Get ready to start a journey…a journey through the pages of the Bible and the pages of your life.
An angry man is not a person who gets angry—all of us get angry—but he is controlled by anger. You know the type. He is always railing about something—the government, the educational system, his business partner, his neighbor, how someone treated him at a certain restaurant, and on and on and on….
Let’s face it—we all get angry. When I get cut off by another driver, I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like praying for them. When someone does something to hurt my family, I am ready to take them on. When I hear, “Your call is important to us. Stay on the line. The next available representative will be with you shortly,” I do not enjoy the music while I’m waiting. I could go on and on and on….
Our passage today provides the spiritual road rules regarding anger. Here it is.
I have never seen a child who could get so angry so fast. If Thomas felt slighted in the least, his body would stiffen, his nostrils would flare, his eyes would glaze over, and in a matter of seconds, somebody would be at the wrong end of his fist! Only a few days into the beginning of the school year, in my first teaching job, I returned to my classroom from a break to find Thomas going after another student because of words exchanged during lunch. I realized then that Thomas’ temper was going to be a challenge. When he went into his “anger mode,” it took everything I had to “talk him down.” Thomas and all those who hung around him had reserved seats in the principal’s office.
Churning. Twisting. Stirring. The friction of one object on another produces something. Sometimes, the product is good. I like butter. Sometimes the product is not so good. I have never enjoyed my nose being bloodied. And then there is the inevitable product of anger. That’s never pretty.
Okay, here’s what I need you to do. Ready? Clench your teeth. Got it? Now, flare your nostrils. Good. Hold it there…you are making the expression of anger. “Aph” is the Hebrew word we translate with the English word “angry.” Aph means “nostril” or “nose” or, in some cases, refers to the whole “face.” In Hebrew, your anger was visibly demonstrated…flared nostrils, clinched teeth, heavy breathing, inaudible sounds…. Okay, thanks for working with me. You can unclench your teeth.
After my second year of seminary, Lori and I spent a summer in northern Scotland, interning at a church just outside of Aberdeen. We spent our weekly day off driving around the countryside in a little Mini (this was before Minis were cool). Many of those trips included checking out a castle or two.