Jesus Talks About Anger

Matthew 5:21-26

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’

Good morning. We are in Matthew chapter five, as we have been, uh, last. Three months or so as we’re in this series, the upside down life this morning, we’re going to be hearing about Jesus speaking words about anger. And I know when you hear the sermon topic, you probably do something like I do like immediately.

Okay. Sermon topic about anger. You start filtering through like, oh boy, um, how much do I have to listen? How much does my kid or spouse have to listen, but we enjoy what Jesus says in this, this sermon. He gives the Matthew five, six, and seven, ultimately a sermon about living the free life in the kingdom of God.

Read this about someone’s experience. Um, this last week there was a man who went with his wife. To go to her new boss. So his wife had a new boss and just recently hired onto the company. And they, as a couple went to her house, she was a single woman to, um, have dinner. And in this well-to-do apartment, the wife talked to the husband before this happened and said to her, please be careful, be on your P’s.

And Q’s be socially responsible in this situation. This man wrote of his experience. He said in response to her saying I scoffed and arrogantly and for my wife that I always make good impressions. My wife’s boss, a single lady in her fifties, and it was just the three of us. So we chit chat it over drinks and salad and seemed to be really hitting it off.

She laughed at my well-timed perfectly appropriate jokes and my wife. Seemed pleased evening is going well. But soon what happened is the woman who is serving the meal, brought out the steak, said it was a nice, big, juicy steak she had, and she had cooked it for each of them. As I began to cut into my steak.

I was discouraged to discover how under cooked this steak was. I probably could have resuscitated the cow had. I tried instead, I sat there fidgeting with my knife and fork worrying about how well I was going to be a way going to get away with not eating this steak. How many are a little uncomfortable already?

He had started to feel like, where is this going? Just then our host is excused herself to the kitchen to take care of some dessert preparations. As I looked across the fancy dining room table at the open window of this it’s fancy third story apartment, a cartoon light bulb appeared over my head. He writes, I knew I had to be decisive realizing that she could return at any moment.

I committed. I grabbed the steak with my hand, gently shook off the juice and executed a perfect throw right through the center of the open window here was by big mistake. He writes the window wasn’t open. It was the cleanest window you’ve ever seen in your life. That is until my raw slab of steak slammed up against it.

And slowly slid down, leaving a trail of bloody juice in its wake. My wife, who steak was a nice medium rare was unaware of my predicament. Turned jaw dropped this look then slowly morphed into more of a, there is no place on this planet you can ever hide from me. Expression of demonic, anger. My wife’s boss heard the thud of the steak on window impact and came quickly.

She took in the scene, the steak sitting on the window, sill the blood trail, my empty plate, and gave me a puzzled look. Both women continued to stare at me. As I smeared the blood around the wind with my cloth, napkin, dusted off the snake and continued to mutter in incoherent explanation. He writes, I knew what I had to do.

I sheepishly returned to my seat, proceeded to eat every bite of that disgusting cold chewy, bloody raw steak. I remained pretty quiet for the rest of the evening and any person that knows what smoldering anger is, can identify with this. My wife’s only two words to me since the incident are. I’m fine.

Anger is not something that operates in the prettiness of life. It’s not something that we can just sit and talk about when we’re, um, put together thought through centered anger doesn’t happen. That way. Anger happens in messy, uncomfortable, unpredictable situations. And we have here the radical teaching of Jesus about anger.

And it is, as we have said, the upside down way, it is a counter or it is an alter cultural way of understanding this very common experience that we have about anger in Matthew chapter five, we looked at the beatitudes talking about the values of the kingdom of God. And we are now in this section talking about the practical living, how this benevolent reign of Jesus looks, what it looks like in our every day life.

This phrase that will come up in Matthew five. But I say onto you, Jesus talks about an old way of understanding how to live, but he says, but I say onto you, and he talks about the principle of what life now looks like in the new covenant kingdom of God. So, but I sent you and he will say it about these different situations.

He will say about anger in our passage today. He’ll say it about lust. He’ll say it about divorce. He’ll say it about words or language. Then he’ll say it about conflict and then about enemies, again, a natural understanding. But I say to you, and Jesus will give these words, read with me if you would, as I, or follow along.

As I read in Matthew chapter five, these words of Christ about anger starting in verse 21. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder. And whoever murders will be liable to judgment, but I say unto you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council.

Whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there, remember your brother has something against you. Leave your gift there before the altar and go first, be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court.

Bless your accuser, hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard and you be put in prison. Truly. I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny Lord, we come to your word this morning. We come to your teaching. We come to. Words that, uh, can easily create concern for us. As we recognize the anger that lives often in our outside experience, and often recognize the anger that lives in our inside experience.

We pray that we might not dismiss your teaching as some radical, too idealistic, but that we might accept this as the new and living way that you Jesus’ work. And you work such that our anger even can be transformed. Thank you for your kindness as I’m reminded of my own anger this week and reminder, remember my need of a savior.

Thank you. Bless our time in Jesus name. Amen. As we look at anger, want to talk simply of what is anger, right? You can call anger a lot of different things. There’s a lot of different aspects of what you might say. This is a part of anger. This is a part of anger. The way I want to define anger force this morning is simply anger is destructive energy, not just saying anger is an action.

Not just saying it’s an inward reality, but destructive energy. Now anger is a power emotion, right? Um, sadness, fear. These are more vulnerable spaces. And when we feel things, negative insecurity, sadness, fear, vulnerable emotions. We quickly, often cover those with what feels more powerful. And one of the common emotions that once we experienced something negative, we want to not sit in that vulnerability, but rise up against it and try to destroy whatever is causing it.

Anger. When we feel hurt, insecure, afraid we run to what that makes us feel strong. Anger gives us energy. What kind of energy anger gives energy to destroy. Think of even actions, even healthy actions of what to do with anger, right? You don’t tell your kid to go build a sand castle. It’s punch a pillow, right?

There’s a sense of, of when you have this, it is anger that feels like destruction. There’s two pictures given by Jesus in the text. Verse 22 Jesus likens, anger to murder. He goes the whole way, right? You, Jesus knows that in the code written in our hearts, in the code written in his scripture, in the code reflected in most places.

And most societies around the world, his anger is not, or murder is not a good thing. And so he goes and likens this anger to the destructive force to murder. Now we know that, uh, there are times when Jesus himself was angry and I we’re going to talk about Jesus in the temple, but I want to be careful here because I think a lot of times when we feel anger, We rushed to Jesus in the temple, right?

And we’re like, well, I can be mad at this situation, this national thing, this, this local thing, this thing in my business, this thing with my kids. Why? Because it’s a righteous anger. The longer I live, the more, I really believe that, that this is a righteous anger. Is most often used as a covering for I’m just scared or himself protecting something good.

And so I have a right to anger and, but we will talk about it. So in the passage of Jesus in the temple, there is the muscle of anger being used and it is the muscle of destruction. Jesus enters the 10th temple in Matthew chapter 21, and he destroys a system that was violating the sacredness of God.

Right. It’s right there in the temple. They’re turning into a marketplace. They’re exploiting poor people who are trying to pay for sacrifices. And he walks in and says this, I want no part of, and he uses destructive the energy to accomplish something good. Uh, west Stafford. As a man who started compassion international and incredible gentle holy man who started this incredible organization, he traces back the seeds of compassion.

International. Many of you are supporting compassionate international children. He chases the seed back to that to a moment when he, as a child was experiencing deep, deep abuse at the hands of other people. And there was a moment when he was very young in the 1960s, which he calls a moment of anger, where he stood up for his own dignity.

And that moment was the seed of what will become an incredibly compassionate. Good. Organization to defend and look out for exploited children. Anger can be used for good. Sometimes things need to be destroyed. I don’t want my sons to say I’ve never seen my dad angry. Ephesians four 26 says in your anger do not.

Sin does not say your anger is necessarily sin, but in your anger do not sin. But for me, most of the things that I am willing to spend my anger energy on are the things that are selfish. Most of the time when my anger is mobilized and goes unchecked. I do sin. And this force is like a fire can accomplish good, but has such power to destroy.

Here’s the first question. If you’re doing your notes, I want you to write down in our anger. First question is what am I seeking to destroy and like destroy, that’s kind of. Extreme, right. Well, well, let’s talk about the classic, right? We’re we’re Jersey folks. So let’s talk about road rage. Um, nearly 80% of people in the last year or so, according to a study done in 2006, or at that time, um, have experienced some type of road rage within the last year.

