Bible Basics 101 - Cain, Abel, and the Image of God - Part 5

To fully understand the effect the Fall had upon Man and creation itself, we have to deepen our knowledge into how God original intended his image to function in the world. For us to do this we must return to the very famous words from Genesis Chapter One. There God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”(1:26-28) Since this passage is so full, we will only unpack what we really need for our current purpose here. 

We see a threefold pattern here and hey why not, “three” in a very biblical number. First, God makes man after his “image”. Second, he “blesses” man. Thirdly, man is given “dominion” over God’s new creation. What should this reveal to us from the start? Man is given a function by God, to help him rule his world. God does not leave man to do this all alone, he blesses him, in order that he is then able to project God’s image into creation. This means for us, the “image” God has created us in, must shine through action. Proper God inspired action, that comes through listening to God and what he desires his image bearers to do. The very foundation of man being created in the “Image of God” is the sharing in God’s dominion. This shows that God is not a master and we are simply his slaves. No, we are in partnership with God and when we function like he made us, we project his image into the world. Man is created to show forth God’s love, mercy, and his personal care for what he has made. This is what it means to be truly human. To repeat our “Foundation Relationship”: Worship God, love one another, and be good and wise stewards of creation. When all three of these relationships work and flourish together, we truly show forth the Image of God. We demonstrate through our actions, that God, the God of creation, the living and true God, is in full command and control of his world. God is not a “puppet master” on high, who simply zaps people to do what he desires. No, God is in communion with them and he works through his “image bearing” partners. 

Now is our last post from the “Bible Basics 101” series we saw the effects that the Fall had upon the “Foundational Relationships”. All three where distorted because of Sin and Death. To broaden the picture of how the “Fall” has affected God’s new image bearing creature, we must move forward in Genesis. 

When Adam and Eve are exiled from the Garden, we are told that God, “drove out the man”. (Genesis 3:24) Therefore Man is no longer in complete communion with God. He is now away from his divine presence and blessing. We will see this same pattern continue as the full effect of sin and death become known. People continue to move further and further “east” from God. This movement also represents a movement away from the original “image of God” to the corrupted “image of man”. To develop this picture further, let us next study the popular story of Cain and Abel. It is very interesting here we find in the details of this passage, all three of our “Foundational Relationship”. And even more, as we saw with Adam and Eve, we are able to see how the relationships have been distorted or broken all together. This is a two-part scene, so we will take each part separately, then reflect upon the entire scene at the end. 

Part 1: “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 tiller 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 brought some of the firstlings 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 countenance fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance  fallen? 7 If 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.” (Genesis 4:1-7) 

Several things about this passage jump out at me from the start. First, we have Abel who is a “keeper” of sheep and Cain who is a “tiller” of the ground. Both of these words we should remember from God’s command to Adam to “till and keep” (Gen 2:15) the Garden of Creation. So, then it should come as no surprise to us that also here too, we find, worship of God, relationships between people, and stewardship over the Land. All three, grow in importance in Part 2. Abel as “keeper” of the sheep, is the one who is responsible for worship. He is handling the animal sacrifices given to God. Cain is charged with “tilling” the ground. Pay attention to how these two vocations should tie together, for a flock to flourish and be acceptable for sacrifice, then the ground to must also flourish. But we quickly see that something is badly wrong here. Cain and Able are clearly not working together in their God given tasks to love one another and offer him alone proper worship. They both approach the Lord with their sacrifice, but the Lord only has “regard” for Abel’s sacrifice. Now, recognize that the sacrifice of Cain is not the problem, but Cain himself. As the text says, “And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.” We do not know at this point what is wrong with Cain, but the text goes on to say that Cain seems to be full of anger for his brother. And that, “sin in lurking at the door”, Cain is not able to control his anger and it reaches a climax in Part Two. So, as with Adam and Eve, Sin is the key problem that must be mastered, and Abel can clearly do this better than Cain. We here encounter the central issue of self-control. This will become a greater and greater problem as the story of the Bible moves forward, with Saint Paul himself putting much emphasis upon its importance (for example see Galatians 5:16-24). 

