Thomas J Parlette
“Righteous Anger”
John 2: 13-22
3/7/21
Professional golfer Tommy Bolt, who won 15 PGA titles back in the 1950’s, earned the nickname “Thunder Bolt” for his temper tantrums on the golf course. He admitted later in his career that his displays of anger on the course were more about theatrics and entertaining the crowd than about actually losing his temper. He advised other golfers on the proper way to express anger on the course. He would tell his fellow golfers, “Always throw the club ahead of you so you can pick it up on your way” or “Never break your driver and putter in the same round.” When he faced criticism for his actions, Bolt claimed that he never threw a club that didn’t deserve it.”(1)
Back in the 50’s, people may have been shocked by Tommy Bolt expressing his anger publicly. These days, I think we’ve become immune to it. Anger seems to be our default reaction.
James Moore, in his book When All Else Fails, Read the Instructions, tells about an older woman years ago who was called to testify at a very dramatic trial. “One of the lawyers was famous for being tough and heartless, and he was really badgering her on the witness stand. He shouted loudly and pointed his finger, using all kinds of tricks to upset and fluster the woman. She prayed quietly to God for strength. She asked God to help her stay poised and find the right words.
“Just then the lawyer went into a tirade, asking a sarcastic, ruthless question, gesturing in a demeaning way and shouting loudly.
When he finished, she leaned forward, looked him straight in the eye, and said, “I’m not sure I got all that. Could you please scream it at me again?”
“When she said that,” says Moore, “the jury broke up in laughter, spectators in the courtroom applauded, even the judge had to chuckle, and the humiliated lawyer said, “Oh just forget it! No more questions.”(2)
It’s sad, but studies show that Americans are angrier than ever. NPR and IBM Watson Health teamed up to survey Americans on their attitudes toward anger. The results may not surprise you. 84% percent of people surveyed said “Americans are angrier today compared with a generation ago.” 42% percent of people reported feeling angrier in the past year than they had been in times past. 69% percent of people surveyed believe that anger is a negative emotion. But 31% percent said anger can have a positive effect if it moves people to take action. (3)
The tennis star John McEnroe actually used his anger to motivate himself through a tough match. Michael Jordan used to look for any perceived insult from an opponent to whip up his own anger to motivate himself during a game as well. So anger does have its uses.
There are times when it is right to get angry. In our passage from John for today, we see such a time as Jesus visits the Temple in Jerusalem and drives out the moneychangers. The leaders of the Temples had turned a place of worship into what John calls “a marketplace.”
The moneychangers were originally an answer to a problem raised by Roman currency. The coins had an image of Caesar stamped them. Therefore, they were unacceptable to the Jews for Temple ceremonies. The people were forced to change their Roman coins into coins that were acceptable. Those of you who have travelled abroad have probably traded currency at a little shop set up for that purpose. It can be a very profitable enterprise for the moneychanger. The moneychangers Jesus confronted, however, had brought their little shops right into the Temple itself.
And they weren’t the only ones doing business in the Temple. Sacrificial animals were also being sold. You could bring your own animal with you, but most people didn’t because they were travelling and it was too difficult to travel with an animal. In addition, the animal had to be “without blemish” to be sacrificed in the Temple, and there were inspectors that checked that out. And, as you might guess, it was rare to have an animal that you brought with you pass the inspection – they wanted you to buy there at the Temple.
And, as you might expect, the shopkeepers were very competitive trying to drum up business. The most sacred shrine of the Jewish people had become a tawdry, commercialized circus. This made Jesus angry, and rightly so. This was God’s house and it had been desecrated. And Jesus took it personally. Suddenly he was turning over tables, scattering coins everywhere. Then a he fashioned a whip and drove the traders out of the Temple, along with the sacrificial animals.
When the dust settled and the commotion died down, people wondered what had hit them. People asked questions, but nobody really protested. Deep down, they knew Jesus had a point. His example shows us that there are times when it’s OK to get angry. Anger reveals our deepest values and priorities. The Bible does warn us to avoid people who are quick tempered, or who get angry about petty things. But anger and love are not mutually exclusive emotions. In fact, if we are complacent or apathetic about the things that matter to God, then we should question whether we love God at all. If we can look at the suffering and injustice and evil in the world and not get at least a little bit angry, then we need to question our commitment as followers of Christ.
Anglican priest Garret Keizer wrote in his book The Enigma of Anger that “My anger has not carried me far enough towards changing what legitimately enrages me.”(4)
Writer Shannon Leigh expresses this idea well when she writes, “Anger is a boundary; it tells others what isn’t okay, and it shows you where your limits are… Anger is like your engine light flashing – a beacon signaling that something needs care and attention.”(5)
Jesus was clearly laying down some boundaries in our passage for today. Jesus loved God and God’s people so much that he was disgusted and enraged by anything that violated that relationship. And using God’s Temple to take advantage of people who genuinely wanted to worship God was despicable in Jesus’ eyes. The Temple was supposed to be the place where you left the world behind and encountered God. Instead, the world had taken over the Temple and converted it to a marketplace.
There are times when people ought to express their anger at such practices. That is something that a lot of good, sweet, nice, decent people need to realize. When Jesus told us to turn the other cheek, he did not mean for us to become doormats for everyone to walk on. Certainly he was no doormat. He drove the tax collectors out of the Temple. So, obviously, there are times when we must express our anger. Remember that even anger can be a gift from God. It can be a powerful motivating force in life. There is a time for holy and righteous anger.
Jesus’ example today also shows us that there is a time for action as well as anger. Is there some form of evil in the world that a voice within you keeps saying, “Somebody ought to do something about that?” Maybe that’s the voice of God. Maybe it’s time for you to go beyond anger to some form of action.
Singer/songwriter Ray Charles tells of having to perform concerts during the days of segregation and Jim Crow laws. Back in the 1950’s, he was being led into a concert hall in Augusta, Georgia to perform a show. There were protesters gathered in a picket line outside the hall, protesting that the concert would be segregated. Only White people were allowed on the main dance floor – the Black had to sit in the balcony.
When a protestor got to close to Ray and began chanting “No More Segregation” at him, Charles responded, “Look man, there ain’t nothing I can do about it. I’m an entertainer.” He had been raised with institutional racism all his life. He was playing a concert in the Deep South. He was just one man – how could he change the system?
But a few minutes later, Charles heard the White concert organizer insult the protester. And something in Ray Charles snapped. He knew he had to do something. He couldn’t accept the injustice anymore. So he did what he could. He ordered his band to get back on the bus and leave Georgia. The concert organizer threatened to sue him. The State of Georgia banned him from making any public performances in the state. But Ray Charles didn’t care. He was going to stand up for equality and justice no matter what it cost him.
It took 20 years, but later in 1979, in one of those great reversals of history, Ray Charles was offered a public apology by the state legislature of Georgia, and his rendition of “Georgia on My Mind was adopted as the official state song.”(6)
There is indeed a time for righteous anger and a time for righteous action as well.
So as we gather at the Lord’s Table this morning, let us nourish ourselves for the work of channeling the righteous anger we feel at the injustice and inequality we see in our own time.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVII, No 1, p47
2. Ibid… p47.
3. Ibid… p47.
4. Ibid… p48.
5. Ibid… p48.
6. Ibid… p48-49.
