(If you have found this sermon helpful, we invite you to visit us at www.HeritageRestorationProject.org or www.ChristianWisdom.info)
This evening, we have gathered together to give thanks to God. Tomorrow we will share Thanksgiving Day with loved ones. This should be a truly glorious and happy time of the year for us. But, sadly, there will be some who, rather than giving thanks, will be nursing grudges and complaints against family, the world around us, and ultimately against God. I hope that none of you have fallen into a life style of ingratitude, but I’m afraid many have. And that is why I am speaking on the topic of ingratitude on this the eve of the very day in which we as a nation customarily give thanks to God.
In years past when my wife’s mom and dad were still alive, we frequently made the holiday trip to their home in Mobridge, South Dakota. If the weather was good, we might take Highway 20 across the prairie. Somewhere along that road, I don’t remember exactly where, there was a welcoming sign as we drove into a small town. The sign read, “Welcome to our town, the home of 300 friendly people and a few sore-heads.” I know this was intended to be a joke, and I remember it because it was funny. But in truth, all too often people slip into belly-aching in one form or another. And if we are not careful, we might even find ourselves slipping into the habit of ingratitude. What shall it be for us this year, thanksgiving or ingratitude?
Are we to be a faith community given to gratitude for all that the Lord has done for us? Or, are we to be a community of grouches, complainers, ingrates, grumblers, gripers, murmurers, malcontents, whiners, and even a few “sore-heads”? Griping, regardless of whatever name is used for it, is a sin against God. It is a sin, because complaining is a symptom of discontentment, and, discontentment denies the wisdom of God, choosing instead to exalt one’s own wisdom. Discontentment covets something that God has not been pleased to give us.
A certain man, well-known for his constant complaining, inherited a large sum of money. When he got it, he complained about how it was not as much as he thought it should be. He bought a farm and asked his wife what she thought he should name it. She quickly responded, "Why don’t you call it ‘Belly Acres’?"
Now…what follows probably won’t apply to most of you. I’m sure that none of you are chronic complainers, but just maybe, even if only a little bit from time to time, you may slip into the sin of ingratitude. If so, please listen carefully. You really need to hear this.
Ingratitude is a sin! And it is a serious sin and an affront to God. And yet, people who would never steal, murder, or commit adultery will complain, not realizing that ingratitude is also a sin that offends God.
People gripe about everything. Sometimes it almost seems as if some people are not happy unless they have something to complain about. Couples get together for an evening of fellowship and, the first thing you know, someone is complaining about someone or about something. Employees complain about the company for which they work. Employers complain about employees. Students complain about teachers and workloads, and so on and so on. And why not? There’s so much to complain about: teachers, traffic, kids, taxes, politicians, constant home and auto repairs, poor health, aches and pains, and troubles of all kinds!
Complaining seems to be so common these days that someone tuning in from outer space might assume that belly-aching is our national past time. Pre-schoolers complain: "I don’t want to take a nap." Children complain: "My teacher gives me too much homework." Teenagers complain: "You never let me do anything." Moms complain, "How many times do I have to tell you to make your bed?” Husbands complain: "I work hard all week and then when I come home you get on my case about fixing this and fixing that." Complaining is one of the most prevalent sins. Even Christians, who would never think of committing some of what they consider to be the more “major” sins, are guilty of the sin of ingratitude. Sometimes even church pastors complain, but I won’t tell you about what we complain. Somebody has said that God rested on the seventh day, but on the eighth day He had to start answering complaints.
Take for example a recent complaint at a hardware store. One day a chronic complainer walked into a hardware store and asked for a chain saw advertised to cut 6 trees per hour. He came back the next day fussing, grumbling, complaining, and demanding a refund, “This chainsaw is defective”, he said. “It would only cut one tree and it took ALL DAY!” The salesman said, “Let me look at it,” and reached down and started the chainsaw. The man said, “What’s that noise?”
All joking aside, complaining is a serious symptom of ingratitude, and ingratitude is a serious affront to God our Heavenly Father. In Proverbs 6:16-19 we read, “These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.” The one who sows discord by complaining becomes an affront to God. Let me give you three reasons why complaining is an affront to God:
1. Complaining DENIES God’s Sovereignty.
Every complaint against our circumstances, all our grumbling about the weather, about the way people treat us, about the daily trials of life, is directed, whether we realize it or not, against the One who works all things after the counsel of his own will.
When the Apostle Paul was jailed for preaching the Gospel, we don’t see him complaining but rejoicing (Acts 16:22-25). Paul trusted God’s sovereignty. One big problem with our complaining is that it focuses on what’s frustrating us while forgetting the big picture. The Old Testament book of Exodus recounts how the wandering people of Israel complained about their wilderness diet. They went on to talk about what great food they had had in Egypt. They forgot what it meant to have been slaves Egypt! They forgot the “big picture”. Complaining focuses on what’s frustrating us and it forgets about the big picture.
Complaining is always an expression of unbelief toward God’s sovereignty in our life. God’s Word tells us in Romans 8:28 that “...all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are the called according to His purpose”. If we really believe this, how could our life not be a witness of gratitude rather than ingratitude!
