Abel: Worshipful Faith
Hebrews 11:4, Genesis 4:1-7

The way we handle the times when life really doesn’t make sense and we don’t understand why we are going through the things we are going through says a lot about us as followers of Jesus. The way we handle times of confusion and uncomfortable mystery says a lot about the nature of our faith in Christ.

“I still don’t understand, nearly 10 years later,” says David Biebel. “At least I don’t understand why the Lord allowed my sons to be afflicted with infantile bilateral striatal necrosis. I don’t understand why Jonathan died or why Christopher lived. Today he’s 16 and nearly totally recovered.

All I understand is this: life is a riddle, which God wants me to experience but not necessarily solve. When I was struggling to solve it, I found 1 Corinthians 13:12, which only makes sense in the original Greek: “For now we see (or understand) through a mirror, in a riddle,” the apostle Paul wrote, “but then face to face.”

Modern Christians sometimes rush to put God’s truth into little boxes, neatly systematized, categorized, organized, and principle-ized, when God’s perspective on suffering is too big for any of that. While for some “spirituality” is defined by what you know, God may be more concerned with how you handle what you cannot know.

A riddle loses its mystery and its power, even perhaps its significance, once it is solved. By keeping us in our riddle (every person’s riddle is unique) God is helping us learn to walk by faith, and not by sight.”

Hebrews 11 is often called “Faith’s Hall of Fame,” or the “Hall of Faith.” It provides example after example of people who had a real and enduring faith that lasted through whatever life threw at them. And the first example given is Abel. Turn with me to Hebrews 11:4.

The Genesis 4 story of Cain and Abel drops us right into the middle of a confusing time for both Cain and Abel. Let’s look at that story for a minute, and then come back to Hebrews 11. Flip over to the front of your Bibles, to Genesis 4:1-7.

Truth is, we don’t know exactly why God chose to accept Abel’s offering and not Cain’s. It wasn’t a competition. It wasn’t one or the other. God could have accepted both. But something about Cain’s offering was displeasing to God. The New Testament does briefly refer to this story a couple of times – Jesus even calls him “righteous Abel” and the first of the martyred prophets. And the tiny New Testament book of Jude refers to those who in unbelief follow the “way of Cain.” So the way of Abel is connected to real and deep faith, while the way of Cain is connected to unbelief. But it didn’t have to be that way.

The name Cain is related to the word for “get.” When Eve had Cain, she said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” Cain was the firstborn, and therefore had the rights to everything that was his father’s. The picture of Cain is one of extreme self-sufficiency and strength. One who can “get” things on his own.

The name Abel has a meaning more along the lines of nothingness, frailty, and those who – for whatever reason – get the short end of the stick. Cain enjoyed the ancient privileges of the firstborn, Abel knew none of that. And the two sons took somewhat different paths in life. In our world, livestock and crops are closely related. Farmers can raise one, or the other, and often have both. But both have the sense of farming.

But the Bible paints a picture of more distinct paths for Cain and Abel. Abel went into animal husbandry. He was a keeper of sheep. He had flocks and he cared for them – taking them out into the wilderness to graze and drink water, and providing shelter for them when they needed it. Cain, on the other hand, became a “worker of the ground.” He went into agriculture in the strict sense of raising grains and other plants for food.

And as time passed, Cain and Abel both brought offerings to God. Cain brought some of what he produced through his farming, and Abel brought the best of his flock, including the best cuts of meat. And God, for reasons we really don’t know, accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s.

Now remember, we’re very early in humanity’s relationship with God. The law of Moses and the system of sacrifices was centuries off. But people were still longing to come into God’s presence. So Cain and Abel each bring an offering to God, Cain brings some of the fruits of his farming, and Abel brings the choicest of his flocks. God accepts Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s.

But notice … there’s no evidence that God was planning to punish Cain. It simply says that he “had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.” This could have been a simple teaching moment for both. But instead of having a teachable spirit and asking, “Ok, what did I do wrong here? What should I do next time?” Cain becomes angry with God.

