Anger turned to madness

Observers are explaining our current crazy politics in terms of anger. One writer said that hope fed the campaign of Barack Obama in 2008 and anger has shaped the current election season. "A lot of voters are angry. Very angry," Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz wrote in a recent analysis. "Now voter ire appears to be shaping both parties’ 2016 presidential nomination races."  Much closer to our own lives, we say of an angry man, “Wow, he is really mad!” Rage can, and sometimes does, make a person temporarily mad, out of their mind. It is like a fire that escapes boundaries that burns down the house! Do you ever get so frustrated by life that you start to smolder?

Anger that is left unresolved, that is allowed to burn out of control will destroy us – burning our relationships with others, making ashes of our faith in God, and charring our self-image.  Anger conceals itself under layers of excuses (I'm just so tired right now, I'm a little on edge!). It burns behind justification (If anybody else had to deal with my life right now, they would be angry, too!).  It even can be hidden from the person who is enraged by denial (What is the matter with YOU? I'm NOT angry!).   Anger wears many disguises. Some rename their anger to make it more acceptable. "I'm not angry, just upset."  Anger does make us ‘upset’ but call it what it is.  We might say, "I'm indignant." There are plenty of situations where we are manipulated, frustrated, or abused that can make us indignant, but it is still anger.

So, is this strong emotional, so often expressed in negative ways, always a ‘bad’ thing?

Anger is a legitimate human emotion. A person who is incapable of anger can become a victim. He will be passive when action is needed. Anger is useful in stirring up the courage needed to start to make change, to right wrongs, to seek justice. Apathy ( to be "without feelings")  leaves us half-dead!  The problem with a lot of our anger is that it is about misplaced focus on the Self. Self-love can fuel an explosive rage when life is not what we want it to be, when people won't do what we want them to do, when God just won't let us live as we desire.  That ungodly anger is destructive precisely because it is selfish.

Godly people will become passionate when the weak are abused, when others are oppressed or robbed of their dignity. That passion may find itself expressed in anger. Actions that diminish God's honor or that potentially harm those He loves will cause His people to rise up with anger to take corrective anger-- and rightly so! That was shown powerfully in Jesus' angry display at those profiting from Temple worship by selling in the courtyards of the Lord's house. However, the Bible warns us of the potential for danger that accompanies anger. The Scripture says, ..."don't sin by letting anger gain control over you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry.” (Ephesians 4:26, NLT)  Two things are important about anger's limits: 

- we must not lose rational control over anger, for then it morphs into rage which is always destructive! And,

- anger must have limits. We can't just 'stay mad' for days on end.  Unresolved anger eats away at us - body and soul.

Is there anger smoldering just below the surface of your life?
Are you trying to deny it, or call it something other than what it really is? Get honest.

How can we put out the fire of anger?

First of all, we must face the facts, without excuse.  It’s hard to say aloud – “I am angry at God. I don’t like this situation. Life feels out of control.” However, that kind of honest confession starts a process of healing, freeing the Spirit to help us deal with our anger.  Admitting that you are really angry with your wife or child can be difficult, too.  Once in open, we have to do something with it. But, once we start, we can find a way to resolve the conflict or, failing that, we can work on acceptance. Both involve 'dying to self.' Ugh, nobody enjoys that!  

Second, there is repentance.  Naming our rage as the sin that it is will lead us to turn from it and to God. That repentance brings a choice to change. "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice." (Ephesians 4:31, NIV)  

Third, there is submission to God. When we surrender to God's will we pour water on the fire of rage. When we finally step down from the need to be 'in charge' and invite the Holy Spirit to direct, accepting each day as an opportunity to see His grace at work in us and through us, the fire goes out.  It is replaced by the sweet peace of knowing His care.

Here's a word to think on today: "Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity."(Proverbs 14:29, The Message)

Invited to dinner, making excuses?

A dinner invitation evokes many different kinds of responses. Some accept gladly, looking forward to time around a table when they will enjoy the company of friends and family even more than the meal. Some accept but dread the encounter, feeling that the invitation was offered more from obligation than delight. Some make an excuse, passing on the invitation.  Have you ever been invited to dinner and accepted, with some reluctance, only to find the occasion a complete delight as you discovered that someone you knew only as an acquaintance was a person who was really interesting, a person with whom you had much in common?

