Grumbling is sin

In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat round 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.” Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you…” Exodus 16:2-4

Do not grumble, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes. 1 Corinthians 10:10

Does your experience of church include people grumbling? I would be very surprised if it doesn’t for, sadly, God’s people can be a pretty whiny, grumbly lot.

I could, of course, ask another question too: have you yourself ever been guilty of grumbling? “Who, me?” we say. “Of course not! Perhaps, occasionally, a bit of constructive criticism… but grumbling, well, that’s always someone else’s sin…” I wonder, though…

If you read the whole passage Exodus 15:22 to 17:7 you find that the word “grumble” occurs no less than eight times (not to mention “quarrel” twice). What should be a wonderfully encouraging passage about God’s provision for his people – the water from the rock! the manna! the quails! – is seriously uglified by this recurring theme.

What are the main ingredients that have got mixed into this nasty stew of grumbling? I would suggest three; and I fear that each of them could apply to us…

First, ingratitude.

What’s wrong with these people! It’s only a matter of days or weeks since they have been miraculously rescued from the tyranny of Egypt: passover, exodus and the crossing of the sea. How ungrateful can you be? How quickly can you forget?

It’s easy to criticise them. But what about us? Let’s take stock of our own story. Do you remember your personal “exodus”, when, through faith in Christ, you were set free from slavery to sin? All right, it may not always have been an easy ride since then but - come on! – you have been made a child of God, saved by Christ’s blood and indwelt by God’s Spirit! Surely a sense of gratitude should be a permanent thing, not a collapse into whinging, no matter what difficulties we are experiencing.

The poet George Herbert prayed: “Thou hast given so much to me… Give me one thing more – a grateful heart”. Do some of us need to echo that prayer?

Second, injustice.

Who is on the receiving end of all this grumbling? Moses, that’s who. Now, it’s true that, great though he was, Moses wasn’t perfect: apart from anything else, there’s that little matter of a murder hanging like a cloud over his life (Exodus 2:11-15). But, whether the Israelites like it or not, he is the one God chose to lead them out of their slavery.

Yet they talk as if he is deliberately intending to bring about their death – “you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death” (16:3). How ludicrous! And how grossly unjust!

It reminds us how, when we’re finding the way hard, it’s so easy to lash out emotionally, making false accusations and dirtying somebody’s reputation. We probably regret it later; but by then the damage is done.

Do some of us need to offer someone an apology?

Third, self-pity.

I must admit that there’s a bit of me that has some sympathy for the Israelites. To be in the desert without drinkable water must have been pretty worrying. To have no obvious food supply likewise. And so what could be more natural than to dwell on those “pots of meat” they enjoyed in Egypt?

It seems that at the heart of their grumbling was simply a lack of faith – they couldn’t see how the God who had dealt with them in miraculous ways might do it again.

And as I look at myself I have to recognise that often I am no better. Oh yes, I know that God has done great things for me in the past, but… where is my faith for the future? And so self-pity can begin to gnaw away at me.

We need to get it clear in our minds that, while we are privileged to enjoy God’s mercy and kindness day by day, for us as Christians there is no such thing as entitlement. Yes, a day will come when all sorrows, pains and wants will be done away with. But until that day we need, with Paul, to “learn to be content” (Philippians 4:11) – and learning can be a painful, drawn-out business. O Lord, save me from faithless self-pity!

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the Israelites’ attitude in this passage was a hankering for the past – those “pots of meat” (not to mention the fish, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic mentioned in Numbers 11:5).

I wonder how they would have felt if Moses had said, “All right then – let’s just pack our bags and  march straight back to Egypt! I’m sure Pharaoh will be happy to receive us if we apologise nicely and agree to become slaves again. Is that what you want?”

If ever we are inclined (sigh, groan, grouse, grumble) to moan about our lot as Christians and the rubbishy people who lead us, or who we share our Christian lives with, perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to ask ourselves the question: Would I want to go back?

Well?

Forgive me, loving Father, when I am guilty of ingratitude, or of judging others falsely, or of sliding into self-pity and grumbling. Give me instead a grateful heart and a cheerful, trusting spirit. Amen.