And God even seeks to calm him down. Look at Vv. 6-7. God is correcting Cain not for his offering now, but for his anger. He even tells him, you can try again. Learn from this, so that your offering will be acceptable too. God even warns him that sin is near to his heart now. But instead of allowing God to gently guide him back, he allows his anger to grow into a rage. And ultimately, he takes his anger at God out on Abel and murders Abel.

Now, turn back to Hebrews 11:4. Abel’s faith in God was seen in right worship. He brought to God the best of what he had produced. He didn’t bring just any old lamb. Genesis emphasizes the value of the animal and the choice cuts of meat it would give. He didn’t give a lesser animal, and save the best for himself. He didn’t give the less prime cuts of the prime animal. He gave the whole thing. The best. He wouldn’t be able to sell it, and he wouldn’t enjoy it himself either. He gave the best of what he had to God.

Worship is our offering every part of ourselves to God, seeking his glory in all that we do. It’s far more than an hour or so a week in a church. Don’t get me wrong, corporate worship – our gathering together to worship God, is vital to a healthy faith. We are instructed by God to gather together to worship him. Even Cain and Abel met together in a special place to present their offerings to God.

But right worship, for Abel, began long before he and Cain met at an altar somewhere. It began as he took care of his flocks. And carefully bred them to improve them. And then even more carefully selected the best of what he was able to produce to bring to God. Right worship isn’t an afterthought or something we grudgingly offer before we get on with things. It is the heart of a real and enduring faith.

When we offer our talents to God during the week and seek to glorify God as we repair cars, or milk cows, or sell appliances, or fix computers, or run a cash register, or clean houses, or teach students or write sermons, or whatever it is that we do, we are orienting our hearts toward God and creating the conditions in which we long to give to God the best of what we have. In our offering of time. Our offering of talent. Our offering of treasure. And our offering of song and praise together as God speaks to us from His Word.

Cain didn’t want to allow God to teach him, shape him, guide him. That shows a heart filled with pride and self-sufficiency, two traits that show up in his name “Cain.” “I have gotten.” Truth is, like Cain, we all get it wrong to some extent. Our hearts and actions cannot be right all the time. Part of right worship is allowing God to shape and instruct us when we get it wrong.

But Cain won’t do that. For Cain, God will “get what he gets and he won’t throw a fit.” Whether it’s the best Cain can offer or not. Whether his heart and mind are in the right place or not. And when God rejects his offering and tries to instruct and shape him, instead of submitting to God, Cain gets angry. And then his anger grows and grows until he loses it and kills his own brother, simply because God accepted his offering.

How often do we resist God’s instruction and shaping? We want to come to God on our terms, in our way. And that is the thing we cannot do. We come to God on God’s terms. Through the door he has established. And that door is Jesus. Not our own ability to be good and do good. Not on the basis of our talent and gifting. Not on the basis of what we accomplish in life. God cannot be bribed or bought. We come to God by receiving the gift of grace he offers us in Christ. And we worship God for who God IS, not who we want God to be, or what we want God to be like. We do not create God in our image. God has created us in his. But that image is marred by sin.

Sin entered the world through temptation, through the serpent. But notice now that, just one generation after the fall, in the first children, sin is now erupting not from temptation, but from within Cain. There is no serpent. There is only Cain, and his own pride and self-righteousness. When humanity first sinned and rejected God, something shattered inside of us. Something deep inside of us broke. And that brokenness, that internal sinful nature, became a part of what it means to be human. We need God’s intervention. We cannot do things perfectly right on our own. And so in Christ, God intervenes.

Cain and Abel both came to God with offerings of worship. Abel’s right worship was accepted. Cain’s wrong worship was not. So God began to intervene. But Cain rejected God’s intervention. His pride wouldn’t allow him to be shaped by God’s gracious instruction.

