Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath

Teaching text

Matthew 5:21-24

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”

Sermon recap

This Sunday, Pastor Tim Brown unpacked the destructive power of wrath as part of our Lenten series on the Seven Deadly Sins. Anger often signals us to something that is wrong or unjust, but when we express our anger through violence or scorn, we lose God’s heart for ourselves and for others, and allow wrath to rage in our lives. However, Jesus calls us to confess anger like the sin that it is, and follow Him in the way of mercy, that freely forgives.

God’s wrath is pure and righteous because He is holy, but in our broken humanity anger is often perverted by selfishness and our wounds. Pastor Tim illustrated wrath’s ability to destroy through the story of the Columbine school shooting, where wrath drove the perpetrators to unspeakable violence, and an atmosphere of anger and a desire for revenge ripped through the community in the aftermath. This moment in time points to the larger complex issue of rage in the culture that is increasingly volatile. We also see anger actively moving in the church through corrupt leadership, our homes where anger can privately be normalized as an operating system, and ultimately in our hearts whenever we encounter pain, fear, disappointment, rejection, injustice, powerlessness, and even self-hatred. When left unattended, wrath can creep in and destroy us, but Scriptures warn us to guard our hearts, from which everything flows. When Jesus addresses anger in the Sermon on the Mount, He cuts straight to our hearts, and shows us a better way.

Jesus’ response to anger was threefold. He radically redefined anger to broaden our understanding from external behaviors to internal conditions of the heart. The Law against murder was rooted in the idea that the act assaulted a bearer of God’s image and stripped them of their humanity, but Jesus claimed that being angry at a brother or sister in your heart did the same thing. Then, He addressed the progression of anger from a feeling in the heart to speaking contempt over someone, and how this robs them of their God-given identity. Finally, Jesus explained that the consequences of unchecked anger will lead to judgment and put us on the path to hell.

We often only think of revenge or passivity as our responses to anger, but Jesus offers a third way. His antidote for anger calls for the aggressive elimination of sin within His enemies through willful submission to God. We must pursue reconciliation by treating anger like a sin and confessing it with immediate, radical, and even costly obedience to Jesus’ command to repent. Jesus, full of mercy, was able to forgive His unrepentant murderers on the cross. This is the beauty of the Gospel, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So, when the world says to fight back, or to remain passive, Jesus invites us to follow Him in the way of patience and mercy, and usher more of His healing power into the world.

Discussion questions

Connect

1. If you had to sum up your personality in a color, what color would you be?

Character

Ask someone to read Matthew 5:21-24 aloud. Then, ask the following questions:

1. What words or phrases in this passage stood out to you?

2. What do we learn about God’s character through His response to our anger?

Consider

1. Based on the teaching this week, how can we determine when anger is a sin, and how do we differentiate it from righteous anger?

2. How is God’s anger fundamentally different from ours as human beings?

3. What was Jesus’ response to His murderers, modeled for us on the cross? How does this challenge you?

4. Where are the areas you’ve seen and experienced anger, or the destruction that it causes, the most?

5. In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus says, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” In light of our current cultural context and relationships today, how can we better emulate these instructions Jesus lays out for us?

Cover

Spend time confessing and repenting of anywhere in your life where anger has started to take hold and cause destruction. Then, pray that the Holy Spirit would give us wisdom to restore our heart postures and relationships with one another.

Pastor Tim pointed out that throughout Scripture, we see God speak clearly to His followers, and He expects immediate, radical, costly obedience. If God is speaking specifically to your heart on this topic, what is He asking of you today?