Teaching About Anger

Matt Vincent · Tidal Church Moncton · July 14, 2024 · Kingdom Citizens series

Matt Vincent teaches from Matthew 5:21-26, where Jesus moves from murder to the anger beneath it. Kingdom citizens are called to pursue reconciliation, make friends of adversaries, and let the Holy Spirit change the heart.

More from Matt Vincent · The Kingdom Citizens series

Topics: Holy Spirit, Forgiveness, Relationships, Discipleship

Transcript

[0:00] Well, friends, I'm really excited that I get to introduce you to my friend Matt Vincent. Matt is the lead pastor of a Lewisville church here in town. And I've gotten to know Matt over the last year or so, as he's been here and ministering in our community as one of our other churches. And what I love about Matt is kind of two things. One, he's got a sincere passion, what you'll get a chance to see, for the Scriptures and the way that Jesus can change people's lives. But the second thing is that right from the very beginning, Matt, you were so interested in helping our community to see that the church is actually united, that we're together, that there are churches in our city, but that we're a part of the Big C Church. And so Matt was actually the spark, if you were part of our Good Friday service that was together amongst all the churches. It started from Matt asking a question to me and that was the beginnings of it.

[0:46] And so I appreciate you, Matt, for so many things. Our people are excited to hear from you as you continue on in our series. And so, here we go. Thank you. Good. Thanks, Jeff. So growing up, my brothers and I grew up in the Toronto area and, see if this rings true for you, depending on how old you are, but when I was growing up specifically in the summertime, my mom would often say, "You and your brothers get outside, find something to do," right? It was like the parenting strategy back then. I think things have come a little bit further along, like maybe that's a different conversation. But every summer day, I think my mom would say, "You and your brothers get outside. Find something to do." I don't even think she cared what we did, where we went. There's basically two rules for my mom. Don't get hit by a car and make sure you're home at five o'clock for dinner.

[1:31] Because even at that point in time my parents were living and acting like they had retired to Florida and were eating really early in the day. That was the only thing we could do, basically whatever we wanted. So my brothers and I and a lot of friends in our neighborhood would often find ourselves getting into precarious positions. I remember one time my older brother Miles had this genius idea that we'd go up to this big hill that was in our neighborhood and we would tie our bikes all together side by side and we would see what it was like to go down. And he had this thought that we'd go extra fast and it would be extra cool. And I was just dumb enough to believe that it might work. And so we got up to the top of this big hill and we tied, I think we used skipping ropes actually. We tied our bikes together and everything was going really, really well until we got about halfway down. And then we got the speed wobble and and then it was a disaster.

[2:20] Bruises, cuts, accusations, finger-pointing, punches, like we all turned on each other. There's this other thing that we used to do in our neighborhood. Again, I'm not sure if this rings true for you, but there's this game we used to play called lawn darts. Do you remember this? Yeah. This might be, I don't know how, like, regional this is, but here's the point of the game. If you've never seen this game before, here's how it all breaks down. You have these sharp spear-like instruments and the goal is you put the little target out somewhere in the grass and you take turns launching these lawn darts way up into the sky. And the goal is to get it into the center, right? You're trying to almost hit like a bullseye within that hula hoop kind of structure. And the closer you get, the more you get within the hoop, the more points you get.

[3:06] And generally speaking, we would start off pretty well. We would try our best to get them into the center and then everything would fall apart. See, in this picture here that you're seeing, it looks like just a really fun family activity, right? It looks like, what could go wrong? The parents are sitting there enjoying a nice beverage in the shade. Billy and Sally are playing, everyone's getting along. But then I found another picture here of the packaging that they used to describe these darts. If you notice, in the warning it says, "Not a toy. For use by children. May cause serious or fatal injury. Read instructions carefully. Keep outta reach of children." Well, that's not what it was like when I was growing up. We had these and we used to play them in our neighborhood. We'd set up in a neighborhood park, and again, we often start properly, but then it would turn into this and you know, if you ever played this, you know where it goes.

