Of Course, I’m Angry!

Self-righteousness and anger are a combination we resort to all too often.  These two attitudes come together when we think we are right or when we’ve been sinned against. The old expression, “my way or the highway” characterizes how we can fall into the trap of thinking we know best and everyone else should know it.   Another expression we need to wrestle with in this area is “sin number one does not deserve sin number two”.  In this case we feel we deserve to be angry considering the hurt we are experiencing.  Either way our self-righteousness can drive us to anger.  What does this look like?

The answer to that question can be seen in the Pharisees.  We read many times in scripture where the Pharisees were waiting for Jesus to break their rules so they could accuse him.  A self-righteous person has his own set of rules which he believes to be right; therefore someone else’s opinion is wrong.

“On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.  But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”  Luke 6:1-2

“On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.  And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him.”  Luke 6:6-7

On both of these occasions the Pharisees held to doing nothing on the Sabbath which would include feeding hunger and doing good.  Because they considered they were right in their thinking, they responded by being angry with Jesus.  Isn’t this the same way we respond when someone doesn’t do something our way?  Even though our way may not be the chosen method or most popular, we believe it to be the right way.  So if it is right, then doesn’t everyone have to do it?  Our self-righteousness is exposed in our anger as it is evident we can’t see another way of doing things.

There’s another answer to this question.  This one is far more subtle for us.  We touched on it in the first paragraph.  What happens when we are sinned against?  What should our response be?  What should we be thinking of the one who has sinned against us?  Isn’t anger the normal and acceptable response?  In 1 Samuel 25 we have a story of David who is on the run from Saul.  David is in the area of Carmel where sheep shearing is being done for a man named Nabal who is described as, “harsh and badly behaved”.  David and his men made sure that no harm came to Nabal’s shearers and the shepherds.  Therefore when David and his men needed supplies he sent to Nabal for them.  But Nabal’s reply was “no”.  When David heard this, his reply was one filled with anger.  “…Every man strap on his sword!…David also strapped on his sword.  And about four hundred men went up after David…” 1 Samuel 25:13  Nabal’s sinful response led David to respond in anger which put him on the road to take vengeance against Nabal.  Understandable?  It seems to be. The story goes on to say that Abigail, Nabal’s wife, goes out with supplies for David and his men, seeking to stop David from his vengeful march.  Abigail says to David, “…my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord taking vengeance himself…” 1 Samuel 25:31a  At this point Abigail reminds David of his own sinful heart which is no better than Nabal’s.

We have a tendency to allow the other person’s sin to far outweigh our own sin.  Because of their sin we feel we have a right to be angry and to punish the person for what he has done.  Nothing could be farther from the truth and yet we believe we are right to respond in sin to other people’s sin.  We need to remind ourselves of what we have been forgiven of in our own lives.  “…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:8  We are all sinners.  We have to remember that we were sinners when Christ died for us and He did it anyway.  Our sin has not ceased on this side of the cross but we are forgiven sinners.  This forgiveness has to be on our minds as we seek to respond to someone who has sinned against us.  “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32  God has forgiven me.  God has forgiven me.  God has forgiven me.  Yes that was meant to be written three times.  It is a truth we have to remember in order to fight against our self-righteous thinking that my sin is not as bad as his.

When we are sinned against, we are tempted to be angry and retaliate.  This is true BUT what is also true is that we don’t have to give into that temptation.  REMEMBER JESUS!