August 14, 2022: Faith Story: Are you Abel?
Are You Abel?
Hebrews 11: 1-2, 4; Genesis 4:1-16
Rev. Rhonda Blevins
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval
By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks.
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Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, 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 countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen, your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
This week we continue the sermon series “Faith Story” based on the great heroes of faith lauded in the Hebrews 11 “Roll Call of Faith.” Last week, we discovered that you and I (and readers of the book of Hebrews throughout history) took first position in the “Roll Call” for our acknowledgement of God as Creator.
Next on the list? The fourth human mentioned in our sacred text: not Adam, not Eve, not Cain, (they’re known more for their mistakes than their successes) but Cain’s younger brother, Abel.
Cain and Abel—the first sibling rivalry in the Judeo-Christian tradition. It did not end well for Abel, or did it?
Last week we explored the first creation story from Genesis 1; this week I want to take a deep dive into the second creation story from Genesis 2 and following. You may remember me saying that the person or people who put together the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) didn’t decide to choose one creation story over the other. Rather, they made the executive decision to include both creation stories, likely from different traditions within Hebrew culture.
The first creation story from Genesis 1 is more heliocentric, meaning, it’s focused on the origins of cosmos. The second creation story from Genesis 2 is more anthropocentric, meaning, it’s focused on the origins of humanity. So let’s begin with the highlights of humanity’s creation story. We’ll take it point by point, zipping through the plotline from a literal perspective:
· God created man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into man—it was breath that caused the man to be a living being. (Gn. 2:7)
· God created a garden called “Eden” can be translated as “pleasure” or “heaven.” The garden came with two important trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (from which the humans were warned not to eat). (Gn. 2:8-9)
· God created all the living creatures, but none were suitable to be the man’s life companion. (Gn. 2:18-20)
· God created woman from the man’s rib. (Gn. 2:21-22)
· Enter: the talking serpent who convinced the happy couple to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, after which their eyes were opened and they experienced shame. (Gn. 3:1-7)
· God cursed the serpent to its belly and punished the humans: the woman by giving her painful childbirth, the man by giving him hard work, and to both God gave the punishment of patriarchy and ultimately, death. (Gn. 3:14-19)
· The final punishment God levied against the man and woman was expulsion from the Garden of Eden/Pleasure/Heaven.
Now we’re caught up to the point where our scripture text begins today. Adam and Eve, cast out of the Garden, and there they begin their family.
· First with two boys. (Whew! I know something about that!) Cain was born first, followed by younger brother, Abel. Cain was a farmer, working the land. Abel was a shepherd, tending the livestock. (Gn. 4:1-2)
· We have the first mention of offerings to God here in Genesis 4, God found Abel’s offering acceptable, but not Cain’s. Jealousy arises; Cain kills Abel. We can infer from God’s mention of Abel’s blood crying out from the ground that Cain didn’t poison Abel, he didn’t strangle Abel or smother Abel. It was a violent, bloody death. (Gn. 4:3-10)
· God punishes Cain by sending him even further away from Eden/Pleasure/Heaven. Cain settles in the Land of Nod, away from the presence of the Lord. (Gn. 4:11-16)
The land of Nod, outside the presence of God, symbolizes the condition of everyone who forsakes God, according to Origen.2 Our contemporary use of the phrase, “nodding off,” meaning “to go to sleep,” owes its origin to the Bible’s “land of Nod.” Nod is where we find ourselves asleep, unawakened to the reality of the Presence of God.
That’s the story, summarized quite literally from Genesis 2, 3 and the first half of 4.
If you’re happy reading this second creation story literally, great! You can “nod off” for the rest of the sermon because I want to spend the rest of our time together exploring some deeper, possibly more profound ways to read this origin story. Exploring possible meanings together, we find ourselves employing the ancient way of the rabbis and midrash, exploring the scriptures, and new meanings to hold alongside traditional meanings.
So one way to read this creation story is to read it literally. My 8-year-old would read this story literally, because abstract thinking kicks in around age 12 or so. But there may be deeper meanings to this text beyond the literal.
For example, you know that many of our nursery rhymes have deeper, sometimes darker, meaning?