Part 2: “Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out to the field.” 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 till 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 punishmentis greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me this day away from the ground; and from your face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me.” 15 Then the LORD said to him, “Not so! If anyone slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presenceof the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” (Genesis 4:8-16)

As with Part One we again see our three “Foundational Relationships” front and center. We also realize very quickly their break down and destruction by Sin. This is present with Cain leading his brother into the field. Before this moment the story is led by the desire for worship, now it is led by pride, anger, and wrath. Instead of God being in control, Cain takes the main role here. And we are again taken back to the familiar story of the Fall. Cain’s sin reaches its climax and because of his anger he kills his brother. As with God looking for Adam and Eve in the Garden, he goes looking for his servant Abel. What does he find? The very land that Cain was supposed to make flourish is “crying out” to God. Yes, even the creation itself knows that something wicked and evil has happened in God’s good world. This is indeed contrary to God’s plan. The Lord then asks that very important question of the Bible, “What have you done”. As I have said before, this question becomes a tolling bell in the scriptures and reappears many times over. We also, when we fall, hear God ask us this same question. He says, “Look how I formed you and love you, now what have you done?” Cain’s reply really comes before the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Yes, indeed you are, God wants to tell him. This is the entire point of the life that God has given us. We are by our very nature, by the image that God has given us, “our brother’s keeper”. Worship, relationship and the care of creation, all again crack and crumble by what happens next. Cain is told he can no longer gain “strength” from the ground and is sent further away from God to wander upon the earth. All that God has made Cain for is destroyed. He cannot “till” the soil. He cannot worship God if he is not in his presence. He cannot be in relationships with others because he is a marked, wandering man. He has no house or home to live in. We could easily say that his life, because of his sin, is now in compete chaos and total darkness. He moves like so many trapped in a cycle of sin further and further from God. Meaning that he no longer bears the image of God, but that of corruption and decay. Showing forth the sin that lies in his heart, rather than the life that God has given him. 

From the story of Cain and Abel we see the direction that humanity as a whole is moving in, further and further from God. The Bible story, and especially the first 11 Chapters of Genesis, pulls no punches in fully displaying that sin and its effect death lie at the heart of what is wrong with mankind. The fall of Cain only adds to this picture. We begin even this early on to see, that it is the heart of people that must be cured before they can again return to God and proper communion with him. Only with this proper communion restored can the relationships between God, Man, and the world, begin to flourish again, as God originally intended them to. Also, as we saw with Adam and Eve, these relationships are connected and when one part breaks down, all three falls apart. When Cain no longer sees himself as his brothers “keeper” and the Scripture story brings this point completely to the fore front trough the murder of Abel, Cain’s relationship with God and the Land also reach rock bottom. Yes, Cain’s image bearing function in God’s world is lost and only the image of himself remains. Sadly projecting anger and the fury of Sin that he has lost himself in. But tucked inside this story are also words of hope. We are told that Cain "rose up against his brother". These words "rose up" we will continue to see as the Biblical story unfolds and they are mainly used to describe how God has "rose up" to help and redeem his people. From Exodus to Resurrection the hope of God's salvation and restoration is always present for us to see and experience. 

I invite each of us to look at our own lives and see where sin and its effects is causing problems with our relationships with God and others. When we truly spend time thinking about and praying through our current problems, we will see how most of our issues tie back into certain choices that we have made, and those choices have indeed caused chaos and darkness in our lives. Only the God whom we serve through Jesus Christ can cure and heal the relationships that our own sins have corrupted. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us all to be transformed by the grace of God to be the people he created us to be. Projecting the Creators image and not our own into the world.

