1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,520 We are back in Genesis today and walking through the Bible, 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:09,960 Genesis chapter 4. And we've just as a reminder, 3 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:12,520 the last time we were in Genesis, we were in chapter 3, 4 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:18,400 which was the fall Adam and Eve deciding to ignore God's 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,840 instruction. God said there's one tree in the 6 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:22,800 garden you can't eat the fruit from. 7 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:24,560 That's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 8 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,800 And they ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and 9 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,240 evil. And just as God promised death 10 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:34,440 enter the world, God said you will surely die if you eat fruit 11 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,360 from this tree. And now we get to Genesis 12 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:43,080 chapter 4 and we see another way in which God's promise is being 13 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,560 fulfilled and carried out. Cain and Abel have been born, 14 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:52,200 Adam and Eve's first two children, and there is rivalry 15 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:54,520 between them. And thank you, John, for reading 16 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:56,120 that. We're going to read some more of 17 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:58,800 that story and some other portions of it as we go on here. 18 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,360 But we're going to focus today really on this aspect of shame, 19 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:08,280 mercy and shame, shame, sin and the mercy of God. 20 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,200 I want to review the story though, as we do it because this 21 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:15,280 is one of those stories that it's this is one of those 22 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:17,080 stories. Even folks that have no church 23 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,840 background have often heard something about Cain and Abel 24 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:24,560 and something about how Cain killed his brother Abel. 25 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,640 And it's easy to miss some significant things when we 26 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,000 overhear a story. Sometimes it's also easy to miss 27 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:35,560 some miss some significant things when we don't catch the 28 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:38,880 cultural nuances that are embedded in a story. 29 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,240 And those are the easiest to miss because our eyes don't even 30 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,240 see those sometimes unless we get help from people that have 31 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,800 those same eyes. And the ancient Near Eastern 32 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:52,640 culture and which these stories were first written down as very 33 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,920 different and it was told even before they were written down is 34 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,320 very different than 21st century American culture. 35 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,560 And so we're going to look at a couple of those things today. 36 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,000 But we know this. We know Cain was born and Eve 37 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,040 rejoiced. God has helped me make a man. 38 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:11,039 And then Abel was born and that's all we know about Abel 39 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,200 really. His name Abel and, and his name 40 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,520 means nothing. And well, his name means 41 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,080 something, but the something that his name means is nothing. 42 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,600 His name literally means nothing. 43 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:25,440 Imagine that legacy from your parents. 44 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,600 Here's Cain, this man, this fruit of this what? 45 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:33,240 Cain got all the honor, Cain got all of the glory, and Abel 46 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:40,360 literally was nothing to them. And then they reached a time, we 47 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,000 don't know how long it had passed, but at some point in the 48 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,560 course of time, Cain and and Abel brought an offering to God. 49 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,920 And God looked with favor upon Abel and his offering and did 50 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:55,480 not look with favor upon Cain and his offering. 51 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:01,240 And this, this notion of looking with favor on is anytime we see 52 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,160 in the Old Testament and much of the New Testament and we see 53 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:10,080 looking on someone or something, or a description of a person's 54 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,240 face being torn toward or away from someone or something, we're 55 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:20,400 in the realm of honor and shame. You've heard of saving face and, 56 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:22,480 and gaining face and keeping face. 57 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:29,120 And what people did with their faces was to give or deny honor 58 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:34,080 to another human being. So when God looked with favor 59 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:39,480 upon Abel and his offering, God was giving honor and glory to 60 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:44,640 Abel, sharing his own honor and his own glory with Abel. 61 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:50,040 And when God wouldn't even look at Cain's, and Cain and his 62 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:56,840 offering wouldn't even look at him, God was casting shame upon 63 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:59,840 Cain and his offering. He was dishonouring him. 64 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,920 He was denying Cain and his offering glory. 65 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:09,840 Why, why, why did God accept Abel and his offering and reject 66 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,080 Cain and His offering? We don't know for sure, but 67 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,600 there are and there are a number of different theories. 