“London Bridge Is Falling Down”
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
It is thought that this happy little tune references Norway’s attack on London in the early 1000’s—the song was sung by Norsemen as celebration. Or it might be about child sacrifice. Take your pick.
“Three Blind Mice”
Three blind mice, three blind mice—
See how they run, see how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife;
She cut off their tails with a carving knife.
Did you ever see such a sight in your life as three blind mice?
This nursery rhyme may represent three protestant bishops who tried to depose Bloody Mary, but instead found themselves burned at the stake.
“Rock-a-Bye Baby”
Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop.
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.
This lullaby might be about the Son of King James II of England and Mary of Modena. The rumor is that they brought home a son who wasn’t theirs so that they could secure an heir to the throne.
Nursery rhymes have a literal appeal to children, while grown-ups understand them at a deeper level. The same is true for certain passages of the Bible.
Now that most of us can employ abstract thinking, let’s consider this whimsical text from Genesis 2-4 as holy allegory, thinking about it through the lens of anthropology.
Evolutionary anthropology might ask: “Where did jealousy arise in human origins? Violence? Guilt?” Our ancestors wanted to know the answers to these questions as well, and they’re all answered in this holy allegory, which was told orally, perhaps for centuries, before finally being written down.
For another fascinating take on this text from the perspective of anthropology, think of the professions of the two brothers. Cain tended the land; Abel herded sheep. In the transition from the Middle Stone Age to the Late Stone Age or Neolithic Period, humans transitioned from a nomadic lifestyle to settling into permanent villages. This was made possible by agriculture. Shepherds, like Abel were nomadic. Agriculturalists, like Cain, created the first civilizations.
Could Cain “killing” Abel portray this seismic shift among our prehistoric forebears?
Another way to interpret this text is as a psychospiritual allegory. Using the lens of anthropology, we looked at the occupations of the two brothers. Using the psychospiritual lens, let’s look at the meaning behind their names.
Let’s look first at the meaning of “Abel: A-B-E-L.” “AB” in Hebrew means “source” (like in “ABBA” meaning “father”). “EL” means “God.” Therefore, “Abel” means “source of God.” It’s very closely related to the word for “vapor” or “breath.” I wonder: does “Abel” represent our God-nature?
What about “Cain?” The meaning of “Cain” is “acquisition” or “possession.” It’s about things—about matter—about the created order.
Abel: the non-created order. Cain: the created order.
Could Cain “killing” Abel reveal to us the truth that there’s an ongoing sibling rivalry inside each of us? That far too often our flesh (“ego” might be the contemporary word here) “kills” (or at least wins out over) our spirit? That we can live most of our lives in the “Land of Nod,” asleep to the deepest reality of God’s presence within and around us?
However you choose to interpret this ancient text, what isn’t up for interpretation is that Abel is included in Hebrews 11 “Roll Call of Faith,” and Cain is not. Even Jesus refers to “Abel” as righteous when he was castigating the scribes and the Pharisees for their slaughter of righteous individuals (Mt. 23:35). Abel—breath, vapor, source of God—is our hero of the faith—someone we should emulate as we write our own “faith story.”
What does that mean for us? Well, I don’t think it means we have to take up shepherding or sacrifice a perfect lamb on the altar. Gross.
I do think it means that we should tap into our “Abel” nature inside of us, the “God-source” within. You see, most of us let our “Cain” nature win too much of the time. In the ongoing sibling rivalry between flesh and spirit, we let flesh win. Our needs, our wants, our urges, our plans, our desires, our goals, our compulsions, our attachments, our fixations. What happens to the spirit (our “Abel” nature) when we’re living according to the flesh/ego (our “Cain” nature)?
Here’s how the Apostle Paul describes this tension, and what “flesh” “spirit” look like in our day-to-day life in Galatians 5:16-26 (The Message):
It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.
This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.
But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.
Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.
“Work out its implications in every detail of our lives.” Are you “Abel” to do this?
I close with a familiar, but powerful, fable:
An old Cherokee was teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil—he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
He continued, “The other is good—he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you‚—and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”