The first sound that ever crosses our lips -- the cry that we emit at our birth -- is an expression of anger.  The anger that begins in us then continues throughout our lives. Every person knows what it feels like to be angry.

       But I wonder if we recognize the impact anger has on us.

       Are you aware of what anger does to your insides? Our insides are directed by what is called the autonomic nervous system. It has two parts--the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. Now when we become very angry, only the sympathetic system is in full operation. And this is what happens when that system goes into high gear. Adrenaline is rapidly pumped into your bloodstream. Your heart beats more rapidly. Your blood pressure climbs--as much as 60 points. Red corpuscles are produced at a faster rate than normal. All of your digestive processes come to halt. Your salivary glands cease their normal secretions. Your rectum and your bladder tighten and constrict. Your liver pours sugar into your circulatory system. Your breathing pattern changes to short, deep breaths. Your skin produces sweat and your blood vessels expand.

       Now any single emotion that can cause that kind of physiological change in us needs to be talked about.   So you’ll be glad to know that that is what we are talking about today.  I hope that’s okay.  With what I just described, I wouldn’t want to upset anyone.

       In his letter to the Colossians, Paul talks about the lifestyle of the man or woman of Jesus Christ.  He says that we have died with Jesus, have been buried with Him and have been raised with Him.  So it is time for us be who we are. We are to put away the old way of doing things and, as we will see in chapter 3 verse 10, put on “the new self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.”

       In Colossians 3:8-9, Paul calls out six things that should no longer be part our lives now that we are in Christ. These six are in two groups - anger, wrath and malice and slander, foul talk and lies.  The thing that ties theses six together is that these things either are or lead to a sin of the mouth – not the sin of the month but the sin of the mouth.  Those sins are often the hardest to deal with.  As James observes, the one who can tame the tongue can control the whole body. 

       You might think that the way you handle or don’t handle anger is no a big deal.  “Hey, I’m Irish or Italian or a teenager or a guy.  It’s what we do.”  But something doesn’t have to be big to be deadly.  As the old tempter Screwtape observes in C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters: “It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into nothing.  Murder is no better than lies if lying does the trick.” – (or anger).

       As we look at Colossians 3:8, we immediately need to distinguish between the two words that Paul uses - anger and wrath -- because scripture treats them differently.   The second word Paul uses, the one translated wrath, is thymos.  This is anger or rage as a deliberate choice.  Thymos is always wrong. It is an outgrowth of the deeds of darkness that should no longer be ours.  Thymos leads to the third word on the list, malice, which is the desire to cause physical or emotional hurt to another. 

       If wrath and malice are a part of your lives, then the message from God’s word for you today is simple.  “Clean those things out of your life.”  They have no place in you as a new person in Christ and a member of His new community.  

       But there is also a kind of anger that isn't always wrong -- even though it can easily be turned to wrong. This is the type of anger that goes by the Greek word orge.  That “not always wrong” orge anger is the first word Paul uses in Colossians 3:8. 

       But wait a minute.  Doesn’t Paul clearly tell us in Colossians 3:8 that we are to put this type of anger away along with wrath and malice.  So if we are to put it away, how can I possibly stand up here and suggest that it’s not always wrong? 

        I can say that because that’s what Paul says over in Ephesians 4:26.  In Ephesians 4:26, Paul doesn’t tell us to put this anger away.  He tells us to bring it on.  He begins by saying, "Be angry."  Here Paul states right at the outset that sometimes it's quite right to be angry.  That’s why we read the whole counsel of God on a topic and don’t just base our understanding on one verse.  If we don’t compare test to text, we are liable to get off balance in how we apply God’s word.

       A Quaker owned a very stubborn mule. He was trying to get it to move one day and it would not move. He tried every way he could think of to get it going and it just wouldn't "git". Finally, staring at it he said, "thou wicked and perverse creature. Thou knowest that as a Quaker I cannot strike thee. Thou knowest that as a Quaker I cannot starve thee. Thou knowest that as a Quaker I cannot curse thee. But what thou does not know is that I can always sell thee to a Presbyterian."

       Well we can laugh at that but we don't need, necessarily to apologize for it. Anger is not invariably wrong. Our Lord showed anger. There are incidences recorded in scripture in which His disciples showed anger. In fact, sometimes it is a sin not to get angry. We murmur about some things in our society that we ought to be shouting about at the top of our lungs.

       But we are not speaking today of righteous anger. That's a whole 'nother sermon. We are speaking of "general anger." This is not that pure anger than comes from an injustice done to another. It is the anger that from what we perceive as a personal hurt, insult or injury.

       The root of our English word anger is the ancient Indo-European word, "angg." "Angg" means narrow.  So anger is the emotion that comes out when we feel that we have been somehow limited or kept in a narrow place away from what ought to be ours. Anger is the emotion that comes our when we feel we are being squeezed.

      We are going to be angry.  You can count on it.  It’s not always wrong.  So Paul writes, “Be angry.”  But then he adds “But do not sin.” For even anger that is pure can easily lead to behavior that is impure.

        This anger is like the gas in the internal combustion engine that drives a car. The engine operates because of a series of small explosions. A little bit of gas is ignited, explodes and drives the pistons and that's what makes the car move from one place to another. That's good. That's how most of us got to worship today. But if you were to ignite all of the gasoline in your car at one time, it would blow both you and your car to very little pieces. The difference between “sin anger” and “non-sin anger is between controlling something so that it explodes the way it's supposed to explode and gets us somewhere, or having the explosion control us.

       So how do we deal with the anger that stirs up mud in our souls?

       The late Dr. Bruce Thielmann, former pastor of the Glendale Presbyterian Church, suggests that anger often shows itself in people in one of two ways. He says that these people can be described as skunks or turtles.

