Somewhere East of Eden

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1 Promises, Promises Ruth 1:1-18 Somewhere East of Eden Genesis 4:1-10 By Rev. Jeffrey ByV. O Grady August 14, 2016 Rev. Jeffrey V. O Grady Pastor January 14, 2007 San Marino Community Church 1750 Virginia Road San Marino, CA (626) San Marino Community Fax: (626) Church Virginia smcc@smccpby.com Road San Marino, CA (626) Fax: (626) smcc@smccpby.com All rights reserved. These sermon manuscripts are intended for personal use only and may not be republished or used in any way without the permission of the author.

2 August 14, To 2016 the extent possible, effort has been made Somewhere to preserve the East quality of Eden of the spoken word in this Rev. written Jeffrey adaptation. V. O Grady, Pastor Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas, spoke recently at a commencement where he briefly addressed the issues of freedom and obligation. He shared the story of his own upbringing and its lasting impact on his understanding. In my youth, we had a small farm. I am convinced that the time I spent there had much to do with my firm resolve never to farm again. Work seemed to spring eternal, like the weeds that consumed so much of our time and efforts. One of the messages constantly conveyed in those days was our obligation to take care of the land and to use it to produce food for ourselves and for others. If there was to be independence, self-sufficiency, or freedom, then we first had to understand, accept, and discharge our responsibilities. The latter were the necessary (but not always sufficient) antecedents or precursors of the former. The only guarantee was that if you did not discharge your responsibilities, there could be no independence, no self-sufficiency, and no freedom. In a broader context, we were obligated in our neighborhood to be good neighbors so that the neighborhood would thrive. Whether there was to be a clean, thriving neighborhood was directly connected to our efforts. So there was always, to our way of thinking, a connection between the things we valued most, and our personal obligations or efforts. There could be no freedom without each of us discharging our responsibilities. When we heard the words duty, honor, and country, no more needed to be said. But that is a bygone era. Today we rarely hear of our personal responsibilities in discussions of broad notions such as freedom and liberty. 1 The story of Cain and Abel is a story about personal responsibilities set in a rural context. But it is not a bygone era. These are timeless concerns. This is a story about the choices we make and the freedom we have in choosing how to handle the disappointments of our lives and the success of those around us. Cain is a farmer. And Abel tends the animals. Each confronts their personal responsibilities for the neighborhood in this ancient story. Cain s gift, for some unknown reason, has been rejected. Meanwhile pesky little brother Abel s gift has been celebrated. How unfair! How can God be so arbitrary and capricious? Where does God get off judging between the two of them anyhow? All Abel ever does is walk around with those sheep all day. What does he know about effort? If God had sent a little more rain or protected Cain s crop from the locusts, which consumed 30% during the summer, then maybe 1 Thomas, Clarence. Commencement Address, May 14, 2016 Hillsdale College s 164th Commencement Ceremony (Imprimis Vol. 45 Number 5/6 May/June 2016). 2

3 Cain s offering would have been a little better. But as it is God didn t seem to make it easy on him throughout the growing season and now turns on Cain, telling him his offering is unacceptable! If it weren t for the fact that he is always compared to his little twerp of a brother who, no matter what he does, seems to be the favorite of everyone Cain s offering would have been great. How long must he compete with his little brother? How much easier life would be without him! So Cain invites Abel into the field. Seething with anger at the good that has befallen his brother the good that ought to have been his Cain strikes Abel from behind and kills him. Bitter! This story is almost as familiar as the one that precedes it in the narrative, the story of Adam and Eve. But for all our familiarity with it, I m not sure we have understood it correctly. The outline of the story is familiar enough; two brothers have it out in a field and with one crushing blow 25% of the world s population is wiped out. The first to taste death in Genesis is not by natural causes, but murder at the hands of a brother. It s a very significant development in the story. Mom and Dad were unable to live in God s world on God s terms, and now the sin that broke loose in the relationship with God quickly spreads to destroy the relationships between brothers. The two boys find it an even greater problem to live in a world where not only is God loose but so too are others, even brothers and sisters in the human family. In this story, the broken and disfigured relationship with God on the vertical axis now spreads into the realm of human relationships on the horizontal axis. Sin has so defaced and disfigured the life between creature and creator that every other human relationship in life is disfigured as well. Brothers and sisters, employers and employees, husbands and wives, parents and children, have all suffered the disfigurement and crippling condition known as Sin. Because you see when God is no longer God, then the risk of using others (even brothers) for one s own advantage becomes very high. So Cain is faced with a choice. Will he rule over that which is building within him: his anger, resentment, and bitterness, or will it all end up ruling him? How skewed will Cain allow his relationships to become? John Steinbeck reflects on this story in his novel East of Eden. Set in the Salinas Valley in Northern California where he grew up, the story turns and ends on the word Timshol, a Hebrew word in the text that means thou mayest. It is this idea of free will upon which Steinbeck s novel is based. He writes, Don t you see?... The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you call sin 3

