James 1: 19 – 21
You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
Reflection
When I was writing for Families on Faith Adventures at Home for the URC during COVID, we wrote a session on the book of James entitled “A Handbook for Life”, describing it as a letter with advice on how to live a Christian life in society. It is incredible how the advice, given so many centuries ago, remains so valid for us today. James was the brother of Jesus but only came to faith in later years. But obviously something of Jesus’s character and teaching rubbed off on James while they were growing up together. His adult life saw him spending so much time on his knees in prayer that he apparently picked up the nickname Camel-knees!
I once asked my parents how their marriage had lasted so long – mum died just months before their diamond anniversary – and they responded with another James-ism “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger”. Even after the harshest disagreement, they deliberately made up before bedtime.
It is natural to want to lash out with our words, get in first, make our feelings known. So often, though. if we just wait, listen and try to understand, our anger can fade away as we begin to discover the reasons behind whatever is annoying us. Maybe the person in question has a different world view affected by culture or upbringing, neurodiversity, life experiences or circumstances which underlie the issue. When we stop and listen, we might begin to grasp the big picture.
That’s not to say that anger is never justified, that we should never express it or act upon it – after all, Jesus himself spoke and acted with anger towards the exploitative or corrupt. But the Fruits of the Spirit include patience and self-control, not short fuses and explosive tempers. As expressed in The Message paraphrase of the Bible: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. It is only in this way that we begin to share God’s grace.
Prayer
Lord, there is so much that makes me angry:
Children’s rights ignored,
Food poverty and homelessness,
The hostile environment for refugees,
Pollution and needless climate change,
My neighbour cutting their grass early Saturday morning,
Children chattering in church.
Slow service in the café.
Teach me, Lord, to know when my anger is justified
And when, instead, I need to stop;
To think, listen, care;
To practise patience and self control;
To share your grace. Amen