April 27, 2008

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Genesis 4:1-16

Grace and mercy be to you from our Lord Jesus. Amen.

Dear fellow redeemed,

The Apostle Paul knew about murder.He zealously murdered the followers of Jesus because he wrongly believed he was doing the work of Jehovah. Exposing and executing Christians became an obsession with Saul (as he was known in those days). Getting his first taste of it when assisting the murderers of Stephen, it grew into a full-time job, even traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus to find and kill more believers of the Way in a foreign country.

Oh yes, Paul knew about murder. So he knew from experience what he was writing about in his letter to the Romans. In Romans 5 inspired by God the Holy Spirit the Apostle wrote that where sin increases, grace increases all the more. The meaning of this comfort is made concrete in the account of Cain and Abel.

Adam and Eve, the first husband and wife, took God’s command to be fruitful and multiply to heart. They had two sons. The mother of all the living, Eve, gave thanks to God for her son Cain, the first human born: “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man”(Genesis 4:1b). She recognized that in God’s salvation plan this was to be the first in the line of men and One of them would be the promised Serpent-Crusher (see Genesis 3:15).

Both sons did not live up to their reputations. As the firstborn Cain was to be a leader in godly living and repentance—he obviously failed on both counts since he was filled with hate and envy and allowed these poisons to lead to conspiracy and murder and then refused to repent of his sin. Cain had big shoes to fill and he failed miserably. Abel was just the opposite. His mother named him “Vanity” and although we don’t know exactly why she choose this name, Vanity proved to be Virtue by God’s grace.

Abel was a shepherd and Cain was a farmer. Both of these callings were noble undertakings. Neither was better or worse than the other. This is true for us today. Although different jobs are paid different wages, being a ditch digger is certainly not less noble than an architect, being a factory worker no less noble than an electrician, being a bailiff no less noble than a judge. God calls us to different vocations. And while the world looks at your paycheck, God looks at your attitude at work.

Our attitude in our work and in our many callings in life—parent, child, sibling, grandparent, gardener, neighbor, etc.—is one that loves and honors the Lord and loves and cares for our fellow man. Jesus reveals to us that love is the essence of the Law. Love for God and our fellow man. Put God first. Put others before yourself. This is exactly what Abel did by faith and what Cain did not do. In 1 John 3 we read:

This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. (1 John 3:11-12)

By faith Abel loved God and put him first. He sacrificed his best to God. It’s true that what we do is often less important than why we do what we do. Cain and Abel both did the same thing. But their motives were not the same. God saw the difference: God-given faith in the promised Messiah.

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. (Hebrews 11:4)

Our attitude is hidden from each other. As we get older, we usually become pretty good actors. We learn to hide our true feelings from others. But we can’t hide our attitudes from God. Neither could Cain. God liked what He saw when He observed Abel’s motive for offering the best of what he had. God did not see that attitude in Cain. In some way—we don’t know how exactly—Cain recognized this lack of God’s favor and threw what amounted to a temper tantrum.

Where sin increases, grace increases all the more. Before the sin that was within Cain could overflow, our dear Lord called him to repent and do the right thing for the right reason. God did this out of grace. And when Cain’s hatred and envy led him to conspire to murder his own brother, God again came to him and called him to repent.

There is a sense of déjà vu here. When Adam went against God’s will and ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God went looking for him and asked him where he was. God knew, of course, just like he knew where Abel was. Abel was in heaven, the first soul to enter eternal paradise. So why did God ask the question? He did it out of love. To call Cain to his senses, so to speak, by demanding an accounting for his brother’s life.

God doesn’t beat around the bush. When dealing with this impenitent soul, God doesn’t spin the Law or soften it. He lays it on directly as it needs to be. And Cain not only refused to repent, he responded with impudence: “Am I my brother’s keeper?!” Cain’s sin was increasing: his lust against life was not satisfied with murder. He still was filled with hate against what God loves. Life is precious to God and indeed He does command us to be our brother’s keeper. The answer to Cain’s impenitent question is most definitely yes!

Cain’s stubborn unbelief demanded punishment. The blood of Abel demanded retribution. And God punished Christ for the sin of Cain. God punished His only Son for Abel’s blood that had been wrongly spilt. When Paul’s hatred and murder demanded a reckoning, the Father punished the Serpent-Crusher, Jesus Christ.

When our unbelief demands justice, God punished Christ. When we hate and murder and hold grudges in our hearts, God punished Christ. Instead of punishing Cain for his sin, God punished Christ. Instead of punish Paul for his sin, God punished Christ. Instead of punishing you for your sin, God punished Christ. This is what “Where our sin increases, God’s grace increased all the more” means! Our evil and hate cannot overwhelm the Cross of Christ.

Alleluia! Amen.

Pastor Luke Boehringer

Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church

Owosso, Michigan