The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, November 9th: Ezekiel 47:1-12; 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17; John 2:13-22)

DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME

This week’s gospel reading tells of the time when Jesus got so angry He trashed the temple. Well, actually, He didn’t trash the temple itself, but He totally disrupted all the sleazy business transactions that were going on in the temple courtyards.

Jesus made a whip out of cords and drove all the sheep and oxen out of the area. He knocked over the moneychangers’ tables, scattering their coins in every direction. In short, He made a real mess of the place.

Now, some people look at this episode and say, “Shame, shame. Jesus ignored His own teachings by getting angry and not forgiving those moneychangers. He really lost his cool, didn’t He?”

At the same time other people view this episode as proof that it is OK for us to get angry, and even take violent action if necessary, in doing God’s will.

Well, both views are wrong.

It is true that anger is not a good emotion. Paul’s letter to the Galatians explains that our sinful human nature produces some nasty behaviors, including “hatreds” and “outbursts of fury.” He very clearly teaches that we should be guided by the Spirit and not by our sinful nature, so that we can produce instead such fruits as “peace, gentleness, and self-control.”

So what’s the deal here? Did Jesus give in to the sinful nature when He got angry in the temple, or what?

We must understand that there is a very fine line between “righteous anger” and “self-righteous anger.” Jesus’ anger was completely righteous. Those merchants were making a mockery of God’s holy temple. They were taking advantage of the average person’s sincere faith. Motivated by greed, they forced the believers to pay obscene sums in order to have their worship rituals labeled as “proper.” Jesus was exactly right when He cried out, “My house is a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves!”

You wonder what Jesus’ reaction might have been if He had been here in the flesh the past couple years and observed the behavior of Wall Street bankers and Washington politicians. By comparison, the first-century moneychangers in the temple were nickel-and-dimers. The folks responsible for our current financial meltdown have caused trillions of dollars of assets to disappear and imperiled the livelihoods of countless millions of people. Although the activities of the Wall Street-Washington cabal were secular by definition and not religious, the motivations were the same as the temple moneychangers: greed, selfishness, and a thirst for power.

Jesus was the only person in history who was completely controlled by the Spirit. He never gave in to the sinful human nature. The rest of us may strive for this goal, but we always fall short. Jesus’ anger did not come from His human nature; therefore it was not sin. His anger came from the Spirit. It was a righteous anger and there was nothing self-righteous about it.

But again, Jesus is the only person in history who could successfully pull it off. The rest of us should avoid anger because we don’t have our sinful human nature under control like Jesus did. For example, I hesitate to mention the fact that I’d be much happier about the current economic situation if the nightly news showed a video clip of Sen. Chris “Sweetheart Deal” Dodd in a orange jumpsuit and shackles, being led to a waiting van with federal marshals on each elbow. Even though Dodd surely deserves to be brought to justice (but don’t hold your breath), my main motivation, if I’m honest with myself, is not really justice as much as anger and revenge. So this is why I hesitate to mention it. (Oh wait, I guess I did just mention it.)

Anyway, the gospel narratives of Jesus clearing the temple really should have a disclaimer. In big bold letters the Bible should say: “Jesus is a professional. Do not try this at home.” When people cite this episode as justification for getting angry, often they truly have a righteous goal in mind. But it doesn’t take long for that righteousness to slide into self-righteousness. The next thing you know, some looney tune is bursting into an abortion clinic with a rifle, sincerely convinced that God wants him to blow the receptionist’s brains out.

All the while Satan is howling with glee. He just loves to see us get so worked up over a righteous cause that we become consumed with self-righteous anger. As C.S. Lewis wrote: “The devil would be quite content to see your chilblains cured if he was allowed, in return, to give you cancer.”

In a way, anger is cancer. It is spiritual cancer. For those of us who have not yet reached Jesus’ level of spirituality (which means ALL of us), we are susceptible to the disease. Only Jesus could handle anger without contracting the spiritual cancer of self-righteousness.

We must always remember what Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.” We mere mortals do not yet share in Jesus’ spiritual perfection. As such, we are not capable of handling anger properly. Good intentions quickly will become evil. Anger in the hands of we sinful people, to paraphrase P.J. O’Rourke, is like whiskey and car keys in the hands of teenage boys. It’s just too dangerous.

Instead of using this gospel reading as justification for our own religious anger, we should instead think about what it was that drove the Prince of Peace to such a level of fury. The Son of God—who comforted beggars and thieves, and dined with prostitutes and tax collectors, while never once looking down His nose at them—became outraged at one simple behavior: hypocrisy.

Jesus had no patience for hypocrites, especially religious hypocrites. It was true 2,000 years ago and it is still true today.

©2008