Not yet you all, but some people, right? That’s the benefit of studies. I actually don’t like road rage is a little comical to me. Like, I just feel like I don’t want to get that upset about someone not using a blinker, but so I’ve told my wife, like, I don’t really think I have road rage. I think I’m in the 20%.

And she has very kindly said, babe, it’s true. You don’t have road rage, but you cause so much. So I’m sorry. You 80 percenters. It’s my fault. Okay. So, and I tell her, it’s only when you’re in the car, I’m really a good driver when you’re not here. But, but in road rage, right? It’s a little, there is a little part where it’s funny.

It’s like, what is that person trying to accomplish? Right. It’s most of the time they’re not ripping out a baseball bat and going to the hood of your car. Most of the time, it’s a honk, it’s a universal signal of disapproval. It’s some type of like, uh, or some screaming in the car or some yelling, or even speeding up next to you and giving the glare.

What’s the hope, right? Like, how is that supposed to alter someone’s life? What is the desire? If I’m experiencing road rage, what do I desire for the other person? Or maybe what do you desire for me? Some might say my road rage is trying to help that person observe the law for rules of the road. I’m out there for their safety.

They’re they’re endangering other people. And I feel for them, all I want is their preservation and protection. No, it’s, it’s the deep down. I want you to know how terrible of a driver you really are. I want you to know that the fact that you hit your brakes two seconds before I thought was appropriate, makes you a stupid person.

And I want you to wallow in your stupidity all day. I want you to go home and say, oh, I really am a stupid person. That’s the goal, right? It’s a, somehow you feel worse about you. Our greatest hope for people that we’re mad at when they’re dumb is we just really hope they know how dumb that they are, right?

Because that is destructive energy. I want you to know, I want to destroy your image of yourself. I want your day a little bit worse, because that’s what I feel like you did to me in traffic, but it doesn’t just stay in the car. Does it? I’ve realized this with my kids. I have the weirdest thing with my kids.

I think I may have mentioned this before. Like I’ll have my, my eight year old who weighs, I don’t know, like 55 pounds or something. He’ll come and he’ll accidentally knock into me or something will happen. He might drop a cup and it hits my foot all act like I had a limb severed. I don’t know why. Like I’ll have this reaction, like, Aw, sob, man, what are you doing?

Like, and it’d be my gut reaction. I’m like that didn’t hurt at all. Like, why am I acting like this was such a violation. There’s nothing more important to me as a human being and as a dad than the happiness of my kids, but not when I’m mad, not when I’m inconvenienced. I want to say, did you see how much this hurt dad is devastating?

Do you see how much I have to clean up? If I’ve told you once I’ve told you a thousand times, or how about this classic parenting one, you need to wipe that smile off your face, right? I hate how happy you are. So stop it, right? This is the energy. What are we really saying? Are you unhappy with yourself enough yet?

I want to you to realize the exact amount of inconvenience, and I want you to be miserable about it. I want to destroy even your joy. Anger wants to destroy. The second image is Rocca. Okay. And it says, if you say this, where rock on this, where we can all feel good, because unless you’re a weirdo, you don’t walk around, you know, just saying to people rock, you know, like if you do, I don’t know, you got a lot of other things we could talk about, but this rock has not normally a word.

You know, we only know this word because it’s mentioned, this is a bad word. Right. But what is, what is rock, huh? I mean, it’s a word of diminishing dignity. It’s calling someone empty, worthless or shallow brains. That’s this term rock rock has saying you are nothing. You deserve nothing. You matter less. I wish for you nothing.

When I’m feeling towards someone or something, I want them to understand. How pitiful that they are. And when that word is used, it is the demonstration of, I want you to see what a mess up you are. What, how bad that you are, how little that you are. My rock hall, anger. Is that what says that it’s saying what you want is less important than what I want.

I’m willing to destroy your desires, will argument ideas and very dignity. So that I get to feel what I think that I need. This is emotional Darwinism, survival of the fittest. My needs matter more than yours. And, and some of this we can laugh at because this is, this is what it means to be human.

Sometimes like we live in a world that’s, it’s just got things going on left when we want them to co-write and, and. We’re dealing with frustration and disappointment insecurity and sadness. And, and we don’t have all of these great Juju resources to just all of a sudden be like, man, it’s all cool. Right?