[3:56] You would try to see how high up you could get it and then everyone else would see how long they could stand near the target before they would split and run for their life, for fear of being impaled by this lawn dart, right? I don't even think they sell these anymore. I think it's probably illegal now, you know, because probably people did get really, really hurt. And I don't know, maybe someone passed away from it. This is what we used to do. When I think of summer, I still have these fond memories looking back and I'm really glad to be here. I don't know how your summer's going so far, but I am really glad to be here with you this summer, and I'm really excited that you're doing this series. The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, that we find in Matthew's Gospel, perhaps my favorite chunk of Scripture, or at least one of them, because it reveals for us, it unfolds for us what it looks like to be kingdom citizens.

[4:43] It tells us what it is all like. If you are here, no matter where you kind of come from, what brought you to the room this morning, if you are just exploring the message of Jesus, His teachings, His actions, who He was, and this is maybe even your first time here, this is a perfect time, because if you wanna get a snapshot, look at what Jesus is all about and what the order, the bullseye, if you will, for the followers of Jesus. It's contained in the Sermon on the Mount. We don't need to just lob things up in the air and hope we understand what Jesus meant. He paints a picture for us in the Sermon on the Mount that says, "This is the ethic for the people of God. This is what it should look like." And so if you're here for the first time, spiritually curious, checking things out, you found a great place to do that. Keep tracking this summer and discover what it means to live as the people of God. And if you've been following Jesus for 50 or 60 years, this is a good thing for us to return to on a regular basis.

[5:34] It's good for us to come back to the Sermon on the Mount and remind ourselves what the bullseye looks like. What are the practices and postures and attitudes and actions that should define us if we say that we are following Jesus? So I'm really excited to get going in this. You can grab your Bibles or flip open your app, whatever you want to do to follow along. We're gonna be referring to the text back and forth, but turn to Matthew chapter 5. It'll be up on the screen too. But if it's actually better, if you have it with you, you can see where I'm going in case I get excited and jump around a little bit. But here's the thing, I wanna lead us through this conversation in a way that feels very familiar for me. When I first started out about 20, just over 20 years ago, I had someone say to me, "Your first 100 teachings, your first 100 sermons, they're gonna be terrible, Matt, just get used to that."

[6:21] And I felt so deflated in that because I'm like, this is like the fifth time I've ever tried to teach or speak at a church. I was like, I don't even know if I'll ever do 100 of these. But over the years, everyone, every teacher, every pastor finds their own voice and rhythm. And for me, this is my rhythm and voice that I want to introduce you to. It goes like this: think, wonder, and do. And here's how we're going to break down the text and work it through and explore together. So first what we're going to do is after we read the passage of Scripture together, we are going to say, what do we think about the text? This is where we use our intellect, our minds, our thinking, which is a very western thing. It's a very western thing for us to say, how do we engage our mind in thinking about what we understand the text to be? Its context, its original meaning. What does it mean? What's going on? How does it relate to other passages of Scripture?

[7:07] So we're gonna spend some time doing that together. And then what is not so familiar for us in the western church or in different church traditions is to ask the question, what do we wonder about this passage? It's allowing a biblical sense of imagination to be a part of our learning, to invite the Spirit to guide our thinking, even through our questions. So what do we wish we had just a little bit more info on? Or what about that? Or what did He mean that? I wish we had a bit more of that just to spend a few moments thinking what was going on here and just allow our imaginations to guide us into learning. And then the final thing, which is perfect for application, is what do we then do with this here in this church in Moncton some 2,000 years later? What does it mean for us? What do we do with all this stuff? So Matthew chapter 5, grab your Bibles, flip it open.

[7:54] I also wanna say before I read this, as Jeremy was alluding, we have a lot of mutual friends and I just love living and being here. So I just moved to the Moncton area about a year and a half ago from the Toronto area. And I love being here. I love the city. I love what God is doing in the churches. I love serving at a historic church. Lewisville is 197 years old. I view it as the privilege and I view it very humbly as a chance to steward the next season of life at a historic church that's literally been on the same corner in the city for 197 years. If you don't know where Lewisville is, that's okay. Usually what unlocks it for people, it's the old white church that's across from Ville. When I first moved here and someone said, "Just tell 'em it's across from Fabric." I'm like, who's gonna know Ville?

