Scriptural Sermons

A boss has an employee. He gives his employee an assignment - nothing overly difficult or complicated. Just the opposite, something fairly straightforward and routine. When the boss assesses his employee’s effort, he is not impressed. His effort, in fact, has been careless and inept. The assignment will have to be redone. Now the productivity of the day is undermined. The assignment will have to be redone. This means the boss must take time from what he is doing to confront the employee and supervise him as he redoes what he should have done right in the first place. This makes the boss, understandably, frustrated and angry. He hired the employee and is paying the employee, after all, to help him not to hinder him. And so he has it out with the employee. “There’s no excuse for this kind of slipshod work. You’ve wasted your time and mine. If you want to succeed around here, don’t let it happen again.” The employee now finds himself at a critical juncture. He can do one of two things. As mortified and humiliated as he is, he can say to himself, “The boss is right. I have been called out on this kind of thing before. I need to examine my character to discover where I am falling short. I need to do better in the future, so this doesn’t happen again, and so I can succeed.” He can, in short, accept responsibility and improve himself and his performance. Or he can do what he does do. As mortified and humiliated as he is, he can say to himself, “I hate my boss. If I could I would punch him in the face. What does this stupid assignment matter anyway? What does any of it matter? More proof that life stinks, as though I need more proof. Everyone treats me like dirt.” And he glowers and broods. And it doesn’t end there. His mood does not improve. It won’t until he’s had a few drinks. His commute home is marked with road rage. He screams out the car window and blasts his horn. When he gets home, he’s still looking for someone to take it out on, so he kicks the dog and snarls at his wife. His whole life, it seems to him, has been a chronicle of offenses and outrages. Being has not treated him well, so he has turned against being. He wants to wreak vengeance upon it. I have just described a modern day counterpart to Cain. Being did not treat Cain well either. The story provides no chronicle of his own offenses and outrages, but the story does tell us about his big brother Abel. Abel was, simply put, a great guy, a real role model - earnest, conscientious, competent, and reliable. Some people just seem to be born that way. We are all born with varying sets of givens. Some of us are born optimistic, some pessimistic. Some of us are born active, some passive. Some of us are born outgoing, some quiet. Some of us are born flexible, some stubborn. Some of us are born likeable, some not. Cain seemed to have been born with the short end of every stick. Of course, he could have handled things differently. He could have named and accepted his reality. He could have come to terms with the fact that he had more to overcome, that things wouldn’t come easily to him. He could have struggled a bit more, worked a bit harder. He could have found some niche suitable to him. He could even have looked up to Abel, as everyone else did. But instead, like his modern counterpart, he turned against being. The focus of his enmity was his brother, the embodiment of all that he was not. And when God demanded of both of them a sacrifice - it proved to be the trigger. Abel’s sacrifice was accepted, and Cain’s was rejected. Abel succeeded, and Cain failed. And it was God making the judgment. What better proof of the reality of the situation? Cain’s thoughts turned murderous. God knew it. So God issued him a dire warning. Why is it that when we are the weakest, we need the most strength? Why is it that when we are the blindest, we need the most sight? Why is it that when we are the most vulnerable, we need the most power? “Master it.” God warned him. “Master it, and you’ll do something greater than your brother will ever do.” Instead, Cain wreaked vengeance upon being. Abel’s blood soaked the ground. As jarring as this story may be, it should not be wholly unfamiliar to us. Cain is our spiritual ancestor after all. We are related to him. How reflexively our anger flares. How reflexively we feel the urge to retaliate. How reflexively we curse our fate. To some degree, at least, he’s in us all, and that means he’s all around us. Thank God there’s a better way. There’s the way of Jesus Christ. If there's one thing Jesus taught us, it is that no matter how badly being treats us, we must never turn against it. We must always, at all times, every day and with every breath, affirm the ultimate goodness of being. We must affirm it, and we must strive to enact that goodness. That is nothing less than our entire business in this, “common mortal life.” This was the meaning of the cross, after all, or at least one of its meanings. The meaning of the cross is inexhaustible, but if it means anything, it means this. On the cross Jesus bore being at its absolute nadir. Betrayal, brutality, injustice, cowardice, cruelty, all in the face of his righteousness. He bore all that , because he was affirming and enacting the ultimate goodness of being. Moreover, it’s what he tried to teach before he bore his cross. Think of the Sermon on the Mount. And I mean it. Think of the Sermon on the Mount. Think of it a lot. Because it’s the greatest teaching of the greatest man. And what did Jesus teach in the Sermon on the Mount? Don’t be Cain. Anger is bad. It’s the way of Cain. Put it to rest. The objectification of others is bad. It’s the way of Cain. Put it to rest. Dishonesty of all kinds, and this includes above all self-deception, is bad. It’s the way of Cain. Put it to rest. Retaliation is bad. It’s the way of Cain. Put it to rest. Don’t ever lose sight of God’s righteousness. Pursue that righteousness. And you will become righteous. And how is it that Jesus could affirm the ultimate goodness of being The answer is easy. It’s because he had faith in this father, who is too our father. So it’s our choice, as it was Cain’s. Sin lurks at our door, yet we may master it, for Jesus Christ is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Amen.