Homily Notes 2-12-17
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)
Anger is Not a Virtue
When I was a child one of the favorite tricks that we boys would play on each other had to do with soda pop. We all knew that if you shook up a can of soda that the liquid would spray out all over the person who was attempting to drink. If we wanted to play a prank, when we were sitting down to eat, someone would distract an innocent victim. While they were not looking, we would shake up their soft drink up, the longer the shaking took the better. When they would open the can they would get a face full of sticky liquid.
The explosion had to do with a build-up of pressure. When it grows, there can be an explosion. It is sort of like what Jesus was talking about in the Gospel today. What seems like a small matter can build up into a greater and greater issue as tension builds.
Jesus speaks of two deadly sins in the section of the Gospel we read today. One is the sin of lust. If lust is not extinguished quickly it can lead to immoral behavior and long term consequences. The prime example of that in the Scriptures is the story of David and Bathsheba. If we recall that story, we know that King David took a quick look over his garden wall at his neighbor’s wife bathing. David goes from being a peeping Tom, to a person who sexual exploiting another person, to murdering a man to cover up a pregnancy, to lying to everyone in the kingdom, to being disgraced. All this could have been avoided if he would have asked God to help him with his initial temptation.
The point is that lust (which is sexual gratification that has nothing to do with love) can quickly spiral out of control into a situation that is very embarrassing. Sexual energy is a powerful force in our life that needs to be respected. Someone once said that this drive becomes less intense as we mature which may be true. But then there is the other deadly sin that Jesus mentions that is bad at any age.
The sin is anger. And Jesus alludes to another Bible story as he gives an example of uncontrolled rage. We might remember the story of Cain and Abel, two children of Adam and Eve. Cain was a farmer. Abel was a shepherd. As the story is goes they decide to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord. For reasons that are never clear Cain believes God likes Abel’s sacrifice better. Cain resents his brother. He is, in competition with him. In the story, God tries to calm him down. God tries to tell him that the whole situation is not all that important, but Cain cannot let it go.
His anger goes from jealously, to rage, to murder. Jesus alludes to this story, when he says when you bring your gift to the altar remember the brother you have something against. Make peace with your brother or your gift will be meaningless. If you must take things to court somehow, it will not end well for you.
During this the past year, we have seen a deadly sin grow in the world. Anger is the emotion of the moment, but it seems like people are not too worried about it. We have a lot of people say they mad at the world, but it seems like they are not afraid of this anger that builds and builds. Just imagine if someone were to be at a social event and they would say, “You know I am full of lust today. I think I am going to see if I can satisfy it.” Probably people in the room would be concerned about the statement. And the general feeling would be, get hold of yourself.
But if someone says that they are mad about what is going on in our society others might say, “Yeah so am I.” We need to tear things down because what we have is just not working. Some would say, to make an omelet you need to break a few eggs so anger is necessary for change. But it seems like there also those who would break the eggs and then throw in the shells, the yolks, everything else; after that, they would throw the omelet all over the room. Is that virtuous? Good decisions are seldom made when we react in anger.
What does the Scriptures say about Anger? The Bible touches on this topic often. The Letter to the Ephesians says, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” The Letter of James says, “We should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” The book of Proverbs says, “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.” Ecclesiastes says, “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.” Psalms says, “Refrain from anger…. for it only leads to evil.” Anger is an emotion that is corrosive, destructive, deadly.
Righteous anger is a force for good at times. Unfettered hatred never is. Jesus reminds us in the Sermon on the Mount that unchecked anger is a dangerous force. Whether that anger is in one person, in a group, or in a nation. We need leaders with patience, charity, humility, self-control. Such people are priceless. If we have them our world will be closer to the kingdom Jesus preached about.