Eleventh
Sunday after Pentecost – A Review of the 5th Commandment –
Genesis 4:1-12 - Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she
became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man." 2 Later
she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the
soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the
fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.
4 But
Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his
offering, 5 but
on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry,
and his face was downcast. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you
angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right,
will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching
at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." 8 Now
Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field."
And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed
him. 9 Then
the Lord said to Cain,
"Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied.
"Am I my brother's keeper?" 10
The Lord said, "What have you done?
Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now
you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to
receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12
When you work the
ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless
wanderer on the earth."
I wonder if the two boys, when they were younger, loved
to sit and listen to mom and dad tell them stories about the garden, about a
time when the world was sinless and perfect, of how they cared for the animals,
tended the garden, and how much easier it was back then. I wonder if the boys started crying every
time Adam and Eve got to the part about how they disobeyed God, followed the
devil’s lies, and brought sin and death into the world. But I wonder if the tears stopped quickly when
they remembered the rest of the story.
Of how God, in love and mercy and grace gave to Adam and Eve, gave to
the world, the promise that he would send a Savior to reverse the curse of
sin.
Of
course, now it was years later and the boys were all grown up, doing the hard
work for themselves. Cain worked the
land: tilling the soil, planting the seed, and harvesting the crop. Abel subdued the animals that filled the
earth, taking care of the flocks. Then one
day, as they were offering to the Lord, Cain brought some of the fruit of the
soil while Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his
flock. However, of the two offerings, only
one was acceptable to God.
Now, we don’t really know all of the details of the
story. We don’t know if the boys were
taught to bring these offerings by God or by Adam. We don’t know how God revealed which
sacrifice was pleasing to him and which was not. But in whatever way it was, Cain knew. And when Cain discovered that God wasn’t
pleased with his sacrifice, the problems began.
You see, long before he picked up a knife or spear, the problem
began. It began in his heart. So, filled with jealousy and rage he began to
plot.
But before we move on to the sad and disastrous outcome
of Cain’s hatred and rage, pause for a moment and notice an amazing detail to
the story. Long before Cain picked up a
knife or spear, God stepped in to intervene.
It reminds us of the truth that “where
sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Romans
Yet again God spoke to Cain, this time giving him a
chance to repent. He asked, “Where is your brother?” But Cain pretended not to know and even
talked back to God, claiming no responsibility for anyone other than himself: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” But did he really think that God didn’t
know what he had done? Did he really
think God hadn’t seen him do it? Didn’t
he know that the blood of Abel cried out to God for vengeance? And God had every right to slay Cain just as
he had slain his brother. And yet, while
God punished Cain for his wicked sin, God didn’t strike Cain down. He showed him mercy. He protected him as a restless wanderer on
earth, giving Cain the opportunity to repent.
Interesting story, isn’t it? But just what does it have to do with
us? Oh that’s right; we’re reviewing the
5th Commandment today. You
shall not kill. Great! OK!
We’ve got it. I won’t stab anyone
in a back alley somewhere. I won’t abort
a baby or help an old person with euthanasia.
I won’t even send out a hit on someone, like King David did, and murder
someone by someone else’s hand. And I
won’t get into a fight so I don’t hurt my neighbor.
Isn’t
that, sadly, sometimes all we think of when it comes to this commandment. Of all the commandments, I think this one
ranks right up there as one that we try and tell ourselves we’ve done a good
job of keeping. But is that all this commandment really says? Or is there more? To answer that question, notice when it was
that God said to Cain, “sin is crouching
at your door.” It was before he went
out in the field with Abel! It was
before he picked up the knife or rock or spear to kill him! That is because Cain committed murder before he
killed his brother, he had already committed it when he became angry in his
heart. Just listen to Jesus’ Sermon on
the Mount, “You have heard that it was
said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be
subject to judgment.’ But I tell you
that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’” (a four-letter word in Aramaic) “is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in
danger of the fire of hell” (Matthew
And
the same is true of us. It’s easy to think
that we have kept the Fifth Commandment if we are only thinking of the outward
act of murder. But Jesus points out that
this commandment can also be violated by one’s words and even thoughts. God looks at the heart. So, is sin crouching at your door? Have you ever been so upset with someone that
you wanted revenge? Have you ever
carried a grudge or secretly wished harm upon someone else, even if you have
never expressed it? Have you ever
brought harm to someone, even if it was just that simple prank as a kid? Have you ever retaliated to someone’s mean
words with hateful words right back?
