Anger in The Temple

" Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts [courtyards], he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers amd overturned their tables. To those who sold doves, he said, 'Get those out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!' ". [John 1: 13-16].

The temple in Jerusalem received visitors from all over the world. But the courtyard was crowded with money changers who would exchange foreign currency into local money at usurious rates. Local currency had to be used by visitors to pay the temple fees. Cattle, sheep and doves were sold to visitors, for use as required sacrifices for visitors' sins.

In some senses, I see this Reading as one about boundaries. In other words, how seemly is it that a temple courtyard was turned into a greedy marketplace?  Is there nothing sacred?

I try to imagine a modern day equivalent. What if there were a large screen behind the altar in your church with scrolling advertisements? What if the only way to make an offering in the donation basket were to be forced to purchase a gift card for an exorbitant fee?

You see why Jesus was so angry!  Not only did he raise His voice, he made a whip, lashing it around to drive people. In dramatic fashion, He overturned tables. Imagine the shocked hush in the temple courtyard?

I never thought Jesus was supposed to get so angry! I thought he was supposed to be serene, gentle and peaceful all the time.

I once asked a pastor if God gets angry? I got sort of a startled reponse. Remember Noah's Ark, when God floods the world out of anger at the world's iniquity? Or how about Soddom and Gomorrah, when God destroys both cities because of His anger at their sin.

I grew up in a house where emotions were not allowed. If I got angry as a little girl, I was told, "Don't be!" If I was hurt or frightened, and I cried, I was told, "Stop crying. You are not hurt!" If there was too much exuberance in the house, I was told, "Pipe down!" I learned to suppress my emotions, whether they were fear or anger or even joy.

In my dysfunctional family, emotion was not only forbidden, it was dangerous. If I got angry or I wept, I would get noticed. Then the verbal or physical abuse would begin. I was small and only a little girl. I could not defend myself. Better to go invisible. I learned to deaden my emotions, to walk silently, to slip into and out of a room unnoticed.

I raised myself, really. At age four, I was trying to teach myself to read.  I put myself down for naps at age five. I found food in the school cafeteria or at neighbors' houses. Over time, I began to regard as my Father and Mother. I hoped that by being open to God, I could learn how to be a good person. Somewhere along the line, I got the notion that it is "unholy" or un-Christian to be angry. This notion did not have any verified Scriptural source. I was living in a religious vacuum, so where would I get accurate information about God?

I never did learn to handle my emotions, especially the negative ones like anger. People ask me, given my past, 'Where is the anger?' And, today, given my happy marriage and my delight in being a mother, they ask, 'Where is the joy?'

Reading this Scripture is actually a relief to me. Here, Jesus shows His anger fully. This anger feels "righteous" (right and just) to me. Jesus was morally outraged at how the sacred temple area was being treated. He should have been.

We have largely moved away from the concept of moral outrage today. We want everything to be acceptable, to be okay. We have become so tolerant and excusing of others' behavior, that there is no room for any standard, any boundary. As in the Reading about the temple, nothing is sacred, neither is anything forbidden. Where is the anger?

Anger is never okay if it is expressed for revenge.

Anger is never ok if it is an expression of hate.

Anger is never okay if it comes from self hatred, and it becomes bigotry or criminal violence.

Is it any wonder that I am afraid of anger?  Lately, I am trying to reconstruct an emotional landscape for myself. I am trying to become at peace with my emotions -- to own them, but not let them possess me.

I am starting to think of anger as a valuable barometer. Fear works that way too. God gave us all of our emotions, even the difficult ones, like anger and fear. These are the warning signs that something is just not right.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said that, "He who accepts evil, without protesting against it, is really cooperating with it." He also said,  "History will record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people but the appalling silence of the good people." He declared, "In the End, we will remember, not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends."

I now see Jesus' anger in a whole new light. There are certain things about our humanity that we can never--- should never-- accept. We must speak up against evil. A righteous [right and just] anger is a proper anger. We are required to express it.

God, I pray that I may use my anger to speak against the evils and injustices of the world. My anger, my fear, my sadness, my joy, all come from You!

[Related postings: "Love is . . . . Conscience", February 8, 2012]

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