Avoiding Anger (Or, Unlocking Daily Joy: Exploring Life's Miracles, Managing Anger, and the Wisdom in James) - James 1:17-27 (Ordinary 17B)

We can miss the joy of daily life while working to save up time and/or money to enjoy life. Every day, tiny miracles around us go unnoticed because we can lose perspective in the bigger picture, dreams of someday, or even just hope can seem far away. We moved into our current house right about a year ago. We, especially Tadj, were looking forward to all the gardens around our house. We didn’t know if bulbs were in the ground that we would see pop up in the spring or what other plants there may be. Come spring, though, when all the blooms were popping out of the ground, we were blessed with lilies and other beautiful flowers all over our yard. More recently, unknown to me, someone had planted sunflowers in the garden. It might even have been the birds.

Sometimes, doing interrupts being. We have plenty of things to do on any given day. But how much have you thought about the being? How many times have you sat with yourself to just be who you are? Does that make you uncomfortable? It shouldn’t. God created you to be who you are. Maybe you’ve had to make sacrifices along the way. Something else became a higher priority, so you stuffed down WHO YOU ARE because of circumstance. You justified the suppression because you thought it was temporary. Once the season of the case was over, you could go right back to where you started. Depending on that season, though, you could be angry about priorities that you felt like you had no control over.

Today’s topic is avoiding anger… how do we do that? Well - a simple answer might be, don’t get mad. You control yourself. Sermon is done. Let’s go get some brunch. Where are we eating? No - unfortunately, I’m sure for as well as ya’ll pay me, you would want more than that. But anger … is a tough one. Who here hasn’t been angry? I’d like to think that anger is more of a symptom than a disorder. It seems like there are so many things to be angry about these days. But now that I’m thinking about it, that could be a description of any age in human history. The hunters may have been upset that the animals aren’t as plentiful as they’d like, but maybe the gatherers aren’t picking enough, so everyone is hungry. 

Many of us may even think of the Old Testament God as a God of wrath and anger, smiting and destroying whole nations. How can we reconcile this with Jesus being the Son of God of Love in the Gospels? There are many debates about this, and this could be its sermon series, but simply put, in the words of Adam Hamilton from his blog, “Ultimately, the violence-affirming passages of the Old Testament can remind us how easily we may still be led to invoke God’s name for violence in our world. To the degree that we see Jesus as the definitive Word of God and that we listen carefully to his words, we can free ourselves from this tragic dimension of our human condition.” What Rev. Hamilton is saying is that the writings of the Bible are still interpretations by the humans who wrote it. Jesus is the Word made flesh, as John references in his gospel. What the scriptures reflect in those scriptures may just mirror the writers of the words at the time. 

The series that we are beginning today is all about the book of James. The main theme is “Doers of the Word,” which comes from the scripture this morning. Our ten verses read by Ellen so well may also answer some of the questions we asked earlier. Verse seventeen is a good place to start. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” The Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows… There are many similar verses to this that reference the unchanging God… the God of our forefathers, the God of the present, and the God in our future. Luke Timothy Johnson writes that “if the endless bestowal of gifts defines reality, then it is not a closed system but an open one, not a world of limited resources, but of infinitely renewable resources. And if God defines reality, then humans are not in competition with each other for their very being so that their desires must lead ultimately to murder; rather, humans can gift each other as God gifts them.”

Let’s back up a little bit and talk about this book. Who is James, and why is he included in the Bible? Bible scholars have no real consensus on who exactly James was - most likely, it is believed to be Jesus’ brother James (referenced first in Mark ch 6). Assuming that, it makes sense why James would be writing this letter, continuing in his brother’s role. It says in Acts chapter 12 that James was an upcoming leader in the newly aligned church, and so, along with Paul, it had to be sorted out what kind of beliefs they would have. Historically, not everyone has agreed with this, including James. A famous monk named Martin Luther (maybe you’ve heard of him?) was very much against this letter being included amongst the other writings of the New Testament. Still, those who were putting the Bible together thought it worthwhile to have this letter, so here we are studying it. 

I recommend you go back and read the rest of this chapter in your own time because it’s all about advice about living through hard times. But as for our scripture today, the central theme is about hearing and obeying and even guarding our tongues. Verses 19 & 20, “My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry. If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things God wants done!” Avoiding anger is the key. Anger is a response to a negative stimulus. You can be angry about just about anything. But, as I said earlier, anger is really more of a symptom than a disorder.

We can treat anger in positive ways, like mindfulness, meditation, or other relaxation techniques. Anger can also be treated in negative ways through self-destructive or even violent behavior. When someone has made you angry, it’s tough to see the God-made being within them, isn’t it?

Being a natural reaction and defensive tool, anger can be used positively. There are many more modern examples of it being used selfishly or even manipulatively. So when does anger become sinful, which I’m sure is what we want to avoid? When we lose control. Anger that consumes us is the fire that will never go out. Left unchecked, we can be so destructive to ourselves or those around us that when, sometimes by the grace of God, the anger subsides, we realize that there is nothing around us because we’ve destroyed it all through our anger - relationships, our image and reputation, our health - physical and mental, and even our sense that any of it is repairable. But it is. Grace abounds even in the most hopeless of places.    

God can work miracles when we respond with wisdom, grace, mercy, and thoughtfulness. We see what the world can be when we are just quick to react, wanting to be first with information but needing to correct details. This world is drowning in information but parched for wisdom. 

Even if you’ve heard the Word of the Lord and the mercy that He grants, the Word was planted in you, as it says in verse 21 - and that’s what saves you. The works are the growth of that seed. Doing what the Word has told will lead you to see yourself as God does. Continuing though, he has strong words for those who have heard the words but yet do NOTHING. They claim that their faith and their soul changed. No wonder James says their religion is worthless or dead. We have been called to action to grow the seeds of faith that God planted inside of us. Things that don’t grow… well - are they alive?

Let me leave you with this: some things make each of us angry. It’s easy to ask what are they, but why? Dig deeper. Maybe our reactions are based on assumptions from bad theology or broken logic. Perhaps we find we are part of the problem when we want to choose to be part of the solution. Finding out what makes us angry may lead us to make a change to purify and sanctify us in our growth. Through the acts of faithfulness, we can move to bring the Kingdom to earth; God’s will be done. 

An aside: if you have problems with anger, and you need help, don't hesitate to ask for it. This world is full of noise and frustration, and if you can't get past your anger, there is help for that. Here are some resources: American Psychological Association, Mayo Clinic, and National Anger Management Association