Pentecost and the Light of the World

The Gospel Reading of the Eastern Church for the Feast of Pentecost (John 7:37-52; 8
:12) includes these very famous words from Jesus, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) What darkness is Jesus talking about? What life does he promise to give? The whole Feast of Pentecost hinges on these two questions and for that matter, so does the Christian faith and gospel. 

Darkness more than anything else in confusion and chaos, the absence of God and his powerful love filled grace. The Bible opens with the great problem of darkness, but God through creation, fills his new world with light and overcomes the darkness. But what does man, the one charged to help God fill the world with light do? He disobeys God and returns to darkness, to the land of exile away from God’s presence. This is the result sin and idolatry, they move us further from God and one another, thus breaking our fundamental bonds of relationships with each other. This is at the heart of the story of the Tower of Babel in the Book of Genesis (11:1-9). Here Man is trying again to become like God and find his way out of darkness and exile by getting to the heavens and making a name for themselves. What does God do in response? He destroys the Tower and scatters the people over the face of the each because of their idolatry of self, their desire to be something “more” even without God. He confuses their language, so they may not attempt this little scheme again. This story then comes full circle with the Day of Pentecost. (Acts Chapter 2) God sends the Holy Spirit upon his new Church and instead of darkness the people see a great light, the flaming fire of the Holy Spirit. Instead of chaos, confusion, and exile; the people from many nations hear the Gospel message about Jesus Christ in their own language. What was scattered by sin, is now brought together by love. The love of God revealed in Jesus through his disciples for all the world to see and hear. The power of life and transformation is then allowed by the grace of God to be unleased into the world. 

This new “life” is what Jesus is talking about when he tells us at the end of Luke’s Gospel, “You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.” (24:48-49) We as God’s baptized and faithful disciples are now longer clothed with the skins of dead animals like Adam and Eve (Gen 3:21), no we are now clothed with the newness of life, life given to us by God through the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are told that God “clothed” Adam and Eve in death, now he has “clothed” us in the power of his Spirit. Yes, God had been faithful through the work of Jesus Christ to restore his creation to be how he always created it to be. As Saint Paul tells us so clearly in Galatians, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (3:27-29) We therefore must not be like those at Babel and try to make a name for ourselves, God has already given us his name at baptism. We indeed have been imprinted with the name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let us then not return to the darkness that God has rescued us from but let us live in the light of life that Jesus Christ calls us to. Let us truly be his faithful witness to the ends of the earth.  

The Challenge of God's Love

Today we hear those very famous words, “God is Love” (1 John 4:7), but in a world where people are so quick to use the word “love”, it seems to just rolls of must peoples tongues now without a second thought. What then does it really mean to say that “God is love”? For us to truly open our minds and hearts to this divine love let’s look at a passage in the Bible that is all about love. It comes from a beautiful book called, “the Song of Solomon”. It’s a love poem between a bride and groom. At one point the bride sings, “My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my dove, my fair one, and come away; for behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning has come. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, let me see your face, let me hear your voice.” (Song of Solomon 2:10-14) 

This is a perfect image or story about what we are celebrating during the Easter Season. That God out of his awesome and boundless love for us has “arisen” and the long winter of sin and death have been destroyed by the power of the Resurrection. The flowers are in full bloom, yes, God’s love has burst forth into the world. This is also the story of God’s love for the entire creation. That is why spring time is so special, the creation itself shows forth, that the death of winter in over, look at all the new leaves, open flowers, and the new life that reveals itself for all to enjoy. 