A missionary in the African bush was walking along the trail with the natives when suddenly one of the natives shot his gun near the missionary. He killed a huge poisonous green snake in the path. The missionary had not seen the poisonous snake until the more experienced native shot it, and would have stepped on it and probably been bitten. The missionary asked, "How could I not have seen that snake?" They walked on. Soon the native grabbed his arm and said, "Look! Do you see the leopard?" The missionary said, “No”, and again he wondered aloud why he hadn’t seen the danger, and commented to the guide, “you see a snake where I see only leaves; you point out what looks to me like shadows and it becomes a leopard. Why don’t I see these things?” The native guide answered: "You have to develop ‘bush eyes’. If you stay in the jungle long enough, you will begin to see these things.”
Do you have the “eyes” to see what God is doing for you? Are you able to see and count God’s many blessings? Or, do you see only reasons for complaint. If complaining has become a way of life, pray for insight. The Holy Spirit can help you develop eyes that discern God’s many blessings.
2. Complaining DISRUPTS unity.
In addition to denying God’s sovereignty, there is a second reason why God doesn’t care for complaining. Complaining disrupts unity, potentially with disastrous results. As case and point, we are told in Numbers 14:26-35 that the Israelites were condemned to wander in the wilderness for forty years before entering into the land that had been promised to them by the Lord. This disaster came about as the result of the complaining of some of the men who had been sent out to explore the land promised to the people of Israel. When they returned, they complained that the people presently occupying the land were too strong and could not be defeated. This attitude infected the people who as a result lost faith and turned against the leadership of Moses and Aaron, and refused to go forward into the land promised to them. Had the Israelites gone forward, they would have succeeded. Instead, having been infected by grumbling, the people disregarded the entreaties by Moses and Aaron, turned against God, and went their own (see Numbers 13:1-14:45). The sin of belly-aching is contagious. It can spread like wildfire, and it can disrupt unity, often with disastrous results.
I used to think that people complained because they had a lot of problems. Now, however, I have less sympathy. I have come to realize that one possible reason people have so many problems is because they can’t stop complaining. Complaining doesn’t change anything or make life’s situations any better. It only amplifies frustration, causes discord by spreading discontent, and treats God with contempt.
3. Complaining DISCREDITS Christian testimony.
There is a third reason why God doesn’t like complaining: Complaining DISCREDITS Christian testimony. We Christians talk about God, about how much we love Him and how good He is, but we often act like heathens, murmuring and complaining all the time. The Apostle Paul sets an example for us in Philippians 2 verses 14 and 15 where he writes: “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
A Christian who is always grumbling and complaining is harmful to the cause of Christ and the name of Christianity. Nobody likes to be around ungrateful people who are always grumbling and complaining. And, if we fall apart in the midst of trials, the world sees this and says, "Where’s their God?"
The Apostle Paul and Silas had a tremendous testimony while incarcerated in a Philippian jail (see Acts 16:22-30). What if they would have been murmuring and complaining and griping about their situation? Would any of their fellow prisoners who were listening to them praying and singing hymns to God while in prison have been impressed if instead they had been griping about their situation? The other prisoners would probably have told them to shut up.
What if Silas would have said, “Paul, you big shot, you just had to show-off. Now look at the trouble we’re in.” If that kind of a dialogue had been going on between Paul and Silas, do you think such a dialogue would have brought honor to the name of Jesus Christ? I doubt it! And if they had run off when they had the chance rather than trusting in the providence of God, would the jailer have been inspired to asked, “What must I do to be saved?”
Our Christian testimony has a very important impact upon others. Whether we live a life of confidence in the Lord, trusting in Him, giving thanks to God in all circumstances as instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, or, conversely, live a life of ingratitude, makes all the difference in terms of whether we are likely to have a positive or a negative influence upon others. Let us strive to have a positive impact upon the faith of others.
Each of us has been blessed in numerous ways. The more we think about how we have been blessed, the more we will be thankful. So what’s it going to be this year, thanksgiving or ingratitude? I hope that when we sit down at the table tomorrow we will find many reasons for giving thanks. There are reasons to be thankful even if, for example, the weather turns bad and family members are unable to travel. Don’t gripe about it! There are reasons to be thankful even if we, because of advancing age, are experiencing a few aches and pains his year. Don’t gripe about it! There are reasons to be thankful even if we are having difficulty paying the heat bill. Don’t gripe about it! There are reasons to be thankful even if someone has insulted or offended us. Don’t gripe about it! There are reasons to be thankful even if the Thanksgiving feast doesn’t turn out to be all we had hoped it would be. Don’t gripe about it!
The next time you find yourself complaining, remember the three reasons God hates complaining:
1. Complaining is a symptom of ingratitude, and denies God’s sovereignty.
2. Complaining disrupts Christian unity.
3. Complaining discredits our Christian testimony.
Counting our blessings and giving praise to the Lord in thanksgiving for what He has done for us is the best anecdote for discontent. Not only is our praise pleasing to God, it also lifts our spirits, eases our burdens, and brings us closer to God and to each other. So keep on counting your blessings and giving thanks to God. Let us do so tomorrow on Thanksgiving Day, and throughout the coming year.
(If you found this sermon helpful, please visit us at www.HeritageRestorationProject.org)
