Imagine two brothers, different personalities & interests. Imagine growing up together in a close-knit family and just imagine there is some sibling rivalry going on. Perhaps over the years, the brothers went their separate ways so to speak and made different choices in their lives. Then imagine them both coming to church and presenting their gifts to God - the fruits of their labor, time and energy. Now picture one of those brothers being recognized and commended for his offering and the other not. The second brother's offering was frowned upon and found to be wanting. And oh, the sibling rivalry comes full throttle and all that built up resentment from the years comes rushing back. That scene, between Cain & Abel, is where we pick up today with the Genesis Story, Genesis chapter 4.
This story is not so much about the sibling rivalry but really about Cain and his personal struggle with sin. Cain & Abel are brothers - Abel was a shepherd, and Cain was a farmer. Both of them came to present their offerings to God. Abel comes, we are told, bringing the firstborn of his flock (v 4). We find out in Hebrews, that Abel brought his offering in faith, out of a righteous heart toward God (Hebrews 11:4). In contrast, we are not told much about Cain’s offering, other than his offering was displeasing to God. We are not told that Cain gave the best, or the first fruits, or that his heart was righteous toward God. No such commentary.
I wonder how God reflects on our giving? If He were writing commentary on our offerings, would He say they reflect a righteous heart like Abel? Would He be pleased? Would He say that we had given our best and our first? Or does He look with displeasure on our offerings, seeing not just what we gave but what we held back from Him? Would he see our hearts were more focused on giving ourselves a pat on the back, or on truly worshipping God as the giver of all good things?
Those questions haunt me, as I think they should haunt all of us. I want to please God. I want to give God my best, but I know I don’t always live up to that. Sometimes, I put everything else in my life first and then give Him whatever time, money, energy is left over. And I know it must grieve Him so much; it so displeases and dishonors Him. But there is hope, for me and for all of us. God calls us back to Himself, reminds us that He only is worthy of our worship and praise. He wants and expects our best.
Look at how He responds to Cain – God engages Cain in conversation. He doesn’t just get angry at Cain and ignore him or punish him. Rather, He gets right to the heart of the matter and asks Cain to look at his own behavior, to examine his own heart. God lets Cain know this is not a favorite contest between Cain & Abel, but rather a matter of Cain’s heart. In fact, God clearly tells Cain that if he will do what is right, he will be accepted too (v7). But Cain is stubborn. He doesn’t listen. He gets angry at God and at Abel. God says, look at this. “Sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must master it” (v4). Cain ignores God’s warnings. He blazes on by, gives in to his anger, and kills his brother Abel. He let sin win.
I’ve been there too. Maybe we all have, times when we get stubborn toward God, when we know we are wrong, but don’t want to hear it, don’t want to change. There have been times I have known I was in dangerous territory, when I felt sin crouching at my door. And I had the chance to walk away, but I didn’t, times when I let sin win. And those times brought serious consequences, just like they did for Cain (vv 10-16). But thankfully, there have also been times when I made the better choice, when I saw the dangers ahead, when God got my attention, and I was able to escape the danger, times when God’s grace spared me from walking down the wrong path. I’m so grateful for those times, times when I had a second chance to do the right thing and to make the right choice, to have the right heart toward God and toward others.
The right heart… what was God looking for in Cain? What did he desire? And what does he desire from us? All through the sermon today on this story, one passage kept coming to my mind in answer to this question, Romans 12:1-2 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship….then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
What God wanted all along was Cain’s heart, a heart that would seek to please Him – that was the act of worship, not bringing produce to lay on an altar, but bringing his life to the altar, as one set apart for the will and pleasure of God. And that is what God desires of each of us – to give Him our lives, our best, our all, to worship Him and to please Him with the way we live our lives.
Note: This reflection was prompted by Dr Mike Toby's sermon on 9/17 on Genesis 4. This sermon is part of a series of messages on Genesis at First Baptist Church Woodway.To download sermons, visit the church website: http://www.fbcwoodway.org/resources/sermons/.
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