Today’s sermon is on an uninspired and trivial subject, you may think. You might think that it is the preacher’s role to expound on the great themes of our religious faith. You may think that I ought to spend more time in digging into the great texts of the Bible -- texts about faith, love, God, salvation, forgiveness.
But the purpose of this sermon is to try to convince you that preaching about complaining is not a trivial subject. Perhaps I am exaggerating, but I think that complaining and criticizing can be the outward sign of a far more serious spiritual condition within us.
Do any of you remember Helen Marshall? Helen was a great caregiver, and she may have saved my life. She came to me and said, "I see you puffing all the time. I have gone through that symptom with John all the time and it is a symptom of a heart condition. You ought to have it checked." I did. I had a treadmill test and didn’t get to finish it. They took me off the treadmill and wheeled me to the hospital where I had a catheterization and a stint was put in my heart.
Well, in this sermon I want to convince you that your (and my) constant complaining and criticizing is a symptom of a spiritual cancer. Complaining may seem to be trivial, but it causes such devastation.
Today there is a marriage breaking up -- not over some towering obstacle, but by some picayune difference: complaining, complaining.
Today there is a healthy, well-cared-for senior who is perfectly miserable and who is spoiling the few precious years she has because of her constant complaining - complaining.
Today there is a church capable of being a great lighthouse to guide men and women through the dangerous shoals of life, but it is a feeble light because of complaining - complaining.
So that’s what I want to talk about today. Not as someone who is not stung by this sin, but as one who has seen the devastation caused by it.
Our Bible has a lot to say about complaining. One of the most dramatic illustrations of the devastating effects of complaining is the story of Moses. Would you believe that complaining kept the Israelites out of the promised land for forty years? Here was a people who started out with a great vision of freedom and liberty. They had left Egypt with a great dream. They demonstrated courage in fleeing from Pharaoh’s army. You would think this would be a people who could achieve great things. But no! Complain, complain. Not enough food. Not enough water. Days were too hot. Nights were too cold. They whimpered and complained against their lot. The Bible says that the people finally said, "We wish that the Lord had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into the desert to starve us to death."
How do you suppose Moses felt? It must have been so very discouraging to him. I have seen the heart and soul taken out of a very promising person because of this kind of harping criticism. I have frequently even seen people driven from the church because of the harsh words of criticism.
If the morale had been high, the Israelites would have been ready and prepared to go into the land of promise, the land flowing with milk and honey. But they were whining complainers. Most of them would never see the promised land because they had become mean-spirited complainers. Instead of entering the promised land, they were destined to wander around from camp to camp for forty years.
Listen to what Moses said to the people: "When you complain against us, you are really complaining against the Lord." Do you see Moses’ insight? What he was saying is that complaining is a spiritual problem!
Complaining doesn’t help either God nor humankind. Complaining doesn’t solve the difficulty, it only adds to it. It just hurts the person doing the criticism. Someone has compared complaining to shooting arrows into the sky hoping to shoot at God Himself. But those arrows will return upon our own hearts. They reach not Him, but they hurt us.
The Bible gives a picture of another who dealt with hardship and tragedy. It comes from the life of Christ. Like the Israelites, Jesus had to face hard, difficult circumstances. But Christ did it without complaining.
Do any of you remember Art Martin? Then you remember that haunting old Negro spiritual that he liked to sing. "They crucified my Lord, And He never said a mumbalin’ word. They nailed Him to the tree, And he never said a mumbalin’ word. They pierced Him in the side, And he never said a mumbalin’ word. He bowed His head and died, And He never said a mumbalin’ word. Not a word. Not a word. Not a word." Contrast that to the Children of Israel!
So, listen! Complaining is a sign of moral and spiritual immaturity! Someone has called it spiritual halitosis! Bad breath! Have you not been around people who complained so constantly that you didn’t want to be around them? Some people walk into a room and bring with them a bright light of sunshine. The whole demeanor of the people around them is joyous. But when some people walk into a room it is like a dark cloud that comes over the room. The first word out of their mouth is often a complaint about something or somebody. And the sad thing is that they aren’t even aware that they have "spiritual halitosis." Their world is dark and dreary around them, but they don’t realize that it is dark and dreary exactly because of their constant criticism, their constant complaining, their constant griping.
You see, complaining can become a way of looking at life. Will we see only the ills of the world? Will we lament only the wrongs? Will we only weep over the evil?
Have you never read our text before? Paul wrote to the Philippian church: "Do everything [everything?] ... Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may be innocent and pure as God’s perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people."
Now, how can we overcome this propensity to criticize and complain? First, it seems to me that we need to have an inner spirit of gratitude. Criticism arises from a black inner spirit. If Christ is in our hearts He will drive away darkness and bring a light of the Spirit. We need to recognize that the Lord put us in this world and that it is God’s world. And listen, God said that it was good. If our heart and soul is right, we will express gratitude to God for His world. Moses told the Israelites that they were complaining against God.
The poet, James Whitcomb Riley, wrote:
"It hain’t no use to grumble and complain,
It’s jest as easy to rejoice;
When God sorts out the weather and sends rain,
Why rain’s my choice."
In difficult times we need to learn to say, "This is the way things are. They don’t look good just now. But what can I do to straighten them out? If I can do nothing, I’ll say nothing. At least I won’t complain. I’ll let God run His world His way."
It seems that there are people in this world who think they were put here to criticize all of the mistakes and weaknesses of this world. They think it is their God-given role in life to point out every shortcoming, every failing, every foible that they see around them. If the waitress doesn’t serve the table just right, it is their roll to complain. If the kid wears his hair too long, it is their roll to criticize. If another member is getting a little thick in their waist, it is their duty to point it out. If this is their talent they need to bury it.
For those who want to rid themselves of this symptom, I suggest that they look within themselves. If Christ is within you, you will be filled with love, compassion, forgiveness. Instead of criticizing the faults of this world, in loving kindness try to make the world better.
I want to tell you about a saint Eula and I knew in our first church. One of our big problems was what to do with two kids while we were working hard in the church, leading youth conferences, attending assemblies, keeping up the parsonage. Aunt Grace came to Eula and said, "Any time at all that you need someone to care for the children, I will be right there. I can’t teach or work with youth, but I can take care of children." And she did. Later we asked her about her generous gift of unlimited child care, she said, "When a new minister comes to the church, I try to look for their greatest need. Then I try to do it for them." Aunt Grace didn’t criticize. Aunt Grace didn’t point out the ministers’ weaknesses, Aunt Grace tried to fill in any shortcomings. The minister who followed me had no aptitude at all for office work. Aunt Grace became the office manager.
Do you see what I’m trying to illustrate? If your wife is a terrible cook, instead of constantly harping on her about her meals, why don’t you learn how to cook? If your husband doesn’t pick up his clothes, instead of constantly nagging and nagging on it, pick them up graciously. Instead of complaining all the time, get busy doing something. If you have spiritual halitosis, don’t just brush your teeth; fill your whole life with the love and grace of Christ.
