The outline to the sermon transcript below is as follows::
UNCONTROLLED FLAMES
FORGIVENESS QUENCHES FLAMES OF ANGER
(What are some proven ways to forgive and stop complaining?)
1. COMPASSIONATELY NARROW YOUR REASONS FOR COMPLAINING.
2. HOPEFULLY DISCOVER BOTH/AND CREATURES WHO BOTH FORGIVE AND COMPLAIN.
3. SHARE INCA WRIST BAND HOSPITALITY WITH OTHERS.
COMPLAINING IS LIKE UNCONTROLLED FLAMES IN A FOREST FIRE.
God tells us not to complain among ourselves, because lots of complaining without positive cooperation doesn’t make us better. It only makes our relationships worse when we need to get better. James 3:5 notices how forest fires are started by a small spark. Annemarie and I responded to Volunteer Fire Department calls at our last church and we saw how fires or other accidents could have been avoided by being more careful with putting out a smoldering cigarette butt or camp fire. Fire can spread through all kind of material, strengthened by oxygen from the updraft of the flames. By the time we arrived to put it out, a home, vehicle or other structure might suffer major damage.
Maybe you’ve been in a meeting or function when someone made a disparaging remark about another person not present. Ruth Dalglish of New Zealand explains it like this in the Upper Room: “The remark is meant to be confidential, but a careless tongue repeats it to someone outside the meeting; then a malicious tongue tells it to another, and eventually the subject of the remark hears it repeated. He becomes angry and complains bitterly to his friends, though he refuses to speak to the one who initially spoke the words. The original speaker, in turn, is unrepentant and hostile.”
As flames feed on trash and forest underbrush, Christians who speak and repeat unkind words fuel a fire that can result in serious damage to others. Prayerful repentance by each person involved could have remedied the situation, filling each heart with the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
FORGIVENESS QUENCHES ANGER (repeat with congregation)
The Apostle Paul tells us to “bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other (Colossians 3:13). But “forgiveness” according to C. S. Lewis is a lovely idea until I have to practice it.
How about you? I must really love to hold on to my hurts and grievances, because I seem to remember them so easily. Surely I don’t want to feel the pain that I embrace, but maybe by remembering the pain, I somehow feel superior or at least better than those who hurt me: "Look what that person did to me. I'd never do anything like that."
But God is teaching me forgiveness, I have to let go of the pain, the superiority, the hurt. God loves me and has forgiven me. God loves you and has already forgiven you, too. We must continually remember this. God the Father has given and forgiven each one of us by sacrificing His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus suffered on the cross, dying a felon's death in torment. I don’t deserve that sacrifice. I will never deserve it. God's forgiveness is pure gift.
This means that I have the wonderful choice to forgive my sister or brother who wrongs me in error or thoughtlessness. I’m even privileged to forgive those who injure me with evil and malicious intent. M. Scott Peck says, “If God can give me grace, then I am God’s partner and can pass the grace on to others.”
What are proven ways to forgive and stop complaining?
1. NARROW YOUR REASONS FOR COMPLAINING – (TO THE WEAKEST POSSIBLE THREAD.)
Moses told the Hebrews that the LORD heard their complaining (Exodus 16:8) after bringing them out of slavery and sustaining them in the wilderness. I am tempted to criticize them for complaining, but I’m as guilty as they were.
I complain for a lot of reasons, not fit for a formal complaint filed in court or a Declaration of Independence for birthing of our country from England. Sometimes I complain when I know what I want to accomplish, but obstacles block my way. I complain that I don't have enough money or time. Things don't work out as I have planned and I complain because I don't want to find out what God’s plan really might be that is different from my own. It is easier to complain about the long line at the grocery store or for the lack of participation in last night’s Safeplace event, than it is to change my schedule and go at a different time or use a different tack in attracting and working with young people. Sometimes I complain so that others will feel sorry for me. Even though these problems are trivial, the way we respond to small problems shapes the way we respond to more important matters.