       A skunk type person is a person who uses anger as smokescreen.   When a skunk is threatened he raises an "olfactory diversion." As a result people get so involved with the stink that they forget the skunk. That's precisely the tactic some people use with their anger. It explodes!! So everyone looks at the explosion but not at them.

       On the other hand, there are turtles. The turtle’s anger is triggered at work but not expressed.   He doesn't enjoy his dinner because that event at work is churning inside him. He goes to bed that night and he doesn't sleep. What has he done? Like a turtle, he has gone inside his shell. And he won't come out. He just lies there stewing in his own juice.

       That's a good expression to use because we have seen the kinds of juices anger releases in our physiology. When you sit in them and let them simmer and boil, terrible things can happen to you -- neuroses, psychoses, ulcers, and migraines to name a few -- not that these things are always caused by bottled anger but psychologists suggest that un-dealt with  anger is a major contributor.

       Anger -- whether expressed or unexpressed--has a way of rupturing relationships. That's what Paul is talking about in Colossians 3. I've seen it in this `congregation in families and in friendships. Expressed, it may bring slashing, hurtful words that cannot be taken back. Unexpressed, it can lead to what some psychologists call "passive aggression" -- acting out anger in underhanded, perhaps subconscious ways such as being chronically late. Or it may be misplaced -- like the man who is angry with his boss so he snaps at the kids.

       Paul gives us a warning about anger. It can be used to our hurt and the hurt of our church.  So in Ephesians 4:27, he says: "do not give the devil a place." Don't let you anger give the devil a half-opened door to use in wrecking your relationships or your life. Keep your guard up! Remember that there is one who is your sworn enemy because you belong to Jesus Christ. You are a member of a community that he is committed to discredit--so watch him like a hawk.

       Now I'm not saying “become paranoid about the devil.”   He's a defeated opponent. But even a defeated opponent can be dangerous. And even valid anger, if nursed, can be twisted into a tool of evil in your life or in your relationships. Anger may be justified. But the feeling of anger is never justification for sinful action.

       Skunks or turtles? Which is the best way to be? Well, given the choice, I guess Paul would side with the skunks. He says that anger is to be expressed -- not nursed. "Don't let the sun go down on your anger" Paul writes in Ephesians 4:26. Even if your anger is valid, don't nurse it. Express it if you must -- as calmly you can -- but get rid of it before the day is through -- no matter how late you have to stay up. That guidance is especially important in marriage where the greatest enemy is allowing hurt to build up and tamp down until even the most minor fight is able to tap a vast reservoir of resentment.

       So Paul writes: "Don't let the sun go down on your anger.”

       Now this teaching was not new. It was followed by the Pythagoreans of Greece. Plutarch wrote: "If betrayed into angry reviling, they made it their rule to shake hands before sunset." But it is perhaps Psalm 4 that Paul has in mind: "Commune with your heart upon your bed and be still." You cannot commune with yourself or with God--letting tension go at the end of the day -- if you are nursing anger or resentment. I know. I've tried it.

       It is better for the guts to be a skunk than to be a turtle -- to express your anger and then let it go than to nurse it. But there is something better than being either a skunk or a turtle. That is to be a Christian and let your faith guide how you handle anger -- not to deny your anger but to really handle it.

       Some people suggest that when you get angry, count to ten. But instead of counting to ten -- using those ten words -- I'll give you ten words to say instead—I‘ve suggested this before -- the same number or words--takes just the same length of time. Here are the words to say when you become angry--"Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name."

       Do you see what happens? In the midst of your anger, you take a moment to focus upon God. You can then seek to express your anger in a way that will truly "hallow" his name. Paul points out very early in the letter to the Colossians, just as he points out in Ephesians, that as a Christian, you are no longer living under the old nature. You no longer have a "petrified" heart. You are freed by the power of God to deal with your anger in a new way. So do it.

       Once you have put yourself by those words of the Lord's Prayer under the plan of God for that moment, analyze what you are feeling. Be aware of your emotional reaction. Is it really anger or is it a smokescreen for other emotions you would rather not confront like fear or guilt? Recognize your emotions and if your emotion is genuine anger, admit it.  Recognition of what you feel does not mean that you have to act on it. But try to understand the reasons for the anger. Don't confuse righteous indignation with selfishness. Remember that there's a reason why Paul connects anger with jealousy in Romans 13:13. Is the anger valid or are you just too suspicious of the other person's motives? If it is legitimate, can you express it in a way that builds up the relationship with honesty instead of tearing it down?

       Above all, try to look at yourself and the person you are angry with from the point-of-view of God. Recognize your worth and the worth of the person whom you are opposing. Recognize the fact of forgiveness -- the fact of your own forgiveness and the imperative that lays on you to extend forgiveness to others. You must be honest enough to say how you feel about the behavior.  You cannot begin to forgive someone until you really admit to yourself that you’ve been hurt. But you also must be loving enough to the person to leave open doors for future communication by the way you say it.

       James writes in James 1:19-20: "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for people's anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires."

       "The righteousness that God desires..."

       As Christians, we are called to model ourselves after Jesus. He became angry, but He refused to hold a grudge. He was never angered at injury done to Himself but only, honestly, an injury done to another. Even the group which angered him the most -- the Pharisees -- were treated as people. If an individual Pharisee--a Simon, a Nicodemus -- came to Jesus, he found a warm welcome and a loving heart. Even on the cross Jesus prayed: "Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing." Jesus saw something else, even in those who were putting him to death.

       My prayer is that, when we become angry - and we will - that we will be able to express it in a righteous way. And even if the anger is at a great and genuine wrong, we will be given the eyes Jesus had to see that "something else" in those we must oppose.