62 Sermon Illustrations on Rage

Sounds crazy at first. People trying to cause an avalanche. Actually, there are people who do that for a living. One of the many things you can learn watching the Discovery Channel! Obviously, people who get caught in the path of an avalanche of tons of snow have little chance for survival. Skiers, snowmobilers, hikers have all been the tragic victims of what is called the white death. Now, enter the specialists they call the avalanche hunters. They drive into areas where potential avalanche conditions exist, and, using this slender, hand-held cannon, they fire shots into dangerous snow masses. These folks are not crazy. They actually trigger a small avalanche, which removes some of the buildup that can later cause a major avalanche.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Avalanche Prevention."

And what an interesting way to prevent a big avalanche - by precipitating a small one. It's similar to the strategy God recommends for preventing emotional avalanches in your relationships ... which may have already done some painful damage.

Our word for today from the Word of God, Ephesians 4:26-27 - "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." God does not say here don't be angry. He says don't be angry in a way that is sinful and hurtful, in a way that gives the devil a place to get into a relationship. And what is sinful anger? Well, for one thing, it's anger you don't deal with right away ... anger you let build up. That's the anger that ends up burying someone you care about in one of your emotional avalanches.

The avalanche hunters know that a small avalanche that does relatively little damage can help prevent a big avalanche that can do a lot of damage. It works that way with your anger, too. Your tendency may be to stuff your anger, to store your anger, to stifle your anger. You don't talk about things when they first cause your temper to flare - you just keep it to yourself. But just because your anger doesn't come out doesn't mean it goes away. It just gets buried.

When you cover your anger ... when you just turn cold or shut people out ... when you pout about it instead of expressing your feelings, or smolder, you are creating avalanche conditions. And the people around you are going to feel the effects of your anger - they'll just have no idea why. So there's no chance for understanding, or healing, or change ... just tension.

Right now you may be in a relationship where there's growing friction and distance because of the buildup of anger inside you. Hard feelings may be growing on both sides, and hard feelings are much more difficult to fix than soft feelings. That's why God says to get it fixed that same day - before it turns hard.

So it's time to deal with what's accumulating inside you before it causes larger and more deadly avalanches. First, pour out those feelings to God. He already knows about them, but He's waiting for you to bring them to Him before He'll help you with them. And then find a way to express what's been bothering you to the person or the people involved ... not in a verbal attack on them, but in a way that focuses on how you feel about what they did. And if you can't say it, write it. And if the wounds are really deep and the distance really wide, get the healing help of an objective third party, like a pastor or counselor. Maybe you fear the confrontation, but your greater fear should be the greater pain of not confronting it.

Deal with your anger right now, right away. Work it out before it can grow into something much bigger and much more damaging. Take care of it when it's small - so you don't have to dig yourself and those you love out of the emotional death of a major avalanche.

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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

"Beware the fury of a patient man."

-- John Dryden

"The greatest remedy for anger is delay."

-- Seneca

"How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it."

-- Marcus Aurelius

"An angry man opens his mouth and shuts up his eyes."

-- Cato

"Anger begins with folly, and ends with repentance."

-- H. G. Bohn

"Anger blows out the lamp of the mind."

-- Robert Green Ingersoll

"I was angry with my friend:

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe:

I told it not, my wrath did grow."

-- William Blake

"To rule one's anger is well; to prevent it is still better."

-- Tryon Edwards

"Keep cool; anger is not an argument."

-- Daniel Webster

"Men often make up in wrath what they want in reason."

-- William Rounseville Alger

"Anger is a momentary madness, so control your passion or it will control you."

-- Horace

"The flame of anger, bright and brief, sharpens the barb of love."

-- Walter S. Landor

"When a man is wrong and won't admit it, he always gets angry."

-- Haliburton

"The intoxication of anger, like that of the grape, shows us to others, but hides us from ourselves. We injure our own cause in the opinion of the world when we too passionately defend it."

