GRUMBLE OR GROW!
Exodus 16:1-8
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A lawyer, a doctor, and a preacher went deer hunting together when along came a big buck. The three of them all shot at the same time, and immediately the buck dropped to the ground.
2. They all rushed up to examine the deer, but couldn't determine whose shot had actually killed it.
3. They were in the middle of a heated argument when a game warden came by and asked what the problem was. The doctor told him that they were debating who shot the buck.
4. The warden took one look at the buck and immediately pronounced, “The preacher shot the buck!” They all wondered how he knew that so quickly.
5. To which the warden said, “Easy. The bullet went in one ear and out the other.” (As retold by P. J. Alindogan).
B. TEXT
16 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” 1-3
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In…the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”
C. THESIS
1. I’m going to talk about something we all do – grumble. We don’t think God cares – if we mumble and grumble, but He does.
2. We’re going to look at what grumbling is, why we shouldn’t grumble, and look at the alternatives to grumbling.
3. The title of this message is “Grumble or Grow!”
I. WHAT IS GRUMBLING?
A. DEFINITION:
1. complain or protest about something in a bad-tempered but typically quiet way.
2. to murmur or mutter in discontent; complain sullenly.
3. Why would the Lord care if they quietly grumbled?
B. WHAT DID THEY GRUMBLE ABOUT?
1. What a. they drank (15:24)
b. What they would eat (16:2)
c. Missing the food they had in Egypt (16:3)
d. They grumbled about their leaders (16:8)
e. About WHAT they were given (16:13-15)
f. About HOW MUCH they were given (16:17-22).
2. They had developed a grumbling “spirit.” A grumbling spirit is displeasing to God!
3. See Num. 11:1; “Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.”
4. In Num. 14:29, God told them that all the complainers would die in the desert. So grumbling and complaining are not pleasing to the Lord.
C. WHO THEY GRUMBLED WAS AGAINST
1. The Israelites thought they were grumbling against Moses or Aaron, but they were really grumbling against God. 2. Moses’ own sister Miriam was afflicted with leprosy for speaking against Moses. Why?
3. Because God was ultimately in charge of their lives and He has set up those who are in authority.
4. “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves” Rom. 13:1-2.
5. The Israelites were ultimately questioning God’s character – whether He would provide for them or not.
II. 4 REASONS WE SHOULD NOT GRUMBLE:
A. GRUMBLING is COUNTERPRODUCTIVE
1. 1 Cor. 10:10 says, "And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel." Phip. 2:14 says, "Do everything without grumbling or arguing.”
2. Grumbling is counterproductive and doesn't benefit anyone. Not one ounce of good came from their grumbling.
3. Q - Isn’t it easy to fall into a perpetual state of discontent and find something wrong with everything?
4. Not everything can be done as you would do it. Rather than complaining, if you think there is a better way, make a positive suggestion.
B. GRUMBLING IS CONTAGIOUS
1. When the Israelites sent 12 spies in to inspect the land, 10 of them brought back a bad report. Numbers 14:36, “So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it.”
2. An evil report is a distortion of facts, incomplete facts, and false information. Evil reports influence us to form bad opinions about our circumstances and other people!
3. Of the 7 things God says are an abomination, sowing discord among the brethren is listed. 1 Cor. 5:6 says, “Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?” That means it spreads every where.
4. The N. T. tells us how to treat each other: “Love one another, receive, admonish, salute, greet, forbear, forgive, edify, comfort, exhort, consider.”
5. We need to have a positive influence on one another and be encouraging to one another. Church should be beneficial.
C. GRUMBLING CONTAMINATES
1. Why did God make such an issue of complaining? Because it contaminates our service. It has a bad spirit behind it.
2. Q-Is grumbling ever confused with holiness? No! Q-Is it listed among the spiritual gifts? No! But it IS twice mentioned among the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-20.
3. Grumbling even gets bank robbers in trouble.
a. A man who robbed a Wendy’s in Atlanta was so mad about his skimpy haul that he called the restaurant twice to voice his disapproval.
b. That’s nothing compared to Arthur Bundrage. Bundrage approached a Syracuse, New York, bank teller and demanded $20,000. When he got home, he discovered he’d been shortchanged. Outraged, he stormed back to the bank to tell them what he thought of their service. That’s when he was arrested. —Source: Associated Press.
D. GRUMBLERS HAVE A WRONG PERSPECTIVE
1. Why would anyone want to back to Egypt when the Promised Land is yours? A totally wrong perspective! Focusing on the journey, not on the goal.
2. Jude 1:16 “These people are grumblers and faultfinders….”
3. We must resist the temptation to look for the negatives in our lives. A chronic complainer has fallen into the habit of only seeing the negative in a specific area.
