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Sibling Rivalry Sibling Rivalry Pentecost 23 T Genesis 4:1-151 T Pastor Petri When We Begin to Think We’re Too Special For God In the entertainment industry, entire families build empires. The Jacksons, Kardash- ians, and Osbournes, to name just a few. And where there are empires there is sibling rivalry. Of course, there’s nothing new about this. Take the example of two brother- actors, Edwin and John. Ed was highly acclaimed while younger John was panned by the critics. So bad was he that Edwin blackballed him from most theaters. Bitterly, John went South, where he joined an extremist group. Today, no one recalls Edwin Booth. But John Wilkes Booth? Today, too, sibling rivalry brings out the best and the worst. In the US, child abuse is comitted more often by siblings than adults. Annually, a third of all kids are battered by a brother or sister.2 Even in Bible times, Cain killed Abel. But why? [IT’S ROOTS] According to Scripture, the first assault took place over a religious issue! From the dawn of time, life had been tenuous. So the ancients sought to keep it in balance by ‘giv- ing back’ a portion of the land and livestock they took. ‘Sacrifice’ was a part of every world religion. Naturally, Adam saw God behind nature, so he would have taught his family to make their sacrifices to him. In fact, they were to give God the first of their yields. For no matter how empty the stomach or sparse the harvest, God came first. 3 With such a faith, Abel gave his first-fruits and pleased the Lord.4 Cain also made offerings but not his first yield.5 He needed the early crops to guarantee his survival, evidently deciding God could wait for the second harvest. Doesn’t that sound just like us? It’s not about faith, we say. If we’re broke God gets nothing. And so, like Cain, we think we are the smarter brother, the wiser brother, the better brother. So imagine Cain’s horror when God liked Abel more! Or maybe I should say ‘imagine Cain’s jealousy’. Jesus likewise told of a Pharisee who saw himself the clear choice over a nearby tax collector. His credentials? He fasted and tithed. That was enough as far as the Pharisee was concerned, since God could see he wasn’t like other men, extortioners, adulterers, or even that tax collector.6 Yet Jesus said it was the sin- ner that went home justified! What neither Cain nor this Pharisee realized was that God doesn’t judge by outward actions. He looks at the heart. And this leads to very different choices, ones that cause us to halt, to envy others, and to wonder why on earth God pre- fers them. He often makes choices that catch us up in the wake of bitter jealousies. 1 Unless otherwise noted, all passages are from The English Standard Version of the Bible. 2 Frazier BH, Hayes KC. Selected Resources on Sibling Abuse. SRB 94 – 08 Special Reference Briefs. 1994. 23 May 2008. 3 Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me.” 4 Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain….” [Emphasis mine] 5 Genesis 4:3-4 “...Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock….” 6 Luke 18:11 The Pharisee...prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.’ [IT’S SHOOTS] The upshot of this is plain enough in our account. Cain killed Abel. But it’s more than that. In doing this, Cain exposed his total lack of faith in God by taking justice into his own hands, a justice he thought God had ignored. Cain thought he knew best whom God should love most. Once again, (as he did in making his sacrifices), Cain tried to limit God’s options so that he would have no choice but to accept second best. God, how- ever, was not deceived, was he! He saw the bitter rivalry and what it led to. It is a fool who thinks he can win someone’s heart by attacking another, as if cutting off all other choices will bend the heart our way. Does anyone really expect to win love by destroying those more lovable? Can one become godly by casting aside those who are more godly? Will a parent, a spouse, a child, or even God simply ignore our wickedness and with a shrug say, “Oh well, since I have nothing else left, I will love you”? Can we even accept that? No! You give little—you get little. You ask not—you receive not. And if you offer God nothing more than second best, expect nothing more in return. Oh, we think ‘I am not like Cain.’ But we are! [GOD’S FRUITS] Which is all the more cause to remember his outcome. For the justice of Cain boomeranged. He killed and then feared being killed. This criminal cried out, “Lord deliver me from my own justice!” And God did! Why? Because one day he would end this bitter rivalry. On that day, God would let Cain’s temper flare once more like an exploding star—not on a good man like Abel but on the perfect man, Jesus. In one great flash Satan killed his competitor. And why not? Since the dawn of time, life has been tenuous and Satan knew heaven could not hold both him and Jesus.7 As if he ever equaled Christ! Yet we may wonder if he has, in fact, won. God did punish Jesus for the sins of the world! Yet this historic moment was history’s turning point! What Satan could not foresee was the power of a sacrifice—one given not in half measures, like Cain gave, but fully. Jesus offer- ed himself, perfect for imperfect, so God could love his lesser siblings. And I don’t mean Satan. We are Christ’s brothers and sisters,8 ‘second-best’ now made ‘first’ in God’s heart.9 I dare not say from this that our rivalries are all put aside. As long as the sun rises, we face jealousies that challenge even the Kardashians. We will recount past cruelties when a lack of faith and a rush to judgment caused lasting wounds. But we know that by Jesus’ wounds we are healed.10 Let us then meet our rivals, (sibling or otherwise), with the for- giveness God showed Cain. For the guilt of others and our own guilt are destined to fade in the light of Christ’s resurrection. He has lifted us up in mercy so that we will do the same. Truly, before His throne we shall one day stand, and nothing can rival that! Amen. 7 Isaiah 14:12-13 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high….” 8 Hebrews 2:11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 9 1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 Isaiah 53:5b Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed..
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