Jesus was invited to dinner often as His fame increased. Many wanted to talk with Him, to understand Him, or just to be around Him to share the glow. On a Sabbath, He was invited to dinner in the home of a leading Pharisee (a Jewish religious leader) where Luke tells us that He was ‘being watched.’  Jesus offered a teaching lesson urging the leaders at that table to extend their hospitality to people they considered beneath them- religiously or socially. He told them that "at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” (Luke 14:14, NLT) Someone at the table gushed - "How fortunate the one who gets to eat dinner in God’s kingdom!”  (Luke 14:15, The Message)

Jesus has extended us an invitation to dinner. Yes, we are offered a place at God’s Table, a place to feast and enjoy His Presence.  The fullness of that promise will come when we are caught up to Heaven, where the Marriage Supper of the Lamb celebrates Christ’s claim on His bride, His holy people.  But, we are surely invited to come and feast in His Presence even now!  With great joy I remember that I am invited (and you, too) not because I am smart, or beautiful, or rich, or famous but because I am loved by my Father. He prepares a table for us and invites us to come to dinner.  There we will find strength for the journey, renewed hope for the future, and perhaps most important; a sense of who we are and why we exist.

My now adult children speak about our family dinners with real joy and delight in the memories.  We made a shared dinner each evening a priority in the middle of busy lives. It wasn’t a gourmet meal that brought us the most delight, though Bev fed us well. We loved and laughed and celebrated and mourned and shared life. No, we were not the perfect family. (There are none of those on this side of Heaven.) What we have is love and a sense of belonging. When we did not know where we fit in this world or if anyone cared for us we knew that around the table there at home we belonged!

This Monday morning, I want to remind you that you have a place at the Father’s table!  He loves when you come to share with Him. When the people of God gather to worship and share in the Holy Meal, He delights that you are there.  In Christ, you are no casual guest at the periphery of His awareness. You are a beloved son or daughter and in you He delights. The Psalmist says of God’s people that "They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights." (Psalm 36:8, NIV)

But …  have you accepted the invitation to dinner? After hearing that person at the dinner He was attending gush about being blessed to get an invitation, Jesus told a pointed parable about those who choose not to attend. In the first telling, He was pointing to the religious leaders who thought they had an inside track to God, but who were actually rejecting His fellowship.  To us, it is a reminder that so many others things can crowd out the more important choice of knowing our God, loving Him, and enjoying His Presence.

Take this parable to heart. Let this word from the Word become a reminder of the importance of accepting His invitation to dinner.  Let’s not let the urgent crowd out the important.  "Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ ”‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’” (Luke 14:15-24, NIV)

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Come As You Are

Come out of sadness from wherever you've been

Come broken-hearted let rescue begin

Come find your mercy O sinner come kneel

Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can't heal

Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can't heal

(So) Lay down your burdens lay down your shame

All who are broken lift up your face

O wanderer come home

You're not too far

So lay down your hurt lay down your heart

Come as you are

There's hope for the hopeless

And all those who've strayed

Come sit at the table come taste the grace

There's rest for the weary

Rest that endures

Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can't cure

Come as you are

Fall in His arms

Come as you are

There's joy for the morning O sinner be still

Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can't heal

Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can't heal

Come as you are

Come as you are

Come as you are

Ben Glover | David Crowder | Matt Maher

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At Home In Your Own Skin

There is a mark of maturity that I love to see in others, in myself. What is it?  Learning to accept myself and be ‘at home’ in my own skin.  People who have grown past the need to impress, perform, or get everyone’s approval are so refreshing because they are authentic, have integrity, and are at peace.  And, they are a rare species in our image-making culture! Bombarded by messages of who we need to be, about values that are the ‘right’ ones, about the perfect body type … too many of us try to become ‘somebody’ other than the person we really are. By the way, I am not talking about avoiding self-improvement, gaining knowledge, or growing into social grace. There is nothing beautiful in a graceless slob who revels in his ignorance!  The person I admire is the one who refuses to lets people he doesn’t like pressure him into being someone he is not; who knows the healing love and amazing grace of our Father in Heaven, and thus lives authentically for Christ.

Jesus reserved His most critical words for a group of people who were full of religious zeal – the Pharisees. Our modern caricature of them fails to account for their scrupulous discipline and desire to be godly. They worked hard at learning the Law and developed detailed rules for life so that they could avoid sinning. There is much to praise in the pursuit of a holy life. We are ALL called to live that way. Yet Jesus called them “hypocrites” and compared them to nicely painted tombs that looked great on the outside but were full of death! What was wrong with them? They looked around for approval instead of up! They measured themselves against each other rather than seeking God’s transformation of the heart. Jesus anger with them was intense. “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something." (Matthew 23:25-26, The Message)

Are you making the mistake of putting on a persona that you think pleases God and/or earns the approval of other Christians? 

Are you saying words you do not mean, praying in ways that are disconnected from your life and experience, refusing to deal with yourself?

