Sermon for October 3rd (Cain and Abel)

It’s time today to talk about everyone’s favorite Bible story: Cain and Abel. What? It’s not your favorite Bible story? What?! You don’t know the story of Cain and Abel?! Well, I’m not surprised. Most people don’t really know the story of Cain and Abel and, even if you do know it, it’s probably not your favorite because the story creates problems for us. Many Christians deal with the problems by trying to explain things away, but it is time to stop that. We need to read the text and stop there without adding or subtracting from it in order to truly understand who this God is that we worship and what that means for you and me.

Genesis 4:3, “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.” What is your first reaction to this reading? It’s probably to ask a simple question: why? Why did God look with favor upon Abel and not Cain? We want God to look upon us with favor and so we want to end up like Abel and not Cain. Why did God look with favor upon Abel and not Cain?

Read the text. What does it say? Does it say why? No it does not. Read the text! I’ve heard so many explanations that aren’t there! Everyone is interested in judging whose offering was the best: they say that Cain must have brought the chaff instead of the grain, or that an animal sacrifice would have been worth more than grain or that it was the first fruits of the flock rather than the leftover grain or that Cain didn’t really care while Abel did or that God likes meat more than grain. Enough speculation. What does the text say? “The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.” No reason is given here.

You must look at another text, from Hebrews 11, to find your answer, “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.” Look again at that text from Genesis, “The Lord looked with favor on Abel AND his offering.” God is looking not simply at the difference between lamb or wheat. The offering is acceptable according to who is giving it. In other words, the offering itself doesn’t make the giver acceptable, the giver makes the offering acceptable. Abel is accepted by faith alone.

Let me say this in another way through a story told by Jesus in Mark chapter 12, “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.” Which offering is better in this case? Well, the answer is obvious! A large amount of money is better than a fraction of a penny! If God is interested in you giving him the best of the best then the rich people should be favored over the widow. But that is not how this story ends, “Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” What does this story tell us? Only something we already knew from Samuel chapter 16, “The Lord does not see as mortals see. They look on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart.”

“By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did.” God did not look simply at the grain or the firstlings, he looked at Abel AND his offering. At Cain AND his offering. He looked at their hearts and favored the heart of Abel because of the faith he saw there. Again, should this surprise us? That God cares about faith and not what we bring him? No. Romans chapter 3, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” And Habakkuk 2, “The righteous will live by faith.” Cain and Abel is a story about faith.

But that puts us in a bind. Because faith is not something we own. Faith is not something we can attain as if we can grow a bigger faith muscle to show off to God. Faith is not another work that we can do if we really try hard enough. If God’s favor doesn’t have to do with the gifts you bring to him, whether it be firstlings of the flock, or the fruit of the ground, or a lot of money or a couple of copper coins, then how can we come to him and offer him our faith as if it were something we accomplished. “For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing, it is a gift of God.” Ephesians 2:9. Faith is God’s gift to you.

But if God favored Abel instead of Cain and it wasn’t because of his offering, but by faith alone . . . given to him as a gift from God. Then God just chose Abel instead of Cain! He gave Abel faith and then favored Abel! And that doesn’t seem fair!

Probably because it’s not. It’s not fair. That’s the problem we have with God. And that’s why everyone hates this story by the way. They’d rather change the text and make God look nicer or else change the text to give us a chance to look better. We don’t want salvation to be up to God and God alone. We really do want it to be up to us. We want to be able to choose God and get the glory in the end. But Paul says in Galatians, “The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” If Abel had gained God’s favor with his offering, God’s mercy would have been hidden. It had to be received by faith alone. “For if being made right with God could be gained any other way, Christ died for nothing.”

But Jesus Christ did not die for nothing. He died for you. In this election, God gets the only vote. Yes he chose you. End of story. He decided to save you, though you do not deserve it. Period. According to the first chapter of Ephesians, “In Jesus Christ, we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Words like that don’t leave a lot of space for you and your good works to earn salvation. It doesn’t even leave a lot of room for your great professions of faith unless you are praising God for the faith HE GAVE YOU as a gift!

Our tendency, as sinful people, is to say, “no thanks!” when God wants to save us all by himself and argue that we need to do a little something. Maybe “accept God’s gift of faith into our hearts” or at the very least not “reject” God’s love. But once again we are hemmed in by the Bible, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who does good not even one.” All reject God. Yes, even you. That is what it means to be a sinner. The question is, when you reject God, what does he do?

