Coffee Beans

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV).

Not long ago I saw a wonderful illustration. The “science guy” placed some coffee beans in the bottom of a glass beaker and poured boiling water in to cover them. As he was talking about the process of “brewing” the coffee, the camera focused on the beaker. As I watched, the water — once clear and pure — began to reveal that the coffee beans were leaching coffee into the water. Clean and clear became stained as the coffee coloration arose from the beans and permeated the water. I must confess I quickly tuned the lesson out as I began to think about how even when we are unaware, a little anger and bitterness can flavor our entire lives. That brought me to our reading today. The apostle encourages us to be careful in our lives, knowing that even a tiny bit of sin will affect our whole life. Like coffee beans in hot water, we can deceive ourselves into believing that sin and anger and bitterness can be contained, compartmentalized, in an otherwise new and spiritual nature. It can’t. Paul goes on to say, “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” (cf. Ephesians 4:26-27). I’m a pretty accurate. To get there it takes practice. Real marksmen get really good at hitting targets, doing damage, perhaps even taking lives with practice. So, let me make a correlation. If you get mad at your car, your computer, or the weather or traffic you’re practicing being mad and upset. Then when someone crosses your pathway, they are in range of your rage. The Scripture says, A soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger (cf. Proverbs 15:1). The louder we get, the angrier we become. Get softer. Practice whispering. While we may view it as being containment of hazardous waste (anger, bitterness, rage, malice), these things can pollute our lives in hidden ways. That’s why Paul says to get rid of it all. Don’t contain it; don’t hide it; don’t compartmentalize it; and whatever you do, don’t give the devil that kind of leverage in your life. As we continue our journey through Lent, take a moment to ask, “Am I whispering enough?”