Roots of Anger

In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. – Genesis 4:3-5

Sometimes we see this as jealousy and sibling rivalry, especially as Abel is the younger brother.  The favored younger brother becomes a type that carries throughout Scripture:  Ishmael/Isaac, Esau/Jacob, Manasseh/Ephraim, Joseph was a younger brother, David was a younger brother, Solomon was not the first-born, and so on.  One could even say that Judaism and Christianity have a similar relationship, and that the Lord’s story of the Prodigal is, in part, about that interaction. 

Though Cain ultimately takes his anger out on his younger brother, it is caused by his own reaction to correction by God.  In rejecting the offering, the Lord does not reject Cain but wants him to understand the necessity of identification with what he offered.  The fruit of the ground which was given by Cain reflected no acknowledgement of his own sinful nature and the need for atonement.  By contrast, Abel’s sacrifice of blood indicates that he was aware of his unworthiness before God and sought to establish communion with the Almighty through confession and repentance. 

Jesus gives us a very similar story in Luke 18:9-14. 

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:  Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner!  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

This, then, is most likely the sin of Cain that he exalted himself, considering himself above any reproach and consumed by self-righteousness.  It ends, of course, in murder with the spilled blood of “righteous Abel” crying out to God for justice.  Like Abel, the life of Jesus ended because of jealousy and self-righteousness.  The blood of One infinitely more righteous than Abel was shed by the hand of His brothers – that is, all of us.  Cain stands in for all of humanity as we find that our all our good works are inadequate and unacceptable, and that it is only the sacrifice of Jesus that can bring reconciliation. 

If, like Cain, we refuse to see the corruption in our hearts, it will cause only bitterness and further defilement.  What if Cain had, instead of bringing his own offering, participated in the sacrifice of Abel?  The Passover lamb was only one for a household.  Perhaps Adam served as the priest of the family.  Was there any need for Cain to try and appease God with the fruits of his own labor?  He could have joined in the communion with his brother and been accepted. 

The sacrifice of the Son to the Father is sufficient for all mankind, for all of us Cains out here.  We have only to set aside our own works and our own righteousness and receive the grace and forgiveness that Christ offers to us. 

Settling My Own Problems

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. --  1 Corinthians 6:9-11

This looks like it is turning out to be our theme for the week.

Being a libertarian, I like to let people mind their own business.  As John Wayne, in the character of John Bernard Books put it in The Shootist:   I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them.

What a person wants to do, so long as he or she is not harming or taking advantage of anyone else, is between that person and the Lord.  The kingdom of God is made up of all kinds of former sinners.  Being a former sinner is rather like being a former single person who is now married or a former civilian who is now in the military.  We have entered into a contract or covenant that controls in a new way what we do and how we have to think.  So, as former sinners, we have entered into the fellowship of the saints, being, by the Spirit, in covenant through Christ.  Our outlook and our behavior will be no longer the same. 

We also appreciate another Duke quote, this time through character Tom Doniphon from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance:  Out here a man settles his own problems.  We might add, “By the grace of God through faith”, but otherwise, what good is a man or woman who refuses to face up to the difficulties at hand?  Assuredly -- except possibly for the fictional John Ford cowboy, we all need others to lend a hand from time to time; no one can stand alone against evil. 

Yet, alone, we must peer into our hearts:  Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!  

There is a traitor in our midst, one who cannot be trusted, who must be locked down and guarded.  Release the old man from confinement, and he will jump your claim, poison the waterhole, bushwhack and back-shoot you.  He will swear his allegiance and tell you how much you need his help, but all your valiant efforts, good intentions and best-laid plans will come to naught so long as he is involved. 

Thus, if we see someone who claims to be a Christian yet remains in thrall to the old Adamic nature, we are right to question that one’s sincerity or understanding, or both.  Some of the items in Paul’s list may cut a little close to some of us.  We know our weaknesses, where we are most likely to stumble and fall, but we also know the way out of our temptations and even our failures.  The Apostle John puts it like this:  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  In here a man settles his own problems:  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

The mistake the people in Corinth were making was to suggest that what they were doing and how they were living was unrelated to their “state”.  We cannot claim that sin doesn’t count or that, because we are the ones doing it, it is not sin.  No exemptions:  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

To stand together with our brothers and sisters against evil in the world, we must first stand with Christ alone against the evil in our hearts.

Professin’ Confession

If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us. – 1 John 1:8-10

In sixty-five words, the Apostle John conveys a great deal of essential truth. He’s not just talking, and he’s not old, senile, and repetitive. There is a difference between “we have no sin” and “we have not sinned” that goes beyond grammatical constructions.

We have been talking about light as the nature of God, and of us as His children. As Walt said yesterday, blindness to our own faults makes it more difficult to love one another. The demonic sin is pride, but the foundation of sin, or perhaps the foundational sin is a lack of love, first for God and then for our brothers and sisters. We have to turn the light of God’s truth upon our lives and acknowledge what we see. Everything exposed by the light is made clear (Ephesians 5:13). That is the purpose of light, to expose and make clear that we might address it and confess it.

I need only open to one of the Gospel accounts and meditate upon some of the more difficult sayings of Jesus, like the Sermon on the Mount, or upon His acts of compassion, or His Passion to see divine love, and to see that I come up short. Even if I have not acted upon evil and “sinned”, it is clear that the “sin” is present in my impulse and motivation.

I am one of those who believe that the entire human race was separated from the Creator and unable to have any communion with Him whatsoever. I also believe that Jesus, by His death on the cross, reconciled to God the entire human race – past, present, and future, as well as the rest of creation through us. The only thing keeping any person separated from the Father is the refusal to acknowledge that we are separated and need to be reconciled. It is the refusal to recognize that my ‘I am’ is not enough. Once we confess to our Father that He is right, that we need to be connected to Him, just that instant we find ourselves reconciled, going the right direction, and connected. The Cross makes it all possible for everyone.

That’s John’s first sentence. Let’s stop deceiving ourselves, get the revelation, and be reconciled.

But then there is everyday stuff, the conflicts, the failures, the insensitivity, the selfishness, bitterness, vengefulness, etc. It does no good to deny it and try to cover it up. It won’t go away. In fact, if we deny it, we are in effect calling the Lord a liar.

Some of us have had experiences in childhood that were hard to deal with – rejection, neglect, abuse. Maybe our parents were simply less than perfect. We get strange ideas. We get twisted. We go to government schools. We end up with flaky friends. We get involved in cults or near-cults. We repeatedly do stupid things that keep us in bondage.

How do we break free and live in liberty? We confess our sins, and, just as important, we accept God forgiveness. He is faithful and righteous [or just] to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us…. Our Father obligates Himself. The forgiveness and cleansing are ready and waiting for us if we will simply admit that we’re doing wrong and can’t seem to stop. And it is not limited. Jesus told Peter to forgive seventy times seven. Will God do less? In Lamentations Jeremiah assured us that God’s mercies are new every morning.

I don’t care how many times I have to go back and confess the same stupid thing, I know the Lord will not reject me, nor will He refuse to set me free. I’m not saying it won’t be painful in some cases. Some chains Father broke and I hardly knew it happened. Others, well, He is just about going to have to take my hand off in the process.

Mediate on Scripture and address those things the Holy Spirit brings to mind. Do not be distracted by symptoms, but look for root causes. My bondage is often rooted in my own lack of forgiveness. I cannot receive the Father’s forgiveness while I am holding something against a brother, or even against God Himself.