The Rev’d Roger Baker led our worship last Sunday morning. He began by taking Penelope of our Junior Church on a journey around the church overcoming obstacles on the way and he spoke about the journey Jesus took on the road to the Cross. “But the journey does not end at the Cross and Jesus understands what it is to have difficult parts of the journey as we have in our life’s journey”. Ros Chatburn welcomed Roger and on this, the third Sundy in Lent, Ros read about Jesus being arrested by the Roman soldiers, stripped, draped in a purple robe with a crown of thorns placed on his head and being led away for his crucifixion and she placed a purple robe and crown of thorns on our wooden cross. Rod Smith played the organ as we sang Sydney Carter’s hymn “One more step along the world I go, from the old things to the new keep me travelling along with you”.
After our opening prayers Guy Chatburn read two passages from the bible, the first from 1 Corinthians, chapter one, telling of Christ the Power and Wisdom of God, and the second from John, chapter two in which Jesus goes into the Temple and shows righteous anger as he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and drove out the animals saying, “stop making my Father’s house a market place”.
It was the theme of anger which formed the basis of Roger’s sermon as he recounted the anger of Jesus in the temple as he witnessed the commercialisation of the temple by the authorities. “Anger can be a deadly emotion “said Roger as he described the way that persons can do stupid things when they are angry. However, he went on to speak of the righteous anger shown by Jesus in the temple. He was on his way to the Cross but love was in his heart and he was protesting against the injustice and wrong which he was witnessing in the commercialisation of that holy place. It is right that Christians should be angry at injustice and often anger is the only thing which will effect change in society. “Not getting angry is a sin” said Roger if we tolerate injustice by doing nothing about it. Love underpins it all and love should be the background of righteous anger.