When our best isn't good enough

What do we do when our best isn't good enough? The natural human reaction is to feel rejected. There may also be feelings of anger, jealousy, resentment and bitterness. Certainly this is what Cain felt when the Lord looked with favor on Abel's offering but had no regard for Cain's. See Genesis 4:6.

The question has been posed many times why did God accept Abel's offering and reject Cain's. And overwhelmingly the answer has been that Abel brought a better offering. After all, he brought the firstborn of his flock and the fat portions thereof. Cain must have brought the refuse of the field. Some dried out stalks. Certainly not the firstfruits or the best that he had. This is an answer that makes sense and appeals to our idea of a just and caring God. And this interpretation has persisted throughout the centuries. The author of Hebrews was influenced by this interpretation when he said that "by 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." Hebrews 11:4 (Emphasis added)

Notice the word "better." I would offer a different interpretation based on the original Hebrew of the text found in Genesis, chapter 4. I learned the following from the senior rabbi at shul.

But first, let us return to the text. Please open your Bibles up to Genesis, the fourth chapter. Genesis is literally the beginning. The beginning of creation. The beginning of humanity. The beginning of sin. We have the first people-Adam and Eve. They ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and God said, *whistle* "Allright! Everybody! Out of the pool!" (Props to Bill Cosby) Now they have to live outside of the garden and work for the food. And they will also begin to be fruitful and multiply, as God commanded. Let's read the whole story. It's a mere 16 verses.

1. Adam knew his wife Eve intimately, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, "I have had a male child with the LORD's help." Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of a flock, but Cain cultivated the land. 3 In the course of time Cain presented some of the land's produce as an offering to the LORD. 4 And Abel also presented [an offering]—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he was downcast.
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you furious? And why are you downcast? 7 If you do right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it."
8 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.
9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's guardian?"
10 Then He said, "What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground! 11 So now you are cursed [with alienation] from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood you have shed. 12 If you work the land, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." 13 But Cain answered the LORD, "My punishment is too great to bear! 14 Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me."
15 Then the LORD replied to him, "In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over." And He placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. 16 Then Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

(I'm using the HCSB translation).

Cain and Abel, the first pair of brothers in the Bible. Cain was a farmer; Abel was a shepherd.

Whose idea was it to present an offering to God? Cain's. Cain had the initiative. Cain brought of his produce and made an offering to God. Nothing in the text up through this verse (3) suggests that Cain's offering was in any way sub standard. Now pay attention to verse 4. "And Abel also presented [an offering]." I emphasize the word 'also' as that is actually in the Hebrew. The word in Hebrew is 'gam.' 99 out of 100 speakers of Hebrew will tell you that the simple straightforward meaning of the word 'gam' is 'also.' The one out of 100 who wants to be different will tell you it means 'too.' ;)

And what did Abel present? "The firstborn of the flock and their fat portions." If Abel also presented the best he had, it stands to reason that Cain presented the best he had first. Both brothers made offerings to the Lord of the best of what they had.

And here we have a fundamental key to understanding this text. Our best is not always accepted. How many of us have tried and failed at something? Ever study hard for a test and still not do as well as you hoped? Ever compete for a spot on a sports team or a dance team or band or theater and not get that spot? Ever try to woo another and have your advances rejected? Ever apply to a college or for a job and not get accepted or hired? I'm sure there are dozens of other examples you can think of. There are times in our lives when we know we did our best and we still didn't succeed. And to make matters worse, sometimes those whom we thought were less deserving than we got accepted.

The question still stands, why did the Lord accept Abel's offering and reject Cain's? Short answer.... I don't know. His ways are not my ways. I don't understand God completely nor could I hope too. I would offer this for your consideration, however.

God was testing Cain. God took time out to speak with Cain. God took time out from what I presume was a very busy schedule and had a one-on-one with Cain. When God questions Cain-why are you upset? why is your face fallen?-God is not asking because He doesn't know. Of coures God knows why Cain is upset. Just like when God asked Adam "where are you?" after Adam ate of the forbidden fruit-God knew exactly where Adam was. God asks so that we find the answer ourselves. God wants us to answer Him. Seek understanding within. When things don't go our way even though we do our best. We should ask ourselves why are we upset? Rejection hurts. It's not easy to take. Yes, our face will fall. Yes, we will be upset. But knowing why we are upset is only half the battle.

God tells Cain-and us-how to deal with it. "If you do right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it." Some take the first hypothetical to mean that Cain did not do right. Because if he had done right, his offering would have been accepted. Not necessarily. I would see this as, if you don't do right, you certainly won't be accepted. Therefore, you must do right in order to be accepted. But, just because you do right doesn't mean you are automatically accepted. But keep trying anyway. Keep at it. I know it's hard. I know the way is difficult and narrow. There will be many times when you slip and fall. Get up, dust yourself off and press on. Forget that which is behind and reach for that which is ahead. There is uplift if you continue to do right. For the uplift is in the struggle. "According to the tsouris (trouble, struggle) is the reward." (Pirkei Avot). The harder the struggle, the greater the accomplishment.

Sin crouches at the door and it desires to have us, but we can master it. HCSB says 'must.' As if it's an imperative. The Hebrew is timshel, "you can." As in we have the ability to overcome sin. Yes, we should, but God won't do it for us. God won't make us overcome sin?

No. For after God talks with Cain, Cain goes to his brother and kills him. And God did not stop Cain from killing Abel.

How did this happen? Cain went to his brother and said... what? What he actually said to Abel is not mentioned in the Hebrew text. HCSB and other translations supply the missing words based on the context. Cain and Abel ended up in a field, so it is natural to assume Cain said to Abel, "let's go out to the field."

Cain attacked (lit. rose up against) Abel and killed him. And then, God speaks to Cain a second time. And again a rhetorical question since God really does know where Abel is. Again, God wants Cain to confess his crime. When God asks a question, we assume that God already knows the answer. The point is for the askee to come up with the answer. An answer we come up with on our own carries much more weight and meaning than an answer that is supplied to us. And it is more likely to stay with us.

Cain evades responsibility and says, "am I my brother's keeper?" I hope that the answer is obvious to us all. We are responsible for one another. We are to love one another as ourselves. We must not hate our brother in our heart. We must not take revenge or carry a grudge.

But Cain did not master sin. Cain let his feelings of anger and jealousy and bitterness take over him. Rather than continuing to cultivate the field and bring another offering, Cain killed Abel. And this is clearly the wrong thing to do.

God banished Cain and made him a ceaseless wanderer on the earth. But God also protected Cain. Here we see an example of God's justice and mercy working side by side. And Cain went out from the Lord's presence and settled in the land of Nod east of Eden.

I highlight the last three words as they form the title to one of John Steinbeck's major novels. It is a retelling of this 16 verse story in about 500 pages. Steinbeck called the story of Cain and Abel the symbol story of the human spirit. For it is everyone's story. We all have to deal with rejection and failure. And while we may at times feel as Cain did, we know the better way of dealing with those feelings.

Let us continue to press forward towards the goal despite the rejection of our best offerings and there will be uplift.

Amen.

Leo