Ep 138 | Cover to Cover 17 | Pastor Chris Ryan | April 26, 2026

Hello, this is Pastor Ryan Clark.

You are listening to a message from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

Oh Lord open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praises, in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

When I was in college, I used to work as a waiter at a restaurant called Scooters Cafe and Pizzeria in Saugatuck, Michigan.

So if you're ever in Saugatuck, I would not recommend stopping at Scooter's Cafe and Pizzeria at all.

It truly was a two star dining experience for three star dining prices.

The service there was always a little slow.

In fact, it took a long time for your food to come out, and when it did finally come out, it usually wasn't that good.

And of course, this led to a lot of complaining and whining from the customers.

And when people complain at a restaurant, usually they complain to, and then ultimately about their waiter or waitress.

And there was so much complaining about the waitstaff at Scooters, that when times were slow there, the waiters and waitresses would actually play a little bit of a game.

We would go online and look at the various negative reviews about Scooters, often about the waiters or waitresses, and we'd try to figure out which person on the waitstaff is this complainer talking about.

And on a whim, the other day, I took a walk down memory lane, and it turns out a lot of those negative reviews, they were about me.

One that was absolutely about me, this person said, "Our waiter kept on touching his facial hair nonstop."

One star.

You know how I know that one was about me.

I was the only one on the waitstaff that had anything resembling facial hair at the time.

Another one that was absolutely about me.

"Our waiter spilled my soda on me twice."

One star.

There's no way someone else made that same mistake during my time at Scooters.

I remember soda lady.

She left me along with that one star review, the tip that I deserved for her Scooter's experience.

And another one star review for me, "Our waiter brought me the wrong salad dressing several times."

That was actually just a little snippet of a much longer negative review, and I do remember salad dressing guy as well.

It was a very strange interaction.

He ordered blue cheese dressing with his salad and I brought it out to him and he said, this is ranch dressing, not blue cheese.

Mistakes happen.

So I tried again, brought him his dressing again.

He said, you brought me ranch dressing again.

So I went back to the kitchen, grabbed the bottle of blue cheese dressing and poured it out right in front of him at the table and he said, "Boy, why did you fill the blue cheese dressing bottle with ranch dressing?" And then as part of this review, he said it was the worst service he's ever had.

One star.

Now I will point out it wasn't all negative reviews from my time at Scooters.

I found one that was absolutely about me as part of a five star review.

They referred to their handsome waiter.

Now, strangely enough, this person didn't fill out this review until 20, 24, some 10 years after I stopped working there.

I don't know why it took them so long to write that, but I'm glad they finally got it off their chest.

It was a nice thing to say.

Of course, it was mostly complaints from my time at Scooters, and of course, if you have been following along in your two year Bible read through, you are very used to people complaining about long waits and the food and the drink not being good enough.

As we follow the Israelites on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, it truly is a story of whiners in the wilderness, isn't it? They complain and they grumble, and they complain and grumble some more, and they leave God one star review after one star review.

St.

John's family, we don't want to be like those Israelites at all.

What we're gonna see is that when we become resentful and complain and have hearts of entitlement and grumble towards God, more often than not, it's going to lead to some very bad things for us.

Very similar actually to what it led to for the Israelites.

Let's watch them learn their lesson the hard way.

Numbers 21:4, It says the Israelites traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea to go around Edom.

Numbers 21:4

Now at this point, our Israelites have been wandering around the wilderness for 38 years.

And if you can imagine their patience, it's starting to grow a little bit thin.

And it really reaches a breaking point for them when they reach a little bit of a roadblock on their way to the Promised Land.

It said they had to go around Edom.

They try to take the most direct route to the Promised Land, but they encounter the Edomites, the descendants of Esau.

The Edomites meet the Israelites with their army, and the Israelites say, okay, we'll take another route.

And they backtrack south down that thicker red line, and then they have to go all the way around Edom, all the way around Moab to approach the Promised Land.

And you can see why they'd be so upset about this, right? This is not the simple matter of you having to drive an extra four minutes to Aldi, because Minnesota 25 is closed right now.

They had to walk that whole way and their frustrations, they bubble over.

They spoke against God and against Moses and said, why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, there is no water, and we detest this miserable food.

One star.

Now, if you look closely at their review of the wilderness experience there, you might say, Pastor, there seems like there's a couple of things wrong with what they're saying.

In fact, a couple of those things, they aren't even true.

They're more delusional than salad dressing guy was at Scooter's Cafe and Pizzeria.

As I was looking at some of those reviews about Scooters, by the way, I found what I thought was just a little bit of a funny feature that these websites can do.

Oftentimes when someone fills out a one star review, the owner can actually respond personally to that person and apologize or explain what happened.

Now, you probably can't read that, but the one star review up here said, "Whatever you do, don't waste your time at this place.

The service and employees are terrible, very rude, and aggressive.

The pizza was distasteful and tasted old even after being heated up."

