Sermon for September 11, 2011 - Cain's Choice

The Scripture Reading for this sermon came from Genesis 4:1-16

Cain stormed down from the mountain.  His face was bright red and he cursed with each step he took.  His brother called from behind him, but he didn’t answer.  When he reached his field, he grabbed some of the crop that had not been harvested, and pulled it out by its roots.  He flung it at a nearby tree with a yell, and dropped to his knees.  With his head in his hands, he began to cry.

“What’s wrong Cain?”

“It’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair?”

“Why him?  Why do you prefer his sacrifice over mine?”

“Does it matter Cain?”

“Yeah it matters!  What, do you prefer meat more than grain?  Was my offering in someway less perfect than his?”

“No Cain.  It doesn’t matter.  I liked his offering more than yours and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change that.  The only question that matters is, what are you going to do about it?”

Cain opened his eyes and looked up.  “What do you mean by that?”

“What I mean is that, sometimes things happen that are beyond your control.  They can be good, they can be bad.  The only thing that you have control over, is how you respond to them.  You can either respond to them well, with compassion, empathy and with love.  Or you can fall prey to sin, and respond with hatred, with vitriol, fear, and selfishness.  So yeah, if I tell you that I liked Abel’s offering more than yours, what are you going to do about it?  Something bad has happened to you Cain, what kind of person are you going to be?”

Throughout the years people have tried to figure out why God accepted Abel’s offering, but was displeased with Cain’s.  There have been a number of different theories put forward.  They range from Cain’s offering being the dregs of his crop, while Abel offered the best of his flock; to God’s preference for ranchers over farmers.  But there really isn’t too much evidence for any of these within the text.  Because this story is not about what sort of sacrifices God likes.  This story is not about whether Cain did anything wrong that would cause his sacrifice to be unfit. 

Nor is this story a polemic against fratricide or murder in general.  The murder itself takes up only a verse in the chapter.  Following his conversation with God, Cain takes Abel out to the field, and kills him.

“Where is your brother, Cain?”

“So now it’s my job to take care of him?  You love him so much, you find him!”

“What have you done?”

Silence.

“What have you done, Cain?  The earth is crying out with the blood of your brother!  What have you done Cain?”

Cain has made his choice.  Something bad happened to Cain, something beyond his control.  God pointed out the two paths for him, the path of doing well, of doing right, and the path of sin that was waiting for him, calling to him, luring him into its jaws.

Has Cain mastered sin?  Has he controlled himself enough to walk the path of righteousness?  Or has he been lured away, down the other path?

Ten years ago today, I was, somewhat ironically, in an ethics class.  We were given a short break midway through to go to the washroom, or to get a snack.  When class started again, another student came in and informed us that the U.S. was under attack.  The professor, somewhat distracted tried to continue teaching, but eventually he realized he couldn’t concentrate, and neither could any of us, so he let us all go find various tvs throughout campus.

I remember coming home on the bus that day, hearing all sorts of crazy rumors about the number of missing planes, about how many of them were over Canada.  Even watching the news was madness, as none of the stations seemed to have a clue what was going on either.  When the dust settled, numbers, names, and stories could finally be put together.

And though it was the U.S. that was attacked that day, we should never be so smug as to sit safely behind national boundaries.  It was our society that was attacked, the United States just happens to be the greatest symbol of our society.  It was terrifying, it was tragic, and three thousand people lost their lives.

What was our response?  What has happened in the 10 years since September 11, 2001?  How much have we invested into the past ten years?  I don’t just mean dollars and cents.  What has been the cost?  Have we surrendered to anger and fear, rather than mastering them?  Do we control them or have we become their prey, as God warns Cain against?

I was reading in the Observer this month, that today we also celebrate another anniversary.  On September 11, 1906, Mahatma Gandhi, began his campaign of Satyagraha in South Africa.  It was this movement that he would later bring to India, and would influence some of the greatest names of the Twentieth Century, like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr.  Though it literally means firmness of truth, Dr. King described this movement in his “I have a Dream” Speech as “confronting physical force with soul force.”

Why is it that we hold up figures like Gandhi, like Mandela, like Martin Luther King, Jr.?  The oppression in colonial India, in Apartheid South Africa, and against blacks in America, was unfair and beyond control. Against the overwhelming nature of the violence committed against them and their people, how did they respond?  Were the oppressed groups controlled by fear and anger, or did they master and wield their emotions?

The story of Cain and Abel is a story about the choices we all face.  When confronted by opposition, when confronted by events outside of our control that are unfair, that are unjust, that hurt us, how do we respond?  The next time violence descends upon our society, the next time our economies collapse, the next time a natural disaster strikes, will we be our brothers’ keepers?  Will we offer the sacrificial love of Christ?  Or will we walk down that ever so tantalizing path of sin, the path of surrendering to anger and fear, the path that will forever brand us with the mark of Cain?