COMPLAINING
(JUDE 16)
1) We have once again reached a time of year that has some holidays associated with it.
2) During this time of year we hear a lot of complaining.
3) If Christmas gifts are given, some complain about receiving the wrong thing.
4) The stores are too crowded
5) The store shelves are bare.
6) At Christmas some complain that they didn’t get enough presents.
7) A few days ago we celebrated Thanksgiving.
8) Last Thursday there were some who surely complained.
9) Maybe the rolls were baked too long or the cook forgot to make them.
10) Perhaps the turkey was dry. Maybe our favorite type of gravy wasn’t made.
11) A certain desert may not have been brought.
12) Some may have complained about the games they played on Thanksgiving.
WE
LIVE IN A TIME AND A CULTURE WHICH IS FILLED WITH COMPLAINING.
1) Sometimes life seems to be a lot like an old Persian fable.
2) There was once a hen, a mouse, and a rabbit that all lived in a little house.
3) This trio was happy because they all shared the work & had a good life.
4) The rabbit cooked the meals. The hen carried in the firewood.
5) The mouse brought in water from a nearby brook.
6) One day as the hen went to get the firewood a crow asked she was doing.
7) The crow informed the hen that she had the hardest job and it wasn’t fair.
8) The rabbit and the mouse were taking advantage of her.
9) The hen couldn’t stop thinking about what the crow had said.
10) She finally called the rabbit and mouse together and said, “Look. This is not fair.
11) “I do the hardest work; that’s not right. We should change jobs.”
12) The mouse and the rabbit had been thinking that they too had the hardest jobs.
13) They were also ready to complain.
14) It was decided that the 3 creatures would change jobs. The mouse would cook.
15) The rabbit would get the firewood, and the hen would fetch the water.
16) The rabbit hopped into the woods for the firewood but he got caught by a fox.
17) He was eaten.
18) The hen took the pail to the creek, but the current was too strong & she was swept away.
19) The mouse sat on the edge of the pot wondering where his friends were.
20) He didn’t need to wait for long. He lost his balance and drowned in the soup.
21) Human beings are critical of so many things.
22) At home, in the work place, during holidays, on vacation, during school, criticism abounds.
23) If the mail is later than we expect, the carrier may be criticized.
24) If the grocery store doesn’t have what we want, who has not criticized that or heard c?
25) If the ATM machine doesn’t work, have we not heard people express criticism like:
A) “Why don’t they fix that? Or, “It’s the weekend; why didn’t they put more $ into it?
26) Consumers complain about computers don’t work fast enough. The internet is too slow.
27) Gas is too expensive. The weather is too cold.
28) Much of the talk about the recent election abounds with criticism.
29) Because we live in a world surrounded by criticism God has some things to tell us.
30) In Jude 16 we find a word which is translated murmur.
31) The word used by Jude is found in various forms throughout the NT.
32) This word & its forms may be illustrated by words like complain, grumble, and moan.
A) There is also another word in Jude 16 which is translated complain.
B) Jude used 2 different words to describe false teachers who often complained.
33) A
CLOSE STUDY OF THE FIRST WORD USED BY JUDE AND ITS RELATED FORMS REVEALS SOME
THINGS.
34) One of the things the word in Jude 16 tells us is found in Acts 6:1.
35) Luke 6:1 uses the same word that is used in Jude 16
36) In Acts 6:1 Luke states there were two types of Jews.
37) There were
Hebrews; these people were from the area of
38) There were also Grecian Jews. These Jews were those who lived outside of Pales.
39) Both groups of Jews described in Acts 6 had some widows.
40) These widows were to receive help from the church – Acts 6:1
41) Notice this point. Acts 6:1 describes members of the church (Christians).
42) These Christians were murmuring. A.T. Robertson, a great Greek scholar said:
43) That this “murmuring” “is the secret grumblings that buzz away till they are heard.”
44) This definition and passage tells us some things about complaining.
A) We know that the false teachers described in Jude 16 complained and whined.
B) Jude informs us that the lost are guilty of grumbling and complaining.
C) What about members of the church (Christians)?
D) Do God’s people ever grumble and complain? Acts 6:1 says that they do.
E) Not only did the Christians in Acts 6:1 do some complaining,
F) They complained to other Christians.
45) The remaining verses in Acts 6 shows that the complaining was resolved.
46) However, we might ask this question: should these Christians have complained?
