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Coffee With Sister Vassa
“BE ANGRY AND DO NOT SIN”
“Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another. ‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” (Eph 4: 25-27)
On the one hand, the Apostle says: “Be angry, and do not sin,” (quoting the Septuagint-version of Ps 4: 5). But then he tells us to keep this anger short, and “not let the sun go down on” it. So, anger, which is not the same thing as hostility, is something we can engage productively, albeit briefly. Why, and how?
Anger is not a sin per se, but rather a God-given kind of spark, attributed also to the Lord (e.g., Mk 3: 5). It is not to be abused to ignite (self-) destructive hostility, say, in the direct form of an act of violence or revenge, or in the indirect forms of sarcasm, gossip, or passive obstructiveness. It should rather be a signal to ourselves and others, which, when conveyed and read properly, can be the impetus for productive discernment and discussion of the cause of it. And by “productive” I mean, the kind of conversation that is truthful and specific to the actual cause of our anger, “putting away lying,” as the Apostle says above, which can effect the removal of the true cause of our anger.
If I notice myself getting angry today, let me first recognize and accept this anger. Then let me explore, in honesty and humility, and “putting away lying,” the underlying reasons for my anger. Was my angry outburst, perhaps, masking some kind of fear, like the fear of having lost control or being powerless over a situation, by lending me some sense of power and control? Let me let God into this picture, if this is the case with me, and re-embrace faith in Him, as in the One in control. Lord, You know what You’re doing with all of us, in Your mercy and grace. Let me do the next right thing today, to address any “signals” of anger productively, in Your truth, so that I don’t nurture them into quietly-destructive, little bonfires of resentment in my heart, or “give place to the devil” there. Let me do what I need to do; say what I need to say, and move on. “Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.”
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From the early centuries of the Church's life, some of the great "masters" of the spiritual life - often the Desert Fathers - understood anger as a passion that needed to be "educated" rather than "eradicated." Meaning, can the energy behind anger be redirected toward our own sinfulness, to use one example? Or in reaction to the injustice of the world? We remember that the Lord's anger was directed at those who were making his Father's house a "den of thieves." Sister Vassa is offering her usual insightful advice of looking inward at ourselves, rather than outward at others. And that is always a challenge.
