| "Do
something with your anger"
By Rev. Duncan Johnston, Pastor
St. John's Episcopal Church in Fremont
"I'm as mad as heck,
and I'm not going to take it anymore!!"
Travel with me back in time.
To a hot, arid place. Stand next to me and watch. Listen. We are standing by a graveside.
A tomb, actually. Around us are the professional mourners - women, mostly, who are
wailing, distraught in their loss. The deceased’s family are there too - two sisters,
Mary and Martha. See the love they had for their brother, now snatched away by a cruel
illness. Welcome to the greatest comeback since the invention of the boomerang. Welcome to the tomb of Lazarus.
We don’t know much about
Lazarus, but we do know that Jesus was a good friend of his. We don’t know how old he
was, and we don’t know how he died - although we are told that is was as a result of
illness. So I think we can assume that this was an untimely and even tragic death. This
illness, whatever it was, killed Lazarus in quite a short period of time. Just two days
before his death Mary and Martha, sent a message to Jesus to come to Bethany - their
brother was sick.
Now, as one of the bystanders
in the crowd I invite you to look around and listen to some of the main characters. There’s Mary. There’s Martha. There are
other friends. And there’s one more person your eyes are drawn to. In fact, in your
anticipation you can’t help yourself from staring at him, studying his face,
straining to hear the words he says. The main
man. The leading actor at the centre of this drama, around whom the whole event revolves.
And the first thing you notice about Jesus is his emotion. “When Jesus saw Mary
weeping and the Jews who came with her he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Jesus
wept. Jesus once more deeply moved came to the tomb.”
But that phrase “deeply
moved” is actually better translated “angry”. Now that puts Jesus’
mood in a whole different light. Jesus is not so much grieving the death of his friend, as
he is angry. But at what? Maybe it was because of the sheer, futile injustice of it all. A
young man snatched away in his prime of life, by mankind’s final enemy - death. For Jesus death is just not right. It shouldn't
be. It had no part in God’s original plan for creation, and it has no place in the
New Creation that Jesus himself will bring in one day. Death is a gatecrasher. And Jesus
is mad at it.
Do you ever get angry at sin?
I bet you do. I bet you get a rise of anger when you see someone victimised in some way -
the person who is swindled by a scam, or the innocent road-user injured or killed by a
drunk driver. I bet you get mad when you hear of children being neglected or harmed by
those who are supposed to be their protectors. I bet you get indignant at the images of
poverty that you see in the developing world. And, if you do get mad at these things give
yourself a pat on the back. You get mad, because God gets mad. You should feel angry. God
made you to feel that way. He made you in his image - and your anger at suffering and sin
shows that you are created in his likeness.
Now look at what Jesus does
with his anger. It causes him to do something. He calls Lazarus to come out of the tomb. Anger can be a great motivator for good. It can
force people to get up out their armchairs and shout “enough. This is not right, and
I’m going to do something about it.” That probably doesn’t involve raising
anyone from the dead (if only!). But it might
mean organising a group to respond to the unfairness; writing a check; writing a letter;
phoning your congressman or senator; volunteering in some way; praying consistently and
faithfully about the matter.
So, be angry! When you see
suffering and injustice get mad! It’s what Jesus did. But, don’t just stop
there. Allow your anger to force you out of your chair, and DO something. Then your anger
will be righteous, and God will use it for his glory.
|
