Numbers 11:4-6. 10-16, 24-29
Proper 21 / Year B
If you have a keen memory
you may recall today’s first lesson was read at our Celebration of New Ministry
way back in 2008. I remember Jim
Matthison preaching on it and capturing perfectly the whining going on
throughout the text. And there is a lot
of whining. The people have been
wandering around in the Sinai wilderness for a long time. Often without water and having only manna and
quail to eat, they become discontented.
How bad is it? They wish they
were back enslaved in Egypt where food, as they recollect, was succulent and
plentiful.
The
text refers to this group as the ‘rabble’ (I like how one translator calls the
‘riffraff’). They are a group of whinny
malcontents who seem to specialize in criticism, negativity, and romanticizing
the past. This group does not represent
everyone. We are told there are 600,000
men of military age and they and their families do their best to get along,
but, over time and under exceedingly difficult conditions, they are swayed toward
the riffraff point of view. God hears
the complaining and is displeased. God
speaks to Moses and Moses is displeased.
In essence he says to God, “These are your people and this is your
mess. You deal with it!”
Everyone
of us, without exception, complains. It
is a universal experience. The comedian
Lily Tomlin once noted “Human beings invented language to satisfy our deep need
to complain.” Every complaint is a
simply an expression of dissatisfaction usually, but not always, rooted in a
negative situation. Some are rooted in
mere annoyance while others rise to the level of criminality. Our brains are actually wired for negativity
(it goes back to the evolutionary fight or flight response). The more complaining you do, or (likes the
Hebrew masses) the more complaining you are around the more negative you become
in your approach to life and in your evaluation of your circumstances.
Behavioral
researchers have discerned there are three basic types of complainers. The first are known as chronic
complainers. These are the folks so
focused on the thorns they are incapable of deriving pleasure from the
rose. They tend to ruminate on their
grievances, endlessly stewing on the specifics of their unhappiness. Chronic complainers are exhausting. I learned of a clergy group that once met
monthly for support and fellowship. However,
one of its members was a chronic complainer who high jacked every gathering by
littering the conversation with her complaints.
How bad was it? Eventually the
group disbanded.
The
second type of complainer is the venter.
The venter is the person who holds back, keeps it in, and bites his
tongue until eventually the need to let off steam becomes too great. You folks from the South were raised on the
axiom if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. We Northerners have a different saying, “I
just have to get something off my chest.”
Venting provides temporary relief by transferring emotional energy to
anyone within earshot of the complaint. Sometimes
venting puts the issue to rest, but most often it will rear up again and again
and again. Ultimately the venter is
seeking validation – the affirmation their dissatisfaction is legitimate.
The
final type of complaint is known as the instrumental complaint. Like its two cousins, it also is rooted in
dissatisfaction, but unlike them it is focused on solving the problem. The instrumental complainer says something
like “I don’t think we are headed in the right direction. Does anyone have an idea how we can get back
on course?” The instrumental complainer never
says, “It is my way of the highway.”
So,
back to Moses. His general complaint is
he is overworked. God has given him too
many people with too many problems for him to address all by himself. God instructs him to gather seventy elders
and take them to the Tent Tabernacle (this is way before a Temple is built in
Jerusalem). God then takes some of the mojo being conferred on
Moses and spreads it over the entire group.
And the group becomes ecstatic, prophesying and dancing around and doing
the things which generally indicate God has equipped them to do important work.
Notice
how this prophesying stuff only lasts for a short time for those who hang out isolated
in God’s Tent. But it also has fallen on
two people outside of the Tent, Eldad and Medad. It continues to be manifested by them as they
go throughout the camp and minister among the people. This results in a whole new complaint. The seventy, who have yet to exercise the
gifts God has bestowed on them, complain about two not in their group, who are
out ministering to a despairing and defeated people.
This new
round of complaining should not surprise us.
It is estimated somewhere between 74-87% of all comments are a complaint
in one form or another. As I said, it is
a universal experience. But, as we saw
in a Lenten program a few years ago, you can rewire your brain for
gratitude. And, with some wisdom,
insight, and discipline you can train yourself to become an instrumental complainer. And, in my experience at least, instrumental
complainers are worth their weight in gold.