[8:39] Apparently everyone in Moncton does. So that's all I know. Anyways, and I love what I really do believe that God is opening us up through relationship, through friendship, through a sense of awe and wonder that there's something God is going to do in our city and our region together. And I want you to know that we pray for your church, we pray for Jim, we pray for Jeremy, we pray for your leadership on a regular basis, believing that it's not about our church, it's not about your church, it's about Jesus's church and what He's trying to do in our city and region. And I think some things are going to happen. And I want to thank you as a church who's led the way in so many different various ways over the years. We celebrate you. There's not competition. We want to see our whole city find Jesus.

[9:25] And we all have our own way of doing that. And I just wanna say we are for you and we you and are excited to see what God might do in and through us together. Okay? Let's read together Matthew chapter 5. It's enough of a startup, right? Here we go. Matthew, chapter 5. "You have heard it said," this is Jesus saying, "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder.' And anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool,' will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them, then come and offer your gift.

[10:26] Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you're still together on your 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. Truly, I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid every last penny." Okay? Let's think about this. Our first thinking point to get our heads going into this text. It's not just that, but this. Here's what I mean by that. This is the first of six antithesis statements that Jesus used. This is a figure of speech and teaching that Jesus is using to His audience as they're listening. And it basically is contrasting two different approaches or thinkings.

[11:11] So whenever you read in the coming weeks Jesus saying, "You have heard it said, do, do, do," around adultery, around, treating your enemies, around divorce. All these things that are coming up in the rest of this series. Whenever you see Jesus say, "You have heard it said, do, do, do," "But I say," this is what's happening here. We can't go into all of it, but this is the quick mental hook. This is a reframing and a deeper level of understanding that Jesus is trying to give His audience who are very familiar with the Torah and the Old Testament law. So He's saying, "You are versed and well familiar in this understanding and interpretation of Scripture, but I am telling you that there's more to learn and to understand in order to be a kingdom citizen, to participate in what Jesus is inaugurated and bringing into fruition that we have not yet fully realized.

[12:03] If you want to participate in this, you've heard it said this way, but I'm telling you it's this." He's reframing, He's digging deeper, He's pushing people on it. He's helping them understand that there's a whole different thing for them to understand, and it is so important. And so this is the very first moment where Jesus says, look at verse 21. "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder.' And anyone who murders will be subject to judgment." If Jesus had just stopped there, they would've been like, "Right on. It's perfect. I never planned on killing anyone. I have no intention of doing it down the line. So we're good." This whole thing about being a citizen in Jesus' Kingdom, easy. No problem. I got that one. Check. Good to go, right? Because that was what they were used to in Old Testament law.

[12:50] In Exodus chapter 20, in the 10 Commandments, it talks about not committing murder. So the people, the original Jewish audience, would've been like, "Yeah, yeah, we've known that for like thousands of years. No problem." Remember, you said, "You've heard it said before." So this was their way. Not only was it so familiar for them to not commit murder in their culture, in their their ethic, their kingdom ethic as a people at that point. But there was also a guideline on if someone was caught killing someone, this is how you deal with it. So I wanna read that for you just to get your minds and expand your minds. In Numbers 35, this is what it says around this. It says, "All murderers must be put to death, but only if evidence is presented by more than one witness. No one may be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

[13:37] Also, you must never accept a ransom payment for the life of someone judged guilty of murder and subject to execution. Murderers must always be put to death." So here's the thing: you don't commit murder, but if someone is found to be, have killed someone, here's what you gotta do. You gotta make sure you have more than one witness. We wanna make sure that we're not putting someone to death who is wrongly convicted and there's another spat that's going on and someone falsely accuses them. So let's make sure there's more than one witness. And if anyone tries to bribe their way out of it, to pay their way out of it, to get out of it somehow with money, you don't accept any of that, because the rightful punishment for someone who commits murder is death. You're gonna kill 'em. Good. That was the old law. That's the way, and that's their understanding as Jesus is coming. That's what you have been told. That is your understanding.

