Is Anger a Crime?
Apparently, according to the Kingdom Code, God’s Law, anger, no, continued anger, is a crime. In God’s Kingdom, so we were told last Sunday 26th May 2019, it is not only against the law to murder. It is also against the law just to stay angry with someone. Note that the words here are “to stay angry [continuously] with someone.” To put this in another way, unresolved anger is a sin. Anger itself is not a sin, but continued anger is. Then there is the need for us to separate ‘kill’ from ‘murder’. Please Read on.
“That is the kind of radical idea that Jesus gave to his followers,” said Preacher Zhenwu Sun 孫振武傳道 from the pew in his sermon to the congregation at the Auckland Chinese Methodist Church Mandarin Service under the leadership of Rev. Chan 陈礼亮牧师.
The topic of the sermon that day was 与人和好是上帝的心意 “Reconciliation with people is God’s Will” and the quote from the Bible was Matthew 5:21-26.
https://youtu.be/WC6bCBSgNtQ 奔跑不放弃
每个狂风暴雨里 你同在在那里
每个难处低谷里 你恩典在那里
每个伤心失望里 你爱我爱到底
在你爱的光中 我得着能力 x twice
我爱你 用尽我全心全意全力 荣耀高举你的名 我跟随不怀疑
我爱你 用尽我全心全意全力 在这爱的路程里 我奔跑不放弃
每个狂风暴雨里 你同在在那里 每个难处低谷里 你恩典在那里
每个伤心失望里 你爱我爱到底 在你爱的光中 我得着能力
我爱你 用尽我全心全意全力 荣耀高举你的名 我跟随不怀疑
我爱你 用尽我全心全意全力 在这爱的路程里 我奔跑不放弃
四面受敌 却不被困住 心里作难 却不至失望
至暂至轻的苦楚要成就 极重无比永远的荣耀
四面受敌 却不被困住 心里作难 却不至失望
至暂至轻的苦楚要成就 极重无比永远的荣耀
我爱你 用尽我全心全意全力 荣耀高举你的名 我跟随不怀疑
我爱你 用尽我全心全意全力 在这爱的路程里 我奔跑不放弃
Let us recollect the theme or the title of Preacher’s sermon. It is “Reconciliation … is God’s Will”. Therefore if we are angry with someone, God’s wish is for us to make efforts for reconciliation. Anger is initially a response, not a choice. Initial anger is more of a temptation than a sin. It is what we choose to do with anger and what we choose to do because of anger that makes us sinful.
Reading Matthew 5: 23 and 5:24 together makes it clear to us that we cannot offer a gift at the altar unless we have reconciled with our brother or sister. These two verses read as follows:
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. go and be reconciled to them first; then come and offer your gift.
Then, Matthew 5:25 and Matthew 5:26 elaborate the importance of reconciliation even further thus:
25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
God takes continued anger (that is anger without reconciliation) as well as the speaking words of insults like ‘Race’ or ‘You Fool’ very seriously. Why is that so, we wonder? The answer to this is simply that unresolved anger and the continued words of insult can often result in murder. In God’s kingdom, therefore, the conscious choice of anger towards our brothers and sisters constitutes a sin, as we lose sight of the persons that God loves.
There are other places in the New Testament that repeat this wish of God.
In Colossians 3:8 “… you must rid yourselves of … anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”
In James1:19-20 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
In Ephesians 4:31 “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” https://youtu.be/nnomDbHpf1M
耶稣恳求祢 以大能覆庇我
祢的话语 再一次 坚固我
绝望和孤单 不断的追赶着我
祢却是 风雨中的避难所
耶稣唯有祢 了解我忧伤难过
祢钉痕手 安慰我 拥抱我
擦干我眼泪 医治了我的伤痛
用信心 重新开启我的眼光
*原来哭有时 欢笑有时
过去所经历的困难
都让我看到 祢的信实
学会保留有时 放手有时
我选择相信 祢美好不变的应许
耶稣感谢祢 一路上牵引着我
十架的路 祢与我 一起走过
祢走在我前头 鼓励我 不要退缩
因祢在 创世以前拣选了我
*
祢的旨意超乎我所想所求
在这时候 纵使我看不透
祢必引领我 走进丰盛广阔之地
祢恩典总够我用
*
终于学会保留有时 放手有时
我选择相信 祢美好不变的应许
我生命所有 都交托在祢的手里
‘Kill’ or ‘Murder’? Understand the difference from the following youtube video: https://youtu.be/0RENPaY043o
English