Righteous indignation? Or Not?

Leviticus 5; Psalms 3–4; Proverbs 20; Colossians 3

The latest news made me angry. Our province had to shut down many truck stops because people were coming in and stealing toilet paper and hand sanitizer from those facilities. However, the people delivering necessary goods (like food) need those supplies. Our Premier is reopening some of them but with strong language publicly scolded those who were taking what did not belong to them.

I was angry, angry enough to want to bang heads. Such selfishness is unthinkable. Yet I cannot hold myself above others; I have been selfish too, not stealing but in other ways. God offers me instruction and comfort in today’s readings.

The first reading reminds me of His compassion on people who sin without realizing they are sinning. This may or may not apply to thieves but it certainly applies to everyone at times. I know that I am often guilty without realizing it — until the Lord convicts me. This is the OT law showing God’s compassion:

“If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity. He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for the mistake that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven. (Leviticus 5:17–18)

I read it, was touched, but still felt some anger in my heart against those who took the supplies from the service stations. Really. How can they be so thoughtless? Then God gave me these two passages:

Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord. (Psalm 4:4–5)

Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you. (Proverbs 20:22)

I’m not sure He is rebuking my anger; after all, He has the same attitude toward sin, but the Lord is challenging my thoughts about head-banging. Retaliation is sinful. Instead, I am to yield my anger and trust Him, waiting on Him to deal with the thieves . . . no, it didn’t say that. I’m to wait on the Lord to deliver me . . . from what? Those who hurt me? No one did. From my anger? Or the desire to retaliate? God can be angry without it changing His character or holiness; I cannot. My anger is harmful and the work of my fleshy sin nature:

A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression. (Proverbs 29:22)

For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife. (Proverbs 30:33)

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:19–20)

Whatever being angry might do, it does not produce righteousness. For that, God says I’m to put away that old nature and live by the new nature He has given me:

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth . . .  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:8; 10)

The new self is like Jesus. Jesus did get angry when people sinned against God, but He did not ‘get even’ or do anything sinful in retaliation. I’m not sure how far that goes. I don’t even know those thieves but these last few verses give me lots to think about, not only as I ‘ponder in my own heart in my bed’ but as I go through this day.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:12–17)

APPLY: I know what it means to let the peace of Christ rule in my heart, and how to be thankful. I know how to teach and admonish other Christians. I don’t know how to “love” those as God loves them except to trust those words in Proverbs where He says He “will repay evil” — it is not my job. I need to give attention and energy to the things that He has put on my to-do list and trust Him to take care of injustices, at least in this situation.