By Pastor William Y. K. Brown Ph.D
(Resident Pastor)
Seventh-day Adventist Church
Osu-Bethel.
Tel: 0244165628/0243310773.
wykbrown@gmail.com
TUESDAY
THEME: “WHERE IS . . . YOUR BROTHER? AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?”
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:22
“But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”
REFLECTIONS
Sin has marred our appreciation for family life, connectedness, and relationships. For our self-centeredness, ego, and pride, we care less about maintaining family unity, love, and respect. Despite God’s wise counsel to Cain to be careful not to fall prey to the sin lurking at his door, he allowed his anger to override his conscience, reason, and familial bonds, acting contrary to God’s wish. Cain disobeyed the law of God and killed his innocent and righteous brother. Genesis 4:8 reports, “Now Cain talked with Abel, his brother; . . . when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother and killed him.” His action was absurd, but it is not strange in our day to see people act as if they will never die but with impunity take other people’s lives. Abel died. Cain lived.
In this case, Abel was the first person to die when sin, whose wage is death, occurred. Besides, he can be aptly described as the first martyr. While Abel expressed faith in God and performed righteous deeds, Cain chose evil and acted as such, killing an innocent brother for his faith and loyalty to God. Because he was evil, he hated Abel’s piety. On the resurrection, Abel will rise and have eternal life – a reward for His faithfulness.
Ideally, Cain should have been angry with God and not Abel because it was God who rejected his faithless offering. Projecting his anger toward his brother was unfair and misplaced. Naturally, that is how we behave—projecting our rage on the one we can control instead of the one we should confront. We often find avenues to vent our anger against innocent people. Sometimes, children are subjects of hate and suffer from quarrels between couples. Some years ago, a teacher slapped a student for misbehaving, only for it to come out that the tutor fought his wife before coming to class. Since Cain could not confront God, he chose to kill Abel as an opponent and not a brother – his brain cells were all dead to make the right decision.
Even though Cain had committed murder, God wanted to engage him and reason with him. God wanted to give him a chance to repent. As Isaiah intimates in Isaiah 1:18, “Come now and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”- what an undeserving privilege! One more chance came his way, but Cain blew it. God opens the dialogue with the question: “Where is Abel, your brother?” (Genesis 4:9). Without respect, he answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Terrible response! One of the most unfortunate answers a sinner could give to a righteous God is what Cain said to Him. When he had failed to heed counsel and took his brother’s life, he was subject to Satan’s whims and caprices. When we get angry, we can do anything evil under the sun. Anger has the potential to decimate a whole nation, an entire race, and a whole family. Cain killed his brother and, by doing so, annihilated Abel’s lineage.
Today, many Christians think and act like Cain—they care less about their siblings, families, and loved ones. Cain’s answer betrayed his gross disrespect for family relationships, authority, and even the Creator. Many young people do not respect authority, reflected in their disrespect for God. If God were to ask you today, ” Where is your brother or sister?” Where is your spouse, the one you publicly declared you dearly love? How would you respond to Him? May the Lord help you to deflate your anger and be reasonable, kind, accommodating, forgiving, and loving.
MY SONG OF COMMITMENT
SDAH 69 – “Lord, Make Us More Holy” – King’s Heralds
LET US PRAY
– Praise and thank God for inviting us always to reason together; thank God for His patience and mercy specifically for you; pray to cherish life and family relationships and to love those who hate you;
– Pray for families that have relational problems; pray for couples who have turned enemies overnight, disobedient children to learn of Christ, and the spirit of forgiveness among Church members;
– Pray for workers, in general, to give off their best, employers to be circumspect and fair, and men and women to avoid projecting their anger and rage on innocent persons, especially children;
– Pray for the leaders of the nation to be led by the Spirit of God, seek the welfare and well-being of the citizenry, and be representatives of God; pray for the sick, the mourning, and the suffering.
