Surely, if you do right, there is uplift. But if you do not do right Sin crouches at the door. Genesis 4:6-7 (TJSB)
Taking Responsibility – Keepers – Series 2 – Part 3
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6
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Cain got pretty mad that God didn’t like the gift he brought him. The Divine tried to talk to Cain about it:
“Why are you distressed, and why is your face fallen? Surely, if you do right, there is uplift. But if you do not do right sin crouches at the door; Its urge is toward you, yet you can be its master.” Gen 4:6-7 (TJSB).
Guilt-ridden people can rarely look those who’ve found them out in the eye. But those who can take guidance, correction; who can accept responsibility and admit their true intention, retain their dignity.
Cain still had an opportunity, post-offering, to do the right thing. Because it would seem that the “sin” God was talking about was not in the bringing of the sacrifice, but where the pattern of behavior Cain was outworking in his life would lead him. At any point, Cain could have said:
“You’re right. I’m so obsessed with my land and my crops and my possessions; I don't know where I end and they begin anymore. Who would I be if I didn’t have them? If the weather turned bad, and I lost my harvest? I was trying to buy you off. My identity is so tied up into it rather than being tied up into my connection to you and my family. How do I untangle myself from this mess? How do I hold the tension between loving what I have and what I do, and not allowing those things to rule over me? How do I celebrate my brother's success while accepting my shortcomings?”
But he didn’t.
He stayed angry. He allowed shame to rule him. And his brother? The one who could seemingly do no wrong? He took him out to a field and killed him. Perhaps he beat him to death with a rock, or smashed his head in from behind with a log? Who knows how he did it, we just know that he did.
And ever since, humanity has leaned on its scapegoats. I would say that it's one of our greatest challenges. Listen to the news, conversations at work, rants on Facebook… who's being blamed for all the trouble in the world?
You don’t see many people taking responsibility, putting their hands up saying: we could do better. You don’t see many governments, corporations, businesses, even religious institutions say: “We were wrong, and we’re sorry.”
Historically, and presently, we have difficulty taking responsibility. Laying the blame, and placing our anger elsewhere is a short-term fix for our personal and global shame complex. Sin crouches at the door, ready to pounce and devour those who are unwilling to take responsibility for their own darkness. This is the doorway, my friends.
Now, hopefully, this situation is making you think of another scapegoat. Perhaps the most famous one. The one who knew what was happening to him, and still let it all happen.
Christ.
“The cross exposes the use of violent force as a shameful practice to be renounced… Jesus proved there is another way. Jesus is the other way. The question “What are you willing to die for?” is not the same question as “What are you willing to kill for?” Jesus was willing to die for that which he was unwilling to kill for. Jesus won his kingdom by dying, not killing. Ruling the world by killing was buried with Christ… With his resurrection the world is given a new trajectory, an eschatology toward peace.” Brian Zahnd (A Farewell to Mars).
Cain and Abel's story is more than a cranky little tale about sibling rivalry. It’s a disturbing and provocative story about what we do with our shame and darkness. The Cross is the redemptive work of The Divine, that takes this twisted story and by grace, shows us how to write a new ending.
History doesn’t have to repeat itself.
Go to The Power of Passion – Keepers – Series 2 – Part 4
Written by Liz Milani
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