Like we’re tired, we’re stretched. We’re we’re worried. And so when things happen, we understand we have this energy source that happens within us. So what do we do? What do we do with our anger? And I love the sermon is so precious to me, a few things. And you have them in your notes of, in the kingdom of God, what is Jesus saying about how anger should work?

What do we do with this? How do we respond to this? Which Wells inside of us? More often than we want it to. First thing I think in dealing with anger in the kingdom of God is simply recognizing the theology of anger, which is to recognize the damage that it causes so important in this discussion of anger is asking the question, who am I speaking to?

Who am I thinking this about? Who am I telling off in my head? And they aren’t even there. Who am I wishing. Less for Psalm eight talks about this as such a dear passage that people, whether they’re, uh, doesn’t matter with what placement they are, what resources they’ve accumulated, what belief system they have, that people, human beings of all types, all creeds, all times, all places are deeply precious to God that they have been given a unique and beautiful placement in creation.

Hebrews one speaks of this Genesis. The whole design is that that human beings have incredible worth. And, and we, at times in with the Christian message where we say that humans have a misbehaving heart, we can go be on that. I’m not careful and say things like, oh, I am worthless. No. That’s bad theology.

And it’s a shot at the king. Who said you are so worth it. I will die for you. Human beings have incredible worth. There is, there is no book that establishes the incredible weight of glory that God puts on the human being like the account we have in scripture, human beings matter much. And they matter much, God, anger is a direct shot at that value.

While humans are sinful, they are never worthless. And when we speak and act and even think, cause it results in how our atmosphere of our person is we are shooting against that, which is so proof of so holy to God. Anger is the message that reinforces the voices. We all have. Pastor mark talks about the voices, a lot, the voices that we have as human beings, that the self rejecting voices, the voices that we have about ourselves that say you should be ashamed of yourself.

You’re so different than everyone else. You’ll never get your stuff together. Uh, people like you are really okay, but nothing special that the voice that say I’m too ugly, too afraid, too stupid, too bad with people too unsuccessful. Not good enough at this, that or the other, these voices. They live inside of us.

Anger. When we are angry with someone else, we are reinforcing those voices. When we are reinforcing someone else’s insecurity and the worst part is we like it. We enjoy it. We want people to sit there and feel these voices. Why? Because that will destroy them a little bit. Anger is such a big deal to God because it really wounds people who are such a big deal to God harming the design dignity of who God created is so precious to him.

He says that that’s murder. That deserves incredible weight. We see in this passage, the profane part of anger is that it recklessly stomps on which that, which God hold so precious. Secondly, to recognize the cause of anger. Where’s the anger coming from. Yes. Recognizing that, that, that has great damage from the theology of, of anger.

Is it? It is a great shot against God because it is treating profane. What he determined is precious, but taking a step back, what, what usually causes this anger is a secondary emotion. My buddy often says, it’s not what you feel first. Now we can get there and microseconds cause we’re talented like that.

But why knowing the question of why we are angry and, um, someone usually why we’re angry as someone has determined our feelings, our rights, our will is not that important. When someone steps on my dignity or triggers my insecurity or of my tribe, then it feels okay to trigger, to jump back. That is when we start lashing out.

And this I think is really important. Every time you were an eye are worked up to have a rock hub response to have a murderous response. It’s because ourselves or something that we love is being threatened. We don’t care. Otherwise it’s, it’s gotta be something close that I hold dear. That feels this type of threat.

I think this is the second question we need to ask in the cause of anger. Okay. What’s right now, how do I, or my expectations feel threatened in this moment? And you’re like, man, you are way over. Sophisticating what happens in the blink of an eye? I don’t think I am. I think even if we go back to the simple cutting off of traffic, there is a sense of how dare you.

Do you know, this was my right away. There’s something that, that cutting off demeaned about me. And I really think that, or I expected to get home in five minutes and now I’m getting home in six hours, hear you. There is a sense of what we have have we hold so tight that the very threat of it produces this desire to restore or destroy.

Tim Keller says the anger. I love this is ultimately a form of love, but oftentimes much of what we love is my time, my money, my rights, my view of what things should be my rest, but recognizing what exactly is the cause of this is so important to rooting out and to dealing with it. Third. Recognize the economy of ag anger.