4 ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in Thou shalt meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word, the word Timshol meaning Thou mayest gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world, that says the way is open. 2 Timshol you may master it! Both Bruce Springsteen and Mumford and Sons have songs that include a similar commentary about free will and how we exercise it. We live in a world with the same dynamics operating, which is what these recent commentators are reflecting upon. God is loose in the world and so too are brothers and sisters, employers and employees, mothers and fathers, spouses and children. And none of them are all that easy to come to terms with. Like Cain we too must decide how we will respond to events and people that impact our lives beyond our control. There is danger present in how we react in handling our own anger and bitterness and depression. The story of Cain and Abel is for us but, so too, is it a story about us. Sometimes we respond to the good things that happen in the lives of others with anger and resentment because the hopes and dreams we have for our own lives are blocked with frustration. What is happening to the other is precisely what we want to be happening to us! Think of all those athletes competing in the Olympics this week. Only one wins the gold medal. When the American Women s Soccer team was beaten by Sweden recently in the quarterfinals, the response from one American was bitter. Goalie Hope Solo said, The best team did not win today. She added, I strongly and firmly believe that. Cain might have said that to a reporter after Abel s offering won acceptance. Cain seeks to dodge the question God places before him concerning the whereabouts of his brother by his rhetorical question, Am I my brother s keeper? In other words, Am I responsible for him, for guarding him, for protecting him? Am I his custodian? The question is never really answered in the text and yet we assume that if God had answered Cain, the answer would have been, Of course you are your brother s keeper! But that may be a complete misunderstanding of the text. The Hebrew word for keeper is somer. This word occurs over 450 times in the Old Testament. 3 Not once does it refer to an obligation for one human being to keep another human being. Bees have keepers and livestock have keepers and sheep have keepers. Keeping always carries with it the concept 2 Steinbeck, John, East of Eden (New York: Book of the Month Club, 1995) p See Paul A. Reimann s article Am I My Brother s Keeper for a fuller exposition of this interpretation. At the time of writing it, he was Associate Professor of Old Testament at Drew University. 4

5 of control or rule, and that is exactly what brothers do not do! Keeping is synonymous with guarding or acting as a custodian of. It is a function attributed to God and not another human being. The familiar benediction, The Lord bless and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you... is evidence of that. So too is Psalm 121: The Lord is your keeper... The Lord will keep you from all evil. By contrast the word brother occurs seven times in just three verses, a strong indication of the importance of this concept in the passage. We are not to be keepers. Only God alone is able to exercise that kind of rule, authority, and control. But we are to be brothers and sisters to one another. Not controlling or ruling but standing beside one another. Assisting in such a way that the other s integrity is intact and they are empowered to make their own decisions not us making decisions for them. We are not relieved of any and all responsibility when it comes to one another. But we are not to be responsible in a way that seeks to control or rule over others. There is no justification for the kind of caring that robs others of their power to make decisions for themselves, or to maintain their self-respect, or their dignity. Particularly in those relationships in which we do hold some authority and power, we must be careful not to violate those for whom we are responsible. Coaches, teachers, police, doctors all have power over others. And we have seen many examples of people abusing their power by acting as keepers of others. Misuse of authority is epidemic. Sexual harassment, physical abuse by police who are to protect and serve, and emotional abuse in families illustrate how some have misused their power for their own advantage. Injustice has its own voice and the Lord is particularly attuned to that voice. Abel s blood itself cried out to God from the ground. So we might want to act in ways that help another s ability for self-respect and dignity, not take away the ability for another to make decisions for themselves, if they are able. We are not to be keepers of one another, but brothers and sisters who do not violate each other s dignity. This is particularly important in how we deal with the homeless, the poor, and the mentally ill. I admit I have an aversion to the phrase the less fortunate. Because there seems to be the notion that the less fortunate need our help and therefore we can exercise power over their lives in whatever way we think necessary, bestowing our excess, unwanted clothing, our broken appliances and furniture etc. on those 5

6 who should be grateful for our generosity. You see how easily brothers begin to drift towards keepers! We may just be trying to feel good about ourselves at their expense, and with a tax benefit! Don t get me wrong! Generosity is a good thing but not with strings attached and not in ways that diminish the dignity of others. Maybe that is why Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount; You have heard it said, you shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, you worthless fool shall be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 4 Maybe if we can learn the lesson of Cain and Abel, we will learn how to live with one another, instead of against and at odds with one another. Let me conclude with an example of one person who discovered the importance of setting the record straight and reconciling with a brother. Roger Johnson received a phone call from the east coast. The caller asked, Is this Roger Johnson? Yes, he said. Are you the Roger Johnson who owns a cabin up on Clear Lake? Yes, answered Roger. Six years ago did you have a sailboat stolen from your boat house? Yes, I did! Well, said the caller, I m the one who stole your boat. I m living in Vermont now and I ve just become a Christian. I m trying to straighten out some things I ve done in my life. I went to a good deal of trouble locating you and I would like to repay you for the boat. How much was it? After Roger got over the shock and found his voice again, they settled on a price and the caller apologized for the wrong he had committed against him. Maybe today we too can find a way to reconcile with those we have wronged. And maybe we can find joy in the success of our brothers and sisters. And maybe we can master our own bitterness and anger with God s help, and become a little less like Cain. Thanks be to the God who continues to bless us even here, somewhere east of Eden. Amen 4 Matthew 5:

THE L.I.F.E. PLAN CAIN AND ABEL BLOCK 1. THEME 6 - PEOPLE PROFILES LESSON 1 (21 of 216)

THE L.I.F.E. PLAN CAIN AND ABEL BLOCK 1 THEME 6 - PEOPLE PROFILES LESSON 1 (21 of 216) BLOCK 1 THEME 6: PEOPLE PROFILES LESSON 1 (21 OF 216): CAIN AND ABEL LESSON AIM: Briefly survey the lives of Cain