Complaining
to the Lord
Fr.
George Smiga
February
5, 2006
Mark
1:29 - 39
I
don't come to church to be depressed. I don't show up so that
my spirits can be pulled down. I come because I want my spirits
to be lifted. I want to find hope. I want to leave with a
more positive attitude then when I came. So what can we make
of this negative and pessimistic first reading from the book
of Job?
It
is one long series of complaints. Job says to his friends
and to God that he lives like a slave, that his days are full
of emptiness and his nights full of misery. He asserts that
his life is too short and it is without hope. He sees goodness
nowhere. What are these pessimistic words doing in the Word
of God? Why is this fearful list of complaints found in our
scriptures? Perhaps a story would help.
A
number of years ago while Hungary was still under Communist
rule, a Hungarian businessman entered the police station in
Budapest to ask for permission to emigrate to the United States
. The Police Officer was surprised by such a request because
it was hardly ever granted. But he was curious. So he asked
the man, “Why is it you want to leave your native country?
Are you unhappy here?” The businessman replied, “I have no
complaints.” “Is it perhaps your job,” said the official,
“the job the government assigned you? Are you not pleased
with your work, don't you find it satisfying?” The man said,
“I have no complaints.” “Perhaps it's your living conditions?
Do you want a bigger house?” Again came the response, “I have
no complaints.” So finally the official put down his pen and
said, “Look if you want me to even consider your request,
you have to tell me why you want to go to the United States
.” The businessman looked at him and said, “Because in the
United States I can have complaints.”
A
healthy country and healthy relationship allows people the
freedom to have complaints. The long list of complaints in
the Book of Job is the bible's way of saying that God wants
us to have that freedom. God wants us to be in a relationship
in which we have the freedom to say what we think, what we
need, and what we feel with complete honesty. Such honesty
is an indication of the closeness of the relationship. Think
about it. We very rarely entrust who we really are, or what
we really feel to casual acquaintances. You could have just
buried your father and if someone in the supermarket asks
how are you doing today, are likely to respond, “Fine.” You
could have just been diagnosed with brain cancer but when
the UPS man asks, “how's it going?” you answer, “Not bad.”
We are polite to strangers. We are honest to the people we
love.
When
we are hurt, when we have a burden that is difficult to carry,
our survival depends upon finding a relationship that is deep
enough and free enough that we can entrust our pain to another.
We all need relationships that are secure enough to handle
our complaints.
God
wants us to be in such a relationship. God wants us to know
that we can say what we really think, what we really feel
and who we really are. God grants us that freedom even if
such honesty involves anger, pain and pessimism. Now of course
there is no guarantee that God will agree with our assessment
of the situation. But God wants us to have the freedom to
be who we really are in God's presence. That is an indication
of how much God loves us.
Therefore
when we hear the pessimism and the complaints in the Book
of Job, they need not depress us. Those complaints are a sign
of the honesty and the depth of our relationship with God.
And since God has given us such freedom, it would be foolish
for us not to embrace it. So if you look at your life and
you find there only happiness and joy, if your health is good,
if you family is strong, if your relationships are life-giving,
then thank God and lift your hands in praise. But if you know
there is anger in your life, if you are carrying a hurt that
you find you cannot put down, if you have doubts about life,
if you have fear about the future, if there is in your heart
an emptiness that you are afraid to express even to yourself,
don't hold it in. Don't stand on ceremony. Don't be polite.
Complain to the Lord. Give the Lord your anger, your hurt,
your doubt, and your emptiness. Say who you really are, what
you really think, what you really need, how you really feel.
I can assure you that whatever you say, God will not be surprised
or offended. For whatever you can dish out, God is big enough
to handle.
Of
course if we can pray with this kind of honesty, it will change
is. But in order to be changed, we must come before the Lord
as the people we really are. When we give to God our anger,
God can heal it. When we give to God our doubt and emptiness,
God can fill it. When we complain to the Lord that we are
desperate and without hope, we open the door for salvation.
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