First Baptist Church on Littleton Common    

Murmuring and a Culture of Complaint

Exodus 16

Philippians 2:14-15

Have you ever heard a grown dog whine? 

Just the other morning, I woke up face to face with our 100 pound black lab, better known as Mr. Gibson, who had decided to start the day by whining.   Mr. Gibson stood at face level, looking right at me as a low pitch of discontent started deep in his throat.  He proceeded to entertain me for almost ten minutes, with what I have named the Whine in G Minor. 

His performance began on a note that he held for an unusually long time, and which only increased in intensity, before he ran out of breath, quickly took in another one and started again.  He changed pitch in the middle of his second phrase, letting the note roll up and down an apparent musical dog scale that I didn’t know existed.    He started to wiggle around as he serenaded me, and it was quite the performance to wake up to.   

This went on for a few minutes before I asked him what he wanted.  Eddie had already let him out and fed him – and so I knew those were not the reasons for his complaints.   And so at 5:15 in the morning I lovingly asked him again what he wanted:

“What do you want?”

He looked at me with those big dog eyes, and his whine only changed pitch. 

“What do you want?”

He turned and left the room for just a minute, returning with a stuffed Mickey Mouse in his mouth.  This only muted the sound of his murmuring – but his song and dance routine stayed the same.  He continued to whine, wiggle and wake me up from attempting to doze back to sleep.  I had no idea what he wanted, and he couldn’t tell me and I couldn’t figure it out, so as is our routine I got up with him to start the day.      

Mr. Gibson’s whining that morning clearly reminded me of the ongoing murmuring and complaining coming from the Israelites in the book of Exodus, as they traveled from one place to the next.  These sojourners seemed to always be grumbling and complaining about something – despite the fact that the Lord had provided for their every need.  And even with the glory of the Lord right before them, they could not stop the cycle of complaining that they had fallen into, and had become habit.

Moses had finally been able to take the people out of Egypt, away from where they had lived in slavery.  The people had witnessed the magnitude of God’s omnipotence in the ten plagues that were set upon the Egyptians.  They had seen Moses part the Red Sea, where they walked through safely and on dry ground.   God was providing them direction on this exodus, as they followed a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  This God was an awesome God, was present with them and had already provided and protected them.  

But they started complaining anyway and it went on and on.  After all they had been though and all they had received, it was when they were hungry that they began to murmur and complain against Moses and Aaron.  Ultimately though their complaints were directed against God and they needed Moses and Aaron to remind them what was underneath all that grumbling.  We read in Exodus 16 the complaint of the people:  

“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.”

As the story continues we read that God hears their complaint for hunger and provides bread for them in the morning and meat for them in the evening.  Manna and quail.  God does this as a test – to see if the people will listen to his instruction.  God sets this test up so that there will enough manna for them for six days, including a double portion on the sixth day, so that they will have enough on the seventh day, without having to work on the Sabbath.  Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.  Moses and Aaron explain this to the people of Israel, and remind them that their complaints are expressed towards God.  They bring the people before the glory of God to express themselves.

Tell the whole company of Israel: 'Come near to God. He's heard your complaints.’

When Aaron gave out the instructions to the whole company of Israel, they turned to face the wilderness. And there it was: the Glory of God visible in the Cloud.

 God spoke to Moses, "I've listened to the complaints of the Israelites. Now tell them: 'At dusk you will eat meat and at dawn you'll eat your fill of bread; and you'll realize that I am God, your God.'"

When the bread for heaven was lying on the dew, the people each gathered “enough” for all their needs. The key to the story is the word and concept of “enough” and having trust in God who provides.  As the story goes, if they gathered too much - somehow the bread became smelly and moldy by the morning, and they could not eat it.  They had to learn the hard way.  On the sixth day, when they were allowed to gather and prepare that double portion, somehow the food remained fresh and consumable to eat on the Sabbath.  There was enough and they learned trust and faith in God. 

