Complaining about the Right Things this Christmas

One of the things that I notice about people today (myself included)  even at Christmas is that they seem quick to complain, but slow to praise and offer thanks.      Don't believe that?   Well, take a few minutes to look at the evening news or to scroll through the news stories on your favorite 24 hour cable news cycle.    If you do not spend time with those news media,  take a few minutes and scroll through your news feed on Facebook.    If your experience is like mine, you will see a bounty of complaints but only a few praises and thanksgivings.  To put it in the words of that Christmas classic “A Christmas Carol”, there are too many “Ebenzer Scrooges” saying “Bah, humbug” and too few “Tiny Tims” saying “God bless us, everyone”. 

In Luke 17, we hear an encounter Jesus had with 10 lepers.  Leprosy was a dreaded skin disease in Jesus' day because it meant that a person was banished from their home, family, community, and community of faith.   As Jesus heals them, we see that only one out of ten of the lepers bothers to thank Jesus for his healing.     While the 10 lepers were eager to be healed, 9 out of the 10 lepers basically forgot to give thanks to the One that set them free from their plight.    Perhaps it be wise and important for us to spend more time giving thanks and grateful for what is and what isn't.   Perhaps it would lift our spirits and the spirits of others if we spent more time thanking God than bringing him a long list of complaints.  

Perhaps it wise for us to spend more time complaining about the "right things":  to complain less about what is for dinner and complain more that there are people who have no dinner to eat... to complain less about the color of the sanctuary carpet and complain more that there are people in the world who have not heard the gospel.  And while we are it,  don’t just complain about the “right things”.   Go a step further to do something so you have less to complain about.   I close with a poem I came across many years ago.   While you might have read it before, let it penetrate our heart.   Have a joy-filled day.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Today on a bus, I saw a lovely girl with silken hair
I envied her, she seemed so gay, and I wished I was so fair
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the isle
O God, forgive me when I whine
I have two legs, the world is mine

And then I stopped to buy some sweets
The lad who sold them had such charm
I talked with him, he seemed so calm, and if I were late it would do no harm,
And as I left he said to me “I thank you, you have been so kind”
It’s nice to talk with folks like you. You see, I’m blind
O God forgive me when I whine
I have two eyes, the world is mine

Later walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue
He stood and watched the others play; it seemed he knew not what to do
I stopped a moment, then I said, why don’t you join the others dear”
He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he could not hear
O God forgive me when I whine
I have two ears, the world is mine

With legs to take me where I’ll go
With eyes to see the sunsets glow
With ears to ear what I would know
O God forgive me when I whine
I’m blessed, indeed, the world is mine

Joy Lovelet Crawford

Prayer:   God, I give you thanks for all my   blessings.    Give me eyes and a heart that are quick to see your goodness;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.