Genesis 4:1-16

            {Prayer}

            When you receive a gift from someone … you can usually tell if the person thought it through or if they just happened to pick up something on the way to the party. You can probably also tell by the wrapping paper. If it’s wrapped neatly with crisp lines, curled ribbons that aren’t stuck on, and has a bow … they thought this gift out in advance. If it is wrapped in the plastic bag from Wal-Mart, you know they grabbed it on the way. Now I get that sometimes we forget and that lives are busy … but you can still tell.

            Now imagine two siblings, let’s say two brothers. We have two brothers who have the same opportunity to express their love and gratitude to their parents. The older sibling, we’ll call him Cain, he brings a gift. He brings something he picked up quickly. Maybe a few flowers from the garden or some fruit from the kitchen as he was walking through. It’s a decent gift, an okay gift, but it’s clear that there wasn’t much thought or effort behind it and his heart wasn’t into it.

            The younger sibling, we’ll call him Abel, he spends time to think about what it was that he wanted to give. What would make their parents happiest? He thinks about it a bit and decides to give the best of what he has. Maybe it’s a prized possession or something he created with care and love.

            When the parents receive these gifts, they’re touched by Abel’s offering, but Cain’s gift … Cain’s gift feels a bit hollow. Cain’s gift feels as if it were given out of obligation, like, “I really don’t want to do this, so here, here’s something I grabbed.”

            This is what we have this morning in our reading from Genesis 4. Cain and Abel, brothers, sons of Adam and Eve, bring an offering to the Lord. Listen again to the descriptions of their offerings. “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 the flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor” (Gen. 4:3-5a).

            Now there are those who say that Abel’s offering was pleasing to God because it was the fat portion, the good part, and that it was from the firstborn animal whereas Cain’s was just “some of the fruits.” There’s really nothing here to confirm that. The “But Abel brought” could very easily, and maybe more accurately, be translated as “And Abel brought.” That would mean that both Cain and Abel brought from the first fruit of their offerings.

            So why is Abel’s offering looked upon with favor from the LORD and not Cain’s? Well, from what we have right here in Genesis 4 … we don’t know. The author doesn’t tell us. He just continues on telling us how it was that Cain reacted to the news.

            So how did Cain react? “So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.’ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him” (Gen. 4:5-8).

            So how did Cain react? Two ways. First, Cain’s anger burned against God, and second, Cain’s anger burned against Abel. Putting it this way, we can see that the offering itself is not the problem … it’s the heart behind the offering. We heard earlier from the letter to the Hebrews, “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” (11:4). The Apostle John gives us an insight into the goings-on in Cain’s heart when he says, “Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous” (1 John 3:12). Cain’s anger when his offering wasn’t accepted shows that his offering had been made from a self-righteous motivation. It was all about Cain. It was all about making himself look good.

            So there wasn’t really anything wrong with Cain’s gift. Just like the gift you give to someone that you picked up at the last minute. There’s nothing wrong with it … it’s the heart, the meaning and motivation behind the giving of that gift.

            Each of us bring offerings to God. Not just the money we put in the offering plates as they are passed, but we bring our time, our talents, our worship. But why? Why do we bring them? … Because the world tells us to? I don’t think so. Why do we bring them? … Is it so that people notice me? So that I can have my name put on a plaque? So that people will remember me after I’m gone? Why do we bring our various offerings?

            If those are the reasons … then we need to check our heart. We need to check our heart because those kinds offerings, offerings that are focused on me, focused on my self-righteousness … that is not what God wants. God says through the Old Testament prophet Hosea, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (6:6). God is not opposed to sacrifice, He will actually command that they be given … but they were only pleasing to Him if they came from the heart, if they come by faith.

            So this should challenge each of us. This should challenge each of us to examine ourselves, examine our hearts, examine our own worship. Are we giving, are we serving, are we worshipping and if so, why? Is it from the heart? Are we giving God our best … or are we merely going through the motions?

            Sometimes … our offerings, our service, our worship, like Cain’s fall short. But notice, even though Cain fell short, even though Cain would go on to murder his brother … like with his mom and dad, like with Adam and Eve … God did not abandon Cain. Instead, God reached out to Cain. God reached out to Cain first in offering him a chance to turn from his sinful path. But even after he murdered Abel, God still gave Cain another chance. Even though Cain was going to be a restless wanderer … God still protected him. God would put a mark on Cain so that anyone who found him would not kill him.

            Through Jesus, God extends His grace and mercy to you and me when our offering, when our service, and when our worship falls short. As Paul says, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not of yourself, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). The giving of Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for your sins, for mine, and for the sins of all people … that offering is truly and offering of the heart. God could have very easily leave us alone. He could let us be restless wanderers on the earth … but He doesn’t.

            And not only has God extended His grace and mercy to you through Christ … God has placed a mark on you. In your baptism, your pastor probably said, “Name … receive the sign of the cross both upon your forehead and your heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.” If your pastor didn’t do it then, you are marked with the sign of the cross every Sunday here. You’re forgiven of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. When you are dismissed from the Communion rail, it is under the mark of the cross. When you leave at the end of the service, it is with the blessing of God and the mark of the cross.

            Having received the gift of God’s grace extended to you through Jesus, having received the mark of the cross … you are forgiven, you are washed clean, you have been given a new heart. May our worship, may the living out of our lives, wherever it may be, on the farm, in the factory, in school, at a restaurant, wherever it is that you are … may it all be done not to draw attention to ourselves but may it all be done from the heart so that God may receive all the honor and glory forever. Amen.

            The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your heart and your mind, in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.