Sin and Complaint: Day 2
“Why have we fasted”, they say, “and you have not seen it”. “Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed?” Isaiah 58:3 NIV
Why? – The people complain: “Why don’t you hear us? We have fasted. We have done our duty. But you don’t answer. Why don’t you do something? Don’t you see how religious we are?” God’s people valued only one thing: that God would do what they wanted. After all, they reasoned, they were entitled.
We mimic these hypocrites. “Lord, I paid my tithes. Lord, I prayed every day. Lord, I never cheated on my wife. Lord, I went to church almost every Sunday. Lord, I served on the deacons. Look at all that I’ve done. Now, why don’t you do something for me?”
“Answer my prayer, Lord. Give me what I need, Lord. Take care of my problems, Lord. After all, it’s only fair. Look at what I’ve done.”
The cancer of ego is not found in gross immorality. You don’t need to turn to the police report to find the real sickness of sin. All you need to do is look at the assumption that God can be manipulated by spiritual effort. Behind every complaint is ego entitlement. I want God to do His part because I deserve it. No matter how religious the expected actions, this motivation comes straight from hell.
“Lord, grow our congregation. Lord, bring us a bigger budget. Lord, expand our ministry. We’ve done our part, now You do yours.” What arrogance! Do you suppose that God needs us to do anything? Did He consult with us when He formed the world? Are we necessary to His plans? Pleas like these are at the edge of ego gratification. They ask God to endorse our will. But God will never act to bring glory to our plans. “Thy will be done” says nothing about the results we want.
The road to Bethlehem travels through the valley of ego destruction. Can a man blackmail heaven? How many times have we come to God with an attitude of negotiation or leverage? How many times have we let our “religion” replace God’s desire for devotion?
You cannot arrive at the manger with an expectation of reward. Jesus was not born because you demanded a solution. It is God’s show, entirely. That we participate at all is sheer grace. Bethlehem is for those who know they do not belong. The baby in the manger came for those who had nothing to offer in exchange.
