Faithful Anger

SERMON FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012 -- Third Sunday in Lent, Year B

Gospel Text: John 2:13-22

Steven Slater was a flight attendant with Jet Blue airlines.   Trained in every aspect of taking care of passengers’ needs, Slater knew how to respond politely even when under stress, even when dealing with rude, drunk, or unruly passengers.  

Until August 9, 2010, when Slater lost it.

Accounts differ, but Slater claims that a passenger’s rudeness and refusal to remain seated was just the last straw.  He responded with profanity, then ripped off his tie, grabbed two beers, activated the emergency exit chute, and slid down, shouting “I’ve been in this business 20 years, and that’s it, I’m done.”

The story touched a chord with working Americans, dealing with stress and job anxiety.  Many news outlets called Slater a “folk hero.”  Some admirers set up a Facebook page, and more than 11,000 people posted their support.  “Well done Steven.”  “You are brave!”  “You should have taken the whole beverage cart with you!”

One person posted: "Congrats on a job well done Steven. Probably just as well you're not a pilot, though."

In today’s gospel we have a story of Jesus getting angry.  Acting outrageously and destructively.  This is not “gentle Jesus, meek and mild.”  This is Jesus on a rampage -- insulting, shouting, overturning tables and driving people and animals out of the temple with a whip.

Imagine the headlines -- Son of God Snaps, Lashes Out in Anger.  Galilean Turns Folk-Hero.  And the Facebook postings:  Well done, Jesus! Those moneychangers had it coming.  You are brave!  

And this time, the admiration would be well-placed.  What makes Jesus’ anger different from Steven Slater’s? 

I guess people liked what Slater did because it was outrageous, and he acted out the anger and frustration that many people feel -- at their jobs, or in their families -- but don’t express.  But then it started coming out that maybe the original story wasn’t quite true. Passengers on the plane said they didn’t witness any other passenger being rude, just Slater’s crazy tantrum.  Several people remembered him being rude and unprofessional on other flights they had taken.  His family and medical history came under public scrutiny, as people chose up sides as to whether his anger was justified or inappropriate.

And then, when all was said and done, he had lost his job and faced criminal charges.  

Was it worth it?  He had made his point… but what point?  His tantrum was about perceived personal insults, and his actions may have made him feel better for a moment, but achieved no lasting change.  They were just part of a culture of rudeness and anger.

When Jesus was angry in the Temple, he was protesting a system of injustice and greed that corrupted even the worship in the temple.

In one sense, there was nothing wrong with animals being sold, and with money changers being present.  Animal sacrifice was a normal part of the religious practices of the time, going back to ancient traditions, set down in the laws of Moses.  People needed animals for sacrifices.  The people traveled from all over the realm, and needed to exchange currency for the coin of the region.  So far, so good.  But greed and lust for power had crept in, as it too often does, and corruption had become normal.  Animals that people brought themselves were inspected by the priests, and almost always found to be blemished -- unfit for sacrifice, so they had to buy “perfect” ones from the local vendors.  Price gouging was normal.  Exchanging money was expensive, with the money changers taking a large cut.  What should have been a service to those coming to worship was instead an opportunity for cheating and abusing.

It’s unlikely that Jesus one day just snapped.  More likely he had noticed a system of injustice and took the opportunity to make a public statement, in a fashion that could not be ignored.

His anger was not about personal insults.  It was not a stunt to make himself feel better by thumbing his nose at authority or by drawing attention to his own cleverness.

John gives us this story at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, to make it clear that Jesus has divine authority, and that he speaks for God.  Jesus is powerful and assertive.  He follows courageously in the tradition of the great prophets, who expressed God’s righteous anger -- and he asserts his divine identity, as God’s Beloved, calling the people to worship in Spirit and in truth.

* * * *

What makes us angry?  Do we waste our anger on petty, personal affronts, or do we aim it toward systems and situations that reduce the dignity of our fellow human beings? 

Do we get agitated over our own wounded pride, or are we passionate about justice for all?

Joy Mead, of the Iona Community, writes:

People who are angry at injustice are compassionate people: they are filled with passion and they do not make docile citizens: angry people (slaves and free people) forced the end of slavery in the British empire; angry people (men and women) won the vote for women; angry people (black and white) brought an end to apartheid in South Africa. Angry people can change the rules … Compassion enlivens and empowers the heart and mind so that with an informed anger we ask questions.*

Listen to this hymn text by John Bell and Graham Maule, also of the Iona Community:

Inspired by love and anger, disturbed by need and pain,
Informed of God's own bias we ask God once again:
"How long must some folk suffer? How long can few folk mind?
How long dare vain self interest turn prayer and pity blind?"

…
"Where are the fruits of justice? Where are the signs of peace?
When is the day when prisoners and dreams find their release?"

…
"When will the wronged be righted? When will the kingdom come?
When will the world be generous to all instead of some?"

God asks, "Who will go for me? Who will extend my reach?
And who, when few will listen, will prophesy and preach?
And who, when few bid welcome, will offer all they know?
And who, when few dare follow, will walk the road I show?"*

The scripture today is not a license to act outrageously in public, or to lash out in anger whenever we want to make a point.  But it is a reminder that part of our divine imprint is God’s compassion -- God’s “passion with”-- God’s deep desire for justice.

The Jesus we see today in the gospel is not “gentle Jesus meek and mild.”  He shows us the face of God who is not tame … Who cannot be contained in convenient categories we construct… Who is not just our God, but the God of all …  Who cares deeply about justice and righteousness --and seems, throughout the scriptures, to have a strong bias toward helping those who are downtrodden and oppressed.  Who spoke through prophets of old and who still speaks through those who dare to challenge injustice, or advocate for the disadvantaged, or risk everything to say clearly: this is not fair, this is not right, this is not good.

May we who follow him learn from his example how to be humble about our own place in the world, and constructively angry about the world’s injustice.

Amen.

*The quote and excerpts from the hymn text were found in This is the Day: Readings and meditations from the Iona Community, edited by Neil Paynter.  2002, Wild Goose Publications.