Difference between revisions of "Sermon for November 11th, 2012"

Revision as of 23:38, 10 November 2012

Genesis 4:1-7

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.’ 2Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7If 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.’

Abel's Sacrifice: Putting First Things First

Sacrifice is a concept quite familiar to all those who have served in the military, and who we celebrate today on Veteran's day. Soldiers who have served in the armed forces make all kinds of sacrifices, large and small: In basic training they sacrifice their individuality; in deployment overseas they sacrifice time spent with family; in combat situations they sacrifice comfort, safety, and sometimes even their lives, so that others may live and enjoy comfort and safety. We give them our thanks and gratitude, all year round, but especially today.

This language of sacrifice should also sound familiar to us as Christians--our faith is centered on Jesus Christ, who made the greatest sacrifice we could possibly know, willingly giving up his perfect, innocent life in exchange for our broken and flawed ones, so that we might have not just safety and freedom, but eternal life in God's Kingdom.

Jesus'sacrifice was followed by many others in the early days of the church, when Christians were persecuted and martyred, but still many willingly sacrificed their possessions, their freedoms, and their lives in order to live out this new faith, this "Christianity." There are fewer today who are called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice for their faith, although there are still some, particularly in countries where Christianity is not allowed. And thought most of us are never called upon to sacrifice our lives for our faith, I believe we are often called upon to make smaller sacrifices for what we believe--sacrifices of our time, our resources, and occasionally even some of our relationships.

But sacrifice is older even than Christianity. The Old Testament is full of sacrifice, and there was even a highly intricate sacrificial system that is reflected in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Today, we're going to take a look at the very first sacrifices ever made in the Bible -- the sacrifices of the two brothers, Cain and Abel. If you know the story, you know that Abel ends up sacrificing more than just a burnt offering. Abel is murdered by his brother Cain out of jealousy, in the process making Abel the first person to sacrifice his life as a direct result of his worship of God.

But rather than me telling you a story that you've probably heard many times over...I'd like for Abel to tell his story today...

Oh, hi! Have I met you before? My name is Abel. Abel Adamson. I live in the land of Nod, down that way just East of Eden. You've heard of Eden, haven't you? Yeah, it's a pretty sweet neighborhood. My parents used to live there before my brother and I were born. They got into some kind of trouble with the church in Eden, and got asked to leave. I've always wondered what that was about, but they don't like to talk about it much. Nod's a little bit more ghetto...but it's home.

You know, my parents aren't exactly outstanding members of the church here in Nod, either. They're what people in the church usually refer to as "sponges" -- they soak up all the resources of the church (all the programs, classes, worship, and the pastor's time) and never really give anything back. Don't get me wrong -- they've been in leadership positions. Back in Eden, they were on the nominating committee. You know, like, "I nominate you to be a horse...I nominate you to be a lemon tree...I nominate you to be a furry tree sloth..." I think they had fun being on the nominating committee, at least until they nominated that snake.

So, yeah, things are a little bit rough here in Nod. Well...for me, at least. Not for my older brother. Nothing's too hard for Cain; he's amazing. Mom and Dad are always so proud of everything he does. And he does just about everything! That's the hard part about being a kid brother; by the time I'm old enough to do something he's already done it, and done it better than anyone else in town, too. Which is why what happened today was so weird...so absolutely awesome and amazing and cool...but weird...

Anyhow, that's how I got stuck taking care of these sheep. Cain used to do that; in fact, he was one of the first ones to figure out you could tame sheep and breed them and raise them...and sell them. He made a killing selling sheep for awhile there. But then everybody else was doing it and Cain had to move onto something new, something better. We all thought he was crazy when he started burying dead plants and seeds in the ground...but then stuff started growing! It was insane, and Cain was a hero because now we didn't have to go on long foraging trips. I think Cain really liked all the attention he got from that venture. And (again!) he made a lot of money off that one, too.