Yes, we’ve all got our reasons for complaining, but God expects us to "do all things without murmuring and arguing" (Philippians 2:14). We are to "rejoice in the Lord always" (Philippians 4:4) and to "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
2. WE ARE BOTH/AND CREATURES WHO BOTH FORGIVE AND COMPLAIN
Even if we can’t seem to stop complaining, God promises us that eventually, “Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction” (Isaiah 29:24) When I was a prosecutor in 3 Florida counties I used to review nuisance complaints like some kid walking through the back yard to get to school without permission or barking dogs. The kids would trample somebody’s flower bed and the barking dogs would wake up a newborn baby in the middle of the night. These were serious problems to those who lost their flowers or couldn’t get the baby back to sleep.
But just like the police officer responding while investigating an attempted murder or for the prosecutor dealing with 300 active cases that had to be negotiated or go to trial – it’s easy to become jaded or callous and brush off other people's troubles when we don't understand or share them. Maybe you get saturated with a complaining and belligerent world like I do. Maybe the complaints seem to overwhelm and incapacitate your ability to show real compassion.
I am grateful that God's heart is bigger than mine. God not only forgives my callousness, but reassures me that the cries for help are heard. God wants us to come to him with even our smallest concerns. And if the shoe is on the other foot sometimes and you are on the one hurting, then you can ask God for new insight into your familiar pain and hurt.
When you ask God for our daily bread, then you can find an appetite for God's manna growing right in front of you and then you can find yourself being blessed by this new manna of insight. Remember that “manna” in Hebrew means “what is it.” So when you are attacked by doubts or setbacks or evil or our sin – instead of grumbling and complaining about it, imagine how God’s steadfast love never ceases, and his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). God's word and revelation, like God's grace and mercies, can be new every morning if we feed on it with thankfulness.
3. INCA WRISTBAND HOSPITALITY TAKE 1 ½ HOURS TO MAKE, BUT WHOLESALES FOR 2 CENTS.
OK Ron, so just how to you propose that we feed on God’s “what is this”-manna with thankfulness? How about practicing Radical Hospitality like the Inca Indian’s who celebrated, worked and fed us with very limited resources, but gave to us so that we could bless them with our strength and help build 5 homes in 5 days. The apostle Peter says to “Be hospitable to one another without complaining (1 Peter 4:9).
Those people lived where Lima Peru used to dump its trash. They pooled their limited resources to feed us. To our surprise, however, our hosts would often not eat with us. Later we learned that they were offering all they had, to the extent that they and their families were doing without -- except for eating our leftovers. They even gave us these wristbands that take 1 ½ hours to make for which they earn only 2 cents.
Sacrificial love is the strongest way to show compassion and our love for God. Jesus give us the hope that we can share God's kingdom, because we give Him help when He was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, and in prison. When the righteous ones asked Jesus when they had helped Him, he said they had done it for Him when they did it for others.
Just like those Christian’s in Lima, we can demonstrate radical hospitality. What are you willing to give to Jesus. Will you give only what is convenient? Or will you be willing to give anything, at any cost, to the One who gave his life for you? LET’S PRAY
Heavenly Father, grant us the grace to forgive those who wrong us. Grant us grace to see that it is your forgiveness that makes our forgiving possible. Help me to accept Your forgiving grace that allows me to offer that same forgiving grace to others. O God, rid us of complaining and bickering and grumbling. Give us a spirit of thanksgiving so that we rejoice in all that you have given us. Help us to look at all that You have for us and be thankful. Gracious Father, thank you for attending to our cares. Help us to reflect your love and mercy when listening to the complaints of others. Help me to understand the concerns of those who complain. Dear God, thank you for freely and abundantly giving to us. Open our eyes to the needs around us. Help us to give our love to someone today even when it costs us dearly or makes our day less convenient. Please provide safety, food and shelter for everyone. In the precious name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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