68 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,000 As I've looked and studied and prayed through this, I'm going 69 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,920 to give you the one that I think makes the most sense given what 70 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,120 the Scripture says. And what the scripture says is 71 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,120 this. And again, it's subtle, but I 72 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:32,080 think it's there. Now. 73 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,720 Abel kept flocks and Cain worked the soil. 74 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,360 In the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of 75 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,800 the soil as an offering to the Lord. 76 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:47,640 So in the course of time, Cain brought some stuff that he grew 77 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,240 and gave it to God. That's the description of Cain's 78 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:53,280 offering. The description of Abel's 79 00:04:53,280 --> 00:04:57,040 offering is very different. Abel also brought an offering 80 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:01,720 fat portions from some of the first born of his flock. 81 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:08,040 Now the law, later when we get the law hundreds of years after 82 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:12,360 this, when God gives the law to his people, the Israelites 83 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:17,600 through Moses, and God describes when you bring me offerings, 84 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,680 this is what you need to bring. None of that had happened yet. 85 00:05:20,840 --> 00:05:24,240 That law was not the only rule that we even know of. 86 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,000 The only commandment that we even know of at this point is 87 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,160 God saying to Adam and Eve don't eat from the fruit of the tree 88 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:31,320 of the knowledge of good and evil. 89 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:33,920 That law, that command that already been broken, they were 90 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,240 cut off from that. That was done. 91 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,120 That was done and was still having its impact and continues 92 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:45,320 to have its impact. Yet Abel somehow, in his heart 93 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,800 and in his spirit and in his attitude, reflected the very 94 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,640 thing that God later said is what he wanted explicitly. 95 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:58,280 When you bring me an offering, bring me the best, Bring me the 96 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:01,560 first fruits. That was what the law became. 97 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,360 Whether it's a grain offering or an animal sacrifice, bring me 98 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,000 the 1st and the best of what you have. 99 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:13,320 And that's what Abel brought. He brought some of the first 100 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:17,040 born of his flocks and he brought the best portions of the 101 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:23,200 first born, the fat portions. Abel offered God the best that 102 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:28,440 he had. Cain offered God some of what he 103 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:32,640 grew. There's a very, there's a huge 104 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:36,480 gulf in difference between those those two things. 105 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,680 Abel was showing God had priority in his life, that 106 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:46,080 honoring God and worshiping God and glorifying God was central 107 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,120 and important. And so he gave to God some of 108 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,360 the best of what he had and the first of what he had received. 109 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:58,520 Cain at some point in time just gave God some of stuff that got 110 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:00,240 some of the stuff that he had received. 111 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,240 We don't know that it was the best, probably wasn't, or we 112 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:07,520 would have been told that like we were told that of Abel's. 113 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,480 There is with Cain a sense that there's no real priority here. 114 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:16,160 There's no real importance here. Maybe he was giving to God out 115 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:18,960 of a sense of duty rather than a sense of love. 116 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,120 Maybe it was an obligation that he felt he had to do and he 117 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,000 resented it. So well, if I've got to give 118 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,720 something to God, you know, I'm just going to give enough to get 119 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,760 by, but not enough to really be a sacrifice for me. 120 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:36,760 I think that's what was going on here. 121 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:43,680 Abel was honoring God by giving the best of what he had to God. 122 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:50,560 And so God honored Abel with his favor, with his glory, and Cain 123 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,360 dishonored God, so God dishonored Cain. 124 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,520 Now here's the thing. Shame in our culture. 125 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:07,680 Shame in our culture has become an incredibly toxic thing, and 126 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,400 it's used almost exclusively to punish. 127 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,600 It's used punitively. We talk and hear a lot about 128 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,400 cancel culture these days, and cancel culture is all about 129 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,560 shame. You find one shameful thing that 130 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,360 a person has done in their past, and you pummel them with it. 131 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:27,480 You cut them out of any influence. 132 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,960 You cut them out of any status. You cut them out of any group 133 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,200 where they might receive honor and respect. 