Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Inexplicable

January 3, 2018

There are many things in the Bible I don’t understand, some of which not only make no sense to me, but also seem to fly in the face of what is right and fair. In Genesis 4, both Cain and Abel brought their offerings to God; Abel’s was accepted, Cain’s was not, and as a result, it says “his countenance fell” (4:5). I’m sure it did. And here, at the beginning of human history, the human dilemma plays itself out. What do we do when life isn’t fair; when we are passed over for a promotion that goes to someone who played the game better? How do we handle it when after playing by the rules, we learn that someone changed them mid-game? Where do we turn when the system is corrupt and we are the ones who get chewed up in the machinery?

The fact of the matter is, life isn’t fair, and the sooner we recognize it, the better off we will be. Even when it is God who seems to be playing favorites, we have a choice as to how we handle it. We can like Cain, sulk and plot how to even the score, or we can choose a different course. God told Cain that “sin is crouching at the door. It desires to have you, but you must overcome it.” Scholars tell us that the word for “sin” and “sin offering” is the same. The very problems that come our way also contain the solution, if we are willing to abandon our insistence that we are justified in our anger and bitterness. Whether or not Cain was justified in believing he had been mistreated by God, his solution was not justified, and resulted in his own estrangement from the acceptance he craved. 

I fear I have too often acted like Cain, railing against God for what I perceive as his unfairness. Sad to say, I don’t often do that for injustices against other people, even when they are far more egregious than those against me.


Even in his rejection of the way out that God lay at Cain’s feet, God didn’t reject Cain. He had to live with the consequences of his actions to be sure, but even in his rebellion, God protected him. I don’t understand many of God’s ways. Life often is unfair. But calling for justice is not always in our best interests. I often find myself in the shoes of the woman who was displeased with the work of her hairstylist. “This cut doesn’t do me justice,” she said disgustedly. His reply was classic, if a bit cutting, and it is meant for me, too: “Ma’am, what you want is mercy, not justice!”

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