Friday, October 12, 2001
Friday, October 12, 2001
Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.
Most of us are more comfortable with a "pleasant" Christian faith. "Be kind to one
another,
tenderhearted." If we move beyond the sloganeering, we'll see that the Bible reveal
how deep
passion, even moaning, even anger, can be "obeying the Spirit of the Lord."
(Ephesians
4:26
NRSV)
That great African-American spiritual "I'm Goin'a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing" has a
line
which many of us might find troubling--if we gave it much thought. Like many spirituals
which
were originally sung not from hymnals, but from memory, only a word or two changes in
each
verse. We sing enthusiastically, "I'm goin'a sing when the Spirit says sing . . . and obey
the Spirit
of the Lord!" As the verses progress we can get Spirit-led: "I'm goin'a pray when the
Spirit says
pray!" "I'm goin'a shout when the Spirit says shout!" But when we sing, "I'm goin'a moan
when
the Spirit says moan"--this can throw us. Why would the Holy Spirit of Jesus want us to
moan?
We can understand the Spirit causing us to sing, to pray and even to shout, but how
moaning
could be "obeying the Spirit of the Lord" may elude us. We moan when we're hurting,
when
we're in travail.
Lord Jesus, help me to use anger to do good for your kingdom and keep me from sin.
Amen.
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