Anger Issues! | Mark 3:17, Luke 9:51-56, 1 John 4:7-12 | Sons of Thunder

You and I are going to hang out with two disciples who were uniquely nicknamed by Jesus as The Sons of Thunder. Think about a thunderstorm. It comes up quick and fierce, right? And sometimes we are like that too. We’re sons and daughters of thunder. We erupt in anger… and we need help with that. Let’s dig in.

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Transcription:

Have you ever wanted to make somebody pay for how much they hurt you? Maybe you’ve never even put it into those words, and I really didn’t until recently. Welcome to the Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica, your host, and in just a few moments, you and I are going to hang out with two disciples who were uniquely nicknamed by Jesus as the Sons of Thunder. Think about a thunderstorm. It comes up quick and fierce, right? And sometimes we are like that too. We’re sons and daughters of thunder. We erupt in anger. Yeah. This week we are studying anger on the podcast because it turns out if you read the Bible only four times a week, your angry feelings decrease by 32%. That’s huge. So that’s why we’re studying this topic.

But I got to tell you what happened to me yesterday. I was on the way to work. It was like 4:35 AM and apparently I cut someone off on the road. I thought there was enough time, but clearly this guy was very angry at me for quote/unquote cutting him off and he rode my tail for at least a mile. Scared me half to death because I couldn’t even pull over. I was afraid he was going to smash into my car if I did that. Finally, we get to the light and he has another lane to maneuver into now, and he revved up his fancy Porsche really loud twice, and he hit the gas with all his might and went down a different street, and I took a big deep breath and I’m like, wow, Lord. That was kind of scary. And then I realized what a perfect picture of what you and I are studying this week. This is what anger looks like. I was the recipient of that man’s anger, but how often have I erupted like that?

That man wanted me to pay for cutting him off. He wanted me to feel what he was feeling. And how often do you and I, we want somebody to pay for how badly they hurt us? It’s a natural reaction. But you know what a supernatural reaction is? To forgive that person instead. When you think about it, Jesus paid for our sins, yours and mine. That’s what he did. When he died on the cross, he took all of our sins upon himself. He paid the entire bill for every sin that was ever committed, and he forgives us for our sins when we ask. He gives us grace. I like to say Niagara fall style, and sometimes when somebody hurts me, I give them grace in the form of a trickling stream, and I am working on that. I’m trying so hard to remember how much I’ve been forgiven. That’s why the Lord’s Prayer is so powerful.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

That is a powerful prayer. So, the next time you get really, really angry with someone and you want them to pay, pray that prayer, the Lord’s Prayer. Okay, I want you to join me now in Mark chapter three, verse 17. This is where Jesus is calling his disciples. He calls each of them by name and in verse 17, we’re introduced to a very interesting pair of disciples.

James and John (the sons of Zebedee, but Jesus nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder.”

Maybe they had anger issues too, right? Come on, let’s get to know the Sons of Thunder. Shall we turn with me to Luke chapter nine, beginning in verse 51.

As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival. 53 But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. 54 When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 So they went on to another village.

Again, this concept of getting angry and wanting somebody to pay, I mean, it’s just like the Porsche guy, right? The Sons of Thunder were annoyed, but the Lord calmed that storm, as he calmed the one on the sea of Galilee. He was slowly teaching them to become different people as he’s teaching us, as we read His Word right now. And I believe right now this is going to encourage you. I read this from a man named Harold Rhodes Online.

James and John were two of Jesus’s closest friends, and seeing his example and striving to live more like him changed them, allowing God’s spirit to lead them, helped them overcome their anger and have a different approach. John became the apostle who later in life when writing first, second, and third, John, wrote a lot about love. When he was first chosen to be one of Christ’s apostles, he was one of the Sons of Thunder. But after walking with Christ for several years, this Son of Thunder became an apostle of love.

Oh, that just makes me feel so comforted, knowing I’m a daughter of thunder sometimes, but I can become a daughter of love. Join me now in one John chapter four, beginning in verse seven. This is the former son of Thunder, the current apostle of love writing.

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

Do you hear that? When we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. Others will see his love in us when we live it out. Oh, don’t you want to turn into a son or daughter of love? Don’t you want to leave the moniker son or daughter of thunder behind, like John did? We’re learning that it’s possible. Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. Till next time, you are really loved.

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