The Third Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 4:1-16 Rev. Christopher D.

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New Hope Lutheran Church, Toledo, OH St. Pauls Lutheran Church, Monroe, MI June 17, 2012

HOMILIES ON GENESIS: CAIN AND ABEL If you happen to own an LCD television, youre undoubtedly aware that one little crack in the screen spells doom for your TV. One little crack, one little blemish in the crystal display, and soon youll have spider cracks so bad, you wont be able to see anything, and the unit will be rendered unusable. I had the unfortunate circumstance of having a cracked LCD screen a while back. There was a small blemish in the corner, which I thought was a spot that could be wiped off. I took my finger and touched the spot and all of a sudden, the crack went up, down, sideways, and every other wayand the screen was ruined. It all started with a small crack, and look at the damage thats caused in the end. Sin is like that crack in the screen of the LCD unit. The devil was successful in convincing Adam and Eve that their disobedience of the command of God wouldnt cause that much damage and that theyd be better off in the end having what God was depriving them of. And like that small crack, with the first generation of children, it spread and became more and more profound, to the point where life, for the first time ever, was taken. You know the story of Cain and Abel. You remember from Sunday School that they both brought offerings and that one was acceptable to God and the other was not. You know that Cain slayed his brother Abel and showed little remorse for it. I pray that we extend our knowledge today beyond the simplicity with which weve learned it to explore just how progressive sin is, how damaging and destructive it is, and how merciful God has been in withholding just punishment from us, and extending to us forgiveness through the seed of the woman Jesus. Just as the account of creation and the fall, this too was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. They had no idea, Adam and Eve, how their rebellion in Eden would affect future generations. In fact, the devil works that way with us even today. He shows to us the temporary pleasing nature of something and never shows us the extensive consequences of breaching the divine commands of our God. He never shows us how far-reaching our sins really are and how they affect not only us, but everybody around us. Adam and Eve had no idea that their rebellion would be progressive and generational. Eve communicates that when she gave birth to Cain and announced, I have acquired a man, the LORD, which to many, including myself, says that she believed Cain to be the promised seed of the woman who would crush the serpents head. Instead, Cain was yet another, like his parents, who would succumb to the devils lies. And once again, the sin would be directly connected to worship. With Adam and Eve, their worship was simply obedience to Gods command. Their worship was refraining from eating from the fruit of the tree that sat in the middle of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And many believe that, if they would have continued to live in perfection, that every 7th day they would gather at the tree in the middle to worship God through obedience, which consisted of denial of that which was forbidden. By the time Cain and Abel were adults, another form of worship was taking place, that of the presentation of offerings to God. Were not told if God commanded this, and if so, when he commanded this to happen. Nonetheless, they were presenting portions of their earthly lot to God as a way of showing thankfulness for Gods generosity, and for his graciousness in allowing them to continue living, and allowing the land to continue to produce a harvest. Even more, in the offerings of Cain and Abel, which were offerings that required voluntary self-sacrifice, in those offerings was a picture, albeit ever so faint, of the coming Christ.

We pick up verses 3-7: 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it. It wasnt that Cains offering wasnt worth anything. It wasnt that it was less outwardly magnificent, although it may have been. What separated Cains offering from Abels was the spirit in which it was given. Abels offering clearly was from a heart of faith that recognized God as the giver of all good things, as the one from whom man would receive everything for life. Abels offering was one of humble sacrifice. Cains offering was one of reluctant obligation. And when Cains spirit was exposed, he got angry! Instead of returning to the Lord in repentance, since the Lord had given him every opportunity to repent, Cain went so far as to take life! And just think about how ridiculous that is! Cain was the one who sinned. Cain was the one who brought an offering in an obligatory spirit rather than a humble spirit. He was the one that screwed up, that listened to the devils lie. He was the one that embraced the thought that HE worked the ground so HE was entitled to the best, whereas anything would be okay for God, even the least of what the ground had produced. He was the one that was selfish, greedy, arrogant and defiant, and instead of turning in repentance, he justified in his mind that his brother put him to shamenot his own actions, it was Abels fault. Thats our natural reaction too, isnt it, to deflect blame? When our sins are exposed for what they are, we get angrynot introspective or reflective, or giving ourselves an honest look, we get angry! And that, friends, is dangerous! The apostle James tells us: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Anger is not easily controlled. It is not easily tamed. On the other hand, it is easily heightened. It is easily taken to the next level. It doesnt consider long term damage. It doesnt consider breadth of influence. It manifests in the moment, and like a tornado, leaves a path of destruction in its wake. And thats exactly what the devil wants: for us to lose control in the moment, to lose sight of the eternal goal for just a moment, to revel in our anger so that in the fury of the moment we cause pain and harm to others, perhaps even causing others to fall into sin themselves. Cains anger left behind incredible carnage. And in that striking down of Abel, the pattern of human tragedy as a result of the sin epidemic continued and progressed to the next level. Cain fell into unbelief. Abel fell as the first martyr of the faith, struck down because of his offering to the Lord. Yet, as heinous as this act was, as defiant as Cain was in his murdering of Abel, God still didnt give him what he deserved. He gave him an opportunity to repentnot immediate death, a chance to turn from his evil ways and receive forgiveness through faith in the promised Messiah. Sin is progressive in nature. And once the damage is done, its done. I would hesitate to think that there is anyone here today who has struck down another human being to death. But our hatred and anger is no less damnable than Cains. Jesus says very clearly, Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer. We must be very careful how we treat each other, especially those who are of the family of faith. Do we get angry about children who make noise in church? Their mere presence is pleasing to the Almighty, whose Son, the Word made flesh, welcomed them with open arms even when the disciples wanted them to just go away. We get angry when things dont go the way we think they should, when people dont act as we think they should, when our fellow Christians dont live up to our expectationsbut are any of those things justification for murdering our brother or sister, especially those who work tirelessly to ensure that their children are brought to the foot of the cross with regularity? The damage that is caused when our anger gets the best of us, whether said anger is even remotely justified, that damage is rarely fully repairable. When the damage is done, its done, and the devil looks at the

carnage in delight. Cain wasnt going to bring back Abel from the dead, even if he did repent. But, the beauty of this text is that Cain, who cut Abels life short, was, himself, not cut off from God forever. God reached out, in love. He intervened out of compassion for this first generation murderer, and offered to him the same thing that he offers to all of us Cains who have vehemently, purposefully and lovelessly murdered the beloved of God: pardon and protection! Cain was not that one that the Lord had promised in Eden, not by a long shot. The fulfillment would come thousands of years later. Jesus was the seed of the woman who would crush the serpents head. He was the one who spurned the temptations of the devil. He was the one that would overcome sin and death. He was the one that accepted hatred and scorn. He was the one that accepted the cross in humility. And it is by his sacrifice, not of grain or fruit or animals, but himself that the Father was able to approach Adam and Eve, Cain, and every subsequent generation with a glimpse of hopethe same one given to the Jailer at Philippi, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Have you wreaked havoc with your words? Have you acted in such a way that youve allowed yourself to be mastered by anger and sin rather than mastering sin, which is always crouching at the doorstep of our hearts? Have you, like me at times, been a tornado of emotion, and torn up a fellow believer or a family or a group of people, leaving only carnage behind? Have you been Cain? Find comfort in the fact that God has marked you for safety. He has placed his promise on you with water and word. He has placed his Holy Spirit in you. He has made you his own by faith. And even when we cause damage by our sins, and we will, we have a Savior God who by his death and resurrection has restored us to peace with our heavenly Father through the forgiveness of our sins, and truly makes all things new. Amen.