Holy Week: Monday

It's been so bittersweet walking through the Lenten Season with you all. We're not done yet, though! Join me as we encounter Holy Week together. 

The readings of Holy Week are so special to me. Ever since I was young, I was fascinated with the stories of each day leading up to Good Friday and eventually, Easter Sunday. Each story, to me, reveals parts of the character of Jesus that reminds me how to live a devoted life of sacrifice. Today's story reveals how God hears us through anger. John 2:12-17 tells the story of Jesus in the temple. It's important to understand the context of where Jesus and the rest of the city of Jerusalem is. It's the first day of Passover, so everyone had traveled far to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Holy holiday. Imagine those people's surprise when Jesus, this man who paraded into the city the day prior on a donkey,  storms into the temple destroying all the tables of goods being sold. For many, this story is an excuse to be angry and hold discontent against the Church as an establishment. For others, this story is a reason to nitpick the Gospel into being contradictory to the business of the Church. For many, this story is quite confusing. 
I remember reading this story when I was young and first trying to learn about the story of the Gospel. It was a foreign concept that holiness could manifest into anger until the spring of 2020.  For the first time, I was witnessing and experiencing anger as a form of praise. It felt wrong, but then I remember Jesus' actions in the temple. His anger was so that God's name was glorified and honored in the manner that it should be. The anger that I was faced with during this time was out of confusion, loss, and sadness. Most of all, it was out of my need for God to be glorified and honored during a time where I felt it was impossible. During the spring and summer of 2020, I was witnessing so many people expressing their holy anger towards the institution of the Church. Many were angry about the allegations of sexual assault in churches worldwide. Many were angry about the ignorance of many churches when addressing racism and sexism in the Church. Wherever their anger lied, I was admirable of their ability to turn it to Jesus in surrender. People were sharing intimate and emotional stories of the hurt they had faced within the walls of the church, but still yearning for Jesus to be in their heart. 
If this passage teaches us anything, it's that holy anger is worship, and that we should feel angered sometimes when we realize that God isn't being honored the way that He should be. It pushes me to recognize that my emotions can be holy  and that I can use them to glorify the Lord. Mostly, it pushes me to honor the emotions that God has given to me for His glory and His honor. Holy anger stirs change and motivates us to return to the foot of the cross. As we move through Holy Week and out of this Holy season, let us be reminded that God hears us in our frustration, our sadness, and through all of our emotions. 
Thanks be to God that He hears our anger.