Then she stopped. Her mother gently prodded, “Didn’t you forget
somebody?” She glared at her six year
old sister and added, “And, oh yes, God, bless my ex-sister, Amy. Amen.”
b. Broken relationships cannot be so
glibly tossed aside. This is especially
true of important interpersonal associations.
After all, God created us for community with him and others. We need family and friends. Broken relationships tear at the very reason
for our existence as God’s creatures.
2. Matthew 5:23-25a
a.
Jesus tells us: “So when you are offering your gift at the
altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your
brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew
5:23-24 NRSV)
b. The relationships that we have with
each other are that important. Your relationship with others has a bearing
on your relationship with God. Some
would ask, “How can you expect God to forgive you when you hold grudges and are
unwilling to reconcile with someone who has wronged you?” That may well be so, but this is what I
believe: While God is always willing to forgive, when you hold and nourish anger and hatred you make
your heart a place that God who is holy will not dwell. It is no wonder that the Lord Jesus tells His
followers: “Make friends quickly with your accuser…” (Matthew 5:25a RSV) Many people today struggle with forgiveness, and yet
the truth is that you cannot become the person Jesus intends you to become
until you are able to forgive the wrongs of others and to seek
reconciliation. Unresolved anger
separates you not only from others, but from God. Is there a relationship you need to bring
healing to for the sake of your relationship with God and that person?
C. Work at forgiving others as God has forgiven
you!
1. Leo Buscaglia (From the Book: BORN TO LOVE by Felice Leonardo “Leo” Buscaglia,
1992, p. 202)
a. Author, professor and lecturer, Leo Buscaglia writes of observing two children on a playground having
an argument. One said to the other,
“You’re stupid!” The other kid replied,
“Well, so are you!” “Not as stupid as
you!” the first one said. “Oh, yeah, that’s
what you think!” the second one retorted.
When Buscaglia passed by the playground not
more than ten minutes later, these two kids were
playing together again, having forgotten the whole thing. Buscaglia would
write: “No brooding, no wounded egos, no
blame, no dredging up the past, no recriminations.” There was a brief exchange of angry feelings,
an even briefer cooling off period, and all was forgiven. “Children are certainly much more forgiving
than adults,” Leo
Buscaglia concludes.
“ Somewhere in the process of growing up we
seem to have become experts at holding grudges, cradling fragile egos and
unforgiving natures.”
b. Anger can lead us to berate others, boorishly
brood, and even break the bonds of blood or brotherhood. Brothers vow eternal enmity. Sisters no longer speak. Friends depart in rancor. It is a beautiful thing when love leads us to
heal and mend a broken relationship. It
is a lovely thing because it reminds us of our relationship with God, who truly
is the author of love. Once our connection
to God was broken, but because of God’s great love for us, He took the
initiative in and through Jesus to reach across our human created divide and
bring us back to Himself. And that is
what God wishes each of us to do.
2. Marriage of Lockwood and Cramer
(From the Book: HE WAS A MIDWESTERN BOY ON HIS OWN by Bob
Greene, 1992, pp. 237-239)
a. On their first day of college way back
in 1968, Marsha Lockwood and Michael Cramer met. They were both freshman at the
b. Meanwhile, the romance of Marsha and
Michael was growing more and more serious.
In 1974 they became engaged. As
Hyman Brodsky and Louis Cramer were riding upstairs in the elevator, one of
them broke the silence by casually saying out loud: “Well, it looks like the kids are going to
get married.” The other replied, “Yes,
it looks that way.” The silence of fifty
plus years was finally broken! A month
before the wedding the two grandfathers were invited to an engagement
party. It was the first time they had
been at a social occasion together in over fifty years. Marsha recalls, “They were sitting next to
each other all through the party. They
were talking about their days in school back when they were boys. It was as if no time had passed at all.” Their friendship seemed to grow immediately. Both had forgotten what the original argument
had been about. It was a business disagreement,
but neither of them recalled the details.
Marsha and Michael were married; Hy and Louie
were restored to being best friends, and continued to be so for the remaining
years of their lives. Marsha kept
thinking that she and her new husband had changed history in a way; not that
they had changed world history; but by meeting and falling in love, they had
changed the personal histories of their two grandfathers, Hy
and Louie, and somehow that seemed very important to her.
c. Sometimes it happens this way with a
fairy tale ending. Usually, though
reconciliation is hard work. Someone has
to take the first step. Someone has to
reach out to the other with an olive branch.
Someone has to first say, “I’m sorry.”
Someone has to take the initiative, just as God in Christ took the
initiative with us. Isn’t it time for
you to be reconciled? Jesus gave His
life that we might be reunited with God.
That is how much God loves you.
How do you respond to this love?
Now Jesus is not asking you to give your life to forgive and be reconnected
with that family member or former friend.
But He is asking you to remember His love for you and to love and
forgive others as He has forgiven you. Hear
His words to you: “Go at once and make peace with your
brother…” (Matthew 5:24b TEV) This week stop putting it off, take the initiative,
reach out in love, and seek to be reconciled with someone to whom you have
become estranged.
D
Conclusion: Today, I again talked about
the issue of anger, and suggested two more truths concerning God’s way for us
to deal with this emotion. From last
week we remember all three truths:
1. Deal with
your inner feelings in a positive way.
2. Understand
that unresolved anger is a spiritual problem.
3. Work
at forgiving others as God has forgiven you!
1. Deal with your inner feelings in a
positive way.
2. Understand that unresolved anger is a
spiritual problem.
3. Work at forgiving others as God has forgiven
you!
Matthew 5:38-48 NRSV
38“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39But I say to you, Do not resist an
evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on
the right cheek, turn the other also; 40and if anyone
wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; 41and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second
mile. 42Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who
wants to borrow from you. 43You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you, 45so that you may be children of your Father
in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
46For if you love those who love you, what
reward do you have? Do not even the tax
collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you
doing than others? Do not even the
Gentiles do the same? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:21-26 NRSV
21“You have heard that it was said to those
of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable
to judgment.’ 22But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you
will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be
liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the
hell of fire. 23So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember
that your brother or sister has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled
to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. 25Come to terms quickly with your accuser
while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over
to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into
prison. 26Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the
last penny.