FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART
OP / ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
Maybe you can remember it, and I hope you do. When you were a child, your parents would constantly remind you not to put those hair pins or other tiny pieces of wire you found on the floor in the electrical sockets. Then, when they discovered that you would not listen and insisted on doing what they told you not to do, they went out and bought those plastic socket covers and covered the plug holes. Or, if you lived in a house that had stairs, your parents would install protective gates at the top and sometimes the bottom of the stairs because they knew no matter how many times they told you not to go down or up, your curiosity would push you to try that which they told you not to do.
But do you remember the consequences? And when you were “smart enough” to remove the covers and stick a pin in the socket, you would scream from the electric shock. Or when you opened the gates and went tumbling down the stairs, your parents would come running to pick (you) up a frightened or hurt child and rush you to the emergency room at a hospital.
What I have just described is not just what happens to children but what happens to adults who fail to obey what God tells us not to do. Remember Cain? His story is recorded in Genesis 4. His brother’s name was Abel. He was the first son of Adam and Eve, and Abel was the second. Cain was a farmer; Abel was a skilled shepherd who cared for the family’s animals.
One day, Cain and Abel were offering sacrifices to the Lord. And Cain brought some of the produce from the field, while Abel brought the firstborn of his sheep. God accepted the sacrifice of Abel because it was the required offering. However, God rejected Cain’s sacrifice. This made Cain so angry and jealous that later he lured Abel into the field and killed him with a rock. The Lord called to Cain, asking him what happened to his Abel. Cain became angrier and asked God the most arrogant question any mortal could ask, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The end of the story is that God cursed Cain and his generation. God promised Cain that no one would be allowed to kill him but that he would be made a “vagabond” roaming the earth.
The story is packed with multiple lessons, but I am concentrating on Cain and the consequences of his rebellion. I invite you to reflect on my list of twelve points since space does not allow for extensive comments.
- Disobedience has some profound consequences.
- Disobedience causes division between God and our fellow human beings.
- Disobedience leads to the growth of sin and envy, which leads to jealousy and jealousy to murder.
- Disobedience leads to loss of love for one another.
- Disobedience leads to loss of joy and peace – it makes us miserable.
- Disobedience leads to the deadly fruit of hatred.
- Disobedience leads to idolatry – it turns us away from God to serve idols.
- Disobedience leads to hiding, lying, and making excuses to cover our tracks.
- Disobedience often breaks our opportunity for reconciliation
- Disobedience leads to defiance – which makes us fly in the face of any legitimately constituted authority, even that of God.
- Disobedience makes us irresponsible and causes us to neglect our duty. Listen to Cain’s question to God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
- Disobedience issues from a loss of faith and trust in God.
What was it about Cain’s sacrifice that made God reject it?
- He wanted to do his own thing rather than what God told him to do.
- He wanted to create his system of sacrifice rather than follow God’s way.
- He followed his desires instead of God’s will.
Let’s remind ourselves that we can be cursed like Cain if we seek to follow our way and offer our sacrifices instead of the sacrifice God requires. Or put another way, let us not forget the great question for any who wants to break the curse of disobedience, “What does the Lord require of me?” Not, “What do I want to do for God?”
