3-Mar-24 (John 2:13-22)

Have you ever saw something that was just not right and it made you angry to see it?
[wait for answers]
Jesus had times like that too. In our gospel story for today, Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem. What he wanted to see was people worshipping God and people learning about God.
What Jesus saw instead was that in the place that was supposed to be for people who didn't grow up as God-believers, there were people selling sheep and doves and changing other kinds of money to money that could be used in the temple. It was noisy. It was messy. It wasn't helping anyone think about God.
Jesus got angry. So angry, in fact, that he started pushing over the tables and driving the sellers out.
Now, just to be clear here. It is OK to be angry about things that are wrong. It is OK to be angry about things that hurt others. The one thing to be careful about is that, even when you're angry about those things, you shouldn't hurt anyone.
Let's talk to God about that.

Prayer:

God, we thank you for sending us Jesus to help us understand you and to help us to know what is right and wrong. God, we know that sometimes we do get angry. First of all, help us to be angry about the right things. Help us not to get angry when it's just about us not getting what we want.
Second, when we are angry about things that hurt others, help us not to hurt other people in our anger. Help us, like Jesus, to use even our anger to teach and the help.
In the name of Jesus, our Christ, AMEN