[14:22] But then Jesus says, "But I tell you," here's the transition, here's the deepening of the understanding here. I should also say this. The teachers of the religious law, the scribes and Pharisees, they had a tremendous amount of power and influence over the people. They were kind of these spiritual and political leaders in the day. And their understanding and interpretation of the scripture, the people would look to what they said to be the most important thing. So when Jesus here is saying, "You have heard it said and understood and practiced," and He says, "But I tell you," Jesus is taking a real significant risk here. He's putting His understanding, His interpretation, His outworking of the text and putting it above that of the religious leaders of the day. He's kind of putting Himself outside of the circle and saying, "They may say all this, but I'm telling you it's a different way.

[15:11] If you want to be a citizen of the kingdom of God, I'm telling you different." And this is what He says, follow along with me. "Anyone who's angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment." So Jesus here is, "Now, wait a second. Weren't we just talking about committing murder?" Jesus is now saying, "But I tell you, now we're talking about anger." What's going on here? And then He continues. "Anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. Anyone who says, 'You fool,' will be in danger of the fire of hell." So I tend to think of myself as a pretty relaxed person. I feel like as I've gotten older, I tend to just kind of roll with things pretty easy. I don't tend to get fired up or I don't really have a temper. I'm a pretty relaxed, chill person for the most part. But when I was a kid, I had a wicked temper.

[15:58] I don't know what it was, but I I just had something in me when I was about seven or eight years old. We were living in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and my older brother and I, we were like a hot and cold type. Any other siblings have kind of that, like we could be the best of friends and then other times we would just be like oil and water. There's this one moment that's locked in for me. So I'm about seven or eight years old. We're in our bedroom. We shared a bedroom and for whatever, I don't know what was going on, he was pushing my buttons. I was like losing my mind. I was so frustrated with him and I was just trying to keep it all contained. And he sat down once beside me and he must have continued to tease me. And I don't know if I was coloring or drawing, but I had a pencil in my hand and he must have said something or done something. And I took the pencil and without even thinking, I stabbed him in the thigh.

[16:49] And you know when you do something and you immediately regret it, my eyes must have bugged outta my head. 'Cause the pencil, I let go and the pencil remained straight up and down and my brother's eyes went wide as anything. And we were both like, "Ah." And we were both freaking out in the moment. I realized my temper, my anger, my sense of judgment about him, I had just stabbed him right in the leg. And the pencil was like hanging out like that. And then my mom comes running and you can just imagine where this all goes. Anyways, the good news is he walks without a limp. He's all good, it's fine. We often laugh about it. He still claims he can see like a dark mark, mark where the lead was. I think he's just doing that to get me. But anyways, I had completely lost my mind. I completely got so angry and captivated. And when Jesus here moves from talking about murder, "You have heard it said," but now He's talking about anger.

[17:41] He's doing something very, very significant. Here's what's going on. He's talking about that anger, if allowed to take root and to grow, to fester and find a home in you. If it's left unchecked, allowed just to grow and develop, even if it's left to run its full, the full extent of its course of action, it may then lead to you taking the life of another person. Jesus is getting into the root heart motive. So instead of just saying, "Don't commit murder," which in a very religious way, we might look at the exterior of ourselves and be like, "No problem. I'm gonna be all prim and proper. I'm not gonna take a life." Jesus is digging deeper. He is like, actually it's about the root and the heart of the motive of what's going on. We need to talk about anger. We need to talk about internal transformation.

[18:29] And then He uses those phrases. He talks about that phrase Raca, which in your translation might show up as idiot. The general idea, it's a derogatory term. It's an intentionally harmful and derogatory term to mean empty head or stupid. Here's why that matters in this first century context. For the people of God who know that the and can trace their identity and roots back to the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis chapter 12. For those people, they had their whole sense of identity in being the people, the chosen people of God. When you step outside and you call someone empty headed or a fool or you curse someone, which it says just a next verse down, what you were in essence doing is saying that I don't see you as being part of this chosen family line anymore.

[19:16] You are outside of the family. You are breaking and dismantling their sense of identity and purpose as being a part of the extended family of God. You're criticizing them in such a derogatory way that you're almost wishing that they were no longer a part of who they have been and known their whole life. It's to just take someone and just to discount them, to remove their sense of identity and meaning. To say you are no longer an image bearer of the divine. You're out of here. When it says curse, it's not talking about like a hex or a spell. The original understanding of curse, lemme start this way. The original understanding of blessing was for someone to be under the blessing and protection of God, to have God's favor covering you. And that's what the nation of Israel, would've understood as a nation. They had God's blessing and covering and as individuals they did.

