Exodus 17:1-7, Romans 5:1-11
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
As I read this morning’s lesson from Exodus, I shook my head in agreement, understanding how true it seemed. These were real people with a real concern, water; I know these people; they make up the bulk of most congregations. Right now, these people are concerned about the Coronavirus. Generally, when things go well, they are excited and enthusiastic; they want to run out ahead and do their parts; but, at the first sign of difficulty, when fear or disappointment set in, they begin complaining, and honestly, it seems that Moses wasn’t much better; he went complaining to God, about the complaining of the people. They were good at complaining; we likewise do complaining well! It’s the human way.
Teresa of Avila, a saint as described by the Roman Catholic Church, wrote about her own complaining. She wrote, “I had some fun with God today! I dared to complain to him. I said: Explain to me, please, why you keep me in this miserable life. Why do I have to put up with it? Everything here interferes with my enjoyment of you. I have to eat and sleep and work and talk with everyone. I do it all for the love of you, but it torments me. And how is it that when there is a little break and I can have some time with you, you hide from me? Is this the way you show me mercy? If you love me, how can you do this to me? I honestly believe, Lord, that if it were possible for me to hide from you the way you hide from me, you would not allow it. But you are with me and see me always. Stop this Lord! It hurts me because I love you so much. I said these things and other things to God. Sometimes love becomes foolish and doesn’t make a lot of sense. The Lord puts up with it. May so good a King be praised! We wouldn’t dare say these things to earthly kings! (This is the end of her little story)
So it is that we human beings complain! There is a philosophical approach to life summarized by the word stoicism. The idea is that you face life, with all of its struggles and joys, without complaint or (for that matter) without great joy and celebration; everything is kept at an even level; all emotions kept intact. You would think that this might be the Christian way, that it might be what Paul had in mind, but it isn’t. Stoicism, is as far from Paul’s understanding of our faithful response to God (for when we are dissatisfied), in other words, complaining, as we are from solving the coronavirus. It seems, if we are to understand complaining and its place in Christianity it would help for us to look at Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul, was in fact, an emotional guy; not a stoic; he spoke from his heart and faith, both harshly and joyfully, to those who would listen to him.
Paul wrote, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope and hope does not disappoint us, because God‘s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” We “boast in our suffering”. We do not complain. Suffering for Paul, especially suffering for Jesus, for the faith, was a kind of feather in one’s cap, a good thing to feel good about. And Paul, in more than one of his letters, boasted in his suffering.
But it is not just about boasting, Paul wanted us to be aware of the benefits that we receive by our suffering. And here I am referring to real suffering, not just our displeasure about the color of a wall, or the kind of toilet paper, or the appearance of a wasp or two during worship, or a mistake in the church bulletin. Such complaints have meaning, but of a very different kind, they do not involve real suffering. Complaints even about issues that involve true suffering went against what Paul believed, that they benefit us. “Suffering produces endurance.”
Every person who goes to a gym or exercises at home, knows that they benefit from their suffering, by getting stronger, lighter or thinner, or simply healthier. Every student understands that studying, maybe losing a little sleep, maybe doing extra school work, adds to their school experience, likely improves their grades and in the end makes them more likely to advance or get a good job. And everyone who puts in the time to plant vegetables and herbs understands that the work involved will likely save them money and give them better tasting and better-for-you foods. Our sufferings help us to endure the struggles of the world, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, in all kinds of ways. And Paul points out that such endurance builds in us character. Character is that “it” factor, that makes an individual stand out, that allows others to trust and feel confident that the individual will not disappoint us; the individual grows in hope that will not disappoint.
Think of people like Mother Theresa, we would most of us have trusted her with our lives. Paul did not want us to shy away from the sufferings that come along with our faith, but to embrace them, be proud of them and find joy in them. Paul would not understand the complaining that we often do in church about things not involving real suffering. Paul would not understand the concept, shared by many, of retiring from church service, the expression that “they did their part in the past” and so they suffered all they needed to do already. Paul would not understand the reluctance of our membership to give to the church from their abundance rather than from their leftovers. Suffering for the Lord is a real part of Christian faith and it produces endurance which builds character and it is there that we find true hope through God’s love, which will not disappoint us.