Complaining (Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:13-17)

 Sermon of Milledgeville and Whitestown UMC

...the people became discouraged on the way.
The people spoke against God and against Moses 
Numbers 21:4b-5a

Complaining (Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:13-17)

 One of my Jr Hi classmates called me out of the blue to complain about the time I put glue on his ink pen. After 50 years, he still can’t let it go!

 A man says his wife has been complaining for 20 years about him not putting the cap back on the tube of toothpaste. He decided as an anniversary gift to change his habit. He put the cap back on. A week went by and no reaction from his wife. He’d expected her to notice, but nothing. Finally, one night, she turned to him and complained, “Why have you stopped brushing your teeth?”

 Psychology Today states that people have negative thoughts more frequently than positive, at a 5:1 ratio. Psychologists believe that our tendency toward negative thinking is related to our survival instincts. As hunter-gatherers we needed to think fast to avoid dangerous predators and enemies. But snap judgements don’t always serve us well. Another reason why we seem to enjoy complaining is that it serves as a form of self-validation. When we vent to others, we give ourselves the reward of being heard. But when we complain in the car alone at other drivers, we are stroking our egos, elevating ourselves above others. We think ourselves better drivers, taking a higher course, following the rules of the road when others have not.

 Israel was set free from slavery, but it took a generation before Israel was ready to inherit the Promised Land. The freed slaves had a problem, their hearts did not trust God. At times they wanted to go back to Egypt, even if it meant slavery, because the journey to the Promised Land was challenging. They complained for lack of water. God gave them water from a rock. They complained that they were out of food. God showered manna from heaven to give daily bread. They wanted meat. God gave them quail blown into the wilderness by a mighty wind.

 Eventually the constant grumbling and complaining got to Moses. In Numbers 11:11-15 Moses rants to the Lord,

“Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a wet nurse carries a nursing child, to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors’? …I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.”

 We can feel his frustration, even if it’s over the top. God responds by placing His Spirit upon 70 elders, that they might help Moses bear the burden of the nation of complainers.

 There’s a hint for us on how to handle complaining. Lean on the Spirit of God who is long-suffering. God is patient, forbearing our weak and whiney impulses.

 There’s a fit throwing 5 year old at my home. On a daily basis, I endure screaming, crying, yelling and whining. It wears me down. I do not have the patience of Job or of God. I need God’s patience to intervene. I need God’s compassion to take the place of my complaining about toddler behavior. I become like a complaining, fit throwing toddler myself! I need to follow Moses’ example and pour out my complaint to God.

 The psalms feature many prayers where one pours out their complaint to God. In doing so there is release. There is hope that God will help.

Consider Psalm 4

 How long will you people love vain words and seek after lies? (Psa 4:2b)

 The psalmist feels trapped, hemmed in by the foolishness of people. But they acknowledge that when they seek God in prayer, God gives them room to breathe.

 Answer me when I call, O God of my right! 

    You gave me room when I was in distress.

    Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. (Psa 4:1)

They offer this wisdom for the complaining, lamenting fearful crowd.

 When you are disturbed (or angry), do not sin;

    ponder it on your beds, and be silent. 
Offer right sacrifices,
    and put your trust in the Lord. (Psalm 4:4-5)

 Waiting on the Lord to turn our hearts from complaint to trust isn’t a magic wand. It doesn’t always cure our need to vent, but with practice and patience, God will grant us space to breathe freely without the anxiety of anger or fear.

 In today’s reading, Moses is yet again hit with complaining. The story goes that God sends venomous snakes among the complaining horde to strike them. The people realize their complaining has offended God and they ask Moses to intercede for them. God tells Moses to place a bronze serpent on a pole and hoist it high where everyone can see. Those who look upon the serpent will be healed.

 Interestingly, the Hebrew word translated as serpent is the same word for seraphim, 6 winged angelic beings who serve God. Isaiah had a vision of the throne room of heaven in which seraphim flew around God’s throne crying out, “Holy! Holy! Holy is the Lord of Hosts! The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isa 6:1-3)

 The prophet was so shaken by the vision of God’s holiness, he was struck with fear. Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isa 6:5)

 One of the seraphim touched Isaiah’s lips with a hot coal from the temple altar where sacrifices were offered. By doing so, Isaiah’s lips, and thus his speech, was purified. The atoning sacrifice that cleanses the people from sin, cleanses Isaiah’s lips. The prophet is made holy and now ready to speak for God.

 Holiness is often depicted by fire. Fire cleanses metals of impurities. Bronze it made by fire, melting down and mixing copper and tin. John had a vision of Jesus on the island of Patmos. He described Jesus this way.

 His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire; his feet were like burnished bronze… (Rev 1:14-15a)

 Images of fire and bronze are trying to describe the holiness, perfection, and glory of God. It’s not a simple coincidence that fiery serpents are used to describe the symbol that God has Moses place before the people. As they look upon the serpent/seraphim they are healed. What they are really doing is turning their minds away from complaining to look upon the radiant holiness of God.

 I think of the hymn,

 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.

 

What is it about changing our focus from our complaint to wonder at the beauty and perfection of God that frees us, gives us room to breathe in His divine presence? I can’t explain it. I can only witness to the reality. It’s something the Jews have known for 1000s of years. It’s something the Church knows too. It’s a reality every person of prayer knows to be true.

He walks with me and He talks with me

And He tells me I am His own

And the joy we share as we tarry there

None other has ever known.

 It’s personal, our time of prayer in the garden of God. But it’s something anyone can experience when we choose to lift our eyes and let our hearts follow the heavenward gaze.

 Jesus told Nicodemus that the Son of Man must be lifted up, just like the bronze serpent that Moses lifted for the complaining Hebrews. The cross of Jesus Christ is our symbol of healing, of sacrificial atonement, of God’s holiness. For God so loved the world (that’s you and me and every person who ever lived or will live) that He gave His only begotten Son (God gave us Jesus as an atoning sacrifice) that whosoever believes in Him (Anyone who trusts in the name of Jesus for salvation) will not perish, but have everlasting life.

 How might we perish? Let’s recognize that the habit of complaining brings death. It brings people down. It is a cancer on community. It is a weight upon the soul. We need saving from our complaining hearts. Life is challenging. The journey is difficult. And God is with us, providing what is needed every step of the way. Let us lift our sights toward the cross of Jesus and be healed.

The apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians,

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things… and the God of peace will be with you. (Php 4:4-9)

 

The message today is simple.

Look up! Let your hearts follow. And God’s peace will be with you!