A Time To Be Angry

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

John 2: 13-17

Time is one of the great mysteries of life. We live within it, but we cannot control it. It moves us along, all the while holding us accountable.

Time is a gift and an opportunity. Every moment and every day is a gift for which we should be thankful, and every moment and every day presents us with opportunities to live meaningfully and purposefully.

But for that to happen, we have to understand and accept that it takes all of the varying and contrasting experiences that life throws at us, to fashion us and bring forth the best in us; not just the ones that are good and easy, desirable and comfortable. We don’t get to select only the good and refuse the bad; life throws them all at us. And even though we may not see it at the time, our lives are better for that, because each experience reflects something of the sacred purpose of God, and offers us the opportunity for love to be revealed.

For that reason, the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…” and he goes on to say: “God has made everything suitable for its time.” Or as my grandparents used to drill in us: “There’s a time and place for everything”. And that everything includes anger. Not the uncontrolled impulse to hurt or destroy, arising out of pride, power, or the desire for revenge, but the strong emotion that you feel when you encounter a situation where someone has behaved in an unfair, cruel, or unacceptable way.

There are some folks, many good folks, who discourage anger of any sort and for any reason. They see it as unbecoming and unacceptable behaviour.

It is understandable why persons may be turned off by anger. It is understandable why persons may be scared or uneasy in the face of anger. We have seen how hurtful and destructive and alienating anger can be when it is excessive, when it is displaced and misdirected; when it is allowed to control and define you.

But anger is as human as weeping. It is an emotion and a reaction we all will continue to feel and experience. All of us experience some level of anger at various times and for various reasons. Sometimes our anger is appropriate to the circumstances and sometimes it’s not. There is a balance to anger that we have to learn to negotiate, so that we don’t get angry about things we shouldn’t; and we are not complacent over things about which we should be angry.

In today’s gospel reading, we see an angry Jesus. Jesus had gone to the temple, and he had seen in the very house of God, that greed had displaced goodness. People were being exploited, and profit had become more important than people and prayer. And Jesus was angry.

The temple was the place where, in accordance with the law of God, people offered sacrifices. For the Jews, the Law of Moses stated what kinds of sacrifices should be made in the temple, and some of those sacrifices involved animals - a young sheep, a young goat, or a pair of pigeons.

For persons who lived in Jerusalem, that was easy, but for persons who had to travel long distances, sometimes over many days - as was the case with many who were in Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, it was often difficult to carry the appropriate sacrifice. So when persons went to the temple to make their sacrifice, the temple authorities made it easy for them by having sacrificial animals for sale right there on the premises. That is why persons were selling the animals and birds in the temple.

In addition, persons were required to pay a temple tax, but there was one important requirement: they had to use temple coins to pay the temple tax, because Roman coins bore the image of Caesar, and was considered idolatrous.

That is where the money changers came in. If persons did not have temple currency available, they could change their Roman currency into temple money right there in the temple’s outer courtyard.

But, as is so often the case, wherever there is a need, there often is greed. There are those who are ready to exploit the needs of others for their personal gain, and that is what was happening in the temple, and that is what angered Jesus. What started out as a service to make worship easy, degenerated into a selfish pursuit of gain.

Jesus walks into the temple, and he sees the merchants selling sheep and goats and pigeons. He sees the money changers at their counters. He hears the noise, the shouting, the haggling, and he becomes very angry.

He makes a whip of chords and drives them all out, scatters the coins of the money changers, and rebukes them saying: “Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" Or as Matthew more pointedly puts it: “He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer”; but you are making it a den of robbers.’ (Matthew 21: 13)

Jesus did not hide his anger, and in becoming angry, he has shown us that there are times when it is appropriate and necessary for us to be angry too.

As strange as it may sound, anger can be and often is, as act of love. Appropriate anger often flows out love.

You can’t love somebody and be indifferent to the ill-treatment they face.

You can fulfill the great commandment to love your neighbour as yourself and not become angry when they are mistreated, exploited, neglected, marginalized, discriminated against.

Jesus went to the temple and he saw how people were being exploited and he was angry. His anger was not motivated by hatred for those who were exploiting others; his anger was motivated by his love for those who were being so treated.

For all who are followers of Jesus, I ask you: when last have you been angry - really angry? Not just about the little personal slights and hurts and insults you have faced, but angry about the wrongs and indifference and injustice, and discrimination, and neglect, and ill-treatment that others face, especially the vulnerable?

Do we get angry with those who oppress others? Do we get angry with those who can help but chose to turn their backs, or look on with indifference?

What about those who go hungry, who die from preventable and curable diseases? Those who suffer abuse and neglect at the hands of those who are supposed to protect and care for them?

Do we get angry at those things? Angry enough to take a stand, to speak out, to give of ourselves and our resources so that change can come about?

Being angry is not about flying off the handle and wanting to harm or hurt anyone, it is about being sufficiently moved to do whatever you can to change things.

Jesus was angry, and he let his anger be known – he was moved to change things – knowing that he would have to pay the price.

We are observing the period of lent. It is unfortunate that for many, lent has been reduced to set of ritualistic observances. Giving up of things that does not cost us anything to give up and with the added comfort of knowing that we will return to them when the period of lent is over.

I urge us; let us make lent different this year. Rather than only committing to giving up something for a few weeks, let us commit to doing somethings that will bring about real change, not only for ourselves, but for others as well, especially those who can’t bring about those changes themselves.  And if it means that we have to let our anger show, then so be it – there’s a time to be angry.

Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers. There are lots that need to be overturned in our societies as well; in the systems that oppress and exploit, and yes in our churches too.

Let’s pray for the courage and love to be angry when we should be, and to let our anger lead to meaningful action.

Thanks be to God.