4. ILLUSTRATION
a. A baseball manager decided to play a rookie in right field one day. The regular right fielder wasn't happy about it, and loudly complained from the bench that it was a big mistake.
b. As it turned out the rookie was so nervous that he messed up big time. He made a couple of errors and misjudged several other fly balls.
c. Each time he messed up, the veteran right fielder complained loudly from the bench.
d. Finally, late in the game the manager replaced the rookie with the veteran, mostly to shut the veteran up. Not long after, the veteran missed the first ball.
e. Every time the ball came to him, he fumbled it. At the end of the inning, everyone waited to hear what he would say.
f. The veteran ballplayer slammed his glove down in disgust and said, "Skipper, that kid has right field so messed up nobody can play it."
III. ALTERNATIVES TO GRUMBLING
A. GRUMBLING OR GRATITUDE? Grumbling is the opposite of gratitude.
1. Pastor John Beukema, of Western Springs, Illinois,
told about helping an couple who came to his church looking for a handout. They were ragged, dirty, and claimed to be homeless. They said they didn't want money, just some food.
2. So Pastor John took them across the street to the 7-Eleven. While they waited outside, John bought them each a sub sandwich, chips, and a Coke.
3. Then he watched as they ravenously attacked the food. The man took a big gulp of his drink and made a face, and spit it out; “What is this, diet?”
4. Pastor John says, “I laughed right out loud because I immediately saw myself. How often I react that way, even to the gifts of God.” (John Beukema, Western Springs, Illinois)
5. DISCONTENTED?
a. Don Kistler put it this way: “The person with the discontented heart has the attitude that everything he does for God is too much, and everything God does for him is too little.” (Don Kistler, Tabletalk, 9-18-01, p.15.)
b. “We have no more right to put our discordant states of mind into the lives of those around us and rob them of their sunshine and brightness, than we do to enter their houses and steal their silverware.” - Julia Moss Seton.
c. Happiness is a choice. So is contentment!
6. BUILD UP the Body of Christ, DON’T TEAR it down.
If you’re a part of something, then SPEAK WELL OF IT. Jesus said, “He who is not WITH ME is against Me.”
7. Earl Banning, Pastor of Braeswood Assembly in Houston once said, “The Pastor is God’s servant to lead the sheep. If you can’t follow me, then don’t call me your pastor. Find you a pastor you will follow.”
B. GRUMBLE OR GROW?
1. In Exodus 20, “Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to TEST you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning’” (20:20).
2. You see, God’s tests are designed to keep us from sinning and to improve our character.
C. GROWTH GOD WANTED THEM TO EXPERIENCE:
1. He’s in charge of supplying our needs.
2. Spiritual Growth: Learning to Feed on Christ - is more important than physical needs being met;
3. Submission to the will of God & denying of self is the key to order in the kingdom of God. We can’t all have things the way we want them. Is God in charge of your life?
4. Staying teachable during hardship is essential. God didn’t immediately take the Israelites to Canaan land because they needed to learn to obey Him.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: The Complaining Monk
1. A guy joins a monastery and takes a vow of silence: he’s allowed to say two words every seven years.
After the first seven years, the elders bring him in and ask for his two words.
2. "Cold floors," he says. They nod and send him away.
Seven more years pass. They bring him back in and ask for his two words. He clears his throat.
3. "Bad food," he says. They nod and send him away.
Seven more years pass. They bring him in for his two words.
4. "I quit," he says. "That’s not surprising," the elders say. "You’ve done nothing but complain since you got here."
B. ILLUSTRATION #2
1. George Frederic Handel had reached the bottom. His right side was paralyzed. He was broke. His creditors threatened him with prison. He was so discouraged that he contemplated suicide.
2. Instead he chose to praise God – to focus on God’s goodness rather than on his own desperate circumstances. 3. Out of that experience came one of the greatest works of praise ever written – Handel’s Messiah and the “Hallelujah Chorus!”
C. THE CALL
1. Grumbling and complaining is something we do in a lot of areas. Let’s start by realizing it’s a form of ingratitude and we’re saying God’s not taking care of His business good enough. It’s not pleasing to God.
2. Let’s repent of our grumbling. Next, let’s determine to do God’s will cheerfully. Whatever He has us do, let’s do it with an excitement and expectation.
3. Let’s have a positive attitude about everything. Let’s speak well of people, of our job, of our country, of our faith.
4. Let’s leave a “sweet aroma” of Christ everywhere we go. Let’s so live that others will want to be just like us – Christians.
5. How many here would say, “I know I could stand a little attitude adjustment?” “I need to have more faith and leave a better witness of Christ.”
6. How many would say, “Pastor, I need to get my heart and life right with God. Please include me in your prayer.”
7. Prayer for salvation and for acceptance of God’s path for my life, with a joyful heart.
[A few points were from C. Philip Green’s “Grumble or Grow,” and some from Tommy Burrus’ “The Problem of Complaining.”]
