On this Fourth Sunday of Lent, we celebrate St. John Climacus, who conceived of and wrote the Ladder of Divine Ascent. In today’s sermon, Fr. Gregory focuses on the eighth step of the ladder: “concerning freedom from anger.”

St. John Climacus associates freedom from anger with Christ’s meekness. Fr. Gregory points out that, though we often correlate meekness with weakness, the term “meek” actually means “strength under control” in Greek. Christ maintained this meekness, being able to be angry without sin. From this, we can conclude that anger is not always sinful. As Psalm 4:4 and Ephesians 4:26 say, “Be angry, but do not sin.” What, therefore is sinful anger? True, sinful anger is anger festered. When we nurse our grievances, we have sinful anger inside us. This is why Ephesians 4:26 says, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.”

Further, Fr. Gregory addresses the root of anger: pride. When we are angry, we presume that we are better than those who anger us. Humility remedies pride, and without pride we would not have sinful anger. Therefore, humility is the antidote to anger. St. John Climacus also gives guidance on overcoming anger. There are three stages, each related to blessed patience. The first stage is accepting dishonor with bitterness and anguish of soul, but while being silent. The second stage is to no longer have inner turmoil, to not dwell on wrongdoing but obtain calmness of soul. The third stage is the perfect stage — regarding dishonor as praise, as dishonor helps our humility.

Fr. Gregory concludes with a saying from St. John Climacus, “Freedom from anger is the ability to be impervious to insults.” He challenges us to be meek — strong but under control. He challenges us to be angry, but not sin.