Jesus said, “You did not choose me, I chose you and appointed you to bear fruit, fruit that will last.” When Peter betrayed Jesus, Jesus returned with the forgiveness of sins and a call to feed his sheep. Our fear of election is that God is taking all of our freedom away by telling us he loves us unconditionally. But the joy of election comes when you realize that you’ve only used your freedom to reject, betray and fall away from God’s love. “No one seeks God. All have turned away.” And yet God continues to pursue you with his mercy and love. There are only two choices left: Freedom or Trust.

If you choose that you want the freedom to reject God then I am sure you will. Congratulations! But if you trust God, then come what may, good or bad in your life, you will never be separated from His love. God favored Abel and Abel trusted God. Abel could’ve argued that God was wrong, because Abel was the second born, an unworthy choice. Abel could’ve argued that he wanted the freedom to choose God. Instead, Abel trusted God’s judgment. God did not favor Cain, but still loved Him enough to warn His beloved child, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” But instead of trusting God’s choice, Cain decided to use his freedom to kill his brother Abel. It’s easy to trust in God when God is favoring you, when your health is good, when money is coming in, when everyone loves you. But faith is put to the test, when life is hard. But whether you feel favored by God or not, God calls you to trust him.

Your answer to the choice: freedom or trust, will be based on who you believe is more able to raise the dead in the end. We normally enjoy freedom until we are unable to do anything anymore—six feet underground. Then you start needing an electing God who doesn’t just talk in generalities or in explanations, but actually DOES things through an actual choice. Not a God who writes down in a book that he loves people, but a God who sends a preacher to make it clear that God loves you.

Has God simply “predestined” us for salvation or damnation and determined our every step? Here’s my answer to that: God does not care about theological musings. Whether everyone is saved or not, you’ve still got to tell them or else how can they have faith in Jesus? And if you are worried that someone is predestined for damnation, that would be a great time to let them know God’s unconditional love is for them. You can’t put your trust in philosophical explanations like “universal salvation” or “double predestination”. An electing God doesn’t simply “love the world” he loves you in particular. He doesn’t “condemn the world” but came to save through the world through faith in a particular man, Jesus.

No one likes the story of Cain and Abel, but there will come a time, perhaps that time is today, when you must follow one or the other: You must either walk away from God and trust in your freedom like Cain or trust in God and in his power to save you like Abel. The good news is that, because of Jesus, God favors you. You are His chosen one. When you find yourself believing that, trusting that good word from God, you can be assured that, just like Abel, you have been favored by faith alone.

Sermon for February 21st

Today’s message is going to be about temptation, especially what we can and can’t do about the temptations in our lives. Now usually, during Lent, we spend a lot of time focusing on the stuff that comes after temptation . . . repentance. But God calls us not to enter into temptation in the first place! So, let’s take Him at His word and figure out how . . . how to deal with temptation in our lives.

The main text that we will be focusing on today is from the gospel of Luke, chapter 4: the story where Satan tempts Jesus three times in the wilderness. When you heard that story again this morning, did you question how you would have dealt with those same temptations? Would you have been strong enough to say no to the bread after 40 days of not eating? Would you have had enough willpower to say, “No” when offered the power to control the world? Jesus seems so much more powerful than we are to deal with temptation. But my hope is that, after today’s message, you will understand that dealing with temptation isn’t about you being stronger or more powerful than the sin in your life. Instead, victory over temptation will only take place for you when you admit that you are powerless, weak, incompetent and unqualified to deal with it. You cannot defeat the Satanic seductions of sin in your life on your own.

After Jesus was baptized and was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”

A couple of things to note in this passage. First, since we are reading the Bible today in English, we miss an interesting point that’s obvious in the original language of Greek when Satan makes the conditional statement, “If you are the Son of God.” There are three types of conditional clauses in Greek: one of fact, one of uncertainty, or one contrary to fact. Fact, uncertainty, or contrary to fact. This conditional clause, spoken by the devil, is one of fact. A better way to translate what is really being said is to read it like this, “If you are the Son of God (and of course you are!) command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

Why is this important? Because Satan isn’t asking for Jesus to prove anything. Satan already knows the truth just like the other demons and evil spirits always know who Jesus really is even when the crowds or the disciples are clueless. Jesus isn’t being tempted to prove himself, but to use his power. And even more importantly, to show his power to benefit himself. There will be other times when Jesus is called upon to feed others with a few fish and several loaves of bread and he certainly uses his power to do that. But Jesus came to serve others, not to be served or to serve himself.

A second thing to notice in this passage is that,when Jesus responds to the Devil by saying, “One does not live by bread alone” he is referring to a passage in Deuteronomy where Moses explains that the bread from heaven, the manna, that the Israelites ate in their forty years in the wilderness wasn’t simply to feed their stomachs but to feed their faith. He wanted them understand that they were being sustained by God alone. Moses wanted them to remember that they needed to rely on God even when they were tempted to pride and self-sufficiency once they were out of the wilderness and in the Promised Land. The temptation for Jesus isn’t just that he use his power as the Son of God, but that he use his power rather than trusting in God’s power to sustain him.

