March 7, 2010
Morning Worship
Text: Genesis 4:2-12
Subject: Holiness
Title: The Bobble-Head Syndrome
I’ve entitled my sermon today “The Bobble – Head Syndrome.” You may wonder where I am going with this and if you’ll bear with me we’ll get there. You know what I’m talking about when I talk about bobble-heads don’t you? They are the little figures that have their heads mounted on a swivel or a point so that the head is constantly moving. The first time I remember seeing one was on the dashboard of someone’s car and it was a little doggie – soooooo cute.
There have been some things in my life in the past couple of weeks that made me think of bobble – heads. First, the weather… when March hits and the weather starts to warm up I begin to turn my thoughts to baseball – the St. Louis Cardinals in particular. You can think about the Cubs if you want but I’m talking about real baseball. Now if you think about the Cardinals you have to think about a man who just may be the greatest player in the history of the game and his name is Albert Puhols. I remember when the Albert Puhols bobble-head first came out. It looks just like him. OK, enough about baseball.
The second thing that made me start thinking about bobble-heads was when we were in Guatemala. Our bus driver’s name was Melvin Silva and he knows how to drive a bus. Up the mountain – down the mountain – around the corners… Gas… brakes… gas… downshift…brakes… By the time we got to where we were going I was like a bobble-head. I mean riding with Melvin strengthened your neck muscles. Your head was moving in every direction.
The third thing that made me think of bobble-heads also occurred in Guatemala when a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck at 4:54 in the morning. It was more than a bobble-head moment – it was a bobble-everything 15 seconds.
Now I’ve said all that to say this. Too many Christians are like bobble-head Christians. They cannot make up their minds whether they are “yes” or “no”. And many times they are somewhere in between.
Jesus said, “… let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
It is time for the church to make up its mind as to whether it is going to be the church of Jesus Christ or the church of convenience.
Read Genesis 4:2a-12.
Lord, open my eyes to see and my ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
I. YOUR POTENTIAL. Verse 2a …Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. Everyone one of you, regardless of who you are or what you do, has the potential to be a God pleaser. When I read about Cain and Abel I can’t help but think back a few years before and the story of the fall or their parents. Can you imagine how devastating it must have been for Adam and eve to be thrown out of paradise? I mean, they had it all and gave it up to the devil for a piece of fruit. Adam must have thought about it every day for the rest of his life. “If only I had told Eve what God wanted me to tell her about the tree in the middle of the garden.” I have to believe that Adam wasn’t about to make that same mistake with his sons. He must have told them every day about how they had walked with God in the cool of the day and how, even after they had sinned, God cared enough for them to take the life of an animal in order to provide a covering for them. As his sons grew to be men each was given responsibilities. Cain worked the soil like his father. Abel was a shepherd. Each one had the opportunity to make choices. They could either live to please God or not to please Him. You see, it doesn’t matter if you are the CEO of a great corporation or are emptying bedpans at Maple Lawn. You have a choice that you can make. Am I going to please God in what I do or am I going to please myself? Don’t underestimate the potential you have in God’s plan. General Mark Clark was one of the great heroes of WWII. He led the Salerno invasion that Winston Churchill said was "the most daring amphibious operation we have launched, or which, I think, has ever been launched on a similar scale in war." At the time Clark was promoted to Lt. General, he was the youngest man of that rank in the U.S. Army. He graduated from West Point in 1917. At the top of his class? Nope. He was 111th from the top in a class of 139! Even if you never earned a college degree, don't worry, you're in good company. Irving Berlin, for instance, only had two years of formal schooling. He never learned how to read music. When he composed his songs, he would hum the melody and a musical secretary would write down the notes. He became one of the greatest songwriters the country has ever known. Bits and Pieces, December 13, 1990. 1 Corinthians 10:31, 31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. And in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul wrote, 22 …those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it… Are you living up to your potential?