[20:02] So when you curse someone, it's not a hex, it's not a spell. It's wishing that someone be removed out from underneath of God's blessing and protection. You're wishing them to be excluded and put to the outside and outcast. And this was so serious. This was taken so seriously in that day that you could go to court, it mentions court. You could go to court for wishing these things or calling people these kinds of slang and derogatory terms because it was so egregious. And again, Jesus is talking, moving from murder to being angry to cursing or calling someone, "You fool, you stupid, you empty headed person." Jesus is digging in at the roots of what's going on here, reference there to the fires of hell. There was this valley outside of the city of Jerusalem, Gehenna, and it was where they would burn all their trash and garbage.

[20:49] It was believed to be a historic place of child sacrifice to, it was this nasty, dirty place. And ancient writers and prophets would often refer to it as this place of hell. Some ancient Jewish writers believed it to be the gateway into hell itself. So whenever Jesus mentions it here, He's talking about this as being, if you're gonna act this way, if you're gonna behave this way, this is about judgment on you. That is how severe He's warning. Michael Wilkins in his commentary, he says it this way. He says, when we are inappropriately angry with people, we attempt to take their identity and value as God's creatures away from them. The ultimate form of which is a physical act of murder. The righteousness expected of God's subject is not only in avoiding murder, but in eliminating anger from our relationships.

[21:40] And so then you'll notice Jesus then transitions to two different case studies. So in verse 23, this is case study number one. And I'm just calling it for our thinking. First things first. So it says, if you're offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar first. Go and be reconciled to them. Then come back and offer your gift. So what stands out to you? What's grabbing your attention there? I'm not sure what you're thinking about it, but isn't it interesting that the direction of intent and action. So often I would think about if I'm at church, I'm at the temple, I'm offering something and I remember as I'm about to do this, you know what? I am so frustrated and upset. I'm so angry at that person.

[22:29] Maybe I should leave this here and go and be reconciled with them. But that's not what the text is saying. The text says if you are there and remember that someone has something against you, it's maybe not the direction we thought it was going to go here. As Jesus is teaching it, implied in this is a reciprocal kind of relationship. Yes, if you are there and you're worshiping, you're about to make your sacrifice and you realize you've done something to offend someone, yes you should go and be reconciled. But also if you were there and you know, comes to mind, wait a second, someone has something against me. I need to go and do that as well. There's both. And that's taking place there. You need to go and settle. You need to go and make this right. It is so important that Jesus would rather have you walk out of the temple, walk out of the church building, walk out of the worship service in order to first get things right, first things first before you offer your sacrifice, your gift of worship.

[23:28] That's the order. If you know that something that's broken in between you relationally, you need to deal with that first. That is a huge thing. That is a major move. Haddon Robinson in his writing. It says, "It is better to leave church early and keep God waiting. If by leaving we keep God waiting, and then come back then to think we can seal a ruptured relationship with religious exercise." See, in that day pretending to have it all right was the mode of operation. You just pretended on the outside that everything was okay. And Jesus is like, nah, it's not about the outside, it's about the inside. It's about your heart. And if you know something is fractured and broken, you need to deal with it. So case one is when someone is offering this gift of worship, better to pause that and to be reconciled than just continue going on with empty acts of worship.

[24:17] And then case study number two, the people's court. I'm calling this, it says this in verse 25. Therefore settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you're still together on the way or your adversary may hand you to the judge. Judge may hand you to the officer and you may be thrown into prison. There is another way of translating that to settle your differences quickly. It can also be translated or understood to say, make friends quickly. So while you're with your adversary on the way to court, instead of thinking, settle things quickly, think about it as make friends quickly. Whatever the disagreement, whatever the thing you owe them, whatever's going on between you, make friends with them.