In the second temptation, Jesus is offered power over all the kingdoms of the world if only he will only bow down to Satan. Jesus responds, “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” First, Jesus was asked to use his own power, but now Satan offers him other power. However, once again, Jesus trusts not in power, but in his weakness as a servant, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” When the Israelites were brought to the promised land, Moses warned them that they would become prosperous and feel very strong and powerful and at that very moment, at the height of their power, they would be most at risk to forget where their strength truly came from—they were not to worship themselves, or any other gods of this world, but they were to fear God and worship Him alone. When we feel powerless against temptation, isn’t it easy to think that we’ll find the strength to endure in the things of this world? So we try to escape depression with drugs and just exchange one temptation for another. And, in the middle of this shell game, we forget that God is our first love.

In the third temptation, the devil places Jesus on the pinnacle of the temple and says, “If you are the Son of God (and again, of course you are!) throw yourself down from here for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Jesus now refers to a story from Exodus when the Israelites tested God and demanded water in the wilderness. They questioned God’s continued presence by asking, “Is the Lord not among us?” They wanted God to prove his love for them by showing off His power. Now that Satan has tempted Jesus to use his own power and to attain new powers, Jesus is now being tempted to demand that God show His power. But for the third time, Jesus does not yield to the persuasion of power and, in his weakness, simply trusts God without any miraculous signs.

As I explained at the beginning of today’s sermon, my hope is that, after today, you will understand that fighting temptation for you, just as it was for Jesus, isn’t about you being stronger or more powerful than sin, death and Devil. Instead, victory over temptation will only take place when you admit that you are powerless, weak, incompetent and unqualified to deal with these seductions. Because you are unable to defeat sin by yourself.

But there is a difference between how Jesus experienced temptation and how we experience temptation. Jesus was alive and on his way to death while we are already dead. As Paul puts it, “For as many of you who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death.” Or as he states it in Collosians, “You are dead and your life in hidden with Christ in God.” In other words, Jesus was alive and on his way to death while we, two thousand years later, have already died. We have already lost the battle to temptation, the battle that we hear Jesus is fighting in today’s reading. We have already died. Sin has already defeated us through the Law. When it comes to our own efforts, we are judged by the Law as condemned sinners. When you come up against temptation in your life, this is probably the most important fact to realize: you have already lost—you are dead.

Now, of course, that can seem quite upsetting even depressing. How can God expect you to fight against temptation when you’ve already lost before you’ve even begun? But believe it or not, it is not hopeless. Well, for you it is, but not for Jesus Christ your Savior. When you or I are tempted, we look for more power. The first place we tend to look for help is in ourselves. We look to our willpower or our previous experiences. Then we look elsewhere, maybe to a book or self-help expert to back us up. But, eventually, we succumb to the pressure of sin once more and find ourselves tasting the forbidden fruit whatever that fruit may be. Trusting in yourself to fight temptation will always be pointless because you have already lost and died, but there is one who you can look to that has already defeated sin, death and the devil as well as all the many and various temptations this life has to bring.

In Jesus Christ, the battle that appears to be hopeless is, actually, a cakewalk, by faith alone that is. In fact, according to the apostle Paul, now that you are out of the equation, dead I mean, now you actually have some hope! “Shall we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?” He asks? Impossible, he says! “By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” It’s not up to you anymore and God has already won the battle for you. “You are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

In place of power, there is trust. God has given us a different technique for dealing with temptation and that is to trust in one who has the power over life and death itself. Not by testing God to prove or show us his power, but by trusting him unconditionally. The Devil misinterpreted Psalm 91 in today’s dialogue with Jesus. That psalm is not about miracles, but about a relationship of trust, “You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty—you will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my stronghold, my God in whom I put my trust.’ The power of temptation is that we put our trust in the wrong place. We trust that by lying on a test we will get into college or by cheating on our spouse we will find happiness or that by going to a psychic we won’t fear the future any longer. We put our trust in the power of these temptations to see us through rather than trusting in God who alone has the power over all things.

What does Jesus do to fight temptation? Nothing really. He simply trusts in God, his Father, and in his Word alone to do the fighting for him and to contend with those that contend with him. What does God expect you to do to fight temptation? Nothing. Simply put trust in the right place—in God alone. Not in yourself, not in others or other things, not even in God’s miracles. Don’t trust in power, but in God’s unconditional promise: “I will deliver those who cling to me; I will uphold them, because they know my name. They will call on me, and I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honor them. With long life will I satisfy them, and show them my salvation.” Amen.