The Saved Castaway: Beyond Anger… It Is Possible (Part VIII)

Sermon Title: Castaway: Beyond Anger…It Is Possible

Good News Statement: God has compassion for us

Preached: Sunday, August 27th, 2023, at Dogwood Prairie and Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): Jonah 4:1-11– Today’s Scripture reading comes from the Book of Jonah chapter four verses one thru eleven. In these verses we witness a prophet become angry with God, question God, and in some way disbelieve because he can’t think beyond himself. We must remember what the Lord provides, he can take away; and that we are called to be good to others.

Jonah’s Anger

4 But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. ² He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning, for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment. ³ And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” ⁴ And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” ⁵ Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.

⁶ The Lord God appointed a bush and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort, so Jonah was very happy about the bush. ⁷ But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. ⁸ When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

Jonah Is Reproved

⁹ But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” ¹⁰ Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also many animals?”

 

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

Introduction:

The coach of a Buffalo little league team called one of his players over to him and said that he would like to explain some of the principles of sportsmanship. He said, “We don’t believe in temper tantrums, screaming at the umpires, or using bad language. Do you understand?” The boy nodded. “All right then,” said the coach, “I want you to go over there into the stands and explain that to your father who is jumping up and down and screaming.”

Anger. We have all experienced anger before in our life. We have felt the raging urge to yell, scream, get upset, and release a side of us that no one has ever seen before. Anger. It’s part of who we are, a characteristic and description. Anger. It’s an emotional, mental, and sometimes physical response to an unpleasant situation. Anger. It can control us, or we can control it. Anger.

How many of you have experienced anger this past week? How many of you heard or saw something that made you angry? How many of you are dealing with anger today? How many of you have ever been angry with God? Some experts suggest that the average adult gets angry about once a day and annoyed or peeved about three times a day. Other anger management experts suggest that getting angry fifteen times a day is more likely a realistic average. Studies have also shown that “long-term, unresolved anger is lined to health conditions such as high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and heart disease” (www.nhsinform.scot; 2023).

According to www.mindyouranger.com, “more than one in ten (about 12% of people) say that they have trouble controlling their own anger”; “more than one in four people (28%) say that they worry about how angry they sometimes feel”; “one in five people (20%) say that they ended a relationship or friendship with someone because of how they behaved when they were angry”; and “64% of people either strongly agree or simply agree that people in general are getting angrier.” Society has created more avenues for people to be angry. This specific site also addressed some factors that can contribute to one’s anger: office rage, computer rage, road rage, phone rage, shopping rage, and health. Anger is part of our life. It was also part of Jonah life.

Today, we conclude our adventure—our watery excursion—with a saved castaway who goes by the name of Jonah. Jonah has left the city of Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, and is watching the city from a distance contemplating what is going to happen: it is going to live in repentance or is going to get what it deserves—the wrath of God. If any of you have read the short—three chapter, forty-seven verses—of the book of Nahum, you will know that Nineveh does fall approximately 100 years after Jonah initially proclaims his eight word message and the people repent and receive God’s compassion. Nahum writes in 2:13, “See, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more.” Eventually, the people of Nineveh fall to ruin, “hearts faint, knees tremble, and faces grow pale” (Nahum 2:10), but before then Jonah has to live with the fact that what he wants to have happen—destruction, devastation, and revenge—will not happen that day, in his presence or even in his sight.

When writing his commentary on the Book of Jonah, James Bruckner notes, “Jonah Chapter Four focuses on the prophet’s relationship with God as they dialogue about Jonah’s anger over the ways of Yahweh.” In this specific text, God argues His preference for compassion, even in horrible circumstances. God has compassion for what He has made (no matter how ignorant, abusive, or violent the culture). Because of God’s relenting compassion for the people of Nineveh—the wicked people of Nineveh—Jonah is angry, Jonah is frustrated, Jonah is heated. To ease Jonah’s anger, God attempts to teach Jonah a lesson through a bush, a worm, and scorching east winds; but Jonah refuses to receive God’s teaching. The lesson that God wants Jonah to receive is “God’s basic response of compassion for living things is more important than strict justice.” God’s primary argument is creational. Bruckner states, “God loves all His creation, for He is gracious and compassionate.”

