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Mark 3:1-6

21 Jan

3 Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. 2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.

3 Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” 4 Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him.

5 He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! 6 At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus.

Mark 3:1-6

Dear God, there are times when I wish I was more willing to be confrontational. I tend to be way to meek. I don’t want to be the cause of someone else getting angry. I think that’s it. I’ve never articulated it in words before, but I think that’s it. It’s pretty simple really. I don’t want to be the reason someone else feels anger. But Jesus knew that what he was about to do would anger the Pharisees. Jesus was angry himself. Mark tells us that in verse 5. If I had been there, I might have told them man, “Hey, meet me back here tomorrow and I’ll take care of that hand.” Problem solved. But Jesus wasn’t there to heal the man’s hand. He was there to teach not only the Pharisees, but also everyone there and even me.

One of the problems with confrontation is that sometimes I’m wrong and the person I’m confronting doesn’t deserve to be confronted. For example, in yesterday’s story from Mark 2, the Pharisees confronted Jesus about his disciples picking grain on the Sabbath. They were angry and they let the anger lead them into the wrong action. I guess that’s where Jesus adds a layer to this. Yesterday, I mentioned that it would have been better for the Pharisees to say to Jesus, “Help us understand why it’s okay for your disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath,” but that’s not what they did. They just confronted. For Jesus in this story, he asked them a question that revealed to them their error in thinking, but their anger drove them to sin. They had an opportunity to talk it out with Jesus, but they chose not to. What would have happened if they had reasoned all of this out with Jesus and allowed their minds to be changed?

Father, there are times when it’s okay to be the cause of someone’s anger, but it needs to be done shrewdly and wisely. It also needs to be done humbly. I guess I’ll go back to the serenity prayer when it comes to this, but tweak it to ask you to not only give me the serenity, the courage, and the wisdom, but also the discernment to find the most constructive path that will bring you glory.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 21, 2026 in Mark

 

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Anger vs. Disdain

22 Jun

disdain (noun) : a feeling of contempt for someone or something regarded as unworthy or inferior

anger (noun) : a strong feeling of displeasure and usually of antagonism

Dear God, I think I have some repenting to do this morning. My wife and I were talking about our attitudes towards different people, and my confession to you is that there are some instances in which I have taken disdain and justified it by calling it anger. Where I really got convicted is when I realized that there are certainly people in multiple areas of my life who I think are unworthy of my time.

As I sat and thought about it, the common theme that seems to run through most of them is that I perceive them to be bullies. My closest friend said to me a few years ago, “You don’t like bullies.” And I don’t. I really don’t. I don’t care if I perceive it to be a politician, people within a local church, people I know or know of in our community, or even family, if I think they bully others then I will immediately be against them and have no use for them. In fact, as I sit here and think about it, one of the most difficult managerial situations I had was a past employee who bullied others. I ultimately had to fire him, but I probably put up with his bullying for too long. I see bullies as emotionally, if not physically, abusive. I see them as potential tyrants. I see them as harmful. I see them as dangerous. I can sit and list a whole bunch of adjectives, but the problem I am seeing in myself is that I take that and allow it to become disdain instead of simple anger. I elevate myself above (in my own mind) and approach them self-righteously instead of as an equally loved child of you who, while they might be deserving of productive anger, are not beneath me.

Father, I am sorry for this. I’m sorry for not loving others the way you love them. I’m sorry for judging and simply writing some people off instead of looking for productive, loving, Godly ways of expressing my anger with them for their behaviors (which includes forgiveness, by the way). Jesus had to put up with bullies in his time on earth, and he did it with love and, yes, sometimes with anger. But he also kept to the four tools that he also gave us to use: prayer, service, persuasion and suffering. When he saw the bully, he inserted himself into their path to take their blows. Even now, as I sit here I am thinking about a woman in town who has been the victim of being bullied to some extent. She is in a emotional struggle of her own, trying to find her way, and there are many in your church who are rejecting her. Help me to know how to be her friend and how to approach those who are rejecting her. Help me to know how to be exactly who you need me to be for the sake of my own soul and peace, and also so that your presence, will, and kingdom can come into this earth through my life. And if I didn’t say it enough already, I am sorry, Father.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 22, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Romans 1:18

22 Apr

Romans 1:18
18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

Dear God, when I read this scripture this morning the question that came to my mind is, What makes you angry? I get it that this passage says that it’s “wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness,” but what does that look like? And what do you do with that anger?

After I read this scripture this morning, I turned my attention to the news. I didn’t read much yesterday, but I had heard about the attacks in Sri Lanka. There was more information about it today. Tragic. I am sure this attack made you angry. What do you do with that anger? What do you call me to do?

It seems that I am coming up with more questions than answers this morning. I suppose the first thing you are calling me to do is pray. Pray for the survivors who are affected by this crime. That includes the families of the attackers as well as the victims. I pray for the Christian church there as well as the Islamic church. Let this attack backfire on the organizers. Take your own anger and let it burn into love between people. Let there be love that flows between Christians and Muslims in Sri Lanka and around the world. Let there be reconciliation. Yes, some amount of justice needs to be done, and I pray for that justice for those who organized this, but even for them, I pray that someone will find them in prison and reveal your holy anger and simultaneous love for them.

Father, as I go through my own day, help me to know how to handle anger and love. Help me to see each situation with your eyes and offer your presence to it through my life. Help me to completely absorb you. As I’ve said many times before, 1 Corinthians 13 does not say that love does not get angry, but it says that love is not easily angered. Let me not be easily angered as well, but to experience healthy anger and have healthy responses to it.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 22, 2019 in Romans

 

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