134 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:35,520 You humiliate them and degrade them. 135 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:38,960 And you just keep doing that. And there's no recovering from 136 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,760 it now. Millennials aren't the people 137 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,680 and you know, aren't they didn't invent shame. 138 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:50,240 And the the term cancel culture is new, but this process is not 139 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:51,640 new. Human beings have been doing 140 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:57,960 this for generations, using shame punitively to punish 141 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:03,400 people and cut them out and, and, and shun them sometimes for 142 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:08,680 the rest of their lives. God never uses shame that way. 143 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:15,960 God only ever uses shame to restore people, to say to 144 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:21,720 people, look, this is not good. This violates the standards of 145 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,360 community that I want to create. And so if you're going to behave 146 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:28,320 this way, I'm going to turn away from you. 147 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:34,520 But it's always with the invitation to come and be 148 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,280 restored. And that's what God did for 149 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,280 Cain. Cain, when God rejected him, 150 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:45,200 when God shamed him, dishonored him, Cain then received that 151 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:48,720 with anger. We're told Cain was angry and 152 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,920 his face was downcast. This is a sign of shame. 153 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,720 A downcast face in the Scripture is a sign of shame. 154 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,600 And God, Cain, it's as if Cain is saying, God, if you're not 155 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,160 going to look at me, I'm not going to look at you. 156 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:05,720 You're going to turn away from me. 157 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:10,160 I'm going to turn away from you. But God wouldn't turn away from 158 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:13,520 Cain, not completely. And he came. 159 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,800 God's heart was for Cain to come to him, Say, God, what have I 160 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:20,360 done? How can I be restored to your 161 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:24,240 honor, restored to your grace, restored to the right status in 162 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,240 my relationship with you? But Cain just got angry and 163 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:28,960 turned away, and God went to Cain. 164 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,600 Why are you angry? Why are you downcast? 165 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,120 Why are you refusing to look to me? 166 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:43,760 All you have to do is do what's right and it will go well for 167 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,040 you. You'll be restored to honor. 168 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:52,160 You too will receive my glory. But if you do, what's wrong? 169 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:58,480 Sin is right there, and it wants to rule over you. 170 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,400 It wants to master you. It wants to dominate and control 171 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:07,000 your life. But you must master it and 172 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:13,040 control it. It was invitation came come back 173 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:17,160 to me, do things my way. But this doing what's right, 174 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,440 this doing what's right. The key thing here is that that 175 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:24,840 doing what's right in this context is not following the 176 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:27,320 rules. It's not there. 177 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,720 As far as we know, there are no rules for him to follow it. 178 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:33,280 We don't know what if God gave any rules about offerings? 179 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,080 We don't we, we were not told about it at this point. 180 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:40,560 So God isn't saying to Cain, if you be a good boy and follow the 181 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:42,760 rules, then I will be nice to you. 182 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:45,240 But if you're a bad boy and don't follow the rules, then I'm 183 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:47,920 not going to be nice to you. That's not what God is saying 184 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:50,040 the word right here. The root of that is 185 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,080 righteousness. And righteousness is not 186 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,480 primarily or even mostly about following moral or religious 187 00:11:57,480 --> 00:11:59,920 rules. Righteousness is about right 188 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:03,840 relationship. Got to say, Cain, if you will 189 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,640 live in right relationship with me and right relationship with 190 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:09,880 others, then things will go well with you. 191 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,200 But you haven't been living in right relationship with me. 192 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,800 You've been treating me like a duty, like an obligation, like I 193 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:23,160 don't really matter and the first and most important thing 194 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,960 in your life God is saying is to have right relationship with me. 195 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:33,200 Cain had had all of the glory and his family. 196 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:36,400 He'd had all the glory and Abel had nothing. 197 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:40,520 Abel was nothing. And now Abel had the glory and 198 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:44,320 Cain was feeling like nothing and he was angry and he wanted 199 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,000 his glory back. And God was saying the best way 200 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:54,800 for you to get glory is from me. Just come to me, honor me, and I 201 00:12:54,800 --> 00:13:00,440 will share my glory with you. I will share my honor with you, 202 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,880 live and write relationship with me and others, and I will give 203 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:07,880 you all the glory you need. But Cain had a different plan. 204 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,760 He was not interested in being restored by God. 205 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:14,680 He was not interested in receiving glory from God. 206 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,920 He wanted to achieve his own glory. 207 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,200 That was King's plan. He wanted to do it his way. 208 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:26,920 Does that sound familiar? Adam and Eve wanted to do it 209 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:30,320 their way. Now their son Cain wants to do 210 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:35,840 it his way. And his way to gain glory for 211 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:40,600 himself was to defeat his rival, his brother Abel. 212 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:46,040 If I kill Abel, then I've overthrown my enemy. 213 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:51,160 His glory is now my glory. And that's what he did. 214 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:55,120 I think that's extreme. People don't do that. 215 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:56,680 Yes, they do. Yes, we do. 216 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:57,440 We do. We do. 217 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,320 We do. We try as hard as we can so 218 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:03,400 often to achieve glory in our own lives. 219 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:05,760 The easiest place to see this is in sports. 220 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,760 It's easiest place. Who gets all the glory? 221 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,920 The teams that win. Who gets all the shame? 222 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,800 The teams that lose. Sadly, I'm a Browns fan. 223 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:22,120 I've learned a lot about shame over the past decades of my life 224 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:26,200 and a Reds fan. Also a lot of shame over the 225 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:28,160 past decades. Every year. 226 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:32,440 Every year, I wish I I stopped short of praying for it. 227 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,720 Even at a young age, I kind of knew God isn't interested in 228 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,320 hearing my prayers for the Browns or the Reds to win, but I 229 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:43,200 wish for the Browns to humiliate the Steelers every year. 230 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:47,120 Every year. It's so seldom happens. 231 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,880 It's so seldom happens. I was on. 232 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:55,640 I played sports in high school. Our teams were terrible. 8th 233 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,120 grade, my basketball team lost every game. 234 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,080 We got beat 66 to 16 in one game. 235 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,520 I missed 14 free throws that game, which was all of the free 236 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,840 throws I took. We were terrible. 237 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:11,480 It was embarrassing. We were humiliated. 238 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:17,840 We were humiliated. The way to get honor, the way to 239 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:22,160 get glory. You win it by beating your 240 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:27,040 opponents. And in the world of sports now, 241 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:31,400 even college sports, that brings honor, it brings glory, it 242 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:36,440 brings wealth, it brings power, it brings influence, It brings 243 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:42,120 more wealth that glory of winning, of defeating your 244 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,120 opponents. And we know with all of that 245 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,360 money at stake, even when there's not even down at Youth 246 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,880 League sports, we see people cheating, we see people bending 247 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:56,280 the rules, we see people doing just so they can so that their 248 00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:00,560 kid can win glory over someone else's kid out on a baseball 249 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,720 diamond or a basketball court or a football field someplace. 250 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:07,040 You get up to the pro level sports and it just gets worse. 251 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:11,000 It just people cheat people like people bend to the rules. 252 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,280 We sometimes we hear about it and we know about it and then we 253 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,840 fingers get shaken and nothing really changes because they're 254 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:20,560 making a lot of money and they're winning a lot of glory. 255 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,240 And yes, I'll say it right here. The ball was deflated. 256 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:26,880 It's true. People cheat. 257 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:29,440 People cheat. John got that joke. 258 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:37,880 Thank you, John. Even violence, we don't hear 259 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,920 about it as much. I don't know how often we know 260 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:44,280 what occurs. The clearest example is in the 261 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,480 sport. We are the least likely to ever 262 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,400 imagine it being there as women's figure skating. 263 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,800 Some folks here are old enough to remember Nancy Kerrigan. 264 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:59,920 And I just drew a blank. Tonya Harding. 265 00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:02,360 Thank you. I wanted to never mind who. 266 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:08,040 I wanted to say another person. Tonya Harding and they were 267 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:10,760 rivals. Nancy was always a little bit 268 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:12,680 better or seemed to be doing a little bit better. 269 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:16,359 And they were heading into the US Championships to see who 270 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:18,839 would have the highest rank going into the Olympics. 271 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:24,560 And Tonya Harding's ex-husband, Galuli partnered up and 272 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:29,280 conspired with Tonya Harding's trainer, and they hired a hitman 273 00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:36,360 to injure Nancy Kerrigan to keep her from competing so that Tonya 274 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:39,040 Harding would carry all the glory and all of the status and 275 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,920 all the favor and hope of America into the Olympics. 276 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:47,960 Didn't quite work out the way they planned, but that's Kane's 277 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,280 way. I'm going to get glory for 278 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:53,000 myself. Forget God's glory. 279 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:54,920 I'm going to get glory. I'm going to achieve it for 280 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,760 myself by defeating my enemy, no matter what the cost. 281 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,440 I'll stand on my brother's shoulder shoulders. 282 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,880 I'll stand in his blood on the ground to achieve glory for 283 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,680 myself. That's Cain's way. 284 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:16,880 Cain's way is the way of death. When we strive to achieve glory 285 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,400 and honor and respect for ourselves, we're following in 286 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:22,680 Cain's path. And that's the way of death, 287 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:28,320 because the way to achieve glory for ourselves is by conquering 288 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:31,080 our enemies. If we want to achieve glory for 289 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:33,320 ourselves, we have to take it from someone else. 290 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,440 We have to stand on someone else's back, put our boot on 291 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,000 someone else's neck to lift ourselves up and say we are 292 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,640 better, we are more honorable, we are more glorious than those 293 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:53,160 that are beneath me. And that's pervasive not just in 294 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,560 American culture, but culture throughout the world. 295 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,880 To achieve glory on the backs of those weaker and more 296 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:06,600 vulnerable, at any cost and at any means. 297 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,920 That's Cain's way, and it's the way of death. 298 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,480 God's way is completely different. 299 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:21,680 God's way for us to receive glory is to come to Him for us 300 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,960 to give our glory and our honor, our praise, our allegiance to 301 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:28,640 God, and then God will share His glory with us. 302 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,760 We get glory not by achieving it, but by receiving it from 303 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:36,520 God, by being adopted into His family, by being in right 304 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:41,360 relationship with Him. And God gives us His glory, and 305 00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:43,440 the glory that we have is not something we've earned, not 306 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,000 something we've achieved, but something we've received by 307 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:47,920 being in right relationship with God. 308 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:50,760 And to be in right relationship with God, we also have to be in 309 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:54,960 right relationship with others under the old covenant, the 310 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,800 covenant of the New Testament, that covenant relationship with 311 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,600 God. God said give me the sacrifices, 312 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,520 show me the honor, show me the glory that I have. 313 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:07,520 That I have earned as the one who has created you, the one who 314 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,240 has sustained you, the one that delivered you from slavery in 315 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,640 Egypt, has given you this promised land. 316 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,120 Give me the honor and glory and praise that I have shown that I 317 00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:18,920 deserve. I'm worthy of for because of all 318 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,760 of that. And I will give you my peace and 319 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,600 my prosperity and my justice. Well, my justice. 320 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:30,400 That's a partnership because part of being in right 321 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,320 relationship with God then as now, is in how we treat those 322 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,040 around us. And part of the way we honor God 323 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:40,760 is not just by the sacrifices, not just by the offerings, but 324 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:43,640 by how we treat others, particularly the weak and the 325 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:46,560 vulnerable who live among us and near us and around us. 326 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:48,880 Whether they are friends, whether they are enemies, 327 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:51,840 whether their skin is our color or another color, whether they 328 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,040 speak our language or another language, regardless of their 329 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:59,200 status, where we show them justice and respect and dignity 330 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,480 as God has shown us. And that's part of the covenant. 331 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,040 God says live in that right relationship with one another, 332 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:10,400 and I will share my glory with you. 333 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,680 You will be a light. You will be a city on a hill. 334 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:23,720 You will be glorious in this world if you honor me and treat 335 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,400 those around you with dignity and respect and humility. 