GENESIS: Cain and Abel
When Peter Pan brings Wendy to Neverland, Tinkerbell is jealous. So jealous that she tries to get the other lost boys to shoot Wendy down. Have you ever felt jealous? Maybe you are jealous of someone who is better at something than you - funnier, faster, more creative? Have you ever wanted them to just go away or disappear?
Sometimes our relationships with others is hard, especially when they’re your family and you can’t escape it when you need to! Friends are people that you can choose to have a relationship with.
Everyone has relationships. Chances are you are a son or a daughter and have a relationship with your mum and dad. If you have a brother or sister you have a relationship with them. If there are 2 parents and 2 kids in your family (4 people) then there are 6 different relationships going on. Some people you will get on better with than others at different points in your life because everyone has different personalities. The biggest relationship blocker - something that prevents people from having a good relationship - is when we sin.
This episode is also all about sin, and runs with a similar theme as last episode:
Bible Passage: Isaiah 59:2
“Your sins are the roadblock between you and your God.”
What do you think?
Can you think of any stories or movies in which someone has been killed on purpose - murdered? I’m thinking about Bambi, whose mother was hunted and shot at the beginning of the movie. Or what about The Lion King, where King Mustafa was flung off a cliff by his brother Scar, who also caused many more deaths throughout the movie.
How did you feel about it? Sad, mad, glad, bad? Do you mind watching deaths in movies or do you close your eyes? I like to close my eyes sometimes.
How do you feel when the villain in the story gets punished or killed? Do you think that it is good and that they deserve it? I do sometimes. But is that a good thought?
The very first murder ever is recorded in the bible and it’s what I am going to read today:
Bible Passage: Genesis 4
"Adam and Eve had a son. Then Eve said, “I'll name him Cain because I got[b] him with the help of the Lord.” 2 Later she had another son and named him Abel.
Abel became a sheep farmer, but Cain farmed the land. 3 One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the Lord, 4 and Abel also gave an offering to the Lord. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the Lord the best parts of it. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering, 5 but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings.
6 The Lord said to Cain:
What's wrong with you? Why do you look so angry? 7 If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling.[c] But you did the wrong thing, and now sin is waiting to attack you like a lion. Sin wants to destroy you, but don't let it!
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let's go for a walk.”[d] And when they were out in a field, Cain attacked and killed him.
9 Afterwards the Lord asked Cain, “Where is Abel?”
“How should I know?” he answered. “Am I supposed to look after my brother?”
10 Then the Lord said:
Why have you done this terrible thing? You killed your own brother, and his blood flowed onto the ground. Now his blood is calling out for me to punish you. 11 And so, I'll put you under a curse. Because you killed Abel and made his blood run out on the ground, you will never be able to farm it again. 12 When you try to farm the land, it won't produce anything for you. From now on, you'll be without a home, and you'll spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place.
13 “This punishment is too hard!” Cain said. 14 “You're making me leave my home and live far from you.[e] I will have to wander about without a home, and just anyone could kill me.”
15 “No!”[f] the Lord answered. “Anyone who kills you will be punished seven times worse than I am punishing you.” So the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn everyone not to kill him. 16 But Cain had to go far from the Lord and live in the Land of Wandering,[g] which is east of Eden.
It seems like Cain’s sin was a roadblock between him and God. It got in between them and they couldn’t be friends anymore.
Does God punish us like he punished Cain? No! We will be judged when we die for all the things we have done.
Bible Passage: Matthew 5:21-22
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Raca Means empty one or foolish. You may think Cain is so evil for killing, and you are right about the enormity of his sin, but when we are angry and sin in our anger, God is going to judge us for that sin. So whether big or small, whether murder or anger, our sin causes a blockage in our relationship.
Bible Passage: 2 Corinthians 5:10
“Christ will judge each of us for the good or the bad that we do while living in these bodies.”
If our names are written in the book of life we will be ok, but you can only have your name written in that book if you believe that Jesus died to take away your sins, and you need to say sorry and try not to do them as much as you can.
Story Time!
My older sister was always exceptional. She was smart and beautiful and creative and was always good company. But whenever we had family friends over, no one wanted to play with me, they always wanted to play with Naomi. I tagged along and played too, but she was always the organiser, always the boss. I was jealous of Naomi. She was just so good!
So what did I do? I would complain to Mum, 'The girl my age wants to play with Naomi and not me,” I would whinge.
But I did not kill her. I did not plot revenge to destroy her. And I learned to tolerate those harder times because when those other people weren’t around, I got to hang out with Naomi and enjoy her company too. I loved her. I still love her!
Question Time!
What is the smallest sin you have ever done?
What is the biggest sin you have ever done?
Why does the size of the sin not matter to God?