The conclusion to the Book of Jonah calls forth two ideas: first, our anger is no match for the compassion of God, and second, God will do the impossible to make us see the possible.

Body:

In the words of Aristotle, “Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way—that is not easy.” The word anger has its roots going back to the 1200s. In the 1200s, anger was defined as “to irritate, annoy, provoke” and then in the mid-1300s, it took on the definition of “hostile attitude, ill will; distress, grief, sorrow, affliction.” Then in the 1400s, anger was used to define the “excitement of wrath.” In Old Norse language, anger took on several other characteristics: angr-gapi meaning “rash, foolish person,” angr-lauss meaning “free from care,” and angr-lyndi meaning “sadness, low spirits.” Today, anger is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility.” Anyone can become angry—experience annoyance and displeasure—but not everyone will allow God to overturn their anger into an act of compassion.

Anger is real: it has lasting impacts on one’s life and on the lives of those around them. Anger is so real that even the Bible mentions it 268 time in the New International Version, 260 times in the New Revised Standard Version, 230 times in the New King James Version, and 142 times in the Contemporary English Version. Anger is not only part of our life, but it is also part of history and scripture. Anyone and anything can become angry.

Exodus 32:19 states, “As Moses got closer to the camp, he saw the idol, and he also saw the people dancing around. This made him so angry that he threw down the stones and broke them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.” Prior to this incident Exodus 4:14 asserts that the LORD become angry, “The Lord became angry with Moses and said: What about your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know he is a good speaker. He is already on his way here to visit you, and he will be happy to see you again.” The LORD also appears angry in Judges 2:14, “So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers who plundered them, and he sold them into the power of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.”

Matthew 5:22 informs us through the words of Jesus, “But 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.” Furthermore, Mark says that Jesus looked with anger at the Pharisees, who were hoping to catch him breaking their law (Mark 3:5). Jesus’ anger was also shown in his cleansing of the temple (John 2:13–22); it should have been a place of prayer but was being used as a place of business. Moreover, Paul informs us that we must do our best to refrain from anger when he writes to the people of Colossae, “But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth” (Colossians 3:8). Before making the claim that we must get rid of all anger, Paul tells the people of Ephesus that being angry is okay as long as it does not lead to sin: “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27).

As suggested by the above passages, anger is woven throughout the Bible. The prophets experienced anger, the LORD experienced anger, Jesus experienced anger, the disciples experienced anger, and even the common folk experienced anger. Anger is as much a part of the Bible as it is part of our lives. But the question that must be answered is, “How do we deal with our anger? How do we make sure that our anger does not lead to sin? How do we let go of that anger?” How many of us are clutching the remnant of some argument that needs to be forgotten?[1]

Thinking about our text, Jonah has chosen to immortalize his anger—to use his anger as a source of fame to justify what he wants before the LORD. He is holding on to his anger. God asks Jonah twice, “Is it right for you to be angry?” The first time God asks Jonah this question, Jonah does not respond, but chooses to sit under a booth and watch “what would become of the city” (Jonah 4:5). The second time God asks this question, Jonah promptly says, “Yes, angry enough to die.”  Jonah is angry enough to die because what God has chosen to do with the wicked Ninevites—show them compassion and save them—is not what Jonah would have done to the Ninevites. Jonah is not just angry enough to die, he is angry enough to put others in danger for the sake of his own doing: he is letting his anger lead to sin. Jonah is immortalizing his anger so that God knows that his anger is something that he praises. Returning to the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, “But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment…” (Matthew 5:22), God brings judgment upon Jonah because of his anger.

Jonah 4:6-8 states, “The Lord God appointed a bush and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort, so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’” Even though God brought judgment upon Jonah through the taking away of the bush and the sultry east wind and blazing sun, Jonah still held onto his anger. He didn’t let it go. How many of you are holding on to some sort of anger today? How many of you know that you need to let it go, but can’t find the proper way to do so—even when God is providing you opportunities to let it go?

