Braid the Whip

Scripture Lessons: Malachi 3: 1-7 and John 2: 13-22 Sermon Title: Braid the Whip Preached on March 7, 2021 One of the shortest verses in the Bible, “Jesus wept,” and another like it, “Jesus laughed,” despite brevity tells us so much about this savior of ours whose emotional life we are prone to reduce down to some kind of warm, solemn, piety. You can see what I’m talking about in art. Some of us grew up in Sunday School rooms with paintings of Jesus on the wall which only told us part of the story. One of the most famous is by an artist named Warner Sallman. In this one Jesus is bearded, white, and looking off in the distance, neither stoic nor emotional, just serene. That painting doesn’t tell us the whole story. Even those other popular images of Jesus welcoming the little children, which of course he did, or rescuing lost sheep, which he also did, don’t tell the whole story because he wasn’t white, nor was he just nice. He also wept, he also laughed, and he also got angry. He had emotions, just like we do. He was sometimes sad, just as we are. He often laughed, just like we do. And he sometimes got angry, just like we do. But the difference between him and us is in how he expressed his emotions. That’s something we don’t all know how to do in a healthy way, even though Mr. Rogers tried to teach us. During this pandemic I’ve become even more of a fan of Mr. Rogers. I have my own red sweater and a Mr. Rogers coffee mug, plus I read his biography and saw two movies about him. But a while ago, I came across a video where Mr. Rogers walks towards the camera and he says, “I’m angry.” Of course, he doesn’t look angry. I’ve said it before, that it’s hard to look angry in a cardigan. Then he starts singing, What do you do with the mad that you feel, when you feel so mad you could bite. When the whole wide world seems Oh, so wrong, And nothing you do seems very right. I can relate to that song and maybe you can too, because we all get mad, but what do we do with the mad that we feel? What did Jesus do with the mad that he felt? We read from the Gospel of John that Jesus told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” We see here that Jesus felt the same anger that we feel, but he did something different with it. First of all, he can say what he’s angry about. Not everyone I know can do that. In fact, I know a whole lot of people who won’t even admit that they’re angry. I’m one of them. It’s hard for me to say that I’m angry, because I think I’m always supposed to be nice. When I was a kid my parents would ask me, “Joe, what’s wrong?” I’d tell them “nothing.” These days, Sara will ask me, “What are you so mad about?” And I’ll say, “I’m mad about you always asking me if I’m mad.” That’s not true of course, but that’s what I say, because just that simple thing: saying what I’m angry about, is hard for me to do. And I’m not alone, so let me say that in taking a lesson from Jesus, we first have to accept the reality that being angry is a part of being human. Then we have to come to terms with the truth that sometimes our anger is telling us something important that can’t be ignored. Anger isn’t always so unreasonable. Most of the time we are justified in our anger, but we get all messed up in coming to terms with what it is that we’re really angry about, and then deciding what it is that we’re going to do about it. The most wonderful detail in our Gospel Lesson for today is there in verse 15: “Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle.” In all four of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry he storms into the Temple kicking over tables, scattering the coins of the money changers, and setting free the animals, but only in John does he first make a whip of cords. Do you know how long it takes to braid a whip of cords? I don’t. And I don’t know, not only because I’ve never done it, but also because when I get angry, I don’t stop to do anything that might help me calm down or process my thoughts. Instead, I either just start talking without thinking or go silent and brooding. Hardly, if ever, do I stop what I’m doing to sit down to think about why it is that I’m angry and what it is that I’m going to do about it. Jesus is different. Jesus gets angry and then he braids a whip of cords. Do you know how counter cultural that is? There’s an old cartoon I remember where the boss yells at dad in the office. Then dad comes home and yells at mom in the kitchen. Mom goes upstairs to yell at their son, who then walks out into the yard to kick the dog. Anger. It can destroy a family like a virus that gets passed on from one to the next. Another thing we do with anger is keep it inside so that it rots our guts and hollows our spirit. Some try to drown it with liquor, numb it with drugs, either of which is destructive, and few take the time to sit down and really think about it. What am I mad about? Then, what am I going to do about it? The knee jerk response to slam a door, throw a punch, get somebody fired or lock somebody up so frequently does more harm than good. Impulsivity isn’t the answer, so look to Jesus: We must learn to braid the whip. Especially given the year we’ve all had. We all have good reason to be angry about something, but we have to stop and listen to our anger for it to do us or our world any good. A hero of mine was Harris Hines. He was a member and officer of our church. He also served on the Georgia Supreme Court as the Chief Justice. In his farewell address to the judiciary as he prepared for retirement, he reminded those listening how he worked to fight the old “lock him up” order from the bench to get to a better solution, and urged those who follow in his footsteps to do the same, for just filling up our prisons is not achieving that higher goal of rehabilitation, even if it feels like it’s doing something. When I’ve visited prisons and jails, I’ve seen angry, frustrated people who were put behind bars by angry, frustrated people. That’s a lot of misused anger if you ask me. So, as a culture. As a nation. We have to learn what to do with anger, because it will tear us a part if we misuse it, but you know what it’s supposed to do? Purify us. Significant background for understanding what it means for Jesus to storm the Temple is found in the Old Testament book of Malachi. There it’s written: “the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.” And when he gets there, he won’t just be nice, walking around shaking hands and kissing babies. No. According to the Prophet Malachi “he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.” Jesus, fueled by anger, purifies the Temple so that it might no longer be a marketplace, but a Temple. No longer a den of thieves, be a sanctuary for the hurting. No longer a place where money is exchanged, and debts are paid, but a place where debts are forgiven. Now, how did he do it? Through anger. Through an anger that is frustrated with what is and directed towards that which stands in the way of a better future. Our world could use that kind of anger. Our nation could use that kind of anger. Even our church could use that kind of anger. In just a couple of hours we’ll be ordaining and installing a group of new church officers on a big church zoom call, but before they’re ordained and installed we’ll ask them a series of questions. One of my favorites is this: Will you seek the serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love? Now you can imagine using these good things to serve the church, but I tell you this, we also need their frustration, because we are not yet the best church we could be, so do not grow satisfied with who we are today. We also need their irritation. Patience is good, but too much patience enables us to comfortably settle in where we are. We need their anger, because there is so much wrong in this world that we just cannot be OK with any longer. It’s time to listen to our anger. That feeling we feel when we see abuse and consider all the ways people are not valued, are looked over, and are made to feel like they’re less than human because of the color of their skin, who they love, or where they come from. In order to value all God’s people, we have to kick over the structures that maintain things as they are. Now I’m not talking about recklessness. We’re a church, not a mob, so we must learn from Christ to braid the whip. We must be bold to do as the Savior taught, to slow down and listen to what your anger is telling you. Stop and listen it, for even through anger the Spirit may be speaking, calling us away from the ways of death that we have grown used to, and towards new life. Amen.