Sunday, March 8, 2026

Scripture: Genesis 4:1-12 and Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon Title: “Anger”

A couple of years ago I went to take my girls to school, they were both still in daycare at the time, and we got there too late. The school was trying to make parents be on time and get there before 9. I think I got there about 9:07. I went to put in my code to get in the building, it was locked. I rang the bell, no one came. I was so angry that no one came to the door. I did not think it was a good rule. I was sending angry texts to Isla’s teacher, and an angry email to the director. In my anger I wanted to move them to another school. I let my anger get the best of me.

I calmed down. I realized I loved their school. I was just having a bad morning. And I don’t think it ever happened again because my new refrain to the girls when we were getting ready in the morning was, “We don’t want to be late. We don’t want to get locked out again.” They remembered how upset I was that morning. They didn’t want to see that happen again.

I’m guessing we’ve all been angry before. Sometimes at situations, sometimes atpeople. Sometimes even at ourselves. Sometimes our anger is justified for the situation. And sometimes, like me that morning, our anger is an overreaction.

This Lent we’ve been in a series called “Masterpiece,” inspired by the words from Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (NLT)We are God’s masterpiece. And just like Michelangelo chipped away at all that wasn’t David, until only the masterpiece of the famous David Statue remained, God is chipping away at us this Lent, transforming us into the masterpiece he has called us to be.

We’ve talked about confession. Last week we talked about chipping away at our pride and selfishness. And today we’re talking about chipping away at our anger.

We heard two scriptures this morning. Both an Old and New Testament Scripture. Our Old Testament Scripture is one I’m guessing many of us remember from Sunday School. It’s the first murder in scripture: Cain and Abel

Now not that we want to see any murder happen, but it’s sad to me the first murder in scripture is not a stranger, it’s a family member. But the truth is, even in our world today, most violent attacks are committed against people we know. Whenever there is a missing person, people look at the family first. And the same is true in our Old Testament Scripture today.

We have two sons, Cain and Abel. And Cain kills Abel out of jealousy. And I have to say, as the oldest of 3 girls, and the mom of 2 girls, I shouldn’t be surprised that the first murder was a sibling killing a sibling. Siblings sure can fight, can’t they?

The story of Cain and Abel is a story of sibling rivalry and jealousy that has goneway too far.

Cain is the oldest. And Abel is the younger son.

And I was reflecting on that this week. It struck me that usually it’s the oldest who is treated as the better child. Especially in that culture, the oldest child is highly revered. And yet in today’s scripture it’s the oldest who is jealous of the youngest.

If you remember back to the Brady Bunch, you might remember the middle daughter Jan getting upset that everything was always about the oldest daughter Marcia. Her famous line was “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.” And I can’t help but wonder if Cain said this about Abel as well. Every time God was pleased with Abel and not Cain, “Abel, Abel, Abel.”

Since Abel is the one doing the right thing, it’s clear this is not a case of oldest child favoritism, but Cain truly is not doing what he is supposed to do

Abel becomes a shepherd, and Cain cultivates the ground. And when they present offerings to the Lord, Abel brings his best, and Cain doesn’t. And so, the scripture tells us that the Lord looked with favor on Abel’s offering but does not look this way at Cain and his offering.

“So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.” (Genesis 4:6, NIV)

So first, Cain does not do what he is supposed to do. Then he is not looked on as highly as his brother Abel. This leads to jealousy and anger, which ultimately leads to him killing his very own brother.

In our New Testament Reading today, Jesus talks about anger and murder, and we learn that Jesus has a whole new understanding in mind.

Jesus says, “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.” (Matthew 5:21-22, NIV)

For Jesus, the standard isn’t don’t murder. For Jesus, the standard is “don’t be angry with a brother or sister.”

Don’t be angry with a brother or sister? That seems impossible, doesn’t it?

I don’t know about you, but I feel like our whole world is so filled with anger. Here in our own country, we have a lot of political anger. Democrats and Republicans are so angry with one another. We see politics dividing families, even ending friendships. There is just so much anger. The past few years we have seen this anger lead to an increase in political violence on both sides of the aisle.

On a larger, global level, we see that anger has gotten so out of hand, it has led to not just individual conflicts, but war between nations. For the past few years, we have witnessed war between Ukraine and Russia, and Israel and Palestine. And now, this week, we have entered into war with Iran. The entire Middle East is in conflict now.

6 US Service Members have been killed, over 150 students Iranian students were killed at a school, and many more in Iran have been killed. Many people traveling through the region have been stranded, and thankfully, so far around 25,000 Americans have made it home. But it’s somewhat unknown how many others are still stranded in the Middle East.

Maybe this situation has even made you angry as well, for various reasons.

I want to be clear, anger in and of itself is not wrong. God is even described in scripture as getting angry sometimes. Psalm 103:8 describes the Lord this way, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” Do you notice what it says about God’s anger? God is slow to anger.

We must examine our hearts. Are we quick to anger? Like me that morning dropping the girls off at school? Like Cain seemed to be with Abel? Or are we like God, and slow to anger, abounding in love?

James 1:19-20 has this to tell us about anger, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” (NIV) Are you quick to listen? Are you slow to speak? Are you slow to become angry? 

I like how James says that “human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” Human anger. Human anger and righteous anger are very different things.

Anger in and of itself is not wrong. Human anger is. Righteous anger is not.

We as followers of Christ are called to be angry about the things of this world that are not of God. We should be angry about injustice in our world. We should be angry about violence in our world. We should be angry about prejudice in our world. We should be angry about the mistreatment of children. We should be angry about human trafficking. The list goes on and on.

But we must be careful with our anger, not to hate other people. We must be careful not to hate people created in the image of God.

So we have a choice to make, will we chip away at human anger? And will we channel our righteous anger for the things of God?

This morning, we commissioned our Justice Ministry Network Members. These are the people in our congregation working on behalf of justice in our community. F.A.I.T.H. is an interfaith organization made up of many congregations seeking to work toward justice in our community. F.A.I.T.H. stands for Fighting Against Injustice Towards Harmony.

We just had a F.A.I.T.H. rally this past Tuesday evening. And you all our invited to come to the Nehemiah Action Assembly in a couple of weeks on March 24th at 6:30 PM at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church in Port Orange. The three major issues we are focused on are Affordable Housing, Flooding, and Criminal Justice.

You see we should be angry that we don’t have affordable housing in our community. We should be angry that when flooding happens due to hurricanes, people are not taken care of well by insurance companies, the state, you name it. We should be angry that people with mental health issues are being criminalized instead of getting the help they need.

Being angry about things that are not of God is not a sin. But our anger should never cause us to hate or harm someone. We should channel our anger for good in our community and seek to overcome injustice in our community and in our world.

I want to be clear as well about this because it came up in our Lenten Bible Study discussions this week as well. If you have personally experienced injustice in any form or currently are right now, whether that’s abuse, or the abuse of your child, or you have experienced sexism or racism, you name it, its ok to be angry about that. Abuse and violence are not of God. And it’s ok to be angry about those things.

But I encourage you to not stay in your anger. I encourage you to talk to someone, a trusted friend, pastor, maybe even get counseling so that you do not live in that anger and let that anger consume you, but that you can move to healing, hope, and forgiveness.

So this week, as we’re talking about chipping away at anger to be formed into the masterpiece that God is calling us to be, I don’t want us to think that means just smoothing everything over and putting on a nice face in every situation. No, we should be angry about the things in this world that are not of God. We should hate injustice, oppression, and evil in all forms. But we should not hate people.

We should remember that every person on this planet is made in the image of God. Even the politician or followers of a politician that you don’t like. Even Iranians. Even Israelis. Even Russians. Even Ukrainians. We are all people made in the image of God.

But the anger we do need to chip away at this Lenten Season is human anger. The anger that causes us to hate people we disagree with. The anger that causes us to overeact like me the morning dropping the girls off at school. The anger that causes us to snap at others, whether that be our spouse, our children, a friend, a coworker, or a fellow member of this congregation.

That is the anger we need to be chipping away at this Lenten Season.

As we journey toward the cross and empty tomb this Lenten Season, may we be reminded that Jesus was crucified because of anger. The Pharisees and other leaders were angry that Jesus was calling them out. Some in the crowds were angry that Jesus wasn’t overthrowing the government and seizing power like they thought a Messiah should. Even Judas’s betrayal was maybe caused by anger at how Jesus was handling things.

The crowds in their anger chanted, “Crucify Him!” May we not be like those in the crowds chanting for others to be killed. May our anger not lead us to hate.

But through the power of the Holy Spirit, may our human anger be transformed, and may our righteous anger be channeled for good. And if we can do that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, then we can surely become the masterpiece that God is calling us to be.

Amen