Philippians 2:14-18 January 17, 1999 A man entered a Trappist Monastery to become a monk. In addition to the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, he took the vow of silence. He could not speak at all except on a specific day, once a year when he appeared before the Abbot. He could say only two words. After his first year, he stood before the Abbot, who signaled for him to speak. “Bed hard,” he said. With that he went back to his work and devotion as a Trappist monk. The next year came around and again he was summonsed by the Abbot so that he could break his vow of silence. “Food bad” he said next and then returned to his labors. After the third year, he again came to the Abbot, but this time he said, “I quit!” To which the Abbot said, “That’s no surprise, you’ve done nothing but complain since you’ve come here!” Complaining is commonplace. The problem is, it is a hard habit to break. Some are naturally negative. Others look for the bad things in life. It’s been said: “don't complain and talk about all your problems - 80 % of people don't care; the other 20 % will think you deserve them.” But still we are surrounded by complainers. A few may be under your roof, at your job; a few of them may be you. People gripe about everything. It's interesting that the most indulged society is the most discontent. The more we have, the more we seem to be discontent with what we have and the more complaining we seem to do. What do we complain about? What makes us angry, hostile or even violent, things that increase our blood pressure? They're things like: traffic jams, slow drivers, long lines, crying babies, misplaced keys, cold food, noisy neighbors, tight clothes, unsuccessful diets. We gripe about stupid bosses, lazy co-workers, slow employees. We grumble about ineffective politicians, irresponsible athletes, and irritating relatives. Their are 4 types of complainers. Which one identifies you? Please, no elbows during this part of the sermon. Whiner These people wake up negative.You may be married to someone like this. A woman went to work one day in a foul mood. Her co-worker asked her: “Did you wake up grouchy this morning?” “No, I let him sleep in.” Their catch phrase: "It's not fair. I don't deserve this. Everybody else gets all the breaks." Those with school aged kids who hear this quickly turn to our Parenting Reference Manual under Complaints and we read the proper parental response: “Who said life is fair!” Life is not fair. God never said it would be. People don’t get to fly over pigeons. Martyr What is their favorite phrase? "No one appreciates me." Numbers 11:11-15 They are pros at pity parties. The martyr complains in a passive-aggressive fashion. Rather than just letting you know they are annoyed, they couch their complaints in pious tones of self-sacrifice. They give and give and give, but no one appreciates them. Cynic Favorite phrase: "Nothing ever changes." Ecclesiastes 1:2-4 Solomon probably was specifically thinking of picking up after his kids - nothing ever changes. The cynic has an air of superiority; an intellectual edge to his complaining makes it hard to refute. A cynic is a cross between Dennis Miller with Eeyore. Perfectionist Favorite phrase: "Is that the best you can do?" Nothing is ever right for this person. It is never good enough, because they have a standard you can never attain. So their complaints will wear you down. Proverbs 27:15 - "A nagging wife is like water going drip, drip, drip on a rainy day." If you are married to a perfectionist, were raised by one, work for one, you know you will never satisfy their constant demands. Their complaints will never end. Before I go any further, stop applying this message to someone else. This is for you and me, not others. You might think you have justifiable gripes, but not a complainer, that you have the gift of discernment, but not a critical spirit. You complain only about complainers. It is always easier to see it in other people. Don’t start thinking about who this sermon would be good for. Don’t make poor Paul make fifty copies of the message so you can mail it to friends and co-workers, anonymously.
COMPLAINING IS OPPOSED TO OUR OBEDIENCE As we jump back into our text, we need to remember our context. Last week we were reminded of the necessity to work out what God has worked in - that God commands us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling - how? "It is God who works in you to will and to do according to his good purpose." In Philippians 2 Paul is discussing our obedience, obedience specifically in getting along with other people. But the passage begins with the all inclusive, very difficult command - “do everything.” Let’s face it, you and I do some things without complaining. We don’t argue about doing that which we like, or that which is easy. This verse immediately becomes a problem by its demands for 100% conformity - “do everything.” Do I need a show of hands for Sunday morning fights? What God demands of us here covers all the bases. Complaining implies an impatient criticism, an open, audible grumbling. Arguing in Greek is dialogismon, from which we get “dialogue." For us a dialogue is a neutral discussion, but in Greek it referred to haggling, confrontation, litigation in a court. The focus though is an attitude of the heart. This is the person who loves an argument. But the obedience Paul calls us to in verse 14 is an obedience that is seen in action as well as in attitude. Paul’s concern here is attitude, not just activity. Perhaps your parents said when you were young, “Its not what you say, its how you say it.” It is like the three year