My Brothers Keeper - Gen 4: 1-16

Relationships. What gives our life purpose and meaning. Define who we are and what we believe in. Relationships are our connection with other people and with God. The Book of Genesis speaks about such complex and meaningful relationships. Two weeks ago we talked about our most important relationship - our relationship with the God who created us and knows us intimately. This week we will be focusing on our relationships with each other, specifically looking at the question Cain posed to God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, the place of deep joy, delight, and connection with God. After they knew each other, Eve conceived and bore a son named Cain, exclaiming that she had produced a man with the help of God. Remember that this was the first child to be bore naturally, as Adam was created from the dust and Eve from his rib. Eve performed what has become the every day miracle of birth. But by the second child the nostalgia had worn off, and she named this child Abel, which can be translated as nothingness or futility. The brothers took different vocations, keeping the ground and watching the flock.

At some point Cain had the idea to give back to the God who had given them so much. Perhaps his dad had instructed him about offerings. Perhaps he came up with the idea all on his own. Whatever the case may be, Cain took God an offering of the fruits of the ground. The first public act of worship that we hear about in Genesis. Abel also brought an offering, the firstling of his flock.

But God did not act the way that Cain expected. God was pleased by Abel’s offering and not by his! Instead of God consoling Cain and telling him that his intentions were good, but his offering was not, God told Cain to try again. To do well. And then his offering would be accepted.

Cain’s response was one that we have probably all felt from time to time. Jealousy. And anger. He was jealous that Abel’s offering was accepted by God and that his wasn’t. Angry at God for essentially saying, what’s the problem. Do better and you will be forgiven. Its not about comparing your offering to Abel’s - its about your heart. But instead of accepting his blame for the situation, instead of doing as God instructed, Cain called Abel out to the field and killed him. 

Then God appeared and asked Cain, where is your brothers? And Cain replied that he did not know. In fact, it wasn’t his job to keep track of his brother, for is he really his brother’s keeper? And God asked him what he had done. 

The depth of Cain’s question is profound. Am I my brother’s keeper? And the answer is one that we each know, but sometimes fail to claim. Yes. Yes we are each other’s keepers. But how exactly do we do that, especially on days that we barely seem to have it together ourselves? 

First, we take responsibility for our own short-comings. Cain couldn’t believe that God had rejected his offering. Perhaps he knew that he hadn’t given his very best or had his heart in the right place. But he could not take take responsibility for his part in the situation. Instead he looked to everyone else. Which is connected to part two of how we watch out for one another. We do not blame our brothers and sisters for our problems. We do not blame God for our problems. We take responsibility for the part that we have played. This frees us to celebrate with our brothers and sisters instead of subcoming to jealously. 

Have you ever noticed that you can’t become jealous of someone who isn’t like you at all - someone who’s situation is so different from yours that it isn’t even comprehendible? We become jealous of people who are like us, in the same profession, the same family. People who we have a relationship with. In Cain’s case he wanted to know why his offering wasn’t accepted, but his brothers was. He than blamed God for not accepting it, and his brother Abel for being better than him. That lead to a sense of shame and fury that built up inside of him until he acted out in a brutal way.

Of course Cain was neither the first nor last person to blame everyone else for their problems. His parents blamed each other and blame the serpent for their disobedience. Young children blame their actions on the fact that they don’t perceive the  situation to be fair. And adults can often let their jealousy wash over them until it becomes a gentle rage.

Thirdly, we become our brothers and sisters keeper by seeking to do good for them instead of harm. Abel did nothing wrong in this story, in fact he did everything right. He offered God his very best, and he was killed for it. How could the story had ended differently if Cain sought to learn from Abel, asking him about how to share one’s very best with God? What if Cain would have celebrated with Abel instead of blaming him? What if, what if? Often what if’s get us caught into a never ending cycle of confusion and worry, but in this care, I think the what if’s demand for us to consider acting a different way. Call us from a life of sin, to a life of relationship that blesses others instead of blames them. Calls for us to become our best selves in the context of relationships with God and one another. 

But what if we have harmed another person? What if we have denied their dignity and have not protected their worth? Then we are given a second chance. God did not kill Cain for his action against Abel, even though this would have been justice. Instead, God gives Cain a chance to redeem himself, while still wrestling with the guilt of what he had done. To be driven from the only way of life that he had ever known - farming, and the only land he had ever known - his home, to wonder the earth and contemplate what he had done. 

It may not seem fair - the murderer wasn’t murdered. The one who didn’t protect his brother, who didn’t keep him, was protected by the mark he bore. But friends, the grace and love and justice of God are not about being fair. For God does not respond as we may have been lead to respond. God wanted to stop the violence that could have went on, if he would have killed Cain or allowed someone else to kill Cain. He was giving Cain a chance at a better way, even if Cain didn’t see it that way. Part of keeping our brother is stepping out of the cycle of violence, not doing unto others what they may have done unto us.

Perhaps when we heard this story growing up we were taught “don’t kill one another”, and that is a very important lesson to learn, but there is so much more behind being our brothers keeper. Being our brother and sisters keeper is not about being perfect, rather it is about trying our best to watch out for the best interest of another, and admitting when we fail. Asking for forgiveness for our shortcomings instead of blaming others and harming them. Asking for forgiveness when we have harmed one another. 

Being about brothers and sisters is about acknowledging that we come from the same substance, the same stuff of the Earth, the same love of God. We do not create our brothers and sisters, so we have no right to destroy them. When we harm one another, when we seek to destroy or diminish another person in any way, their spirit cries out to the one who created them - God. May we seek to watch out for one another, be each others keeper. Trusting that as we look out for others, others will look out for us, and that such tender compassion and care will lead us into deeper relationships with God and with each other. Amen.