Dear Faith Family,
Be angry and do not sin;
do not let the sun go down on your indignation,
and give no opportunity to the devil.
(Ephesians 4:26-27)
As Chaz helped us see on Sunday, the Sixth Word is more than a prohibition against taking life. At its heart, the sixth of the Ten Words is a proclamation that life is of supreme value, and protecting and caring for life is of utter importance. The detailed laws which follow the Sixth Word in Israel's history testify to the reality that not taking life is a mindful endeavor. Valuing the life of another is not a thoughtless action; rather, when we fail to consider the fundamentals of life, we are most prone to destroy it--whether apathetically, accidentally, or in anger.
While we are rarely in a position of power over life, and not all accidents can be avoided, nevertheless, we've all felt Cain's anger, the deep frustration at a fellow human in a particular moment for specific circumstances (see Gen. 4:3-5). Yet being momentarily angry wasn't Cain's fundamental issue; after all, God said, his particular situation was not permanent (Gen. 4:6). Cain's issue, like ours, is failing to take responsibility for our hearts while angry.
And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.
Its desire is against you, but you must rule over it.
(Genesis 4:7)
Anger is a normal and acceptable (even healthy) emotion in our image-bearing experience. Especially when we are confronted with difficulty, disappointment, and evil. The problem is not anger; it is when our anger at what is not right is not met and mastered by a hunger and thirst for what is righteous that we find ourselves acting under the coercion of our indignation and the enemy rather than in our God-given freedom.
In our exasperation, we fail to believe that "if you do well, will there not be a lifting up" (Gen. 4:6). We fail to see the fundamental truth that there will be an end to the source of our anger in our "well" or righteous response. Instead, like Cain, we see the end of our anger not in resolving the particular situation but in destroying what angers us. And it is then, when our hearts are more than angry, when we feel contempt for the supposed source of our indignation, that we are prone to take life--whether physically as Cain did (Gen. 4:8) or through all the variety of daily deaths which hate fosters.
So, how are we to keep the heart of the Sixth Word, to value protecting and caring for life rather than taking it? Especially in daily roles and relationships and amid a culture where anger is ever waiting to boil up? We speak gently.
The apostle Paul assumed that we could be angry and not sin, but only when we were mindful of how we lived, "not as unwise but as wise" (Eph. 5:15). And as our wisest words remind us:
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger...
A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but crookedness in it breaks the spirit.
(Proverbs 15:1,4)
When you are angry, how do you speak? How do you speak to others and yourself about the persons/objects of your anger? Whether internally or in venting, in posts or in person, are your words (which we use to make a life) harsh or crooked (not true)? You'll know if they are if anger moves to violent action or if the spirit to strive for life is broken--whether your own or the one(s) your speaking with.
Perhaps one of the best ways we can keep the Sixth Word in daily living at our time in history, is to consider how you speak--to yourself and one another. May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts value life and not take it, allowing us to be angry at what is not right, and live well so that it will be.
Love you, faith family! God bless.