Introduction
Do you wonder why Cain’s
offering was far less acceptable to God, than Abel’s?
Or, put another way – why was
Abel’s offering far more acceptable than Cain’s?
We see that the ensuing
behaviour of Cain and the outcomes for him, were not ideal, to say the least! So there is something really
key here for us to consider.
I’m not willing to accept any
notion that God showed indiscriminate partiality;
so, the answer must be
discernible here. God is NOT inconsistent nor unfair!
The reason doesn’t easily
jump out of the text, it’s not made immediately clear; so we’ll have to look
carefully (in verses 3-4).
The Brothers
Both Abel and Cain had good
respectable vocations – one a “keeper of sheep”, the
other a “tiller of the ground – cultivator of the soil”.
We note that both sons
brought offerings to the Lord. The Hebrew notion behind
these offerings, was the idea of bringing both an expression of allegiance, and a gift of
gratitude, to the Lord, in response to the goodness being experienced.
We should note that, from the
first book in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) to the last, offering the best of what we
have been given … back to God … is a consistent biblical theme (e.g. Numbers 18:29,32;
Nehemiah 13:10-11).
We see special mention that
Abel brought the “firstlings” of his flock … their “fat portions”. However, no such mention is
made about the fruit that Cain brought. Cain may then have just
brought a few vegetables … a couple of bent carrots maybe.
So, we are being led to
believe that the difference was … that Abel brought the first
and best of what he had been blessed with, while Cain had NOT considered
this to be important. Perhaps Cain did not
appreciate enough the good gifts he had received from God, and therefore was short in
his response.
This seems to be borne out in
Hebrews chapter 11 (the famous ‘faith’ chapter):
“By faith, Abel offered to
God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. {Through this [Abel] received approval as
righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; [Abel] died, but through his
faith, he still speaks”} (11:4).
We then read of the slippery
slope that Cain went on.
First, Cain became angry
(v.5b), and obviously did not control, nor deal properly with, his
anger. This ultimately led him to
become downcast. Cain’s mistaken belief about
God, led first to very unfortunate behaviour patterns, followed by a downturn in his
feelings about himself. Cain, for whatever reason in
his thinking, had offered less back to God than he should have.
In verse 7, God explains to
Cain some of the process that has been built into the human identity.
Everyone has equal access to
God – God loves everyone the same.
So there should be NO need
for anger nor for being downcast.
If someone opens themselves
to God unreservedly, then acceptance by God is assured.
Conversely, if someone
neglects God, the door is well and truly opened to sin,
and potentially the
domination of sin.
If God is NOT allowed to fill
the void in our lives (for a relationship with our Creator),
there will be too much space
for stuff that is less than the best.
Or, as David Atkinson puts
it, “If you set your face against God and his ways, you are placing yourself in
the service of sin, which, like a wild beast lying in
wait for its prey, will dominate you”. This is what happened to
Cain.
A simple, and somewhat
obvious, choice should be made!
The door through which we
will be dominated by sin and negativity should be rejected.
It is a choice!! Unfortunately, as we read on,
Cain made the WRONG choice!
Cain planned and callously
carried out the murder of his brother Abel.
When a human being fails at
something, rather than just owning up to it,
instead they often will look for a
scapegoat, an easy target to blame.
And the most ‘righteous’ easy
target for Cain, was Abel.
We read in 1 John 3, “We must
not be like Cain, who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. Any why did he
murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, and his brother’s [were]
righteous” (3:12).
We see here the extremes to
which compliance and non-compliance to God’s wishes are held!
Then, to make matters worse,
when confronted over this murder, Cain lied about it –
taking NO responsibility for
his actions.
Of course, Cain’s actions
could NOT be hidden from God!
And the consequences would
undoubtedly make Cain’s life much much harder.
The ground will be much
harder to farm, and Cain will also lose his sense of place and peace (v.12). Such were the results of
neglecting God, and thereby hurting another.
Tough to handle – but brought
upon himself.
[However, we also see that …
even such a heinous crime as Cain committed, could NOT end God’s interest
in him. No one was permitted to exact
any revenge on him (v.15).
The punishment and
consequences were only for God to manage.
As one commentator put it (F
R McCurley):
Here was, “a word of grace in
spite of human horror”;
which is often something
quite difficult for us to get our head around,
especially in the case of the
worst of perpetrators.]