-- Charles Caleb Colton

"Anger is as a stone cast into a wasp's nest."

-- Malabar Proverb

"An angry man is again angry with himself when he returns to reason."

-- Publilius Syrus

"Anger is seldom without argument but seldom with a good one."

-- Lord Halifax

"Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit."

-- Epictetus

"When angry count four; when very angry, swear."

-- Mark Twain

"Anger and intolerance are the twin enemies of correct understanding."

-- Mahatma Gandhi

"Anybody can become angry -- that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way -- that is not within everybody's power and is not easy."

-- Aristotle

"Wise anger is like fire from a flint: there is great ado to get it out; and when it does come, it is out again immediately."

-- Matthew Henry

"When your dad is mad and asks you, 'Do I look stupid?' don't answer him."

-- Michael, age 14, QFTM 2/14/04

“Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.”

-- Steven Wright

“Keep your shirt on!” A couple of centuries ago, only a very well-to-do gentleman owned several shirts, so getting into a fight was no reason to ruin what might very well be your one and only. Too, fabrics were homespun, coarser, and more constricting, so a common step before launching into a fight was to remove one’s shirt.

For example, Sam and Ben have words; Sam then sees Ben unbuttoning his shirt. Unless Sam is eager to fight Ben, Sam will cry out, “Keep your shirt on!” In other words, “Let’s not be hasty about getting into a fight.” Today “keep your shirt on” still means “don’t be in such a hurry,” but it no longer refers to preparing angrily for a fight.

How does the Bible word it? “Do not let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26b). Heard that before, haven’t you? But can you quote the next verse, which is the completion of the sentence? “And don’t give the devil an opportunity” (Ephesians 4:27). In other words, lose your temper and attract the tempter. Grudge-holding is wrong, and the only thing it accomplishes is to show Satan the chink in your armor.

Certainly situations will arise that make us angry and sometimes downright furious. But as followers of the Gentle Lamb of God, what are we to do? Get over it. If we refuse to do so, we open up a wound through which Satan’s forces invade our spirit and fester our feelings of self-pity and woundedness. Next thing you know, you’re ready to give somebody, maybe even anybody, a piece of your mind. All of us know at least one person who’s given so many people a piece of his mind, he doesn’t have much left to work with!

How about you? Are you quick to anger? Right now I’m dealing with a situation where a friend believes I’ve committed a wrong which I haven’t done, and she refuses to forgive. I’ve pleaded with her to talk with me. I’ve tried to show her I’ve done nothing to hurt her. I’ve asked for her forgiveness. Forgiveness? I hear you, “But you just said you haven’t done anything to cause this!” I haven’t. But see, it’s not about who’s right or wrong -- it’s about preventing bitterness from growing.

Unfortunately this Christian sister continues to hold onto her grudge, and her bitterness is becoming more and more apparent to all who see and hear her talk about the situation -- and believe me, she’s talking. Am I out there telling my side of the story? No. I’m praying for the Lord to touch her heart and heal our relationship. I’m praying for the Lord not to allow me to harbor any resentment for what is being said in the meantime.

Jesus Christ is the only Defender I need. He is the only Defender you need. If you find yourself in a spot like I’m in, do what you can to diffuse the problem. Then leave it in God’s hands. He will never take the side of anyone who refuses to forgive -- and that, my friend, includes you and me.

Don’t withhold forgiveness. You need it too much yourself. I need it too much for myself. Jesus said in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:12) that we are to pray for the Lord to “forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.”

How much has the Lord forgiven you? How much are you forgiving others? Beloved, we can’t afford to hold grudges.

Sermon in the series "The Holes of Life," #4. Genesis 4:1-11

CRAWLING OUT OF THE ANGER HOLE

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I. It's a hole anyone of us can fall into.