Jesus tells us that the way to actually please God begins with humility. Comparing the prayers of two men, He teaches us about being real. “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ (By the way, Jesus does not say this man was lying. He probably was upright and living a life that looked good. But, he was proud and inauthentic.)  “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10-15, NIV) The publican admitted to himself that he needed God!

The whole story of authenticity is not just in reveling in our sinfulness. God desires that we grow up in grace, genuinely at peace with His gifts and callings in our lives. Paul points us in the right direction when he reminds us that while we know who we are and where we are today, we press on in the Spirit to ‘’take hold of that for which God took hold of me.”  His desire was a real holiness, one that started deep inside and changed him into a whole person. "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. …  our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!" (Philippians 3:14-4:2, NIV)  

When we feel insecure, when we think we need to become ‘somebody’ that will make others (or even the Lord Himself) love us, we will be tempted to play games, put on a ‘face,’ twisting ourselves in someone unrecognizable.  In those moments, we need to recall that God made us unique, that He loves us in our all our imperfection (as we see it), and that His Spirit is equipping to deal authentically with life. As we ‘die to Self’ and let ourselves be ‘hidden in Christ,’ a mysterious work begins to occur:  we get real, grow up, and become people through whom God pours His love into a broken world. Does it get any better than that?

A word from the Word - "What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who He is or what He’s up to. But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. …  This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves." (1 John 3:1-2, 19-20, The Message)

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A story about generosity

In 1892, the concert pianist, Paderewski, played a concert at Stanford University at the invitation of one Herbert Hoover, a poor student, who along with a friend, sponsored the concert to earn funds for his education. When the concert ended, the students discovered that they were $400 short of the $2000 fee. They promised Paderewski the balance, explaining that their predicament. The generous man, returned the $1600 they had, told them to take their expenses from it and give him whatever was left over! 

Paderewski went on to become the Prime Minister of Poland. When World War 1 broke out, that country was devastated and people were starving. He reached out the United States to the office of Food and Relief. The head of that office was one Herbert Hoover, who promptly set about to send tons of grain to help feed the Polish people. When Paderewski offered profuse thanks to Hoover, the young man, a future President of the US, reminded him of his generosity in 1892, which the pianist Prime Minister had completely forgotten!  Such is the nature of generosity!  We reap what we sow.

My heart jumps for joy when I interact with a person who has a generous spirit. They are positive towards others, speaking encouragement, hope for the best, and give of their resources and themselves. They make the world a richer place.  Jesus told a story about a man who failed the generosity test at the point where it is most important. “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21, NIV)

Are you ‘rich toward God’? Is your worship lavish? Do you serve to meet minimal expectations or in a way that reflects passion for Jesus and His Kingdom? 

Jesus spoke to some religious professionals who were not ‘rich toward God.’  They carefully calculated the tithe (10%) on even the herbs from their garden, but did not practice justice towards others.  Jesus’ words with regard to them are scathing: “How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things." (Matthew 23:23, NLT) 

Love does not calculate returns. It overflows! If we are carefully keeping record of what we think God owes us, if we are clinging to our time, our money; yes, to our Self – we are not ‘rich toward God.’ Jesus said that the man who took such good care of himself was a ‘fool!’ Strong word, isn’t it?  He failed to understand that eternity waited and those things he had carefully laid aside for his own comfort would be spent by another. In 1956, a bright young father whose life was full of promise died on a beach in the Amazon, during an attempt to reach a remote tribal people with the Gospel of Christ. Jim and four friends had generously invested their lives in missionary work which was hard, which provided few earthly rewards, and ultimately they died in the cause.  Elliott was living his motto - "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

Generosity is inspired by love and kept alive by a sense of the rich resources we find only in the limitless storehouse of our Lord. Are you a selfish fool or a rich wise man?

Take these words from the Word to heart. "Walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met." (Matthew 6:28-33, The Message)

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Be Thou my vision
O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me
Save that Thou art
Thou my best thought
By day or by night
Waking or sleeping
Thy presence my light

 Be Thou my wisdom
Be Thou my true Word
I ever with Thee
And Thou with me Lord
Thou my great Father
I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling
And I with Thee one

 Riches I heed not
Nor man's empty praise
Thou mine inheritance
Now and always
Thou and Thou only
Be first in my heart
High King of heaven
My treasure Thou art

 High King of heaven
When vict'ry is won
May I reach heaven's joys
O bright heaven's Sun
Heart of my own heart
Whatever befall
Still be my vision
O Ruler of all

Eleanor Henrietta Hull | Mary Elizabeth Byrne © Words: Public Domain