SUNDAY THOUGHT-19

Sunday Thought – 19 WORSHIP THAT INVITED DEATH Text: Genesis 4 God has to be worshipped. That concept was inculcated into human beings from the beginning. Though we have no record of Adam worshipping God, we have evidence of his sons worshipping God (Gen. 4). Like any other truth, the truth about worship also should be revealed to man so that man may worship God acceptably. Since both Cain and Abel brought offerings to worship God, we can conclude that they had prior information about how to approach God in worship. This helps us to understand what is happening in Gen. 4. Worship done in self righteous attitude: There is nothing wrong in taking up the profession of tilling the ground and producing fruits. There is nothing wrong to offer the first fruits to God as thanksgiving in honor of His help. But that was not the the problem with Cain. The offering they were bringing was for their sins. Not a thanksgiving offering. A sin offering must see bloodshed. It is not that they were not informed about this. For, God accepts Abel's offering. The mistake of Cain was he approached God in unbelief and with self righteous attitude. (Hebrews 11:4). He did not bother to violate the manner of approach which God intended from them. "This way is also okay" was his attitude (Jude 11). More than what he brought, the person and his attitude are what concerns God. The reason why God cannot accept many peoples worship is due to the same reason. Ignoring the way God demands, people try to come to Him in their own way. Worship done in Godly attitude: In contrast to Cain, Abel brought an offering from the best of his firstlings, killed it and offered it to God. The willingness to abide by the divinely revealed manner, earned him respect of God. More than his sacrifice the attitude of Abel pleased God. He worships God based on what God had informed. He approached God in Faith. Therefore he is declared as righteous (Heb. 11:4). It is God's Law that without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins(Heb. 9:22). Though this was made much more clear later, the truth was known to man from the beginning. And Abel approached God in obedience of what he revealed. Today, no person who approaches God except through Jesus Christ will be accepted by God and his worship will be rejected. The pain of rejected Worship: When Cain saw that God rejected his worship, he was very angry and his 'countenance fell'( his face grew grim)! (On the Day of Judgment, when the Lord will declare that a majority of people and their works are rejected imagine the frustration and anger they would be feeling! the pain of rejection is too much. Especially when it comes from God! Therefore it is wise to make sure that we do things in the way God asks us to do.). More than towards Abel, Cain was actually angry towards God. In spite of God's gracious warning (v. 6,7) that 'you have still time to do as I said and receive my favor' Cain went ahead brooding over his anger towards God which forced him to vent it on his brother. One thing we should notice here. God do not take pleasure in seeing our pain when we face rejection. Rather, though he would let us feel it for our mistakes of not doing as he said, he is gracious enough to consider us again to give another chance! Worship that invited death: Cain was blind with his anger and he decided to vent it on his brother Abel. Having made plans in mind he rose against his brother and killed him. That was a pure premeditated act. The brother who is the keeper of his brother destroyed him (v. 9,10). This is a point the worshipping community ought to remember always: We are each other's keepers. So we are not to pause problem rather to give a helping hand to each other. Notice that the first murder in human history was over the subject of worship. Cain grew jealous against his brother because he got accepted by God and killed him (1John 3:12). When I see the world's attitude against Christians and its attempt to destroy them, I am reminded of Cain. For both have the same motivation: 'Here are a group of people who are found favor with God, let's destroy them.' This is the same attitude the world showed and is showing to the nation Israel. The true worshippers irk the world. Therefore they may become soft targets of reproach and attack. God could prevent the killing of Abel if he chose to. But he did not. When the worshipping community is attacked or persecuted, it is not because God is inactive or unaware of rather he let it happen for his own reasons. The sovereignty of God is unaffected by what he might let us experience. As we prepare to worship God this week, let us do it in the way God asked us to do: in truth and in Spirit. Never in self righteous attitude and in whichever way we wanted to do it. Let us be ready to face the world's anger if our obedience to the Lord in worship brings that result! Yours in The gloriuos ministry of God Joji George Abraham