Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.
Today's Gospel: Luke 19:45-48
We tend to think of Jesus as a tender lamb who wants us all to turn the other cheek, but He is not a pacifist in the face of injustice, especially when it is being committed against God and His holy temple. As Jesus turns over the tables and drives out those who are selling things in the temple, He is demonstrating righteous anger. His anger and His actions are justified. Sins are being committed against God Himself.
Most of the time, our anger is driven by emotion. We are impatient or frustrated, and we strike out in anger. We raise our voices at our spouses or children. We storm out of rooms or throw things when we get angry. We lash out when we don’t mean to. That anger is sinful. That’s why we regret our behavior once we’ve had a chance to cool off. But sometimes we need to be angry. There are some things that should make us angry. In the face of injustice against God or man, we should get angry. If Jesus got angry, we should get angry. We should strive to be as Christ-like as possible, and that might mean flipping the metaphorical table or driving out the symbolic money changer. We are supposed to get angry, but we have to be sure that we are getting angry at the right things. We also need to make sure we act on that anger appropriately.
Sinful anger can lead to lashing out, cruelty, and wrongful suffering. Righteous anger can cause us to stand up for our fellow man, or to defend our belief in our Lord. It can lead us to become active in our communities, fighting for laws that are just. We live in an unjust society, where rights are regularly trampled on and lives are misused, abused, and eradicated in the name of convenience. Jesus' actions in the Temple are proof that we need to fight for what is right, and it might be time for us to be just a little bit more Christ-like.
Ponder:
What injustices do you see in your life and society? How might you respond to these injustices you've witnessed?
Pray:
Dear Lord, help us to see the injustices being committed in our world and give us the sense of righteous anger necessary to respond appropriately to these atrocities. Let us lead lives of prayer and fortitude as we fight for what is right.
Copyright 2022 Shannon Whitmore
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