Our Proper Response
So it is that we see the
outcomes of neglecting making God first in our lives –
opening the door to sin, and
a less than best life;
as against bringing God our
best – the “firstlings and the fat portions”.
What would we consider to be
the best that we need to bring to God (in our situation)??
Some might have picked up,
that the one who gave the best … Abel … finished up dead.
The person who gave the
ultimate example of a sacrificial best i.e. Jesus, also finished up being
killed.
But there is always new life
attached to giving our best to God;
and this is exemplified in
Jesus’ resurrection.
Jesus said we must lose our
life to gain it.
We decide to die to sin, and
give the best of ourselves to God – then we live in Christ.
What would we consider
to be the best that we need to bring to God???
What are our ‘first fruits’
and ‘fat portions’?
Time, Talents &
Resources.
I would add … our Creative
Energy.
Each of these are brought
into the ‘storehouse’ – where, first we worship, and then go out in mission.
This concept of bringing our
best into the ‘storehouse’ derives from the prophet Malachi.
The prophet Malachi reflects
on people holding out on God (chapter 3:8-12).
Here God accuses people of
robbing him (3:8), because they are holding back their tithes and offerings [which should be
understood in the broadest sense].
And again this does NOT go
well for those people (3:9 … refer also 3:18).
Then we get the challenge (in
3:10a):
“Bring the full tithe [which
should again be understood broadly] into the storehouse,
so that there may be food in
my house”.
This is so God’s house has
such bounty for all the community to see and receive and be a part of.
This text goes on to reflect
on some reasons why people hold back.
Whether literal or
figurative, we read of a locust plague that potentially destroys produce and makes the vines barren
(3:11). Thus people may hoard because of the fear of a possible scarcity. Another excuse might be a
perceived lack of resources as against others who seem to be less deserving (3:13-15) – a
sort of misaligned feeling of unfairness.
‘Here we are doing the right
thing and struggling, but they who are getting away
with murder seem to be prospering’!
In saying all this, the
prophet challenges the people to test the generosity of God – that God will attend to any needs brought
about by scarcity or other concerns (3:10b):
“… and thus put me to the
test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the
windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing”.
God wants us to trust him,
that the one who responds in faith will not be ultimately disappointed – in fact quite the opposite.
And the blessing that will count the most is a spiritual blessing upon our
lives.
[The apostle Paul puts it
this way, “The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and the one who sows bountifully
will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6).]
Here and Now
There are a number of
existing and possible ministry areas that could be embraced here.
Notice these are called
‘Ministries’ and NOT ‘jobs’ nor ‘tasks’!
For everything done humbly in
God’s name (for God’s glory) is a ministry to the benefit of others.
For instance, there is a big
difference in the mindset of how certain things are approached:
being on a roster to set up a
school gymnasium at 7am every Sunday morning …
can be seen as a big heavy
undesirable task (to be avoided as much as possible),
OR, as an opportunity to work
as team in providing a spiritually prepared place in which hundreds can freely worship and encourage
each other.
The same could be said for
those who clean this worship space and the cottage in preparation for Sunday … this is a ministry.
How do we turn tasks into
ministries (in our mindset)??
The answer: we consider what
the ultimate purpose is!
And the ultimate purpose of
each collective activity, in and around the church, is … bringing God glory!!
That is, bringing God glory …
in our faith, worship, and bringing others into the Kingdom of God.
We have vacancies in our
children’s program, children who will also quickly become youth.
Graeme would love to
apprentice someone to expand our chaplaincy ministry.
There are many seats
available in our prayer times.
The list could go on!
Conclusion
Will we give to God, the
‘first fruits’ of our time, talents, resources, and creative energy?
Will we seek God’s leadership
in working out the right balance in our lives, in terms of employment, family and ministry??
“Abel, for his part, brought
of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions”.
Cain, on the other hand, became dominated by sin.
Is coming to worship …
unnecessarily tired, giving our best!?
Is coming to worship … only
out of a sense of obligation, going to cut it!?
Is neglecting worship ever
going to help us!?
In coming to worship, where
are our heads – in what mode?
Do we come expectant and
ready, for God to do something new?
Are we looking for where the
Holy Spirit may be leading,
even when this might take us
out of our comfort zone!?
Do we bring our best
intentions toward encouraging others?
How has God blessed us and
gifted us?
How are we going to bring the
first fruits of this back into the ‘storehouse’?
The world that God loves,
needs ‘storehouses’ filled with first fruits, so that God’s glory is
clearly revealed.
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