Have your thoughts ever taken the form of hostility, or kinda-sorta wished something bad to happen to someone…even
if only to teach them a lesson? What we
see illustrated here is that even sinful desires or evil words that fall short
of the act of murder are transgressions of God’s commandment and deserve the
severest punishment. “Anyone who hates his brother is a
murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him” (1 John
And
that’s not all. We also break this
commandment in what we don’t do. As
Luther explained it, “In the second
place, not only is that person guilty of violating this commandment who does the
evil that it forbids but also the one who fails to take the opportunity to do
good to his neighbor and who, though able to prevent evil and to protect,
shield, and save the neighbor from injury and bodily harm, fails to do so.” So, if you have ever entertained the
question, “What? You can’t be
serious. Am I my brother’s keeper?” and
do nothing to help or care for others, you are a murderer! For our selfish attitudes that think, “I
can’t help that person because I might be inconvenienced, risk a loss, or get
hurt,” you and I are murderers! And God
isn’t just saying help and show kindness to the people you like, but to show
kindness and love to everyone, especially to those who are our enemies. After all, to show kindness to one’s friends
is no more than a common heathen virtue. And still there’s more! This commandment doesn’t just pertain to
other people. It also applies to the way
we treat our very own bodies and lives that God has given us. For excessive use of alcohol, for the use of
drugs that harm our bodies, or for poorly caring for our bodies, we are
murderers!
And why are all of these sins against the fifth
commandment? Because they allow hurt or
harm to come to the body that God gave. Life is a sacred gift of God. Only he can give it and therefore only he and
the representatives he has established in government have the right to end it. For failing to respect this gift of life and
for failing to remember that our bodies are not our own but
belong to the Lord, we deserve punishment. And you know, in a certain sense, by breaking
this commandment, you and I killed Jesus.
You see, it was for us that he went to the cross. He was murdered there, not by our hands, but
because of our sins. And the blood of
all those we've hurt cries out to God for vengeance against us. For breaking the fifth commandment we deserve
to have God slay us forever in hell.
But amazingly, God has made it possible for us not to get
what we deserve. How? By the blood of Jesus.
The author to the Hebrews reminds us
that "without the shedding of
blood there is no forgiveness" (
What beautiful irony!
While our sins put Jesus on the cross and spilled his blood; by that
same blood he brought life to us when we were dead in sin. By dying an innocent death and suffering the
torture of hell in our place, he took our every sin away. Now Jesus blood really does cry out to God
for our pardon saying, "You've already punished every sin in me. You can't
punish it again!" So for those
trusting in Jesus as Savior, we will not go to the hell we deserve. We will not be slain by God in hell. Through Jesus’ our Savior we will live
eternally in the glory of heaven.
And what greater response is there to give than to
remember how much God values human life by seeing that he gave the life of his
Son to save it! And what better example
than Jesus is there on how to live this commandment. Jesus always respected God's gift of
life. He never murdered or killed or had
a hateful or unkind thought. He always
sought to care for others and heal not just their souls, but their bodies. He considered himself to be his brother's
keeper and he gave that perfection to you and to me.
So now, by faith in the blood of Jesus, take care of your
bodies, treating them not as if they are yours to do with them as you please,
but as they actually are: temples of the Holy Spirit and bodies on loan
from God. When you’re wronged, turn your
anger and hatred over to God, so that with his help you can master the sin that
crouches at your door, and in so doing, keep the fifth commandment even in your
thoughts. Take care of others, going out
of your way to help and defend them – all the while praising God with this song
on your lips:
Glory be to Jesus, Who in bitter pains Poured for me
the lifeblood From his sacred veins.
Grace and life eternal In that blood I find; Blest be
his compassion, Infinitely kind!
Lift we, then, our voices, Swell the mighty flood,
Louder still and louder Praise the precious blood! (CW #103)
In Jesus’ name, and by his blood, dear friends. Amen.