336 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:33,600 Jesus clarified that and emphasized that there were a lot 337 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,480 of rules that God gave Moses for the Israelites in those days, 338 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:41,400 and Jesus narrowed it down. He said, let's keep it simple to 339 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:43,400 fulfill all the law and the prophets. 340 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,200 Here's what you need to do. Love God with all your heart, 341 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,320 with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your 342 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,040 strength. And love your neighbor as 343 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,200 yourself. Someone asked Jesus, well, who's 344 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,680 my neighbor? Who am I required to love in 345 00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:59,880 order to receive the peace and prosperity and glory of God? 346 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:02,200 And Jesus said, well, let's think about that. 347 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,360 And he told a story. You know the story, you know the 348 00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:08,120 story. The man was traveling from 349 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:11,680 Jericho to Jerusalem, and bandits came upon him and they 350 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:14,040 stole, they, they beat him. They left him for dead. 351 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:17,240 And they took all he had. And then the priest came by and 352 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,680 the Levite came by, and they didn't want to have anything to 353 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,360 do with this man. And then the Samaritan came by. 354 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:27,320 The Samaritan was the man's enemy. 355 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,080 He was a cultural enemy. He was religiously different, 356 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:32,720 culturally different, ethnically different, politically 357 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,640 different, morally different. The Samaritans and the Jews were 358 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:42,000 enemies. But this Samaritan stopped and 359 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,280 he cleaned the man's wounds and he poured wine on them to 360 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,840 disinfect them, and he bandaged him and he put the man on his 361 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,440 own beast and he took him to Jerusalem and he took him to an 362 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:50,960 end and he put him up in the end. 363 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:54,080 And he said, here, care for this man, here's the money you need. 364 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,240 I'll come back later. If you've spent more money than 365 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:59,840 I've given you, then I'll pay you back then, but care for him. 366 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:02,520 And Jesus said to the guy that asked him, who's my neighbor? 367 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:04,680 He said, who was that man's neighbor? 368 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:08,880 Who was neighbor to that man? The guy couldn't bring himself 369 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,520 to say the word Samaritan. He hated the Samaritans. 370 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:17,000 All he could bring himself to say was the one who showed him 371 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,360 mercy. And Jesus said, yes, you go and 372 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:24,400 do the same. Stop worrying about who is my 373 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,840 neighbor. Stop asking that question, Jesus 374 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,480 said, and start asking your question. 375 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:34,440 The question who out there can I be a neighbor too? 376 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:41,000 Who out there who do I have not? Who do I have to love, but who 377 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,520 is in need of love that I can share love with? 378 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:47,800 Not who do I have to show mercy, but who is in need of mercy that 379 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,520 I can show mercy to? Who can I be a neighbor to? 380 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:58,040 That's God's way. That's the doing right that God 381 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:02,640 was talking to Cain about honoring God above all. 382 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,920 And the best way to show honor to God is, is to treat others 383 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:08,680 with dignity and honor and respect. 384 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:13,840 Then we'll be doing the right thing and things will go well 385 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,400 for us because that's God's way, and God's way is the way of 386 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,080 life. God's promise to the Israelites 387 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:23,360 was Shalom, peace and prosperity. 388 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:27,560 Follow my way and I will bless you with peace and prosperity, 389 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,560 and you will be a light to all the nations, a blessing to all 390 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,880 the world. And Jesus expanded it to 391 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,360 everybody, not just the Israelites. 392 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,160 Do it God's way, do it my way. Love God with everything you 393 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:46,040 have, and your neighbor is yourself, and you will be a 394 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:50,160 light to the world. You'll be a light to the world. 395 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:57,960 My glory will make you shine. The question we then have to ask 396 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:02,600 is which way will we choose? Which way will we choose? 397 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,640 And that choice matters, and it matters more than just for us. 398 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,320 Now this is Father's Day and this, believe it or not, I 399 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:12,120 haven't said Father's yet, but this is a Father's Day sermon 400 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:16,640 and I don't want to talk to the fathers here other folks can 401 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:18,560 listen to. That's fine. 402 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,520 It's it's for you as well. Like the Mother's Day sermon was 403 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:23,840 for everybody, but I was kind of talking to the moms Father's Day 404 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:24,880 sermon. It's for everybody when I'm 405 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:31,360 going to talk to the dad. We leave a legacy by whether we 406 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:35,760 do right or do wrong as God defines those things. 407 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:42,520 Adam and Eve abandoned their right relationship with God and 408 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:47,760 did things their way, and they left a legacy to Cain that he 409 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:54,880 was carrying on God. Even as God was punishing Cain 410 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:59,400 for murdering his brother, God was casting him out of his 411 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,200 presence, was denying him the fruit of the land. 412 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,480 And Cain said anyone who finds me will know that I'm no longer 413 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,040 under your protection and they will kill me. 414 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:12,640 And God said, no, you forfeited your right to be in my presence, 415 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:16,720 but you are still mine. I will put my mark on you so 416 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,160 that folks will know you're still under my protection. 417 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:21,560 You still belong to me. Cain. 418 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,240 Even at that point, God was showing mercy. 419 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:32,440 Cain left a very different kind of legacy, the legacy of his own 420 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,600 way, the way of death. We read a few verses down in 421 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,760 Genesis chapter 4 and we come to 1 of Cain's descendants. 422 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,800 Lamech. I counted it out the other day. 423 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,400 I should have written it down. I thought I'll remember. 424 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:47,640 I don't remember. He's either Cain's great, great, 425 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,160 great grandson or great, great, great, great grandson. 426 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:53,480 I don't remember. It's a few greats in there, 427 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,160 maybe 5 greats, 3 to 5 greats. It's in there that range 428 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,960 someplace. We read this about Lamech. 429 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:05,480 Lamech had two wives, Ada and Zilla, and Lamech said to his 430 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:09,680 wives Adah and Zilla, listen to me wives of Lamech, hear my 431 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,680 words. I have killed a man for wounding 432 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:19,040 me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged 7 times, then 433 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:25,280 Lamech 77 times. Cain left his descendants a 434 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:30,560 legacy of death, a legacy that says if you want honor and 435 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,840 glory, you achieve it by overthrowing your enemies. 436 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,520 Someone hurts that you, you kill them. 437 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:38,520 Someone wounds you, you kill them. 438 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:43,760 You never take second place. You never accept dishonor or 439 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,960 disgrace. You achieve for yourself the 440 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:50,080 honor and glory, all the honor and glory that you can, 441 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,080 regardless of the cost to those around you. 442 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,280 This was a legacy. This is not an accident. 443 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:03,600 Friend of mine, a woman I very much respect, name is Kimberly 444 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:07,720 Butler, taught me about what some people call generational 445 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:09,920 curses. Have you heard of that before? 446 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,960 You can use a lot of different language to describe it, but 447 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,800 look in your own family trees and your own family histories up 448 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:24,480 and down and look for repeated broken, dysfunctional behavior, 449 00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:28,840 things that you know, my grandparents struggled with that 450 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,800 and my parents did that and doggone and I'd do it and I'm 451 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:36,120 seeing it my kids now. I can see that stuff in my 452 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:41,760 family worrying is one of mine. I wear my mom was a warrior, my 453 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,080 grandmother was a warrior. I have parents, grandparents on 454 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,280 both sides that are warriors. There's some more in city. 455 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:50,560 Well, that's pretty insidious where he does a lot of damage. 456 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,280 I can look through some of my family history and see alcohol 457 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:59,040 and drug addiction repeated in one generation after another. 458 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:03,560 I can see that that's not an accident. 459 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:10,360 That's how sin works. It it it once it gets a hold of 460 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:16,520 us, we pass it on. God described it for us this way 461 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:23,120 in Exodus chapter 20 when he was trying to instruct his children, 462 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:28,160 his people, on what a high priority they needed to keep God 463 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,920 in their lives to make God the first priority. 464 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,240 And one of the things that God said was this. 465 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:37,240 He said, for I the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing 466 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:38,760 children for the sin of their parents. 467 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:43,360 To the third and 4th generation of those who hate me now, this 468 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:47,480 is not God being petty. This is not God saying you broke 469 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:49,600 the rules and I'm mad at you and I'm going to punish you and I'm 470 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:51,880 going to punish your kids and your grandkids and your great 471 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:53,920 grandkids and your great, great grandkids. 472 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:04,280 God is saying that sin gets passed on when we choose, 473 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:09,680 particularly when we choose to deliberately go our own way 474 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,800 rather than God's way in whatever aspect of our lives. 475 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:17,800 We pass that on to our children and our grandchildren and our 476 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:21,160 great grandchildren and so on. And it just keeps repeating 477 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:24,840 itself. And it can go way beyond 3 or 4 478 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,960 generations because every generation that repeats it, it 479 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:30,040 bumps it out more generations after that. 480 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:37,560 We can leave a legacy of sin, men, women to but it's Father's 481 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:39,320 Day. Amen to our children. 482 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:45,480 We can leave a legacy of sin that lasts for generations, or 483 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:48,000 we can leave a legacy of righteousness. 484 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:50,800 And this is what God says about that. 485 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:54,320 Punishing children for the sin of their parents. 486 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,960 To the third and 4th generations of those who hate me but showing 487 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:03,960 love to 1000 generations of those who love me and keep my 488 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:10,240 commandments When we choose, and this is the God said to Cain, 489 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:14,960 you've got a choice. You can choose to go your own 490 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:19,880 way to a try to achieve your own glory, or you can choose my way. 491 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,280 If you choose my way, that's the way of life. 492 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:24,360 If you choose the other way, that's the way of death. 493 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:26,040 And you're going to pass that on. 494 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,840 And generation after, choose my way, choose life. 495 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:35,160 Choose this way of life where you're not striving to achieve 496 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:39,040 your own glory, but instead you're striving to love me, and 497 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:42,000 you're striving to show dignity and honor and respect to 498 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,760 everyone you encounter. And I will give you my glory. 499 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:50,080 I will share that with you. And you will shine like a city 500 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:52,160 on a hill. You'll have so much glory. 501 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:59,480 And that blessing, that blessing will go for 1000 generations. 502 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:05,960 God's life always overwhelms and overshadows any curse, any 503 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:08,800 legacy of sin and death. Always. 504 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:14,600 So which will we choose? Spoiler alert, the best we can 505 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,360 do is mix it. You know, we all mess up. 506 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:20,120 We all have legacies of sin from our parents. 507 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:22,680 We all have broken and dysfunctional behavior that we 508 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:26,680 repeat. And because I'm convinced that I 509 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:30,920 would be a much better dad now than I was in my 20s and in my 510 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,400 30s, that ain't going to happen. That ain't going to happen. 511 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:39,240 I still wouldn't be a perfect dad though. 512 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,320 I still have things that are things that I do poorly and do 513 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:48,840 wrong that I would pass on. But I see my boneheadedness and 514 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:51,520 some of my kids decisions and behaviors and attitudes and 515 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,760 actions and they recognize it too. 516 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,880 They have they're more aware of it than I was at their age and 517 00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:00,880 and they know where it came from and they tell me we got this 518 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:02,760 from you, Dad. Yeah, my fault. 519 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:11,360 But we can choose good as well. We can choose righteousness as 520 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:16,400 well with the promise and the hope that the righteousness that 521 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:20,960 we live by being in right relationship with God and others 522 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:26,840 will be a blessing to our kids and our grandkids for 1000 523 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:31,200 generations, which sometimes in Scripture, when we see that 524 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:37,880 #1000 it just means forever. Which way will we choose? 525 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:43,840 Let's choose the mercy of God, the way of God showing love. 526 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:46,960 And I, instead of looking at our brothers and saying I'm not my 527 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,120 brother's keeper, they're nothing to me. 528 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:52,160 They don't matter to me, they're nothing to me. 529 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,120 We look at our brothers and our sisters and our neighbors both 530 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:59,440 near and far, and our friends and our enemies, and we say I 531 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:04,760 have a responsibility to love them and show them, to show them 532 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:09,320 compassion and mercy and give them dignity. 533 00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:15,360 That's God's way, that's God's way, and that's the way of life 534 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:17,760 in Jesus name, Amen. Amen.