In this first Sunday of July, we begin our summer routine, our Summer of Stories. If you remember last year, we explored some of Jesus’ parables in the gospels. We were challenged by the layers of meaning and the different ways that each of us hears and understands these simple stories from Jesus’ ministry. This summer, we are looking at stories about children. Most of the Bible is about adults and often attempts to speak into mature themes or difficult adult topics. But I want the children of our congregation to know that God used kids just like them to do amazing things. Just like God was present in the stories that we will be exploring, so God is present in the midst of our daily experiences. God is calling all of us, even our children, into deep, life-giving relationship as a community committed to the way of Jesus in a broken and difficult world.
Our story this morning then begins in the messy world of family relationships, in fact, the first family. After Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge, their eyes are opened to the realities of good, evil, and shame. God makes clothes for them and moves them out of the garden so that they cannot pick also from the tree of life, which would give them immortality. Outside of the garden, the family farm begins as Eve and Adam’s family grows. First, Cain is born. Cain sounds like the Hebrew word qana for produce, aquire, or get; Cain is the produce of the first union of man and woman. Cain actually means spear, which might also be a veiled allusion to what will happen later in the story. As the oldest or firstborn, Cain is the rightful or traditional heir to the family farm in ancient Israelite culture. Cain joins his father in caring for the crops and tilling the soil. His younger brother Abel is born then some time after him and is given the job of the younger of the family: caring for the animals – sheep in this instance. Abel’s name means breath or futility, again an allusion to how quickly his role in the story will come to its end. What we do not know from the story is how old Cain and Abel are. I have always envisioned them as teenager or even young adults, but it is quite possible that they are younger. We will never know, but because of the mystery of their ages and the familiarity of the themes of the story as a story of family farm life or just family life in general, I wanted to use it for this summer. This is the first story of the first children of the first family in the scriptures.
When Abel and Cain bring their offerings before the Lord, all that we are told is that God has regard or favor for Abel’s offering but does not for Cain’s offering. We are not told how these young men find out how God feels about their sacrifices, nor do we have any sense of why the Lord responds in these ways. The text of the story gives us little detail surrounding these perplexing questions. We want to know why. We want to be like Abel. We want God to look on us with favor. However, before you are too quick to jump into Abel’s example as one to follow, realize that the Lord’s favor does not mean exclusion for Cain or that God has somehow left Cain behind or punished him. No! In fact, when Cain responds to God’s favor on his younger brother with anger and jealousy, God is quick to talk to him about it and warn him what these strong emotions and thoughts could become. Note that the Lord does not tell Cain that his anger and resentment are sinful. The Lord asks Cain to explore the emotions and explain them. Why are you angry? Why are you filled with resentment, or why has your face become downcast?
We do not know if Cain responded to the Lord, or if he just walked off in a huff. Maybe he stomped off, fuming in anger that the Lord would have the audacity to ask when the Lord already knows what has made him so upset. We must though stop a moment and focus on God’s warning to Cain, a warning to all of us when we are filled to the brim with anger and resentment. The Lord says, “sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Wow! Far from the learned helplessness that some theologians would like us to believe about ourselves, God holds Cain responsible for working through the emotions that could become something much darker, more sinister, and downright evil. We should not be surprised by this warning, for in the midst of some of the most difficult family and community relationships, the worst sometimes comes out of us, resulting in hurt and pain that goes far beyond the initial anger or resentment. I wonder if the Lord in this moment is touching on humanity’s tendency to take things too far when we are overcome by our emotions and desires.
Either way, the story moves forward quickly, and we hear nothing else of how Cain listens to the Lord’s warning. Verse 8 forms the center of our story. 7 verses begin chapter 4 and set the stage for verse 8, while the 7 verses that follow verse 8 work out the messy consequences of Cain’s violent solution. Cain and Abel go out to the field together at Cain’s request, giving us the indication that Cain has planned this moment. When they are out in the field, Cain murders Abel. We do not hear of how Cain gets rid of his brother’s body or when God meets up with him. Based on the Lord’s response, some time later, God visits Cain and asks where Abel is. Cain says he doesn’t know and then adds a cutting remark, which might reveal more than he realizes. We hear it as the familiar phrase, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” but it might be better heard as “Am I a shepherd to the shepherd?” In that moment, it seems, the Lord realizes what has happened and doesn’t give Cain the chance any longer to confess. Like a parent responding to the possible loss of a child, God asks Cain, “What have you done?” I think of those moments in my childhood when I had hurt my younger brother and my parents asked me the same question as he cried or yelled for help. The author of this story does not offer a response from Cain. Rather, God reveals to Cain what he has really done. His brother’s blood cries out for protection from the soil as the ground from which Abel was created receives him back. God even tells Cain to listen, for if he had ears to hear it, he might also notice his victim’s cries from the earth. But Cain is too jaded and hardened by his resolve to even hear what the Lord is saying. When God finishes his judgment on Cain’s murder, Cain does not argue about whether or not he actually did it. No. Cain argues with God about how difficult the punishment is: to live a life of wandering, estranged from what he had been raised to do and estranged from the land.
Rightfully so, Cain realizes that if he is on the move, others will perceive him as a threat to their own communities and livelihoods so they might kill him too. Though God sends him away, the Lord is still merciful, giving Cain a mark and guaranteeing him protection from those who might threaten his life. So, the story ends with Cain leaving the family farm in the wake of the devastating loss of his brother. Cain seems to be leaving God’s presence as well according to the author of the story, though God’s presence will be with him in the mark that he has been given. Suddenly, the farmer is forced to become the wandering shepherd like his despised brother, a great reversal. Motivations of being the greatest, of taking over the family farm in the favor of God and his parents, of taking his rightful place as the firstborn have all been lost in the midst of his anger and resentment that have bore fruit in death.
Interestingly, we hear nothing of Adam and Eve, who have now lost both sons. I can only imagine their grief and anger. What would their response to the Lord have been? Would they ever see Cain again? Would they ever want to? In the end of our story, we are reminded of how destructive sin can be. The soil itself feels the weight and injustice of Abel’s murder and refuses to offer any future blessing to Cain. Adam and Eve mourn the loss of both sons. Cain himself is lost, destined to wander in the land of wandering, which is what Nod means in Hebrew, while Abel is gone. The Lord feels the separation too, yet makes a way forward through pain and heartache but at the expense of relationship as Cain walks away and Abel is dead.
I marvel at God’s understanding and mercy in this story. God does not respond to Cain by striking him down after revealing what Cain has done. God does not wash his hands entirely of Cain’s existence either when he sends him away. The Lord is tied to the family of Cain now through the mark and the promise of protection. How could God do this? Is this justice? But then I think of the times that I have been like Cain, resentful and angry of those around me inside or outside my family who seem to be blessed by God’s hand in their endeavors. Have I allowed roots of resentment to grow deep in me? Have there been times where I have felt like Abel, where it feels like people are trying to cut me down? How have I responded? Finally, are there moments when I feel like Adam and Eve as I watch others, even those close to me play out these same Cain-and-Abel roles as they try to figure out a family farm or business, or maybe a workplace situation or church family? How do we respond to the Cains and Abel’s of our lives? What else do you most connect with from this story that I haven’t mentioned?
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