If you are one of those people—who would rather stay angry than to trust in the compassion of God—then I invite you to consider these four simple instructions. First, talk to the person your angry at. Believe it or not, Jonah did converse with the person he was angry at, God, but it wasn’t until later that his heart was changed. Sometimes the person who we are angry with doesn’t know or is not aware of the offense they did. Ignoring and avoiding the person involved would prolong your anger. Simply converse with the person that has caused your anger. If that person is God, then converse with God.

Second, replace your anger with compassion and forgive. Ephesians 4:26-27, 31-32 state, “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil…. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” When we give the devil a foothold, something to grasp unto, we are actually giving him a secure position from which he can progress in our lives in terms of influence. Anger is one of the steps where the devil can use to progress his influence in our lives. Therefore, when we deal with our anger in right away—without sin—we are destroying that place or position where the devil can stand and move forward. We must not be, as the Old Norse language suggests, “a rash, and foolish person, who is free from care and low in spirits.” That’s who Jonah is, but that is not who we are. We are God’s people, who like God, are “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love…” (Jonah 4:2). It’s okay to be angry; but during our anger we must seek compassion and forgiveness sooner rather than later; and we must not allow our anger to be an open door for the devil to enter our heart.

Third, we must be aware of the devil’s work in relation to our anger. In addition to not letting the devil grasp us, we must be cognizant of how the devil is working within our anger. 1 Peter 5:8-9 states, when discussing the devil, “Discipline yourselves; keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.” In a time of anger, we must not let the anger control us. We must not let our anger push back against the works of God. We must not give into the negativity of anger. We must not assume that a bush and source of shade will solve all of our issues. If we choose to give into our anger, we are merely making room for the devil in our lives. When we are angry, Peter is telling us to discipline ourselves—monitor our anger and don’t let our anger turn into sin—and keep alert how anger is changing us into something that we are not. Jonah allowed the devil to work through his anger so much that Jonah was “angry enough to die.” The devil was winning the heart of Jonah. Don’t let your anger become an access point for the devil.

As I stated earlier, expressing anger can be healthy. According to www.amenclinics.com , anger provides a sense of control and optimism, anger generates motivation, anger helps us to survive, anger increases cooperation, and anger can lead to self-improvement. However, if we allow our anger to remain negativity, and therefore leading to sinful behavior, then it becomes detrimental and possibly harmful to others. It’s okay to be angry; but it’s not okay to let your anger to become sinful.

Fourth, we are reminded through the ending of Jonah that God needs us to be slow to become angry and instead quick to listen and slow to speak. James in his epistle writes, “You must understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for human anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (James 1:19-20).  The words of James remind me of guy by the name of Job—a man described as blameless and upright, who loved God, shunned evil and was the greatest among all the people of the East ( Job1:1-2)—lost his 10 children, thousands of livestock, and countless servants in a single day. These events came sometime after God and Satan were said to have argued over Job’s character. God described Job as God-fearing, but the devil said Job was only so fearful and righteous because all had gone well for him. God then granted the devil power over all Job had, though He said the devil could not hurt the man himself (Job 1:12).

When the cursed day arrived and Job did indeed lose everything, he was devastated. He tore his robe and shaved his head. Job was angry, but then Job realized that human anger does not produce God’s righteousness, it only produces access points for the devil, so Job worshipped God, crying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21). In moments of anger, although it is not the first thing we think about, we must consider the righteousness of God. Jonah, like many of us at times, thought that God was ignoring him and focusing too much on other people who didn’t deserve to experience God’s compassion but rather God’s wrath. Jonah sought God’s undivided attention so he become angry with him. Jonah forgot that LORD his God is within him wherever he goes and does (Joshua 1:9). Being slow to anger and seeking God’s righteousness suggests that we are being seen and heard by God. Don’t let your anger be so prominent in your life that it replaces God’s righteousness in your heart. Be slow to anger and quick to listen.

Considering Jonah’s anger alongside our own anger, the ending of the Book of Jonah provides us with one simple yet powerful reminder: God takes the impossible and makes it possible.  Jonah 4:9-11 state, “But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?’ And he said, ‘Yes, angry enough to die.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also many animals?’”