This is also love story with a human face at its heart. Yes, God has let us see his love, God has let us see his face in his Son Jesus Christ. What does this mean for us? Love is not an abstract idea that we simply think about, no, is had legs and walked around on the earth. As the Psalmist so beautifully says today, “The Lord has made known his holy arm and all the nations has seen the salvation of our God” (Psalm 98) God is not hidden, he is not behind some veil, no he is on our very midst. That is why St. John can write, “the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, so that we might have life through him.” (1 John 4:9) See, St. John was dealing with a big issue in the church community that he founded. Many people were saying, “oh Jesus was merely a ghost, not a real person, just a fathom of the imagination”. Meaning he did not truly rise from the grave. There was no resurrection from the dead. But John knows if Jesus is not real, then the love of God is not real. He tells his flock, “This Jesus which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it.” (1 John 1:1-2) This love with a human face, who ate and wept just like we all do. And then went to the deepest places of pain and despair, living out fully what we heard in today’s Gospel, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12-13) But from this self-emptying, self-giving love, came forth the new life that we all share in. No longer bond by the darkness of the long winter of exile from God’s presence, but welcomed back into the family of God, as sons and daughters. Yes, through the face of Jesus Christ we see the personal presence of the Living God. It is because of that revealed love that God considers us who a faithful to him and abide in his commands to be called friends. Think about that. The God who made the world, the stars, the sun and moon, yes, the one awesome God of creation, calls you his friend! 

This love poem, is also a story with a challenge. Each one of us is called to “arise”, to put this great love that the Father has shown forth in his Son, into operation in our daily lives. Not just on Saturday night or Sunday Mass, but all the time.  As the Lord himself said in todays’ Gospel, “I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” (John 15:16) This is the reason that in all four Gospels Jesus sends forth the disciples to the ends of the earth; to make the love and mercy that God revealed in his Son, manifest and fruitful in all the world. To show forth light and life, were there so often seems to be only pain, darkness, and death. This the great challenge of the “Love of God”, that each one of us, through our baptism and giving of the Holy Spirit are charged and empowered by God to be his coworkers in his work of new creation. His work of love and mercy is all something we share in. It’s not simply the Church's Job, the bishop's job, priest's job, deacon's job, or religious persons job. No, look around at everyone here gathered, you see the actors, you see the ones that God himself has called to be his fruitful disciples in an often-hostile world. 

This is why St. Paul in his longest passage about the Resurrection of Jesus finishes his argument with these words, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Cor 15:58) When we work in the Lord, when we become coworkers in God’ love, then our labor endures. Everything that we do has a meaning and purpose, there is no idle or down time for a Christian. We are always at work with the Lord, hopefully being led by his life-giving Spirit. St. John goes on to say after today’s reading, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:11-12) Meaning that the resurrection continues to bear new fruit and become even more perfect in our work. When we are out in the world our lives should be cross shaped and God centered. Always doing like Jesus, loving others to the end, and never exalting ourselves. This is what the voice in the love poem is calling each one of us to do. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it makes us unconfutable, “Lord you want me to do what?” but the is the call that the faithful disciple hears. Jesus, who during and after his resurrection, moved stones, opened locked doors, and made the earth shake, challenges us to do the same thing. What stones are in our path? What sins are keeping us from being fruitful disciples. Take all those sins and let the power, the great dynamite of God’s love destroy them, like he did to death itself in the tomb. St. Paul, tells us, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:54-55) Yes indeed, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) Jesus is the only one who can open our hearts and minds by his transforming power. We just have to take the time and listen to the voice. 

God has spoken, now we must act! God has reached down and done his part, now we must do ours. He has sent forth his visible love into the world for us all, are we doing our part in plan that God has for us? Do we simply stand at the empty tomb and gaze unmoved? Do we see the resurrection as an idol tale with no challenge? Or do we let the power and victory of the resurrection be at work in us. Let us not be a road block to God’s mercy and love. Let us not put stones up where he has broken them down. This is a difficult and exciting call. It’s a call that comes to us in the shape of a cross. God through the love of Jesus Christ transformed the world down to its very foundation, how are we allowing this same love to transform us. Think about the past year, is your heart in the same as it was last year? Or do you feel closer to God and more at peace with other people? Hopefully we all have grown closer to Jesus through our prayer life and many good works, those great works of love and mercy. Let us all leave here, as we are sent forth into God’s world as his faithful disciples and think about the places in our lives where we can show forth the face and voice of Jesus Christ. We must remember that God desires actors and not spectators. We are not simply here at Mass to watch the priest go through the motions and listen to the prayers. No, we are given the love of God through divine food, then called to take that love and its transforming power into the world. To continue to make the fruit of the resurrection present in our time. Let us all arise and think about and act upon the ways that we can improve and become more faithful and fruitful disciples of our loving God.  

