Wasted Silence

I'm editing a sermon my wife wrote for me to preach tomorrow (she is a preacher as well), and one of the illustrations she used is a joke she found on a sermon illustrations website. Here it is:

A monk joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. After the first 10 years his superior called him in and asked, "Do you have anything to say?" The monk replied, "Food bad." After another 10 years the monk again had opportunity to voice his thoughts. He said, "Bed hard." Another 10 years went by and again he was called in before his superior. When asked if he had anything to say, he responded, "I quit." "It doesn't surprise me a bit. You've done nothing but complain ever since you got here."

What a missed opportunity! He took such a significant vow, yet clearly accomplished it relying on his own power and not on the joy of the Lord. Anyone with the ability to speak constantly with God and God alone inside their mind, forced by vow to spend all of their communicative effort in concentrated consecration to God alone, would be so filled with unspeakable joy that nothing of complaint could possibly remain in their mind, let alone be the one thing they wanted to say.

I realize this is a joke, but how many of us spend 10 years in church, and our most common thought about it is complaint? How many of us can think of at least 5 complaints we've had today?

It is natural to complain. Things don't go the way we'd like them to go. But they do go the way God ordained that they would go. God is sovereign, and if we truly trust Him, then we will know that things are always going the best way they could possibly go, because the whole universe and everything in it was made for the glory of God, and will glorify Him. If we are born of God as John 1:1-13 indicates, then glorifying God is our sincere desire because we truly love God more than anyone or anything else, including ourselves, our families or the whole Earth and everything in it. The glorification of God is good for us, because to glorify something is to take supreme pleasure in it. When we glorify God we are given supreme pleasure by Holy Spirit.

Therefore if we feel the urge to complain, let us first remember that God is in control, and we can trust Him because he wants to give us infinite joy. By proving that you value God more than your personal comfort by being satisfied in Him even in the midst of horrible circumstances, you glorify God and cause his reputation to be lifted up in the world.