You’re you’re seeing like, the way we’re going about this is, is recognized, recognized, recognized, because I think inventory of anger, what is really going on is the first steps. And then we’ll move beyond that. But third again, recognize, recognize the anger, the, the economy of anger, anger, begets anger. An angry person builds anger in other people.

This is Proverbs 22 speaks to this. Proverbs speaks on anger all the time. Proverbs 22, 24 and 25 says make no friendship with a man given to anger nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangled for self in a snare. Matthew, our Proverbs chapter 1518 says this hot tempered man, stirs up strife.

A hot tempered, man. His anger builds strife. Anger has anger babies. When there is anger, it will produce more anger. Okay. Here’s a phrase for you. Crabby makes grabby. Here’s what I mean by that. Crabby makes grabby when you are angry, it creates a world that everyone is trying to grab for themselves in a home.

That’s always on talking about how unfair your boss is when he treats you, how and how you want to him to get his in a workplace that thrives on drama, temper and gossip. In a, in a political environment where we’re, there’s this sense of what’s wrong with every other people when that exists in a home or workplace or environment.

When, when you have a kid on a sports team and you’re complaining how much your daughter or son should get more playing time. And that coach is so incompetent when we’re always discern, asserting, or defending our right to the last piece of pizza to control the remote, whose argument is the most, right?

When we’re always fending for ourselves, what happens, resources run out. So every, it creates an environment of, I got to grab first. I have to produce my argument. First. I have to get my playing time. First, that type of culture that exists in homes, it exists in churches and workplaces. It’s an environment when I am angry and need to get mine.

It will produce that. And other people, the kingdom of God, such a core principle is that there’s enough to go around. And when we feel violated, we have the very chance to build a different way of life. That’s what the beatitudes speak to over and over and over the kingdom way, or just real quick, we talk about worldliness and we often associate with substances and sex, and I understand there’s some biblical precedent for talking about worldliness that way, but worldliness at its core when John and other people are talking about what it means to be worldly, it’s this inner life of, I need to get mine, look out for mine.

I need to win. I need to the world of pride and anger and ego are very. Root system of worldliness. Yes. And often we’ll say, whoa, look at the fruit. That was a really naughty thing. Someone did well, worldliness happens in the heart. Worldliness happens when it says deep down, I got to make sure I get mine and I don’t care if anyone else gets there.

That’s worldliness. The kingdom of God, Jesus comes to establish and say, does not need to operate that way. It must be a place of dignity. Listen, generosity, a place of overflow, a place where there’s enough to go around a place where there is forgiveness that flows freely in and out of relationships. We can live differently because he’s given us enough, love and care for each.

And for all. To live this way as the upside down life. That’s what he came to bring the up there down here, a serve each other type of existence, a limitless resources of love, where we treat each other, not as competitors, but as people who need and deserve blessing. Okay. These are the recognize areas. Now quickly three points of living that out.

First thing I’d say about that. So number four, be kind to yourself. I know that sounds counter-intuitive to what we’re saying. This is what I mean, those, I have seen this over and over and over in pastoral ministry. Those that are most judgmental. Have the most angry and dissatisfied view of themselves often takes time to unwind that cause judgmental people just, I mean, but when you really get to know and sit with the things that even call that things where our bitterness and frustration and people who just are lashing out and experiencing a lot of anger.

So often, often there is such a tight unkind view to, of self in the deep parts of them. By far, I am least compassionate and most angry when I, I am most depleted and dealing with a lot of self rejection. I am way crueler of a person. When I am being, I am experiencing all of my own self rejection. It said when you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

And we know it’s tough to live with hammers, right? They want everybody to get knocked down and see this. And there’s a, there’s this problem with that. But like, there’s always a problem with somebody in something, but you know, who else has a hard time living with the hammer, a hammer as painful? Why destroying a lot of things inside yourself as well?

I don’t mean spoil yourself, but if you’re in Christ, Jesus, there’s a compassion towards yourself. It says, following the teachings of Jesus is love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, heart, soul, and mind. And the second is like, it love your neighbor. As your self, loving yourself in Christ is a calling of utmost importance.

I love this. The university of Bergen, they did an article and their article was how to control anger. And there’s older articles of this. Eat a banana and get enough sleep. I think when we’re mindful and compassionate of our own true need of resources, that’s the first step in being able to be a compassionate person to others.

