If you do well won't you be accepted?

Cain was prone to sulking.  Perhaps he was jealous of his younger brother Abel- sibling rivalry and all that.    Maybe he was the kind of guy who always expected everyone to look down upon him, rough childhood you know being the first human to be born from a mother.  We don't know if Adam and Eve took parenting classes or not.  Maybe his experience conditioned him to be ready for the oncoming criticism rather than expecting to hear words of praise.  Maybe as the firstborn he was overly responsible but felt like no one ever noticed him, took him for granted.  


Genesis 4: 1-10



Who knows?  But for some reason he gets his nose out of joint that God doesn't like his offering of produce from the farm.  Maybe God likes ranchers more than farmers?  (Just kidding!)  Maybe God was working with Cain. . . maybe he had some personality traits that needed a little honing and shaping.  Maybe Cain needed to learn to relax and accept himself a little more rather than constantly comparing himself to his little brother Abel.  Maybe God wanted to see how Cain would react if he didn't mush all over him-- a sort of test of patience and self-definition.  That's a lot of maybes isn't it??


Our congregation is focusing in this second week of Lent on the spiritual discipline of "WORSHIP."  Worship shapes us and forms us into disciples for the sake of Christ's mission in the world.  You can't be a disciple if you rarely worship, it's just not possible.  I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings here but there is a definite path toward spiritual maturity just like there is a path and a practice toward being anything that you want to be.  You cannot be a virtuoso, or even a mediocre, piano player unless you practice.  You cannot be a skilled athlete unless you practice your sport.  You cannot be good at your job unless you participate in training, continuing education, apprenticeships and the like.  Why would we ever think we could be "disciples" of Christ just by showing up on "C" and "E?"  


So then, Cain comes to God and offers his produce as an act of worship.  At least that's what we hope he is doing, the text doesn't really tell us about the condition of his heart.  Maybe there's the rub- maybe his heart wasn't in it at all and he was just going through the motions.  But maybe he was giving a gift out of love but then got caught up in what he was going to get back in return (praise and at-a-boys.)  That would negate the "gift" aspect of it all I would think.  


Maybe God wanted to push him to go a little bit deeper, to learn how to regulate his own actions in the face of disappointment.  (Certainly God knows the things we each need to learn, right?  I know this borders on God testing us so forgive me if I go to far with that- I'm not usually one to do that.)  But we see that Cain has an adverse reaction and we are not told why the offering was less-than-acceptable to God.  There has to be more to the story, there usually is you know.  Cain has a reaction!  It's a big reaction.  We used to call these hissy-fits or going ballistic.  You get the idea.  


What is God's reaction to Cain's reaction? (Newton said for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, of course he was talking about physics but I think it applies to relationships as well.) "Why this tantrum? Why the sulking? If you do well, won't you be accepted? And if you don't do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it's out to get you, you've got to master it."

Is this story about Cain's ability (and our ability) to get a handle on our own reactions?  If you do well won't you be accepted?  But if you don't, well then sin is lurking at your door, it is waiting to grab ahold of you and take you captive and then look out!  Something bad is gonna happen!  


How do we "master" our shortcomings, our reactions, our sin?  Well first of all we never do it alone!  We do it with Christ on our side.  We listen to him, we dwell in the Word, we pray, and yes we worship.  Through all of these spiritual disciplines our hearts are changed.  Nothing else in life changes because of our worship-- things still go wrong at work, loved ones still struggle with health, we may even lose our job but worship/prayer/dwelling in the Word changes who we are and how we will handle things.  Will tantrums help?  We might think so sometimes but ultimately the answer is no.  Will sulking make any difference other than irritating everyone else around us?  Probably not.  But worship, coming to God for the sake of praising God and not expecting to be patted on the back for it but genuinely immersing ourselves into the songs, liturgy, prayers, community, bread and wine/body and blood, these are the things that change us from reacting and sinning to accepting and moving forward with a deeper sense of peace.  


We shouldn't be too hard on Cain for his tantrums or his sinfulness.  We are all sinners.  But perhaps we can learn from his mistakes and live in the fullness of Christ Jesus who accepts us and our offerings but who also might occasionally push us to attend to those places where we need to do some maturing.  


Have a blessed day!!


Image credit: Marc Chagall at www.biblical-art.com