August 12, 2012

An older woman shared about her marriage of over 60 years with joy and told stories of happy times. In answer to the typical question “What was the secret of your long and happy life together?” without hesitation, she said, “We agreed when we were first married to never let the sun go down on our anger.” That impressive piece of advice comes from Ephesians 4:26. In the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul (assuming his authorship) talks about the inner experience (actually, illumination) of Christian unity. In the latter three chapters, Paul illustrates the idea. He shows us what it looks like in various relationships. In the text for Sunday, he talks about ridding our hearts of falsehood and bitterness. He DOES NOT mean that we should never feel anger. He says, “Be angry, but sin not.” And, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” In other words, don’t store it; deal with it. Any anger carried over to the next day is soul-poison.