Fifth reconcile with those who are angry with you. Verse 23 in our passage says if you’re offering gift at your altar, remember the brother or sister has something against you. Leave your gift in front of the altar, go and be reconciled. Then come and offer your gift before you give gifts of value to the church or to other people, make sure we are living the value of people in our relationships.

Financial gifts are important. Worshiping is important. But they’re not fundamentally more important than how we treat each other, this isn’t. And the interesting part of the passage, it’s not just dealing with anger or hatred that we might feel towards someone else it’s anger or hatred that someone else might feel towards us, which asks the question, what is my responsibility?

Because in this world, there are people who don’t always like us or who are upset. So what is my responsibility to someone who is upset with me? Couple of qualifications that I think are important with Jesus’s words here is one. I don’t think we’re responsible for what others hold against us when it’s not owing to real sin or blunder on our part.

There are times when people will, will have incredible judgment towards you as a person. And that doesn’t mean you’re responsible to fix all of those judgments. We are says, it says in Romans 12, if possible, so far as it depends on you live at peace with all men. There are times when peace is not only dependent on you.

We are responsible to actively continually, openly pursue reconciliation, but we also live with the pain. If it does not succeed. In other words, we’re not responsible to make reconciliation happen as far as we can, we reach out. But there are times when there’s levels of anger and bitterness and judgment towards us that we can’t fix.

But I think we often can hide behind that too. Right. And let bad relationships linger because we think, oh, we’ve done all that we can. And I think that’s where wisdom and prayer and counsel is important to decipher. Lastly, deal with this quickly, the consequences of anger in our passage don’t age. Well.

Settle matters quickly with your adversary. Who’s taking you to court, do it while you’re along the way, or they may hand you to a judge. Judge to the officer may be thrown into prison. Won’t get out. So you’ve paid the last penny. Obviously it’s a specific analogy he’s using of some debt and recompense kind of thing here, but, and he’s talking in this anger passage, anger when anger is hit a relationship, it doesn’t usually age well.

And so we want to deal quickly a gold rush, man. I love that show is a discovery channel show. And they’re usually up in the Klondike or somewhere like freezing cold. And they’ve got a season with which they can deal with the ground, right? Because otherwise the ground freezes and doesn’t work well to get gold out of.

So they have, they’re trying to beat the frost. They’re trying to beat the cold because there’s a time where. The soil becomes less able to be mined. And I think in relationships, when anger’s had a relationship, it doesn’t age well, bitterness usually makes the situation worse, not better. And that’s often what happens.

Bitterness, the drinking of poison and waiting for someone else to die is, is something that grows with time. And so as soon as we can deal with those relationships that have been broken by anger, we are called to in conclusion, Christ has set us free from destructive anger. This is one of those passages that can feel real idealistic, right?

Like, okay. I already knew anger was bad and now I know it’s bad and that’s cool. But the question is like, is Jesus for real? Like, this is one of the things in James. I love it says don’t just listen. Do what it says, it’s the words going through my head this week of just, what if I really didn’t just see my anger as, yeah.

I already knew it was kinda wrong and I go in and out of it and I try not to, but what if, what if, when we would go through these passages on anger and lust and words that we say, this is the king talking the king who enables me and is the very strength within me to live free, that he really can free us from anger.

He really can break generational patterns of anger. He really can make us humble, quiet, internally, quiet people in the midst of angry cultures. He really can settle my heart that I am not living this way. May we take these words and the words he’ll speak in this passions seriously, that Jesus Christ died and rose again, and is victorious.

Even over the messy stuff like anger, will you stand and receive the blessing as we conclude. I just want to say this over us as a church, may we be a village, a people who lives in this upside down way, uh, people who takes our will and our own way, a little less seriously, who is less afraid to give ground, uh, people who are loved and free and who are free to love, uh, people who do get stressed.

Who do feel upset at ourselves and do feel angry towards others at times, a people that fears, fear and threat, but that chooses to employ our anger as a defense of others, not an often sense of our own territories. May we know the love of Jesus. It is only in this love. We can live on afraid unthreatened on defended for anger lives in the kingdom of fear.

May we live, grow, build function, and enjoy his kingdom of love. We are dismissed.