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Anger Management James 1: 17-27
I have to confess that when I read the verse in James about “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger,” I thought, man, someone should show this verse to Trump. He seems like such a perfect, extremely well known example of someone who definitely does not do any of those things. But then I realized that by pointing the finger so quickly at someone else, I was actually doing exactly what the author of James says not to do. I was speaking quickly, saying something that wasn't very kind. I don't know that it would qualify as “sordid,” or “wicked,” terms used later in the reading, but it was still definitely not kind or loving. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that as a society we have a lot of trouble with listening, with speaking slowly, with being slow to anger.
How often do we think we are listening to someone talk, but in reality we are already thinking ahead to what we'll say when the other person pauses? We are a society that admires quick responses and clever replies. The Roman society early Christians lived in was same. They loved clever rhetoric, a well turned phrase. Like us, people debated topics to win, not to learn or find compromise or heaven forbid, to listen. Deep listening isn’t nearly as flashy, is it. It means we don't get to talk about ourselves very much, but it can result in much more meaningful conversation.
Looking at that simple verse made me do some deep thinking. Am I quick to listen and slow to speak? Or am I the opposite? The whole book of James is like that, filled with pithy words of wisdom about human behavior that make you squirm more and more the longer you think about them. The funny thing is, it took awhile for James to be accepted into what is called the canon, the official books of the Bible, because some early church leaders felt it didn't talk about God or Jesus enough.
Martin Luther hated James because he felt it focused too much on the idea that faith without works is dead, while Luther wanted to focus on salvation through grace alone. He said you can't “earn” God's love. But if you look at James more closely, especially the reading for today, you see that it isn't saying we need to do certain things or behave in certain way in order to earn God's approval.
The reading for today begins by saying “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above; coming down from the Father of lights.” So right from the start, the author of James acknowledges that It is God who works through us, not we who independently manage to live according to God's word.
In fact, the author believes this so powerfully that he talks about God's word being implanted within us, part of who we are. Biblical commentator Jeanyne Slettom says: “when James urges the community of faith to be not just hearers of the word, but doers, he is telling us to activate God’s word of truth in the world.” She goes further and says, “God is a guiding presence in every moment, and in every moment we decide what to do with that guidance—to ignore it, to reject it, or to incorporate it into what we become.” In other words, that word of truth is what is implanted in us, it's then up to us to let it root and grow, to put it into action. How does all this tie into anger? Lots of ways. James doesn't say anger is bad, just says be slow to anger, same as he says be slow to speak. Be sure of what you are saying before you say it, especially if there is anger involved. Says “your anger does not produce God's righteousness.” That word “righteousness” tends to put our backs up because so often it has been used to describe self- righteousness, when someone thinks they are better than someone else.
We’re actually talking about the opposite here. The author is saying when our anger is based on our own desire to lash out, or on sordidness or wickedness, to quote James, then it's not of God, it's toxic. But anger can be of God's righteousness, if it is based in God's word of truth, in God's love and in God's desire for justice, whic is illustrated so well in last verse, when the author says very clearly that religion that is pure and undefiled is about caring for those who are oppressed.
Think of that beautiful quote from St. Augustine: “Hope has two lovely daughters, anger and courage Anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” When our anger is based in our faith, based in love and a desire to bring about God's love in the world, then it can actually be a beautiful and powerful thing.
Think of the wonderful women's marches in Jan 2017, held around world, or of the massive counter marches this summer held on the anniversary of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Both began with anger, women's anger at Trump, people's anger at white nationalists, but both grew into powerful statements on the desire for an inclusive, loving society. There’s no doubt that anger is a complicated emotion, but this reading offers several ways of managing it effectively. With its talk of getting rid of sordidness and wickedness, it pushes us to question where our anger comes from.
Is it something that comes from our faith and that can be put into action in a faithful manner? Or is it something that is taking over our lives and poisoning our relationships with other people? That wonderful image of God's word implanted in our souls also is so helpful. It’s like the images from John over the past weeks, which speak of taking Jesus right into us, through eating his body and drinking his blood.
That kind of language is uncomfortable for us, but it’s about letting God be within us, a part of who we are. When we take God's love and Jesus' teachings into us, when we let them be implanted in our souls, then we can look at our anger and see more clearly where it is righteousness and where it is toxic. As Jeanyne Slettom says, “God is a guiding presence in every moment, and in every moment we decide what to do with that guidance—to ignore it, to reject it, or to incorporate it into what we become.”
As we share in communion today, may we truly take God's love and Jesus' teachings into us, so that God's word is implanted in our hearts and souls. In doing so, may we be people of hope and courage, who are quick to listen, slow to speak and use our anger with care.