[25:03] Doesn't that change the way you understand that? It's not just about, "Well, I better pay them back before we get there." 'Cause once we get in front of a judge, who knows how it's gonna go? It's a 50-50. Maybe he'll be for me, maybe he'll be against me. I don't know. But once I get put in prison, how on earth am I ever gonna earn any money to settle the debt? So I better do it before I get there? It's taking outta this legal framework and saying, "No, it's a relational framework." As you're on your way to the court, settle things quickly, make friends, build relationship, change the focus even while you are on your way. Wilkins again, in his commentary, says, "More than simply discharging legal affairs, Jesus's disciples are to seek a kind of reconciliation that creates friendships out of adversarial relationships."

[25:52] Scot McKnight, in his work as he studies the Sermon on the Mount, which is probably my very favorite commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, the Scot McKnight one, he says this: "Jesus is for reconciliation even if it means interrupting sacred actions and legal judgments," right? We follow a God who is inherently relational, that is defined by love. Should we be surprised then that Jesus comes and says, "You've heard it this way," a very black and white legal framework, to say, "Actually, there's something deeply relational and there's hard work for each of you to do. If you're going to call yourself a citizen of My kingdom, there's work that you have to do here." So what do you wonder? Lemme pause there. What do you wonder then about this text? I mean, it's not very long.

[26:38] There's not a whole lot of verses going on. I've tried to get you thinking along the line, but what do you wonder? One of the things I wonder as I'm trying to put myself in the position of the original audience, and as Jeremy said a few weeks ago, you know, when you're looking at the Sermon on the Mount, could He have stood there and said to His audience all these things like one after the other, after the other? Yeah. But this was probably Jesus's greatest hits. These are probably the statements in the teachings that Jesus has said over and over as He traveled and continued to be this moving, traveling rabbi instructing people, announcing that the kingdom of heaven was coming. So they're all just all captured here for us. So in it, I often wonder about the audience as they're hearing this. Maybe for the first time, what did they think about Jesus transitioning this? "You have heard it said, but I say." And now instead of just talking about murder, bringing in this idea of anger, of internal motives, of heart, of settling things with those that we have conflict with, whether in a relational, like while we're at the worship service sense or in a legal sense as well, to make friends with your adversary.

[27:39] I can imagine, if I'm trying to think about this radical shift, I can imagine there are people there and maybe for you, if you're hearing this for the first time, that this just feels bonkers. It feels like, "Wait a second, I get don't commit murder." Right? Most of us, regardless of our religious thinking or political beliefs or whatever, most of us would be like, "Yeah, yeah, you don't kill people." But Jesus is like, "Wait a second. There's something more going on here." The anger that's left unchecked, if it's allowed to go to its full extent, can leave you then to potentially see someone as less than an image bearer of God. And it's not a big deal then to take their life. If left unchecked, this is how bad it can get. This is where the human condition can go. If you don't sort out the internal work, if you don't do the internal work, I imagine the audience must have been thinking, "This sounds crazy."

[28:30] I also wonder, maybe like you, so what amount of anger then is, okay, so what does that look like then if anger is an emotion associated with judgment and God is the ultimate judge, what amount of anger is okay for us as followers of Jesus? And how do we need to release anger so that it doesn't consume and define us? 'Cause Jesus clearly is telling us and teaching us that that's not okay. So how much anger is okay? What does that look like? How does that express itself? Those are two things. I wonder as I kind of think about this statement from Jesus, this transition to a deeper level of teaching and understanding. Here's what I wanna do. I want to just give you a moment now, like maybe 60, 70 seconds. If we were back at Lewisville, this would be the moment where I get you talking and we pass a few mics around the room and it just becomes a free for all.

[29:16] We just have a conversation on it. But I'm not gonna do that this time. Maybe if I ever get invited back, we'll try a little bit of that. But here's what I'd like you to do. I'd like you just to talk to someone around you, either beside you, behind you, in front of you, whatever, and just say to the person, just tell each other what's grabbing your attention right now. What is the one thing that's making you think or causing you to pause or that you find interesting, intriguing, puzzling? Just mention that to each other. Just take about 60 seconds to do that. Here's what I also want to say. The extroverts in the room are getting really excited right now. They're like, super pumped that they get to talk. It's like, "Man, this guy up front's already been going for like 25 minutes. It's about time. It's my turn now." Like, I get you, you're in the room. But if I was sitting out there, I would not want to talk. I'm fully introverted and I just bring it when I need to. So here's the universal sign that we talk about.

