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He was really badgering her on the witness stand. She didn't like it. In his book, "When All Else Fails, Read the Instructions," James Moore shares the story of an older woman years ago who was called to testify at a 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 and pointed his finger, using all kinds of tricks to upset and fluster the woman. She prayed quietly to God for strength. She asked Him 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 James Moore, "the jury broke up in laughter, spectators in the courtroom applauded, the judge even laughed, and the thoroughly humiliated lawyer said, 'Oh just forget it! No more questions.'
"As the woman stepped down from the witness stand, she quietly prayed again, 'Thank you, Lord. Thank you for giving me strength!'"
It's sad, but studies show Americans are angrier than ever. National Public Radio and IBM Watson Health teamed up to survey Americans on their attitudes toward anger. Eighty-four percent of people surveyed said "Americans are angrier today compared with a generation ago." Forty-two percent of people reported feeling angrier in the past year than they had been in times past. Sixty-nine percent of people surveyed believe anger is a negative emotion. But 31% said anger can have a positive effect if it moves people to action.
There are times when it is right to get angry. Jesus was angry when he drove the moneychangers out of the temple. They had turned a place of worship into what he called a "den of robbers."
The moneychangers were originally an answer to a problem raised by Roman coinage. The coins had on them the image of Caesar. Therefore, they were unacceptable to the Jews for Temple ceremonies. The people were thus forced to change their Roman coins into coins that were acceptable. Money changing became a profitable business near the temple. The moneychangers Jesus confronted, however, had brought their little shops right into the Temple itself.
Even worse, they were also selling sacrificial animals within in the temple precincts. They were clearly running the risk an animal might get loose and violate the sanctuary. Even worse there was the competitiveness among shopkeepers for the business of the worshippers. The most sacred shrine of the Jews had become a tawdry, commercialized circus. This made Jesus indignant. This was his Father's house and they had desecrated it. Suddenly he was turning over tables, scattering coins across the pavement. Then he took a whip and forced the traders out of the temple and drove the sacrificial animals out into the courtyard.
When the dust cleared, no one protested. Everyone knew deep down Jesus was right. Christ's example tells us there are times when Christians ought to get angry. Our anger reveals our deepest values and priorities. The Bible warns 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 suffering and injustice and evil in the world and not get angry, then we need to question our commitment to 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."
I read a quote by writer Shannon Leigh that expresses this idea well: "Anger is a boundary; it tells others what isn't OK, and it shows you where your limits are. . . . Anger is like your engine light flashing--a beacon signaling that something needs care and attention."
Jesus was clearly laying down some boundaries in our Bible passage for today. Jesus loved God and God's people so much that he was angered by anything that violated them. And using God's Temple to defraud people who genuinely wanted to worship God was despicable in Jesus' eyes.
There are times when you and I ought to express our anger at such practices. That is something a lot of us good, sweet, nice, decent people need to realize. When Jesus told us to turn the other cheek, he didn't mean for us to become doormats. 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 is a gift from God. It can be a great motivating force in life. There is a time for holy anger.
Christ's example also teaches us there is a time for action. Is there some evil in the world that a voice within us keeps saying, "Somebody ought to do something about that"? Maybe that's the voice of God. Maybe it's time you and I went beyond anger to action.
Take Ray for example. During the days of segregation and Jim Crow laws, singer and songwriter Ray Charles was performing concerts. Once, back in the 50s, 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 concert hall, protesting that the concert would be segregated. Only white people were allowed on the main dance floor. Black people had to sit in the balcony.
When a protester got 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 Charles knew deep in his heart that he needed to act. He couldn't accept the injustice anymore. So, 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 within state lines. Ray Charles no longer cared. He was going to stand up for equality and justice no matter what it cost him.
And 20 years 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 made the official state song. There is a time for anger and there is a time for action.
Unresolved anger, however, is a spiritual problem. Anger not only affects our health and our relationships with others, but it is also important in our relationship with God. Jesus told an amusing but profound parable about a man who owed his master the equivalent of $100 million. His master forgave him his debt. But then this man turned right around and went to a man who owed him about two thousand dollars and had him thrown into jail for nonpayment.
So it is with us, according to Jesus. God has forgiven us completely--He has blotted out our past--He has accepted us just as we are--and He calls us to forgive others as well. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught us these words, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." In other words, if we can't forgive others, then we can't accept God's forgiveness for our sins. It is not good to allow our anger to fester and grow. Somehow, for our own sake as well as for the sake of others, we must learn to forgive. This is the best way to put holy anger into action.
On April 19, 1995, 168 people died and 680 were injured when two men bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Among those who died was a young woman named Julie Welch who worked for the Social Security office in Oklahoma City.
Julie's father, Bud Welch, writes that his world stopped the day that Julie was murdered. Grief and anger took over his life. As he wrote, ". . . I survived on hate." Until one day when he accidentally caught a glimpse of Bill McVeigh, the father of Timothy McVeigh, one of the bombers, on TV. It disturbed Bud to see pain in Bill McVeigh's eyes. Bud recognized that pain. Ever since the day of the bombing, Bud Welch had been an outspoken proponent for executing Timothy McVeigh. But after seeing McVeigh's father on TV, Bud stopped campaigning for the death penalty.
In 1998, Bud was invited to speak to a religious organization about his change of heart and his faith journey since his daughter's death. The speaking engagement was in Buffalo, New York, the hometown of Timothy McVeigh. Bud had wrestled with the idea of reaching out to McVeigh's father ever since he saw him on TV three years earlier. He asked the nun who arranged his speaking engagement if she'd approach the McVeigh family about a meeting.
Bud spent the afternoon with Bill and his daughter, Jennifer. They talked about farming and work and family. They cried together over the senseless evil that had stolen their children from them. Before Bud left, he said to the McVeigh family, "We're in this together for the rest of our lives. We can't change the past, but we have a choice about the future."
"We can't change the past, but we have a choice about the future." Forgiveness and reconciliation are the tools God gives us to change the future. Jesus got angry about the right things, and he got angry in the right way. He took positive action. But God knew our anger would too often lead us away from our relationship with Him and with those who are made in His image. So, God provided a path for reconciliation, for restoring our relationship with Him and with others, through Jesus' death on the cross. If he so loved us that he lay down his life for us, surely, we can reach out in love to forgive others and restore our relationship with them.
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Rev. Charles Eldredge is pastor of Maitland Church of the Brethren, Lewistown, PA where he is currently serving in his 28th year. He graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in S. Hamilton, MA.