Just in the Book of Jonah, the LORD performed many tasks that we see as impossible. The LORD changed the hearts of rowdy, rustic, disbelieving sailors who also repented and worship Him. The LORD provided a large enough fish to swallow Jonah and inside that fish, Jonah was not hungry or thirsty or gasping for oxygen. The LORD convinced Jonah to return to the great and wicked city of Nineveh. The LORD provided an eight word message that lead a hundred and twenty thousand people plus animals to repent of their sins. The LORD lead animals to repentance. The LORD changed the heart of a wicked King, who also humbled himself before his people. The LORD created a large enough bush to protect Jonah. And the LORD did not give up on someone who was angry with Him. The LORD made the impossible the possible so that we today would take to heart the ways and works of Him, and realize that He is waiting to change our impossibilities into possibilities.

Every day, God is changing the impossible into something possible; every day, God is working in our lives, in our church, and in our community; every day, whether we get angry with Him or not, God is still by our sides; and every day, God is hoping that we will not question His ways but trust in His ways. As the hymn by Eugene Clark begins, “Nothing is impossible when you put your trust in God…” and ends with “everything is possible with God.” Another song that comes to mind is an old Children’s song that I learned growing up. The song is titled “My God is So Big,” and the opening line sings, “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty! There’s nothing my God cannot do.” God can do everything! God can do the impossible! God can save you from your anger.

What Jonah needed to realize is what we realize today: nothing is impossible with God because He turns the impossible into something possible. Jonah needed to trust and obey the LORD with his whole heart, mind, body, and soul and was struggling to do that because he couldn’t fully surrender himself to the compassion of the LORD. Are you willing to surrender all to the LORD so that He will make the impossible into something possible?

 

Conclusion:

The coach of a Buffalo little league team called one of his players over to him and said that he would like to explain some of the principles of sportsmanship. He said, “We don’t believe in temper tantrums, screaming at the umpires, or using bad language. Do you understand?” The boy nodded. “All right then,” said the coach, “I want you to go over there into the stands and explain that to your father who is jumping up and down and screaming.”

Jonah, in the midst of throwing a temper tantrum, screaming at God, and possibly using fowl language, teaches us a valuable lesson. In times of anger, defeat, and devastation, we must not create avenues for the devil to enter our life. Instead, we must be slow to anger, remain in steadfast love, and seek forgiveness so that we, too, like the Ninevites can receive God’s compassion and mercy in our lives. Don’t let your anger control you. Don’t let your anger steer you away from God. And don’t let your anger take away the righteousness of God that lives in your heart. Instead, talk to the person your angry at, replace your anger with compassion and forgiveness, be aware of the devil’s work in relation to your anger, remember that God needs you to be slow to angry, quick to listen, and slow to speak, and God is calling you to go into the stands to help calm others who are angry. If you allow your anger to take ahold of you, you are limiting the opportunity of God to do wonders in your life; and the wonders may seem impossible now, but they are always possible to God. Allow God to overturn your anger into compassion, and allow God to do extraordinary things in your life. Nothing is impossible with God. How has God changed the impossible to the possible in your life? How as God guided you toward compassion though your moments of anger?

Let it be so…

 

Closing Prayer:

Let Us Pray…Dear Compassionate God, we thank you for not giving up on us when our anger controls our emotions, words, and actions. O Lord, we pray that you remind us to be slow to speak in times of anger; we pray that in times of anger you open our heart to experience compassion and forgiveness; and in times of anger may set aside our bitterness and wrath so that we can focus more on you and your ways. O Lord, lead us away from sinful anger and guide us toward your righteousness. All honor and glory is yours, now and forever, Amen.

 

Benediction:

If you happen to encounter anger this week, may you remember to not let your anger control your ways, but instead listen to the LORD and let the LORD overcome your anger with compassion and forgiveness. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, go out into the world knowing that God is waiting to change the impossible things in your life into life opportunities of possibility. And all of God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.

[1] According to Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Sarah Duchess, of Marlborough, cut off a great part of her hair after a quarrel with her husband. She then asked an artist to paint her with her new hairstyle with her holding the clump of cut hair. She thus immortalized the quarrel. Sometimes we have to let things go.