[30:01] If you see someone with their phone out or you see someone looking down at their Bible or another piece of literature that has nothing to do with this, just assume they don't want to talk to you. Okay? That's the universal sign. When there's someone's phone's out, it means they don't wanna talk for the next 60 seconds. But if you're willing to do it, have a little bit of a chat. What's grabbing your attention? What is happening in the room as we're working our way through this, our friends on the soundboard are gonna bring up a little background music so you don't feel totally exposed. And I'll keep track of time and I'll pull you back together here in a second. Okay? Talk about what do you think? What do you wonder? 60 seconds, go.

[32:02] Okay, I'm gonna interrupt you, call you back here. So whatever you're chatting about, if it was indeed about this and not just what you're having for lunch afterwards, can I just encourage you? I don't know what your involvement in the church here looks like, but continue these kinds of conversations. I love that you guys have produced a study resource that will go along with this that helps you continue to dig in and to think more. So maybe use that, maybe this week you're having coffee with your small group or some friends or you're having a barbecue. I know it can be weird sometimes as you're having burgers to bring it up, but maybe someone could just do that and you continue the learning. Because if we don't talk about these things outside of this room, they're never going to take root and help us dig in and really understand this ethic for the kingdom people of Jesus. So I encourage you to take some time this week to talk about it. Even if you're like, "What was that guy talking about?"

[32:47] That's all good. When I was growing up, I remember there's this TV commercial. I don't remember what it was advertising, what it was about, but the premise of the whole commercial or the one-liner. So the marketing team did a good thing on this side, but it was, "Where's the beef?" Was that like Arby's or something? Wendy's. Oh, Wendy's. See, now it makes sense. Okay. I didn't know that. I didn't remember. It was with Wendy's. All I remember. And I think it was like three old ladies or something being like, "Where's the beef?" Right? Here's what I wanna ask you. Where's the beef? If we use beef, not in terms of like the animal product, apologies to vegans, but we talk about in terms of disruptions in our relationships with each other. Where are those places of brokenness, right? This is really a sensitive place. If we just left it where Jesus started, that was part of the religious way.

[33:33] If we just left it as "do not commit murder," all of us, I'm sure are like, "Okay, we are so good with that." I hope we could all say that. But when Jesus takes things deeper and a step further, when He forces us that if we're going to claim Jesus as Lord and Savior, to align ourself to do the hard work of internal transformation and change, if we are going to be about that, it requires something of us. It's going to be hard work. It's going to cost you. This stuff doesn't just happen on its own, right? We're okay with "do not murder." But when Jesus now is talking about, "Wait a second, my anger? Jesus, You don't know what I've gone through. You have no idea what that person said or did." Now Jesus is kind of coming into our personal turf, right?

[34:19] We like to say, "This is okay, this part is okay for Jesus to get His hands on and to transform and change. But this, I'm gonna hang onto this little bit. I just need that. I'm hanging onto that. I can't let it go." But a marker of the kingdom of people of God is to have our whole internal life transformed. That's why this is so radical. All these antithesis statements that are coming up in Jesus' teaching, "You have heard it said, but I said," are radically transformative because they change and reshape and reframe our understanding of what it means to belong to God and to follow Jesus. It is so significant. Stanley Hauerwas, the theologian, he'll say, it's something like this, he'll say, in and of itself, it's impossible for you to get rid of anger from your life. You can't will yourself into it. You can't force your way. You can't think your way. You can't struggle your way into not having anger.

[35:06] It's impossible. Without the power and the freedom that comes through relationship and connection with Jesus and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. It's impossible. But that's the marker of kingdom people, is that we are filled with the Holy Spirit. As our sisters and brother testified this morning, they are following Jesus and inviting Jesus to bring transformation and change into their life. Because only through the power of the Holy Spirit is this even possible to let go of those places. I also wanna give this caveat. I recognize that you may be in a position where you are ready to try to work things out with someone or an offense or whatever's going on. I'm sure each of you has a scenario or a person coming to mind. Like, don't look around the room and make eye contact right now. 'Cause maybe it's in this room, but don't, you know, don't do that. But I wanna acknowledge that there are situations and scenarios that are so painful and so hurtful and have so much trauma associated with them that even if you are willing to invite Jesus, and as you are willing to invite Jesus into that, the other offending party or the other circumstances may make this whole thing kind of a bit more complicated.

