Turning the tables on anger

As a kid, I absolutely loved this Sunday's gospel reading: Jesus “cleansing” the temple (John 2:13-22).  I loved the image of tame Jesus (mostly shown cuddling rabbits and children in my Bible), getting ticked off and flipping tables. Go Jesus! It made him seem more human, more real.  He was angry. We get angry. In anger, he acted in ways that seemed destructive. We do too.
 
Most of my Sunday School teachers explained the story as how wrong it was to do commerce in church. Hence, no rummage sales on Sunday.  But, there’s a lot more to the story. 

Jesus taught, “Be angry, but do not sin" (Ephesians 4:26-27).  And in this story, Jesus models how.  Anger that increases your heart rate, makes your palms sweat and your face turn red. It makes your jaw tight and your mind race. Psychologists call this “flooding.” And when it happens, we are really likely to sin; to break relationships.  Jesus, feeling all of that, expressed his anger effectively. So effectively that the resonance of his actions still echoes in the reading.

Mahatma Ghandi’s grandson, Arun, wrote a children’s book about things his grandad taught him. One of them was the power of anger. Ghandi-gi told him that anger is like electricity. It can strike like lightning, or it can be controlled to produce light. 

That's the lesson of Jesus' behavior in the temple.  When Jesus tipped the tables and flipped the money onto the floor, it may have looked like lightening striking. But really, it was controlled enlightenment.  Through his actions, he sent a message that rippled through the community, taught a lesson, and enabled the salvation story to go into turbo charge.  His death became inevitable and by his death, his power to redeem and resurrect was revealed.

Like you, I long to let my anger be a light, not lightening. Learning how to manage our anger effectively is a part of discipleship.  May our consideration of Jesus’ actions bring us wisdom on how to be angry, and still turn the tables on our complicity with injustice and sin.

-- Pastor Rebecca