When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. (Luke 9:51-55)

I have righteous anger when I have been unjustifiably wronged and am justifiably angry about it. In and of itself, righteous anger is amoral; it is neither sinful nor virtuous. It has some good qualities. For example, it was righteous anger that led Candy Lightner, an angry mother whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver, to start the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which works to end drunk driving in America. But righteous anger can be dangerous. Psychologically speaking, it is a defense mechanism I use to give me power when I feel powerless in the face of some evil done to me. If I’m not careful, I can become addicted to the power it brings me. I can stew in the delicious strength I feel from the rage inside me. If I do not ultimately let it go, it will consume me over time.

If anyone had a right to have righteous anger, it would be the crucified Jesus. He was purely innocent and yet died a savage and brutal death. But instead of being angry, as he hangs in excruciating pain, Jesus cries out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Spiritual writer Thomas Hart humorously points out that, for the apostles, the appearance of the resurrected Jesus might not necessarily be a good thing. After all, how would you feel if the friend that you had betrayed and abandoned came back from the dead to see you? Jesus had every right to be furious with his apostles to say, “Where were you? After all I’ve done for you!” But instead, Jesus granted them amnesty: “Peace is my gift to you,” he said.

Perhaps this is part of what it means to be resurrected: to relinquish one’s right to be angry and to wish and work for peace on earth and good will toward all, even toward one’s perpetrators. Until we reach this point, we will still be mortally wounded. The New Testament says that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. If this is true about Jesus, this will certainly be true for us, too. We cannot resurrect ourselves; we must let God raise us. And like Jesus, we must spend some time in the tomb. We must wait for the gift to come. The question is, “What will we do with this anger in the meantime?”

SUGGESTED SCRIPTURE PASSAGES

GENESIS 27:1-45; 33:1-20: Jacob and Esau

GENESIS 37:1-36; 42:1-45:28: The story of Joseph

MATTHEW 21:18-22: Jesus curses the fig tree

MATTHEW 23:1-39: Jesus versus the Pharisees

MARK 8:31-33: Jesus to Peter: “Get away from me, Satan!”

JOHN 2:13-25: Jesus cleanses the temple

JOHN 21:1-25: Jesus forgives Peter

EPHESIANS 4:25-32: Do not let the sun go down on your anger

PRAYER POINTERS

After reaching stillness, I imagine myself sitting in one of three chairs in an empty room. I ask myself, “Who is the person whom I am most angry with at this moment? My brother? My spouse? My boss? Why am I angry with him or her? What am I feeling deep down in my heart about him or her?” I do not settle on the first answers that I come up with. I keep probing- asking myself these questions until I feel I have reached the core of the issues.

I then imagine that very person sitting in one of the empty chairs. I imagine this person telling me everything he or she is feeling about me and about the present situation. I imagine this person speaking without fear, anxiety or embarrassment. What would he or she say? I listen quietly and attentively to the words spoken.

I now share with this person what I have discovered are my deep emotions right now. I imagine myself without fear, anxiety or embarrassment and able to say exactly what I am feeling. If I need to yell and scream at him or her for a while, I go for it. Again, I say exactly what I’m feeling without any censorship.

I now notice Jesus sitting in the third chair and listening intently to our conversation. I ask him to share with me his feelings about this situation. What does he say? Is he happy? Disappointed? Does he have some insight the other two of us haven’t thought of? What is my response? How should my attitude and actions toward this person change because of this encounter with Jesus? I allow a three-way conversation to continue, allowing everyone a chance to say anything he or she wishes.

If I’m really angry right now, I may have to pray about this for a while. Each time I pray this prayer time, I end it by telling this person that I love him or her regardless of how I feel right now. It is extremely important that I end the prayer time with words of love for this person. If my heart is not ready to say these words, I let my will do the talking. My heart will come along in its own good time.

RELATED ENTRIES

Blew Up, Confront, Family, Forgive, Hurt, Judgmental, Marriage, Parenting

WORDS TO TAKE WITH YOU

Hate and bitterness are the only weapons wielded by the blade.

-Thomas Gregory