My Wild and Crazy Friday

This past Friday began as many of my Fridays do, at 4:30am up in my office/study. I prepared for the Bible Study that I lead with the Middle School students and for my homily at the school Mass which follows. Now the night before I received inspiration from a book that I read to two of our younger kids, Monica (4), Andrew (2). It's called "The Little Engine That Could". Yes God does give inspiration in strange places and I am open to anything. No matter what I am reading, thinking about, or experiencing, I aways like to see what I can gain and share from it. Life is full of "God Given" teaching moments, we just have to pay attention to them when they come.

In the story a train full of circus worker and animals are trying to get over the mountain to take their treats to the kids who live on the other side. But sadly their train engine breaks down and they can not make it. They do not give up, three other engines come along but they all have excuses why they can not help the circus out. Then this "little" engine comes along and she is able to help them over the mountain because of all things, she has faith. She keeps repeating, "I think I can, I think I can". So this hit me as an important message for us today in the Church and told in a way kids could grasp. We are all trying to claim the mountain of faith. Walking with Jesus up a step and steady hill. Along the way we meet many other train engines that might entice us to go the other way or not make the climb at all, but Jesus is always there leading our way. I also thought this fit will into the readings that Mass had that day, especially, when Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." (John 14:6)

It was around 10:00 when I left church and headed for work. I met the guys at a job site who were already in progress. They had done a great job so far and I just jumped in to help. From here, we separated out and started doing our planed list of jobs for the day. The fun began around 12:00, when I opened a door to where the homeowners pool equipment is kept. And what is waiting for me?? A BIG FOUR FOOT LONG BLACK SNAKE - raised up and ready to strike!!! Luckily for me, I was standing far back outside the door and saw him early enough, that he was not a immediate threat to me. But, as the saying goes, "a snake is a snake!" and I had to go in that room. You can imagine my reaction when I saw my new friend. Snakes always give me the creeps no matter what. Certainly helps me understand why a serpent represents the Satan in the Garden of Eden. My fellow worker went to get the necessary snake removal tool, a garden hoe and the "crafty one" was removed from my path.

Upon leaving this exciting scene I received a phone call that the man who drives the truck that delivers water to some of our jobs, had gotten STUCK in the mud. Now this would not had bothered me so much, except that more and more lately, problems happen around these deliveries. Last week on a job he lost control of the tractor trailer and run over a two large bushes with many big rocks around them. Just a big mess! So I was not happy about this turn of events. But being that I was an hour away from the mishap, others handled the problem and a tow truck was dispatched for removal. I just have to go back latter and fix the customers yard. Always a fun activity, when the pool man becomes a landscaper, right!!

Then the day went well until about 2:00, when I ate some leftover pasta that I had brought for lunch. I took it out of my cooler for about 20 minutes so it would warm up a bit before eating. I was not long after this that I got that queasy feeling in my stomach and things went down hill from here. At first I thought to myself, maybe I just needed some water to drank. Well that did not do the trick. Over the next couple of hours my stomach got worse and worse, and I got weaker and weaker. I dropped of my helper I around 5:30 and thankfully headed home. When I got there I could hardly walk and get into the house. Yes, I had gotten FOOD POISONING!!! This being said, I pretty much spent the rest of the weekend in bed. Wow, so often in life things never go the way we ever plan them to go.

So, a day that started with such promise and inspiration, ended with much time for me to slow down and think about my truly, "Wild and Crazy Friday". God Bless.