Thought for Today
Genesis 4:9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"
Psalm 121:5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
Luke 1:43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?
Matthew 6:28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin,
Although “Why?” may be my favorite question, it is unquestionably the single most difficult question that can be asked. If we are honest, however, most of us must admit that at times and under certain circumstances, we have asked that question of ourselves and of our God. “Why?”
This Lent, as during so many other Lents throughout history, we once again confront, “Mark 13:7 . . . wars and rumors of wars.” And, despite Jesus’ admonition in the rest of that verse, “do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come,” many of us are alarmed. All Christians should be concerned and should be asking “Why?” Why are there wars? Why must there be wars?
During Lent, it is doubly difficult to understand why the Empty Tomb of Easter Morning did not settle the issue once and for all. Christians believe that the Incarnation, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, settled the battle between good and evil. Good is triumphant. Why is good not also universal?
Christians throughout Christendom pray each week, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Why isn’t it? Why is God’s will not done . . . by all on earth as it is in heaven? I cannot hope to comprehensively answer that question in just a few words this morning. But I can offer a few thoughts.
Paul wrote about Jesus to the Philippians, “2:9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” Obviously, there are still lots of knees which are not bending. There are still many who ignore, "Luke 10:27 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." We still witness neighbor against neighbor, globally and regionally. Nation against nation, brother against brother.
God answered Cain’s surly question with "Genesis 4:10 What have you done? Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground!” The ground is still crying out, broadly and loudly.
We hear a lot of rationalization, excuses trying to demand and justify our actions. The moral and ethical questions have existed since Cain vs. Abel. Scholars and theologians have long debated war and killing. Did the evil of Nazism demand and justify the firestorm from the bombing of Dresden, Germany?
Somehow the lesson of Cain vs. Abel gets lost in the noise of nation against nation. We forget that God asked Cain, an individual, “Where is your brother?” God didn’t ask anything else, nothing about what Abel had done to anger Cain, nothing about whether Abel had taken Cain’s property or somehow injured Cain. Just “Where is your brother?”
I do not know the final answer to most of the “Why” questions life demands. I cannot skillfully debate Just War Theory or offer a simple, easy answer to the moral dilemma confronting world leaders in solving the world’s problems. And, for what it’s worth, my own brother and I had our own share of ‘squabbles’ when we were children! My mother often asked us each, “Why?” And, again, for what it’s worth, we could never justify to our mother why we fought.
Are wars inevitable? Will we always fight? Must we always fight? Is conflict inherent in humanity? I do not know. I do know God’s answer to Cain. I do know that this Lent and every Lent, I find myself conflicted by the joy of the palm branches and the misogyny of the arrest, trial and crucifixion. And, this Lent and every Lent, I remember the words of Jesus, “Mark 3:35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." And, I know that the ground still cries out to God. Am I my brother’s keeper? Are we our brothers’ keepers?
Stay safe, love God, love each other, trust God,
Pastor Ray