The Sin Of Griping

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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?”