In his book The Prodigal God, Pastor Timothy Keller tells the story of a gardener who grew an enormous carrot. He took it to his king and said, “My Lord, this is the greatest carrot I’ve ever grown or ever will grow. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you.” The king was touched and discerned the man’s heart, so as [the gardener] turned to go the king said, “Wait! You are clearly a good steward of the earth. I own a plot of land right next to yours. I want to give it to you freely as a gift so you can garden it all.” And the gardener was amazed and delighted and went home rejoicing. But there was a nobleman at the king’s court who overheard all this. And he said, “My! If that is what you get for a carrot – what if you gave the king something better?” So the next day the nobleman came before the king and he was leading a handsome black stallion. He bowed low and said, “My lord, I breed horses and this is the greatest horse I have ever bred or ever will. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you.” But the king discerned his heart and said thank you, and took the horse and merely dismissed him. The nobleman was perplexed. So the king said, “Let me explain. That gardener was giving me the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse.”

Now, look again at Hebrews 11:4. Right worship leads to right living. When we worship God well, sacrificially giving our best, and not just the rest, we begin to live every moment as the children of God that we are. That doesn’t mean that our offering of worship has to be just as good as the person next to us. Jesus made sure his disciples noticed a poor beggar who gave her last penny to God. It was all she had. And then he made sure they understood that she gave more than a millionaire who gave tens of thousands of dollars.

Because in giving all she had, she placed herself in God’s hands. He would have to supply her next meal, or she would go hungry. The wealthy ones gave, but still had more at home. She didn’t have that to fall back on. Right worship isn’t about you and the person sitting next to you. It is about you and God, and how much you’re willing to trust God.

We begin to seek to see God glorified in our lives not just in our singing on Sunday, but throughout the week, in our work and our play, in our family time and our rest, in our marriages and our parenting. In the way we relate to our friends and enemies, neighbors and coworkers.

And when we become aware that we’ve gotten it wrong, we repent. We receive God’s instruction and discipline. God’s discipline isn’t given as punishment, but as correction. As a way of teaching us. If we’ve hurt others, we seek to make it right as best we can. Our hearts break at our own sin, and we quickly repent and submit ourselves again to God.

Right worship led Abel to a life that was approved by God. Not in his own wisdom in strength, but because he was obedient to God and gave God the best of what he had produced. Right worship leads to right living. And right living is an effective witness. It brings glory to God. Look at the last sentence of Hebrews 11:4.

Abels life pointed others to God. Cain sought to make a name for himself. That isn’t the heart of someone who places their faith in Christ. We don’t seek to make a name for ourselves. We simply and humbly seek to point others to Christ. And we don’t even need to get the credit for that. If we’ve been instrumental in bringing someone to faith in Christ and they give credit to someone else, we’re just happy that person came to Christ. We don’t need the credit. We aren’t doing things for credit. We are saved by grace, not by the credit we think we should receive. So we simply live for Christ, and when he is glorified, we are happy.

St. Francis invited one of his young monks to go into town to preach with him. The new monk was honored by the request to be his companion that day. They went into town and walked down the main streets, and then turned down many of the side streets and alleys. Then they headed out into the outskirts of the town and the outlying villages and did the same thing. They then returned to the monastery along a winding route through the countryside.

As they approached the monastery gate, the young monk felt he needed to remind the old priest that he’d originally intended to preach in the town. This is how Francis replied: “My son, we HAVE preached. We were preaching while we were walking. We have been seen by many; our behavior has been closely watched; it was thus that we preached our morning sermon. It is of no use, my son, to walk anywhere to preach unless we preach everywhere we walk.

Abel was a man of right worship, and that led to right living and effective witness. And his life was cut short. Cain was a man of selfish worship, and that led to wrong living and anger, hatred, and violence. And yet he lived a long life. That doesn’t make sense to us. But it was Abel’s faith that was pleasing to God. It was Abel’s life that serves as an example through the ages of faith expressed in right worship, right living, and effective witness. Which way are you going? The way of Cain, or the way of Abel? Let’s pray.