An Angry Church
There was a time at the launch of the Church when followers of Jesus were arrested, beaten, fired from their jobs and even killed. Their reaction…they were overjoyed to be counted worthy to suffer in the name of Jesus.
It is the gift of the Holy Spirit that we get to live with the optimism of grace. If the worst should happen to us and we die, we get to be with Christ. If we suffer in the name of Christ, praise the Lord. If we remain on earth, Christ, the hope of glory, is in us and with us. This is an incredible gift and phenomenal news!
Fast forward 2000 years and my, how things have changed. Following the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics, I wanted to caution followers of Jesus against harming their witness by acting out of rage and that a better place to begin would be to look at the plank in our eye instead of the speck in the eyes of the other, just like Jesus taught us to do. The comments quickly became angry and divisive so I hid the Facebook post.
What happened to us? How did we go from being overjoyed at the idea of being counted worthy to suffer in the way of Jesus to living life with an angry fear that the Kingdom of God can somehow be threatened or defeated? The Jesus I follow said that the kingdom of hell could never overcome the Kingdom of Heaven. There may be times and places through history when it may seem like hell is winning, however, hell never wins.
When the 10 Commandments were removed from the walls of schools and courthouses, God was not threatened or afraid.
When things the 10 Commandments told us not to do became legal and acceptable, God was not threatened or afraid.
In places around the world where Christians are being stalked, persecuted, jailed and killed, God is not threatened or afraid.
If every church building in America is taken away by the government and Christianity made illegal, God will not be threatened or afraid. The Kingdom of God will not be hindered and those that follow Jesus can experience the joy of knowing that Christ has counted us worthy of identifying with Jesus in His suffering.
While we were arguing about plaques on the school and courthouse walls, while we were arguing about prayer in schools, while we were arguing about the Olympics, we lost the chance to kneel down and help the woman caught in adultery; we lost the chance to touch the leper; we lost the chance to carry the infirm to the foot of Jesus; and we forgot to help our neighbor.
Cardinal Robert Sarah, Bishop in the Catholic Church said, “I am convinced that western civilization is passing at present through a mortal crisis. It has reached the extreme of self-destructive hate.” (April 5, 2019) Unfortunately, it seems that the Jesus-followers with opportunities to be counter-cultural and present an alternative understanding of life in the world, have embraced the normative, angry cultural ways of fallen humanity.
Look back through history and you will find that it has not been the angry church that feels like it needs to defend the Kingdom of God that realizes cultural change. It is the during times when God’s people are alienated, ridiculed, persecuted, executed and marginalized and they respond with joy, prayer and fasting, pointing to the glory of the resurrected Jesus that lives / nations are changed and revived.
My friends, we are a people of hope. We are a people of joy. We are a people who are a part of a Kingdom that will never end. Death for the Jesus-follower has no sting. Separation is always temporary. God, while sometimes taking his time, is never slow to fulfill His will, purpose and promise.
We have been crucified with Christ and we no longer live but Christ lives in us, our hope of glory. It is time to recapture and rediscover our hope in the Messiah whose Kingdom never ends and rejoice. It is time to be joyful when Christ allows us to identify with the sufferings of Jesus.
Postlude: did Jesus ever get angry? Absolutely! We have record of a premeditated construction of a whip where Jesus went back to the temple and started throwing tables.
So is there ever a time to get angry? Sure but in the framework of loving the people with whom we are angry. Does the fruit of your life demonstrate a love for neighbor? If so, you have a platform on which to express a full range of emotions.
What makes me angry? The many forms of abuse against children makes me angry. When I speak about those things to those around me, in relational contexts, it carries the weight of my love.
Let’s start with love so when there is cause to express other emotions, the fruit of our lives gives credibility to our message.