To which the owner responded.

"Sorry to hear that, but this is only your personal opinion."

I'm sure that smoothed everything over very nicely.

It would be well within God's purview, by the way, to respond to this one star review that the Israelites are giving to him because it's full of lies.

He could say, what do you mean one star? And what do you mean no bread? If there's no bread that you've eaten, how do you explain Exodus 16:15, which says, Moses said to the Israelites, it is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.

Exodus 16:15

That's talking about the manna that God rains down on the Israelites from heaven, bread from heaven, and not only do they get bread from God, they get it every day.

God is giving them their daily bread, if you will.

And God might say, if you thought it tasted so bad, if it was so miserable, as you said in your review, how do you explain Exodus 16:31, where some of you were overheard saying that bread tastes like wafers made with honey.

Exodus 16:31

Sorry about that delicious honey bread that I give to you every single day.

And did somebody say there was no water? Israelites, what chapter are we in right now? Numbers 21.

Well, let's take a step back all the way to Numbers 20.

If you recall, Israelites, I gave you unlimited water from a rock.

So your complaints about no water, it holds no water.

And as far as not being excited or eager to eat anything that I've given you, how do you explain Numbers 11 and all that quality quail I gave you in such great quantity? And it's true.

If you look at this story, the Israelites we're very excited to eat all of that quail.

In fact, they were so excited that much like my fantasy baseball team this year, it says in Numbers 11:33, that not one of them gathered less than 10 homers of those quail.

Numbers 11:33

Now, a homer in the Bible was a unit of measurement.

It was a unit of volume.

It equated to about six and a half gallons.

So picture it.

These Israelites were so excited to gather and eat that quail that the ones that go and gather it up.

Each one of them gathers at least 13 of those five gallon buckets full of that quail.

They were eager to eat that food.

They were eager to eat what God had provided aplenty.

And why wouldn't they.

Delicious honey bread, tasty quail, and water from God to wash it down.

Not bad at all.

And yet, what do they say? One star.

Unfortunately, as we look at their story today.

We see that this generation of Israelites has become an awful lot like the generation that came before them.

That generation before them.

They left Moses eight, one star reviews if you look back at the story, Of course, this generation, they take it up a notch, don't they? They're not just complaining about Moses.

They spoke against Moses and against God himself, didn't they? The same God, who by the way, has done so much for them.

Who's freed them from Egypt, who's fought their battles for them? Who's defeated their enemies for them? Who's provided for them again and again and again? Who's led them and guided them, who's truly given them the five star treatment, and yet, what do they say? One star.

And St.

John's family, let's call a spade a spade here, right? When we whine, when we grumble, when we have entitled, resentful attitudes towards God, that complain again and again, and again, that is sin.

And sin has consequences, and we see those consequences firsthand in our reading today.

In Numbers 21:6, it says that God sends serpents amongst the Israel.

Numbers 21:6

He says, you think what I'm giving you is one star treatment? Fine.

Let's have you actually have one star treatment.

And those serpents, they're poisonous, they bite the Israelites, and it says that many of the Israelites die.

You say, Pastor Ryan, that seems a little bit harsh, doesn't it? But truly, that is what sin deserves.

The wages of sin is death.

And the consequences of their sin, it causes the Israelites to repent, doesn't it? And Numbers 21:7, they go to Moses and they say, we sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you.

Numbers 21:7

Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.

And God offers a very unique solution to the Israelites.

The Lord said to Moses, make a snake and put it up on a pole.

Anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.

So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole.

Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

Very simple, very straightforward, right? All they had to do is trust in God and turn their eyes upon what God had sent, and they were saved.

It was as easy as that.

And St.

John's family, there is a lesson in this story for us today, because believe it or not, when you look in the mirror, you're gonna see somebody that's an awful lot like those Israelites.

We too have whining, ungrateful, entitled, complaining hearts.

It's not a simple matter of asking God for things, right? God wants us to ask him for things, but often when we don't get what we ask for, we become bitter and resentful towards God, and we complain and complain and complain some more.

Well, not me, Pastor, I don't complain that much.

Well, then you're a whole lot different than the average person.

Because studies show that the average person complains right around 30 times a day.

And my friends, that's just the things they say out loud.

Can you imagine what's going on in the average person's head? The negative thoughts that are affecting their hearts? And when we complain, it truly does hurt us in body and soul.

A study out of Stanford found that complaining actually causes brain damage.

When you complain in excess, they found that it shrinks the size of your hippocampus, this little structure in your brain that you can see highlighted up there, and the hippocampus is responsible for memory and even some problem solving.

When we complain in excess, that begins to shrink.

Well, Pastor Ryan, I'm not complaining, I'm just venting.

I'm just blowing off a little steam.

I feel better when I get those things off of my chest.

All right, I hear you.

Complaining, venting.

Call it whatever you want, but I promise you, you're not making yourself feel better.

