Remembrance Day

It was remembrance day and so I preached ot hundreds about gettiing angry. I thought you might like to read it.

Anger: Matthew 5:1-12

1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
3‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’

Introduction – Red heads of the world unite
I am beginning to get a bit sickened off with all the anti red haired propaganda in the media.There are even anti-ginger web sitesWhat the world doesn’t realize is that red heads are taking over.
Everywhere you go you will see them
So I say: “Red Heads of the World unite you have nothing to lose but your temper!”
I love being a red head because it gives me an excuse to have a bad temper.

But Losing your temper is seen as a really bad thing, getting angry worse but I want to suggest today that getting angry is precisely what God wants us to do.

How we do it and what we do it about is the key thing.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

When you are young like these cubs and scouts people always want to work out what you want to be when you grow up.
Just for a change sometimes I ask adults the same question, you get some very interesting answers.

My Daughter always used to say “Rich and powerful”
Bigger seems to be the best answer

One of the ways to decide is to think about what you love.
If you love football become a footballer.
If you love meetings become a politician.
If you love candles become a vicar, that kind of a thing.

We talk about love as though it’s the only motivator in changing the world.
People even sing, sometimes Love changes everything.
The reality is that love is not always the best motivator.

Much stronger is the question “what makes you angry?”

Unfortunately for most of us it’s random small things.

The pauses on the X-factor
Crazy Frog
Wobbly wheels on supermarket trolleys
St Michael’s Car Park
The Ted Hughes Festival

These are not real anger these are just grumpy and there is a difference.
Grumpy is really a collective whinge…
A whingefest is not going to change the world.

Anger on the other hand might.
Jesus said:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Angry about what? - Righteousness

Righteousness.

That everything should be put right.

That there should be peace
That there should be justice
That we should be at ease with ourselves.
A rightness in the world.

We live in dangerous times – people are looking for someone to blame not somewhere to find answers
Our times are very like the times between the wars.
Two things came out of the 1930’s
· For some their anger turned to hatred with the rise of Fascism and the hatred of the Jews amongst others and 70 years ago today that angry burned into hatred and on 7th November 1938 exploded in what became known as Kristalnacht…
· For others it lead to the beginnings of the welfare state

Anger is a great motivator if it leads us to want to change the world.

I am a vicar partly because the church made me angry when I was a teenagerI am still trying to change it so that it won’t make me angry!
My dad said that I would grow out of this enthusiastic phase
I am still waiting…
So is he…

Passion will change the world as much as love.
Bring me my bow of burning gold
Bring me my arrows of desire
Bring me my spear, oh clouds unfold
Bring me my chariot of fire.
I will not cease from mental fight
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem On England’s green and pleasant land.

Conclusion

I am moving seamlessly from being an Angry young men to being a Grumpy old man - t-shirt
We were made to be angry but not about trivial stuff.
We were made to be angry when things aren’t right…
When the dead are forgotten and their causes despised.

We were made to be angry so that we would do something about it…
We were made to be angry about the stuff that people do
We were meant to try to change things and then not to hate.

Today we remember those who cared enough, who were angry enough to give up their lives for their friends, for their country, for an idea
Many of them were angry and that motivated them to do something about it.

What are you angry about?

Shouldn’t it be something that is worth getting angry about

Moving from anger to action not Hate