Am I My Brother's Keeper?

AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?
GENESIS 4:1-15 ESP. 9

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 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, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.

In the name of Jesus:
Have you checked the labels on your grocery items lately? You may be getting less than you thought. I noticed this trend a couple of years ago when, while eating at the local establishment, the portion size I received was much smaller than what I remembered. And if you would look closely in the supermarkets, some manufacturers are selling us the same size packages we are accustomed to, but they are putting less of the product in the box. For example, a box of well-known detergent that once held 61 ounces now contains only 55. Same size box, less soap. Companies realize that you can’t keep marking up the price on things, because then no one will buy them. So, as an alternative, the portion size gets smaller. The price will remain the same, but you are getting less and still paying more money.
How something is wrapped doesn't always show us what's on the inside. That's true with people as well. We can wrap ourselves up in the same packaging every day -- nice clothes, big smile, friendly demeanor -- yet still be less than what we appear to be. Take the case of Cain in the Old Testament lesson for today. He is the firstborn son of Adam and Eve. I have no doubt that Adam and Eve after the fall into sin were godly parents. They trusted in the Lord, specifically His Word, in spite of their eating of the forbidden fruit. How do we know that? God’s last Word to Adam and Eve was the Gospel promise of Genesis 3: 15: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise your heel.” Here God promises to sinners a Savior. All the while, in the process of living on this fallen planet, Adam and Eve would have to trust in the Lord. Certainly there would be consequences to pay for sin. Women would bear children in pain and long for their husbands, while men would toil and work hard for food. And all who have fallen into sin would ultimately return to the dust in punishment for their disobedience. These punishments were true for Adam and Eve and their children, and hold true for us today.
However Eve and Adam trusted in the Lord. They clung to the Word. Listen to Eve’s words at the birth of Cain: “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” Eve’s role as a mother was a gift from God and she credited God for the new life of Cain, even though she gave birth in pain. And I have no doubt that Adam and Eve raised Cain, and later their brother Abel, to trust the Lord. Abel was faithful to God, Cain was not. In the responsibility of offering a sacrifice to the Lord and bring to the Lord gifts, Abel did so willingly, out of love for God. Cain, well, he was another story. He gave grudgingly. God looked favorably upon Abel’s offering, but the text says: “for Cain and his offering (the Lord) had no regard.” Abel’s offering sprang from faith and love for God. Cain loved himself. He was self-righteous. Just note his response: “So Cain was very angry and his face fell.” Cain got angry, at who, God! He thought his offering was good enough! God should have been pleased with what He got. But Cain would have none of it. His whole attitude was one of being argumentative with God. For the Lord said to Cain: “ Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” Cain didn’t do right by the Lord, his offering was less than acceptable, and Cain was unjustly angry at God, thinking that God had too high of a standard. Cain thought that it was God’s fault for not accepting the offering. Rather than turning to God in repentance, Cain in anger turned on his brother Abel, killing him in cold blood.
After this first murder the Lord said to Cain: “Where is Abel your brother?” Now, God knows what happened. This question is pedantic in nature, God asks Cain so that Cain can come to his senses and realize what he did. But Cain lies to God and says: “I do not know” Well, he did know, and then Cain goes deeper and in anger says to God: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
What hypocrisy! Yes, Cain knew, but lied to God. His offering was not acceptable to God, and so because of this Cain kills Abel, lies to God, and in indignation says: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” It needs to be noted that God punished Cain by making him a fugitive and wanderer on the earth. Cain was a marked man; so much so that Cain believed his life would now be in danger. But God in His mercy reached out to Cain and put a mark on his Cain, to protect him, for if anyone took Cain’s life God’s vengeance would be poured out on the perpetrator sevenfold.
The question that begs to be answered here is this:” Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain asked it to absolve himself of any and all responsibility to his brother. He was cold hearted to God and to the needs of those around him. Cain thought that he could just look out for old number one and everything else would turn out okay, much like Adam who said to God after eating of the fruit: “Don’t blame me, its your fault God because the woman YOU GAVE ME made me disobey you.” No pun intended, but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Cain acted just like his father Adam, in shifting blame and responsibility. But God in His knowledge sees through the hypocrisy and the self-justification. And God calls sin what it is: disobedience, lawlessness. And the sinner stands guilty before God.