old who was told to sit down during the worship (this is some other church, of course, a purely hypothetical situation). But he refused to listen. Again he was told, but this time with the promise of being taken outside so that a punishment might be administered which could make sitting down more difficult. The boy promptly sat down, but muttered under his breath, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I am standing up on the inside.” Did he obey? Externally he conformed, but the obedience was negated by the complaining. As aggravated parents, we often settle for external behavior and ignore the heart, but God is very much concerned with our heart. Scripture has a word for the person who is sitting down on the outside, but standing up on the inside: hypocrite. COMPLAINING IS OPPOSED TO OUR CALLING There is a reason our obedience must be free from complaining, because complaining is opposed to our calling. Just as the Christian is to remove all criticism of others, so our lives must not give anyone an excuse to criticize us. Verse 15 gives a result of an obedient life, free from complaining: they may become blameless and pure, that is, no accusation can be entertained against them; they are sincere, without mixed motives. The obedience is done not out of a sense of duty or obligation, but out of a genuine desire. Not only that, those who obey without complaint are called: “children of God.” Paul is here reminding us to behave in light of our status, our calling. As those adopted by God’s grace, there is an expected standard of behavior. The problem we face is that the culture in which we live, Paul says, is crooked and perverse. Scoliosis, curvature of the spine, is the word used here to describe our world; it is out of alignment, it deviated from the standard. The word for perverse likewise means to be distorted. Now it would be easy to come up with a catalogue of perversions in our culture. There are certainly many ways in which our world does not line up to God’s perfect rule. But Paul is not referring to just any sin. Our perversion is most clearly seen in our complaining. Why do I say that? Paul is alluding here to Deuteronomy 32:5. "They have acted corruptly toward him; to their shame they are no longer his children, but a warped and crooked generation." What is Moses recalling here? Moses is reminding the children of Israel of how God became angry with them after the Exodus. Was it their immoral behavior, their blatant disregard for the Law of God? No, the one sin that was repeated again and again by Israel, which in turn angered God again and again, was their grumbling. By taking his readers back to Israel in the Wilderness, Paul is reminding us of the seriousness of our sinful whining. What is the problem with complaining? When you complain you complain against God When people complained against Moses and Aaron, Moses said, “God has heard your complaining against Him.” Ultimately any complaining in life is against the sovereign authority of God Himself. When you complain about leaders in government, your boss at work, your teacher, parents, kids, you are complaining against God. As the One who foreordains whatsoever shall come to pass, your gripe is with God. When you complain you are sinning against God Complaining is not just a bad habit. The Bible doesn’t suggest we stop complaining, it commands it. Complaining is equated with the sin of rebellion. Psalm 78:17-18 calls the complaining by the Israelites simply sin and rebellion. When we complain we rebel against a loving Father. When we gripe about our job, when we grouse about our spouse, we are shaking our fist at God’s fatherly compassion. God has us right where He wants us at this time; He has our good in mind. Complaining is a denial of our calling, of our status as sons and daughters, that our Heavenly Father knows what is best. When we complain we claim omniscience, telling God that we know what is best, we know how our lives should be. When you complain you won’t enter the promised land From the Red Sea to Canaan, Israel had a 2 week journey. Yet they wandered for forty years. Why? They complained - so God told them to take another lap around the desert. Mr. Snoke, my 8th grade gym teacher, knew this principle. If you complained about climbing the ropes, "Take a lap;" if you complained about dodgeball, "Take a lap." If you complained about taking a lap, "Take two laps." The Israelites would grumble and complain. "Take another lap - see if you can get this right." Again and again they complained until God said: "Just die in the wilderness - a whole generation in the wilderness." That is how serious God took complaining. Complainers will not enter heaven Notice what Paul says in Philippians 2:16. The reason he wants them not to complain is so that Paul can be assured that all he did he did not do for nothing. He does not want to expend himself for people that God will not grant eternal life. He doesn’t want their complaining to disqualify them for heaven. I hope you have a problem with this. We enter through faith in Christ. Nothing else. How can complaining keep us from heaven, only unbelief? But the root of complaining is a heart of unbelief. Go back to Psalm 78:21-22; in describing their grumbling, the psalmist says that God’s anger came because they did not trust in His deliverance. This is the message of the letter to the Hebrews. In 4:6-11 notice how the door closes on those who disobey. What is our calling since complaining is not a spiritual gift? We are to shine like stars in the universe We live in a day of unbelief; people are in open rebellion against God. How