II. YOUR RESPONSE 3In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor… This has always been a difficult passage for people to understand, and I must admit that I did not always see the picture God is trying to paint for us here. I really prayed about this and I believe God showed me what He wants us to see here. Let me begin by looking at the names of the two characters in the story. Cain was the firstborn. You know how firstborn children are... they are often the children of privilege. Because they are the oldest more is expected from them. Cain’s name means, “acquired” or “procured”. He was the product of the union of Adam and Eve. I think they were pleased with him because they brought him into the world. His potential looked endless. Abel’s name, on the other hand, means “emptiness” or “vanity”. On the surface he must not have measured up to his brother. But you see, it isn’t what others think about you that really matters. It is what God sees in you and then how you respond to it that makes the difference. 3In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. I see two things that catch my attention in verse 3. 1) In the course of time… It doesn’t appear that Cain was in any big hurry to present an offering to the Lord. Like he was saying, “Whenever…” 2) Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil… Cain the farmer – he followed in his father’s footsteps. Many of the commentaries that I have read say that just like Abel brought an offering from the firstborn of his flock, Cain brought the first fruits of the soil. But it doesn’t say that. It says he brought “some of the fruits…” it’s almost as if it were an afterthought. Hebrews 11:4 bears out the difference in the attitudes of the brothers in their offerings. 4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. Three times the writer of Hebrews tells us what the difference was. Abel had faith in God. It appears by Cain’s attitude that he was just observing some religious ritual. Both brothers had the same potential to worship and serve God. But they had totally different responses. 1 John 3:12, Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
III. YOUR CHOICES So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Who was Cain angry at? I think he was angry at everyone except the one he should have been angry with – himself. He was angry at God for showing favoritism. He was angry at his brother because he made him look bad. It’s a trait he inherited from his dad… Genesis 3:11-12, 11And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Hey, it’s not my fault… Look, God, I gave you some of my seed that I had to labor over and cultivate and water… My stupid brother didn’t do anything. He just watched the sheep reproduce and then brought the fruits of what he didn’t even do!!!!!!” IT’S NOT MY FAULT! Cain’s anger wasn’t the real problem. Pride was. The fact that he let his anger boil up inside of him was his pride rising up and preventing him from admitting his own sin. Isn’t that what the Holy Spirit does in our lives? Doesn’t He try to show us the areas that we need to work on – the sin that is in our lives – so that we can change and live a life pleasing to the Lord. 6Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? God’s response to Cain’s anger tells us a lot about his spiritual state. 7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? That must mean that Cain wasn’t living a life pleasing to God because his offering wasn’t accepted. But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” God has never intended for mankind to be dominated by sin. Yes, we have the seed of sin that is passed on from generation to generation. Once you are saved the sin nature remains, but you now have everything you need to take control over it instead of letting it grow and fester inside of you. Sin’s desire is to take total control of every life on the face of the planet. Satan comes but to kill, steal and destroy… Now, understand this… even people in the world have the option as to how they will respond to situations in their lives. They have choices to make. Some make choices to live good moral lives. Others just live to satisfy the lust of the flesh. But even good people will perish without Jesus Christ in their lives. For the Christian, however, when we sin we ask for forgiveness and we are cleansed from all unrighteousness. When the Lord told Cain, “if you do what is right…” He was simply telling him that the only right way is through a life of faith in Him. Our righteousness is as filthy rags, but the blood of Jesus washes away all our sin. Cain had a choice to make, and he made a cold-blooded decision to murder his brother for his own inadequacies. Let’s stop here and just take this thought a little deeper. Most decisions in life are not spur of the moment. They may appear to be on the surface, but in truth, the decisions we make are always filtered through the belief system that we have in place. If we are trusting God for all things in our lives, our decisions will reflect that. If you have been walking with the Lord faithfully you will likely make decisions that are grounded in that walk. If you are a borderline Christian and are trying to walk the tightrope between the kingdom and the world the decisions you make will reflect that. A sporadic life in Christ will produce erratic decisions. And if you don’t have Christ at all your decision will be made through the filter of human reason and you will ultimately have huge consequences to pay for those mistakes. 8Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
IV. YOUR CONSEQUENCES 9Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Do you see a lifestyle pattern in Cain that really tells us why his offering was unacceptable to God? He was angry. He was arrogant. He was a murderer, and he was a liar. And none of it seemed to bother him. It all came too easy. Romans 8:5-8, 5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. Do you know what it is that sinners – people who don’t know Jesus – do? They sin. And like Cain, sin never bothers them until they are confronted with it and its consequences. You know, when we did the Way of the Master evangelism class that was the focus. Once people are confronted with and understand the fact that they are sinners and that there are consequences for their sin something begins to happen inside of them. It may not be immediate but you can rest assured that the Holy Spirit is doing a work in them. It does not say in Genesis that Cain was sorry for his sinful attitude or for the crime he committed. But it does say that he would have to pay the consequences for his sin. In verse 13 we see his response to God’s judgment on his life. Verses 13-14, 13Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” I see a subtle change in Cain’s attitude. Right in the middle of his self-centeredness – My punishment is more than I can bear… You are driving me from the land… I will be a wanderer…whoever finds me will kill me… right in the middle of all that he says, I will be hidden from your presence… He is beginning to understand that sin separates one from God. The word that is translated punishment in verse 13 also means sin or iniquity. “My sin is more than I can bear”. Romans 6:20-23, 20When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death … but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I look at people all around me and I see bobble-heads. People in the world will constantly tell you that they know they need to be in church. They know they need to be saved. They know they need a change in their lives. Yet in the next breath they admit that they have no intention of doing those things, or they would like to but just can’t – because of what friends or family might think. Bobble-heads – all of them.
There was an experiment done recently with groups of twelve people. They were placed in a room where four lines of unequal length were displayed. It was obvious that they were unequal. They were asked to find the two lines of equal length. The first eleven were told which two to vote for even though it was obviously wrong. The test was really on what the response of the twelfth person would be. Even though their senses told them one thing would they do what was right or would they go along with the crowd? When it was all finished a full 1/3 of the people gave in to group pressure and went along with the crowd. Bobble-heads…
We can only look at stories like that and wonder, “How could anyone be so stupid?”
But before you get to judgmental about this let me ask you a question. “Are you a bobble-head”? NO? You are a firmly committed Christian right?
Are you sharing the gospel like Jesus said you should?
Are you standing on God’s word for every need you have and not relying on your own devices?
Are you trusting God to heal your diseases?
In 1 Kings 18 Elijah asked a question to the people of Israel. “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him…
That same challenge is going out to you today.
No more bobble-heads.
