13 January 2010
Psalm 119:1-24; Gen. 4:1-16; Heb. 2:11-18; John 1:29-42

Cain was a tiller of the ground. Why did he choose to do that which was cursed? Abel was a keeper of sheep. The whole issue of dominion, the original purpose of God, seems to be at play here. Cain had to work to produce his sacrifice, enabling him to take some of the credit for it while Abel exercised the dominion we had originally been given and in the end, his sacrifice was indeed costly to him in that it cost him not something he had produced but a life under his care was sacrificed to the God who had created all life. What is our attitude towards the fruit of our labor? What is our attitude towards “fairness?” God had regard for Abel’s offering but not for Cain’s. Some would say it has to do with blood, but I don’t agree that this is necessarily the case. Cain brought an offering and Abel brought the firstborn and the best, revealing his attitude towards God and His supreme worth, true worship. Cain’s failure to deal with the sin of jealousy crouching at his door led to the spilling of innocent blood rather than amendment of life. Whereas his parents hid from God, Cain attempted to hide his sin, with exactly the same success.

John taught his disciples well. John’s work was preparing others for the one who was to come and now he says, “There He is, the one I have been telling you about.” Two of his disciples, hearing this proclamation, follow Jesus. One of them, Andrew, immediately does what John did, tells others, his brother, Simon. We are to gossip the Gospel in just this same way. Andrew, as a disciple of John, was clearly looking for the same thing John was looking for, the Messiah. It was his quest, and when he was certain he had found Him, he began to tell others. Generally, what we talk about and tell others about is a measure of its relative importance. We tell each other about new restaurants, new shops, sports stories, news stories, etc. Do we tell each other about Jesus or what He has done for us with the same level of enthusiasm?

In our liturgy we say that we await the coming of our brother Jesus and I hear regularly from someone that this language makes them uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable too because I see the enormous gap between us and it causes me to consider how Cain must have felt. If Jesus hadn’t done all He did for my benefit, I would not follow His teaching, I would hate Him because He makes me look so bad in comparison. That was the reaction of the Jewish leaders to Jesus. They were the elder brothers who were offering sacrifices and Jesus’ offering was regarded by God and that was being proven by the works that He did, God was with Him. We, from the post-resurrection perspective, know that we are regarded by the Father on account of Jesus’ work on our behalf, but our reaction should be gratitude and emulation, a desire to be like Him.

Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
I am a sojourner on the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!