You know what venting does? It releases cortisol into your body and that triggers your fight or flight response, and that makes you feel even more worked up than you were before.

And why wouldn't you be more worked up than you were before? You're reliving the same negative experience once again.

One that caused so many hard feelings.

Venting does not make you feel better.

Every study out there shows that what it does do is lead to high levels of cortisol, which is associated with heart disease, high cholesterol, and strokes.

Those things are not good.

St.

John's family, and by the way, when we vent like that to another person, we're causing them to have their cortisol levels raised too.

So we're hurting ourselves and someone else when we complain, especially in excess.

Is it any wonder God says, do all things without grumbling or disputing.

Pastor Ryan, you don't understand.

I'm having a pretty bad day.

I'm having a pretty bad week, month, year life.

You haven't met my boss.

That is somebody to complain about.

That guy's a jerk.

I've gotta get that off my chest.

And my car, it broke down.

I can't pay for that.

I can't keep all these feelings inside.

Look, I'm not trying to minimize what you have gone through.

We go through some pretty horrible things in this sinful and fallen world, don't we? But really, it comes down to a matter of trust.

Do you trust that God knows what's best for you and wants what's best for you? If you do, even when it's difficult, even when it's really difficult, you try to do the things that he tells you that he commands you to do, and he says, do all things.

That's everything, by the way, without grumbling or disputing.

God knows that complaining.

It hurts us both physically and spiritually.

When we complain.

It blinds us so often to the blessings that God has given us.

And many times those complaints, you know what they do.

They act as a poison that puts distance between us and God no different perhaps than the poison that affected the Israelites from their grumbling back in the wilderness.

Of course, just like those Israelites, God gives us a solution to the poison that plagues our hearts caused by grumbling.

It's actually a very similar solution to what he gave the Israelites.

God says, look upon what I have sent and be saved! It's as simple, it's as easy as that.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

We see that in Hebrews 12: 1-3.

It says, Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

For the joy set before him he endured the cross,scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And then our highlighted verse of the day.

Hebrews 12: 3-1.

That is well worth highlighting, well worth memorizing.

"Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

You know what slows us down from running a good race? This race of living out our faith and sharing it with others when we focus on all of the bad things that are going on in this sinful and fallen world.

That causes us to become entangled, that causes us to complain and become bitter.

But the antidote to that bitterness and that poison is to consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that we will not grow weary and lose heart to consider all that Jesus has done for you.

And what did Jesus do for you, just you? Well, just as the serpent was lifted up on the wilderness in that pole, the Son of man was lifted up on a pole.

Jesus Christ crucified on the cross where he died just for you to forgive every sin that you have ever committed, that I have ever committed.

To forgive, every single time that we complained and grumbled and said, God not good enough.

One star.

And by the way, in an ultimate example to us.

If anyone ever had any reason to complain it was Jesus while he was on the cross.

And yet what does it say in Isaiah 53:7, He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

Not a single complaint went by his lips as he was dying just for you.

In fact, it was just the opposite.

There was no bitterness.

There was no anger.

It says for the joy set before him, he endured the cross.

Jesus was full of joy at the thought and as he actually did die, just for you on the cross.

What an incredible thing that is.

Talk about five star treatment just for you, am I right? And when we consider that five star treatment, we get this promise in Philippians 4: 6-7, That we're no longer gonna be filled with anxiety and worries of this world; they're gonna wash away.

But rather as we go to God with Thanksgiving, focusing on all that he has done for us, he fills us with his peace, which transcends all understanding.

And by the way, you have a lot of blessings to focus on.

You really do.

Maybe you can think about the home, the roof that's over your head, the friends that you have, the family that you have, the church family that you have.

And if you look at those four bullet points and say, pastor Ryan, I'm not really doing that well in some of those areas.

Well, then take my original advice and look all the way back to the cross and focus on what Jesus did just for you and what you win, what he has won for you.

A relationship with God that starts now and lasts forever.

One where you get his love, his wisdom, his peace, his protection, and more.

St.

John's family, when you focus on that, it will change your life.

That bitterness is gonna be gone, and like I said, and God promised, it's gonna be replaced by his peace that transcends all understanding.

And so, St.

John's family, I actually have a challenge for you this week.

I want you to take stock of your life, watch what you're thinking, watch what you're saying, and see how long you can make it without complaining.

See if we can work as a church family to bring down that 30 complaints a day average, single handedly right? And when you sin and complain and grumble because it's going to happen, start the streak over and see how long you can go again.

It's gonna change your life as you attempt to do that.

And may God work through you to do that.

In fact, my prayer for you this week is this.

May you be filled with the same kind of joy that Jesus had on the cross as he died for you, as you focus on His death.

ust for you.

May you turn your eyes upon Jesus.

May you do this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You've been listening to a sermon from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

If you would like more information about St.

John's and any of our ministries to our community and beyond, you can go to our website, www.

stjohnsbuffalo.

org.

Thank you and God bless you.