[36:10] I just wanna acknowledge that. I'm not saying that everything is just easy peasy, but when it's up to us, when we can control things, Jesus is calling us to a deeper ethic, to let go of anger. So here's what I want you to do. I'm gonna give you a moment in a second to consider, where's the beef? And to ask Jesus, through His Holy Spirit, what does it look like for you to consider making that right? Whether it's with someone in this room, someone in your family, extended family, someone at work. I don't know what the situation is. I don't know what your case study is, but this is a marker for Jesus followers. Paul, the Apostle Paul, when he's writing to the growing church at Ephesus, this hub, this metropolitan city, he reminds them of this. He says this in Ephesians 4, "Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.

[37:06] Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God, truly righteous and holy. So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And don't sin by letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while you're still angry. For anger gives a foothold to the devil." A marker of a Jesus follower in His kingdom is to let go of anger and to work towards reconciliation, only possible for the power of the Holy Spirit. So here's what I wanna do. I want to give you a moment to pause and to consider, what does this look like for you? Two quotes though. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I dunno if you've ever read any Dietrich Bonhoeffer, amazing theologian and pastor, he says this about what it means to be the visible community of faith.

[37:59] He says, "Followers are the visible community of faith. Their discipleship is a visible act which separates them from the world, or it is not discipleship. If the way we carry ourselves and the way we live our lives is not visible to the world and separating us from the world, then it's not discipleship. We're pretending, and discipleship is as visible as light in the night, as a mound in the flat land." And Scot McKnight, who I referred to earlier, he says this, "We must be intentional about reconciliation for it to become a pervasive lifestyle. This can only begin if we find space and time to ponder, to pray, and to discern where it is that we, let me say, you need to pursue reconciliation.

[38:44] We must ponder those with whom we are out of sorts, those who are closest with us, with whom we are not living fully reconciled lives, and those who may not even know that we are harboring bitterness and resentment. Maybe you're hanging onto something and the person you are upset about has no idea that you're carrying. That reconciliation is not likely to be something that happens to us as it is something we pursue. This is something for us as followers of Jesus that we have to work on. And we may never get it fully right, but our heart and the posture, our attitude, is what's so important. That's what God sees, our willingness to do that hard work. So I wanna invite you, if you're willing, to stand with me, if you're willing and able. And I want to give you a moment just to pause and to be quiet, recognizing that God is here by His Holy Spirit, and perhaps He's stirring something in you to get your attention about what it, live, means.

[39:39] To live in this kind of way, this radical kind of way, where the world teaches us to hang onto anger and resentment and to use that as fuel to hate the other. The way of Jesus is to surrender those things and to ask for reconciliation, to work towards the impossible, but what is only possible in and through God. So I'm gonna give you a few moments just to pause and to consider and to ask God, God, where do You want me to work on this? Who's that person? What's the situation? Reveal it. I believe God can reveal it all to us. So let's just take a moment to pause, and then I wanna pray for you, for your encouragement and your strength for what is needed ahead. Let's pray.

[40:37] Jesus, we know that You are here by Your Holy Spirit and that You work to bring wholeness and shalom and reconciliation to all those places of brokenness. And so, Jesus, we give thanks that You provide a way for us to experience personal freedom and hope due to Your death and resurrection. And we also admit, God, that we need the power of the Holy Spirit to work towards transformation and an internal life change, that we can't think ourselves or will ourselves or fight ourselves into that change, that we need to wait on You. Jesus, You are the vine. We are the branches. We take, we find our source of life and health in connection with You. And so we invite You now to help us know what it looks like to take the next step. I pray for sisters and brothers in this room, for whatever situation is in their mind, whatever emotions might be stirring right now, God, that You give them a sense of Your love for them, Your presence with them in this sense of pain or brokenness, and the courage and strength to know what to do next.

[41:36] God, we wanna be defined as a people of reconciliation to see wholeness in relationships transform not only our families and this church, but our city and our region. And so, God, have Your way as an act of worship. We lay this at Your feet. Amen.