In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel also brought an offering —fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis, 4: 3-7
We all know the story of Cain and Abel, and how Cain went on to murder his brother, but how often do we really think about this story and what it means for us today? I think the story of Cain is crucially important to us because the spirit of Cain lives in all of us.
Let’s look at the story in more detail. Cain is a tiller of the fields; Abel is a shepherd. The time comes for harvest and to give thanks to The Lord. Cain offers some of his crops, Abel offers fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. When the Lord looks with favour on Abel’s sacrifice but not Cain’s, Cain is angry. Cain’s anger is understandable. Anyone who has a garden knows that growing crops is hard work. There is always something to be done: cultivating, planting, watering, weeding, and eventually, harvesting. Cain can say in all honesty, “I’ve worked my heart out, slaving all day in the hot sun and this is all the thanks I get?”
God’s answer: “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”
Cain worked hard, there is no doubt about that, but he did not do right in the eyes of the Lord. What did he do wrong? Cain gave a sample of his crops, but Abel gave the best of his flock, fat portions from the firstborn lambs. Cain worked hard, but dutifully, doing what was required but no more. He did not give of his best, either of his crops or himself.
Does that sound at all familiar? It should. Let’s look at it another way.
Cain was born long before the giving of the Ten Commandments, but I believe that the sin of Cain was a violation of the Tenth Commandment: You shall not covet what belongs to your neighbour.
Covet is a word that has fallen out of use. We tend to think of it as desire, but it is not. In his excellent commentary on the Ten Commandments, Dennis Prager says that there is nothing wrong with desiring what belongs to someone else. If you look at a beautiful house on a hill overlooking the sea and say to yourself “One day I will live in a house like that,” that’s fine. If you are at dinner at a friend’s place and see the love and affection between him and his wife, there is nothing wrong with saying to yourself “I wish I had a husband or wife like that.” Clearly it’s not the desire that’s wrong.
The sin of covetousness, Dennis Prager says, is not desiring to have a house, car, spouse or other benefit like the one owned by your neighbour, but to want to displace your neighbour and have that particular house, car, spouse or whatever. Dennis Prager is one of the wisest people I know, and I don’t disagree with him lightly, but I would go further. I would argue that the sin of covetousness is not simply to want a particular house, spouse or car, but more generally to want to have something without earning it.
We see this in every walk of life. We look at millionaires and billionaires and think “I want to be like them,” but we don’t want to do the work needed to earn those millions and billions, nor do we want to accept the responsibility that goes with, for example, being the CEO of a large company. We would like the honour and recognition of being courageous, but we don’t want to face genuine danger. We want to be seen as revolutionaries, but without denying ourselves, suffering ostracism, or going to prison for our beliefs. This is why some people take on the role of victim; once you are identified as a victim or a ‘survivor’ you can be acclaimed just for getting out of bed in the morning.
Politicians and political parties are just as guilty of covetousness as people. All too often they desire, even promise, to deliver outcomes, yet they don’t want to do the work needed. They want more of a certain minority in medicine, or C suites of major companies. This is a perfectly laudable goal, but their solution is to use programs like affirmative action and quotas to fill those positions regardless of merit instead of going through the long, slow, tedious process of improving education and training. The result is that highly visible people are placed where they inevitably fail. Even if they don’t fail, the suspicion lingers that they are only there because of their race, gender or group. Politicians say they want to reduce the cost of healthcare, or household items, but instead of addressing deep rooted economic problems they simply issue subsidies or impose price caps often worsening the underlying problems in the economy.
Another example of covetousness is so called “virtue signalling”. I believe this is a misnomer; it is not so much virtue signalling as virtue simulation. We like to be seen as good people, so we perform very public acts to show what good people we are, but to truly be a good person is difficult and requires hard work, constant soul-searching and self-denial. What does it really cost you to dress in rainbow colours on pride week when everyone else is doing it? It’s easy to denounce the killing of children in Gaza when you have no idea of the intricacies of the Israeli-Palestine conflict or how it could possibly be solved. So called Virtue signalling is simply an attempt to gain unearned approval. It was to guard against this that Christ tells us to do good in secret and not as the hypocrites do (Matthew 6: 1-4).
To look at pornography or to visit prostitutes is also an act of covetousness. Sex is not wrong in itself; God created it, but the price of sex is to enter into a deep and committed relationship, ideally one of marriage. In this context, sex is sacred and one of the most wondrous of God’s creations. Pornography and casual sex offer unearned sexual gratification, that is why they are ultimately unsatisfying.
Christ says,
“But I tell you, anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5, 28).
Sex within marriage is sacred, anything else is adultery.
Examples are endless, but I think you get the idea.
The consequence of unchecked covetousness is the path of Cain. Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. It’s a small step from saying “I want that house,” to saying “If I can’t have a house like that, then no one should have one.” I’ve seen it so often in the small, bitter intellectuals who say to themselves “I’m so smart and I’ve worked so hard to get where I am, why am I stuck in a miserable little office while sports stars and pop stars and movie stars get all the adulation?” I’ve felt it myself as an aspiring author when I pick up a book and think “My writing is far better than this, why can’t I get published?”
God’s answer? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?
In the world God created there are no participation certificates, and rarely prizes for coming second. God demands our best and will settle for nothing less. Sure, you are working hard, but are you giving your best? As you come home from work each day ask yourself “Did I give my best today?” God’s promise is that if you do right you will succeed. If you were giving your best at work, wouldn’t your boss notice? Wouldn’t you receive pay rises and promotions?
And if you are giving of your best and still not being recognised, maybe you are in the wrong job. God promises that if you work hard and give of your best, you will be accepted, but he doesn’t promise that you will succeed in the way you expect. Many times, God has sent his chosen off into new careers and new adventures. Maybe God intends something else for you. Maybe it’s time to take a leap of faith and leave your comfortable job for a new one.
The spirit of Cain, the spirit of covetousness, lives in all of us. But if we are ever tempted to wish for things that others have remember God’s words “If you do right, will you not be accepted?” If we are ever tempted to bitterness, remember “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
The sin of Cain lives in us, but we do not have to follow in his footsteps. With God’s help we can master the sin, give of our best and find success.
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