All too often we like to use the phrase “Am I my brother’s keeper?” to absolve ourselves of any responsibility toward another. So, if we see someone in need, we try to justify our inactivity by saying, “I am not my brother’s keeper.” If we see something happen to a neighbor in need, we bask in our apathy by declaring: “ I am not my brother’s keeper.” When someone has less, whether it is food, clothing or is in need of shelter, we justify our inactivity by declaring: I am not my brother’s keeper! But is this attitude God pleasing? Was God happy with Cain’s answer? Is God pleased with you when you shift the responsibility to care or show love to your neighbor in need? God is never pleased when the sinner sets himself to be God. God is never pleased with your own self-justification and self-righteousness. Doesn’t Paul write: “You were dead in your transgressions and sins and that your are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ and not of your own works? “ And doesn’t Jesus teach that: “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted?” God sees through your stubbornness and pride and unbelief. And He calls you to repent.
God answers the question: Am I my brother’s keeper? With a resounding YES!!!. HIS ANSWER IS FOUND IN HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, JESUS CHRIST. Unlike Cain, who fled from God in fear, God calls you to turn from your sin and turn to Him. When God is angry with you, come to Him with a humble confession of sin and ask for His forgiveness. For God has seen you in your need of a Savior. That is why He kept His promise to Adam and Eve by sending a second Adam, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was born, not just for Adam and Eve and Abel, but for Cain as well! Christ came to be a brother to sinners, for He who knew no sin became sin for US that we might know the righteousness of God in Him. Christ came to be born of our flesh but sinless, to offer Himself as the blood offering to forgive sinners of their sins. In Jesus God says: “I am your keeper.” (Psalm 121:5). In Christ the Lord blesses you and keeps you. Incredibly, the same thing happened to Christ as to Abel. Even as Abel was murdered and his blood was innocently shed, so also Christ was the innocent Lamb of God led to the cross, so that by His shed blood sins would be forgiven and guilt remitted. Jesus’ blood cries out from the cross saying: It is finished and all is accomplished! God’s anger is appeased through the blood of Christ, which cleanses you from all of your sins. It is as the hymn writer puts it in that great Lenten hymn: “Abel’s blood for vengeance pleaded to the skies but the blood of Jesus for our pardon cries.” (LSB 433 v 4). The blood of Christ offers mercy, forgiveness and peace to the sinner.
Even as God placed a mark upon Cain’s forehead, so too you have been marked. For in the waters of your Baptism God has placed the mark of the cross of Christ upon you and has made you His child. In Baptism your hypocrisy, self righteous, and sinful self was drowned and put to death so that by the power of the Spirit you might rise to newness of life. God daily calls you live out your Baptism, humbly confessing yours sins, trusting in Christ for forgiveness, and receiving the ability to live your life in service and love toward your neighbor.
God has marked you to be his own in Baptism. Today He gives you His gifts for forgiveness, love, mercy, peace, and reconciliation so that you might share these gifts with others. Jesus says: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” When you see your neighbor in need, you are called by God to share His gifts with those who are in need. Doesn’t God say in His Word: “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light and in him there is no cause for stumbling? “ And “ By this (Christ’s love) we know love, that He laid down His life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But is anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth.” (I John 2:10 and 3: 16-18). “For if anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar for he who does not love his brother who he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, whoever loves God must love his brother.” (I John 4: 20-21).
The world would have us think that each and every person is an island. But we do not live alone. God provides us with our daily bread so that we might, in faith, share God’s provisions with others. While some may like to hide behind excuses to give credibility to their hypocrisy, bragging of their freedom of responsibility to help those in need, we are compelled by the love of God in Christ to reach out an help others in the of Jesus. May God provide us with the love of Christ continually, that we never commit the sin of Cain by arrogantly asking the question of God, "Am I my brother's keeper?" for God's answer is, "Yes, you are."
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen