My blog for this sermon series will be a dialogue with the information presented. I will provide practical opportunities for soul transformation so we can genuinely and consistently experience the good and beautiful life! For those of you who attended the 9:30 service this past Sunday, I want to share the narratives of Jesus as we seek to free ourselves from unresolved anger. At 11, I didn’t even get to the narratives so I am including them here. I want to encourage you to practice these narratives as a means of living without anger.
One of the things that I do in my daily devotions is to repeat the narratives of Jesus as a means of getting them deep into my soul. I know some people who put them on 3×5 cards so they can look at them often throughout the day. Another person I know puts the narratives on a “sticky note,” and attaches them to his mirrors so he sees them every morning. Do whatever works for you and if possible, someone happens to the brain when we speak the narratives of Jesus out loud.
Some of the things I didn’t have time for in my sermon….
“Of all the emotions we are born with, anger is the most primal and difficult one to control.”
Andrew Newberg, MD, from How God Changes Your Brain
Physiologically…this is what happens when we are angry…
1. We lose the capacity to be rational.
2. We lose the awareness that we are acting in an irrational way.
3. We lose the capacity to listen.
4. No capacity for sympathy or empathy.
“Anger releases a cascade of neurochemicals that actually destroy those parts of the brain that control emotional reactivity.”
Andrew Newberg, MD, from How God Changes Your Brain
Ephesians 4
25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil.
The Narratives of Jesus
I. Embracing a new narrative…
As a follower of Jesus,
I will not live with unresolved anger! I am going to be free from contempt and rage!
2 Timothy 4:14-18
14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will pay him back for his deeds. 15 You also must beware of him, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
II. Embracing a new narrative…
As a follower of Jesus,
I will admit my hurt/anger and name the behavior without blaming or shaming.14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; 15 You also must beware of him, for he strongly opposed our message.
III.Embracing a new narrative…
As a follower of Jesus,
I will not seek to get even because ultimately it is not my battle.The Lord will pay him back for his deeds. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
IV. Embracing a new narrative…
As a follower of Jesus,
I can name my disappointment with people and pray for them so I can be free from resentment.16 At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them!
V. Embracing a new narrative…
As a follower of Jesus,
I can trust Jesus to transform my anger so I don’t transmit my anger.But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
VI. Embracing a new narrative…
As a follower of Jesus,
I am never alone. Jesus is my Shepherd. (Psalm 23) The Shepherd will take care of me.17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength so I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
Soul training exercise….as often as you can, repeat Psalm 23 and actually pray it and not just say it. Speak each petition slowly and let it sink in. This is a Psalm for life and for death. It is a Psalm for the whole of life. It is a vision, a picture of the good and beautiful life when we are surrendered to the Good Shepherd.
–Rev. Jeff Gannon