II. Cain got it rolling.

A. He and his brother Abel offer sacrifices to God.

B. What was the difference?

C. Cain had bigger issues in his life than an offering.

III. Anger has always been a part of life.

A. Jesus himself got angry.

B. The Bible shows human anger in a variety of situations.

C. Anger often reflects deeper issues.

IV. Can we master anger?

A. The Old Testament tried to put limits on it.

B. Paul says we can get rid of rage and anger. Eph 4:31

C. Cain - sin is crouching over you but we can master it. Gen 4:7

V. What is inside you?

A. Do an assessment of your anger.

B. Commit yourself to the Prince of Peace.

David Cross’s wife bought a van from the Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Used Car Superstore. “It was a piece of [garbage]” Cross said. He says the van had multiple issues including a broken odometer and damage from a previous wreck, so he took it back to the dealer. The dealer not only refused to refund his money, but wouldn’t even negotiate the price on another van.

So Cross returned that night and drove the van onto the lot -- and into multiple vehicles. “I hit the first $25,000 car I could see,” Cross said. “I didn’t hit a car under $20,000. Then I moved a van that they wouldn’t come down on the price for. I moved it with the lemon they sold me. I just held it to the floor until I couldn’t move it any more.” In all, he says, “I took out seven vehicles, including my own.” He then flagged down a police cruiser and turned himself in.

“I woke up this morning and wondered if it was a dream,” he said, “but then I looked over and there’s my bail papers.”

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Portsmouth Herald

A respected journalist begins an article about the president with a statement of undiluted hatred. A prestigious Christian essayist takes every opportunity to rail publicly against Christians more conservative than she is. A famous conservative columnist uses a sexual epithet to describe a presidential candidate at a national conference.

Are these isolated incidents? Or do we have what Peter Wood calls a “national epidemic of anger”?

Wood, the provost and academic vice-president at King’s College, thinks that such an epidemic is indeed raging. In his new book, A BEE IN THE MOUTH: ANGER IN AMERICA NOW, Wood explores the roots of that anger and the way it manifests itself in our culture — which, he says, has turned itself into an “angri-culture.”

Now, anger is nothing new in American culture and especially in American politics. We have all lived through periods of partisan rage, name-calling, and spite. In that respect, Jonathan Chait, Anne Lamott, and Ann Coulter, whose cases I just described, were following an established tradition. Yet Wood senses something different about this “New Anger” that these people and others are practicing — and I think he may be on to something.

New Anger, the book explains, is not just a by-product of the political process. It has become central to it. The discourse of our time has become ABOUT anger, with pundits, politicians, and their supporters acting as if their anger and hatred were virtues in themselves. Political and journalistic careers are built on being angry. It’s a nationwide case of “I-hate-therefore-I-am,” says Wood. As traditional virtues like self-control have eroded, replaced by new “virtues” like self-expression, anger and hatred have become celebrated, even cherished.

If you doubt it, look around. Read a bumper sticker or a comic strip. Pick up a newspaper or a magazine. Although Wood cites prominent cases of New Anger on both the right and the left, he sees a September 2003 article in the NEW REPUBLIC as “pivotal.” That was the article that Jonathan Chait began with these words: “I hate President George W. Bush.”

Wood comments, “Chait is a serious political commentator, not a barroom drunk.” But Chait and others like him have legitimized a new way of talking about culture and politics that once would have seemed more at home in the barroom. They have demonstrated “that people who were eager to maintain a view of themselves as ‘serious’ and ‘thoughtful’ could, without risk to self-image or reputation, indulge in public vituperation” of the president or any other politician that they happen to hate. And many have followed their lead, with the result that true seriousness and thought have gone out the window. If you get angry enough, you prove your viewpoint worthy of respect — and that no one else’s viewpoint is even worth considering.

Tomorrow, I’ll talk about how Christians can offer a positive alternative to this culture of anger. But in the meantime, we should all do some serious thinking about just how pervasive the culture of anger has become, and examining our own hearts to find out just how deeply we have let it affect us. A person who cherishes anger is not just unpleasant to be around, he or she can be downright dangerous — as dangerous as “a bee in the mouth.”

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Copyright (c) 2007 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.