do we know this? Grumbling and complaining. We are one of the most affluent nations in the world but we have a reputation of complaining. It is our pasttime. We look for what is wrong and we tell everyone else about it. Darkness has gripped our world because people do not know the wonderful news that there is a Father who cares, who directs and controls all things so that we might glorify Him. To this dark world we are called not to join in the harangue about failed government leaders, not to bemoan the status of our public education, not to wag our finger at Hollywood’s latest attack on the family, but to shine out, to point the way. If you wander at night in need of direction, the north star does not mock your wandering nor complain about the darkness. Rather it quietly points the way to go. Like the torch held aloft by the Statue of Liberty, you and I are to be a beacon to those being brought to faith by God’s grace. That light we hold is the Gospel, the word of life. I can’t hold out the word of life, saying that God is in control, is loving, and then complain about my circumstances. Blamelessness and grumbling are contradictory; they undermine our mission. They are opposed to our calling. COMPLAINING IS OPPOSED TO OUR WORSHIP Paul concludes his encouragement for us to be obedient without complaining not only because complaining undermines our obedience, it denies our calling, but also it is opposed to our worship. The way Paul illustrates this may be hard to grasp as Paul uses a picture foreign to us. Paul sees their obedience, their service of God which flows out of their faith as a sacrifice. To that sacrifice, Paul pictures his own life as a drink offering. In the Old Testament the drink offering was associated with the burnt and peace offerings. These were a thanks to God, instead of for the propitiation of sin. The drink offering was like a finishing touch, a special addition to an offering which was given as a response to God’s grace. Just as the Philippians' obedience was a form of thanksgiving to God, so Paul’s life was an additional thank you. What does this have to do with complaining? These were offerings that flowed out from joy, that were given in response to all the wonderful things God had done. These offerings were the antithesis of complaining. But remember, Paul is saying his life is a joyous addition to their obedience. But what kind of life did he have to offer? In his early days, Paul was on the fast track in Judaism, voted the rabbi most likely to succeed. He was the rising star among the star of David. Then he met Christ. From that day forward his life was a mess. One hardship after another. One difficulty, one problem after another. By the time we come to Philippians, we find him in a jail in Rome, chained 24-7 to a guard. He was betrayed by his own countrymen, other preachers took the opportunity of his absence to promote themselves and put down Paul. The church he started in Philippi was experiencing division. If anyone has a legitimate right to complain, it is Paul. But still, he is able to say that he is glad, that he can rejoice. For Paul sees God’s hand in the midst of suffering; he sees that even the mundane as well as the maddening are all part of the providential care of the loving Father. To remember God’s care will clamp the tongue which tries to complain, but ignorance of the Father’s providence will be the source of your misery. You will think He is absent and doesn’t care. Paul’s use of this imagery of sacrifice puts all our complaining in perspective. The drink offering was but a response to another sacrifice, the sin offering. This pictured our sin committed to an innocent, blameless, faultless one who takes on our blame, our faults so that we can be considered pure. Paul understood that our lives of sacrifice are but a faint thank you to Christ’s death for us. The cross shuts down all complaining. It is destroyed at the root. You and I say, “I deserve better. I should be treated with more respect. I should be appreciated. I deserve a better deal.” But the Cross says you deserve to hang here; you and I deserve far, far, far worse than we could ever imagine. But the Cross also says you and I have received far, far, far better than we could ever have dreamed: the forgiveness of sin, everlasting life, adoption as sons of God. Paul understood that the Cross reinterprets our life. When life stinks, when we are dealt a bad hand, the Cross makes us rethink; we see life as an opportunity to worship our savior. What do you complain about? A severe financial problem, a marriage that is unfulfilling, health failing, children rebelling, parents demanding, work frustrating? Whatever it is, God ordains the circumstance as an opportunity to worship your Savior. It is easy to obey when God tells you to do what you want to do. When all is going well, complaining is furthest from your life. But when life is tough, when God commands that which is hard, when you want to throw in the towel - that is when you have a unique opportunity to respond to God, to worship Him. What type of complainer are you? Martyr, whiner, perfectionist, cynic? Or are you by some amazing ability, like me, able to be all four at the same time? What would happen in your life if all the complaining would stop? Starting right now with you? What difference would it make if it was gone from your home, your job? You can do it because there is a Cross on which Jesus Christ died to conquer complaining. On the Cross Jesus died and through His death and resurrection He gives the Spirit to conquer complaining. If you are in Christ, it is your choice: whine or shine. |