But not for long, because the habit of murmuring and complaining starts again.  It is hard habit to break and if you would read on into Exodus 17, you will read that they begin to complain again, about the lack of water, which eventually God also provides for them.   It must be human nature to complain.   

So many who are sojourning through life and live in our culture, seem to always be grumbling and complaining about something, despite the fact that God does provide and is also present with us.   Because of the culture of complaint that surrounds us, it is hard to stop the cycle of complaining and gossiping that has become a habit our speech and harmful to our soul.  

It is easy to fall into a rhythm of complaining and gossiping.  We live amidst a culture of complaint and it is so very easy to get swallowed up in a thought process based on complaining, gossiping, and criticizing other people and programs.   Talk shows thrive on complaints and hosts are masterful at sucking people into their litany of woes, by using sensationalism that riles up the listeners, who are more than ready then to continue the cycle of complaining.  Dissatisfaction and disagreements become simple complaining, when there are no suggestions, plans or alternatives to the woes that are offered.   Entertainment shows thrive on gossip and there is an entire industry based on the dis-ease of complaint, criticism and condemnation.

Yesterday I sat in a coffee shop for a long time reading and writing.  I stopped once and listened to the many conversations that were echoing around the small, but comfortable space. It was a very warm and inviting atmosphere, and many had come there seeking out space to be with friends in this time where so many live with heavy hearts.  They longed for more than coffee. Two young adults talked about their week, the ice, someone who got laid off, and then someone who was a mutual acquaintance.  An older couple held hands across a table, immersed in each other’s eyes, while trying to work something out.  A louder voice, which dominated the coffee shop every so often, complained and gossiped and then laughed – a laughter that was always at the expense of someone else, and was not the healing laughter of deep joy or of simple fun.  We live amidst a culture of complaint that is the norm.  Too many people, families, friends, office workers don’t seem to know how to talk without complaining, or how to talk with compassion. Complaining has become a habit – a habit which is detrimental to our emotional and mental health, and really prevents us from moments of peace and serenity, no matter the state of our life or the world.  

Complaining often masks something else that is going on in one’s emotional or spiritual life. 

I read an article the other day that suggested that “complaining is usually a veiled lament about deeper issues of the soul.” [1]  The author, Craig Barnes, suggests that our complaining masks something that is going on inside of us.  When our own low pitch of discontent starts up and continues  and runs on and on and on - until one runs out of breath  - then it usually is a sign that something else is going on inside.  There is a story behind your story.      

Have you ever stopped complaining or talking or planning or organizing long enough – to try to see what is going on within your soul?   What are the laments, the fears, the hopes and dreams of your soul?    Have you dared venture to look beyond the surface of your life, looking carefully and tenderly at the laments and longings of your soul? 

My job as pastor is to be about the business of your soul.   Barnes reminds me, that my job as pastor is to invite you to listen to your soul, and discover the mystery and blessing of God’s grace that “lies just below the surface of your life.” 

Of course I did know what Mr. Gibson wanted that morning – he just wanted me to get up and be with him, to play with him and cuddle with him.  He wanted to be loved, and touched and held.  There are many things below the surface of our discontent these days.  Our heavy hearts speak to the condition of our souls, souls that long to be loved, touched, held, inspired and healed.  Souls that long for assurance, joy, hope and purpose.    

I hope that as we begin to use these purple bracelets that they may be a reminder of how often we complain and that by switching the bracelet back and forth between our wrists that we become aware of how often we are complaining.  But I pray that it becomes a deeper exercise for you and it is an invitation to look within your soul and see what is going on there.  I am pretty sure we don’t need something else to be perfect at – going 21 days without complaining is just another thing to be perfect at.  I have heard it said we need progress and not the burden of perfection.   

Today as we come to table of the Lord,

I invite you to look deep within your soul.

Listen carefully to what lies there.

Discover God’s grace in your longings and your laments. 

Tend gently to your soul and to yourself.

The table is set and there is always a place set just for you.

Amen. 

Rev. Deborah J. Blanchard