47) Should there have been grumbling within the ranks?
48) Jude 16 points us towards an answer but I am going to reserve that passage for later.
49) Let’s look at another verse which uses the same word found in Jude 16 & Acts 6:1.
50) This passage is Phil. 2:14.
51) In Phil.
52) He told the Philippians to be lights in a world that was crooked and perverse.
53) One of the ways to do this is found in verse 14.
54) If we put Paul’s statement into everyday life the point is this:
55) Live a life without murmuring. Avoid complaining in secret or openly.
56) Avoid the kind of whining and fault finding that promotes ill will & lack of harmony.
57) This is what those in Acts 6 should have done. Those in Acts 6 did what was wrong.
58) If those in Acts 6 saw a problem they should have made that known.
59) Identifying a problem or asking about a matter is not complaining and is not wrong.
60) If we go to the store and see that the shelves are empty,
A) We may ask when more groceries will arrive.
B) We may ask if groceries are in the store but not yet on the shelves.
C) Complaining about the lack of goods is a temptation that we want to avoid.
61) This is not always the easiest thing in the world to do
62) Another passage that uses the word we are looking at is 1 Pet. 4:9.
63) Peter takes the general principle in Phil. 2 and provides us with a specific example.
64) The apostle in the 4th chapter of this book introduces the idea of hospitality.
65) Peter instructs God’s people to be hospitable and to avoid a sin.
66) Here is what he wrote – 1 Pet. 4:9.
67) The KJV has the word “grudging”; ASV has “murmuring.”
68) What if we look at the text and mentally insert the word “complaining”—
69) Be hospitable without complaining.
A) The word hospitality implies that we will have social contact with others.
B) In the first century this often meant bringing people into one’s home.
C) We can still relate complaining to the hospitality we offer in our homes.
a) “They showed up late.”
b) ”They didn’t bring what they promised.”
c) “They stayed too long.”
D) Complaining can be related to other things as well.
E) At different times this congregation has gotten together and shared a meal.
F) During these times has there ever been any complaining?
G) Were there any secret (or open) grumblings?
H) I’ll let you answer that question.
I) If we heard complaining, how does that compare with the vss that have been given?
J) Does God favorably look upon whining and crabbiness?
70) Acts 6 shows that God’s people will be tempted to complain.
71) I know of Christians who are quicker to complain than many who are in the world.
72) Let’s, however, remind ourselves what James said in Jas. 3:5-8.
73) A fable says that a rabbit, mouse, and hen, complained and they got into trouble.
74) God’s people can put themselves into a similar predicament.
75) In different ways the Bible warns us about complaining.
76) Even in the book of Jude this warning is given.
77) In Jude the complaining was apparently directed against God.
78) The false teachers didn’t like the way God did things.
79) This attitude still exists. Some still complain about the ways and will of God.
80) For the Christian two passages should be kept in mind most of the time.
81) Both of these verses use a form of the word translated murmur in Jude 16.
82) The first of these passages is found in Mt. 20.
83) Jesus spoke of a man who owned a vineyard; this man needed some workers.
84) This business man went out early in the morning and hired some men.
85) These men agreed to work for a certain amount of money.
86) As the day passed more and more men were hired. All agreed to a certain wage.
87) At the end of the day it was time to pay the workers.
88) The laborers saw that everyone got the same amount of money.
89) Here was their response – verse 11; they murmured.
90) These men could have asked about the matter (that would not have been sinful).
91) Complaining was wrong. Verses 13-14.
92) The Lord condemned complaining.
93) The apostle Paul presented this same message to the Corinthians.
94) In 1 Cor. 10 Paul described the Hebrew people.
95) Paul said that the Israelites in the Old Testament should teach us some things (v. 6).
96) One of the things we should learn from the Hebrews is found in verse 10.
97) Do not murmur (complain); why? The Hebrews did this and they were destroyed.
98) It is true that the complaints the Hebrews were making were against God.
99) The same seems to have been true for a lot of the complaining in Jude 16.
100) Conclusion:
101) Nevertheless, complaining is an act that Christians should strive to reduce & avoid.
102) It will better our homes, neighborhoods, congregations, and our Christian lives.
103) If you are a Christian who is given to complaining, consider the vss that have been given.
104) This area of Christianity is one that you can concentrate on and better yourself.
105) If you are not a Christian, please think about the fact that Christianity not only offers…
106) A better life now, it is the only way to eternal life in the future.