Good Morning All!
James
1: 19-:20; “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear,
slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not
produce the righteousness that God requires.”
I was listening to the radio the other day
and it was playing “American Pie” by Don McLean. If you are under 70 or so you probably
remember it well. It took forever to
play. The DJ’s used to call it the
bathroom song because they could start playing it, go down the hall to the
bathroom and come back before the song was over. It was also known for the meaning of all the
lines and the verses, who did this refer to or what is that a reference
to. There is one line about “my hands
were clenched in fists of rage.” This
line refers to the anger and violence which occurred in the 60’s and early 70’s
with all the riots and the anti-war protests.
It was a time when it seemed anger was the way to move forward.
It sounds like it is that time again. You sure hear a lot of anger when you listen
to the news or any political review. The
painful reality looks like we do not talk with each other, we do not even talk
at each other; we talk around each other.
What is painful is that we seem to take this attitude into all our
life. Do we really have meaningful
conversations with each other anymore?
Do we really listen to each other or are we too busy trying to think of
a rebuttal (not reply) for what the other says?
Do we really converse with our co-workers, employers/employees, friends,
spouses, children/parents?
Make a “fist of rage”. What does it look like? First, it is closed, tightly closed; like our
willingness to listen and to love the other person. It is shut to any words that someone else can
say to us. We don’t WANT to hear
it. We can but we do not want to. Notice how it is turned in. We turn all our attention inward; we focus on
our real or imagined pain, indignation, and self-righteous arrogance. When our hands are tightly closed, the only
thing we can hold onto is our self. Try
to hold someone else’s hand and make a fist; you cannot do it. When our hands are clenched in fists of rage,
either literally or figuratively, our sinful nature focuses selfishly inward
causing us to dream up all sorts of real or imagined hurts that we are suffering,
and someone must pay for the pain we feel.
This ties into another line in the song “I saw Satan laughing with
delight.” The devil wins when we are
angry because it does not produce the righteousness that God requires.
Remember what Jesus told his disciples (you
and me), “Love one another” “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you”. There is no place for anger in our
lives; it does us no good. Listen to
what is said. This takes not only our
ears but our eyes as well. How does he
look when he says this, what tone does he use, is it from pain that he
speaks? Choose your words
carefully. Wait until he is done
speaking, let it sink in for a minute or so, then respond. Try to speak in a calm and quiet tone. This is one of the devil’s best temptation to
cause us to get angry and then to stumble into sin because of a careless word
or thought. Seek God’s help in
controlling your anger, especially if you are in the right and the desire to
defeat the other is great. Use a gentle
answer to turn away wrath. Anger only produces sin not the righteousness which
God requires.
Father in heaven, all
too often my fists are clenched in rage; forgive me that I am slow to listen
and to forgive as you have forgiven me.
Strengthen me and give me the courage to open my hands to those around
me and hold them as dearly as you hold me.
All this we ask in Jesus’ precious name, amen.
God’s Peace,
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