The Choice to Murmur for Christ

The Word of God provides us with many biblical scenes of irony that leave one to ask, what were they thinking? One such example is Israel’s release from Egyptian bondage, where instead of acknowledging God's gift of freedom, the Israelites chose to murmur against Him the moment they began to endure some form of physical suffering. Another example was their lamentation of leaving Egypt and their adapted pagan way of life.[1] Their lamentation continued in the Manna from Heaven discourse, where Israel expresses fear of dying from starvation. The continual dismissive and dissatisfied behavior the Israelites direct towards God reveals a spiritual dissent that fuels their lack of faith, described in the book of Exodus;

And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.[2]

When Israel chooses to murmur against God, they express an open dissatisfaction with Him. The irony of the sequence just described is that God made sure Israel would not starve.[3] Fittingly, Jesus would also incur the murmuring wrath of both the Jews and Gentiles alike in the “Bread of the Life” discourse in the gospel of St. John.[4] When Jesus identifies himself as the “Bread of Life,” he tells the congregation to stop murmuring and, as a good teacher, explains to them His relationship with His Father and the nature of His identity as the Son of God.

Murmuring, as described in Sacred Scripture, reveals a common dissatisfaction among the people towards God. In basic terms, both the Israelites in the Old Testament and Jews and Gentiles in the New Testament are dissatisfied with the Divine propositions offered by God the Father and God the Son. When one chooses to murmur against God the Father or Christ the Son, it implies that their love is insufficient. There must be something more compelling than what Jesus offered on the Cross. Hence, the person either begins to argue or fight with God, or worse develop a hatred towards Him. Man’s choice to murmur against Jesus, for example, may reveal a wounded or darkened soul that refuses to acknowledge Christ’s love revealed through His death and resurrection. Or, the fruit of His death, which is the salvation of all humanity through the Church and sacramental life. 

However, there is an opportunity to speak well of God if one chooses to murmur through a virtuous lens rooted in the virtue of prudence and wisdom. When someone chooses to act with prudence and wisdom, the nature of their murmur, I argue, does not express a dissatisfaction with the salvific actions of Christ, but quite the opposite. Instead, the person structures their life through right reason, by which their actions are properly ordered and directed towards Christ. When a person chooses to murmur within the context of the virtues of wisdom and prudence, they acknowledge a satisfaction with their relationship with God, they affirm their identity with God, and they anticipate a hope and lasting union with God in heaven.

The choice to murmur for Christ means gratification and affirmation in what Christ has done and what awaits mankind in heaven. When one is just in their moral disposition and actively chooses to engage in a relationship with Christ, their message becomes a murmur of wisdom and joy. The Catechism implies this as such,

The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the Church’s mission in the world. In order that the message of salvation can show the power of its truth and radiance before men, it must be authenticated by the witness of the life of Christians. “The witness of a Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have great power to draw men to the faith and to God.[5] . . . By living with the mind of Christ, Christians hasten the coming of the Reign of God, “a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.” They do not, for all that, abandon their earthly tasks; faithful to their master, they fulfill them with uprightness, patience, and love.[6]

As we continue in our Lenten journey, let us avoid the temptation to be dissatisfied with Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world, and seek opportunities to speak well of Him and proclaim Him with grace and joy. Some spiritual exercises to consider toward strengthening your relationship with Christ are the spiritual practice of lectio Divina (praying, meditating, and contemplating Sacred Scripture), prayerful silence and contemplation, meditation on the passion of Christ, fasting, and participating in the sacrament of confession, which serve as paths to murmur for and not against Christ. The following words from St. Bernard of Clairvaux provide a fitting reminder of how to murmur for Christ.

Happy is the man who has found wisdom. Even more happy is the man who lives in wisdom, for he perceives its abundance. There are three ways for wisdom or prudence to abound in you: if you confess your sins, if you give thanks and praise, and if your speech is edifying. Man believes with his heart, and so he is justified. He confesses with his lips, and so he is saved. In the beginning of his speech, the just man is his own accuser, next he gives glory to God, and thirdly, if his wisdom extends that far, he edifies his neighbour.

On the Search for Wisdom

From a sermon of St. Bernard of Clairvaux