We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christchurch.
This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christchurch.
Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at Christchurcheastbay.org.
Good morning. Happy Sunday.
I'm Tonya and I'm part of the Ocos in the Oaks Friday Women's Group and Women Reading Women Monthly Book Club.
Today's scripture reading is from the book of Genesis chapters 4 verses 1 through 26 as printed in your liturgy.
A reading from the book of Genesis.
Adam made love to his wife Eve and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.
She said, with the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.
Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks and Cain worked the soil.
In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.
And Abel also brought an offering.
Fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.
The Lord looked with favor on Abel in his offering.
But on Cain in his offering he did not look with favor.
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 do what is right sin is crouching at your door.
It desires to have you but you must rule over it.
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, let's go out to the field.
While they were in the field Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain, where is your brother Abel?
I don't know he replied, am I my brother's keeper?
The Lord said, what have you done?
Listen, your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
When you work the ground it will no longer yield its crops for you.
You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.
Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is more than I can bear.
Today 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.
But the Lord said to him, not so.
Anyone who kills Abel, sorry, anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.
Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him could kill him.
So Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Cain made love to his wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch.
Cain was then building a city and he named it after his son Enoch.
To Enoch was born Ired and Ired was the father of Mahu-hel and Mahu-hel was the father of Methusel
and Methusel was the father of Lamech.
So Lamech married two women, one named Ada and the other Zillah.
So Ada gave birth to Jebal.
He was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock.
His brother's name was Jubal.
He was the father of all who played string instruments and pipes.
Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron.
Tubal-Cain's sister was Nema.
Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Zillah, listen to me, wives of Lamech.
Hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me.
If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech 77 times.
Ada made love to his wife again and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth,
saying God has granted me another child in place of Abel since Cain killed him.
Seth also had a son and he named him Enoch.
At that time, people began to call on the name of the Lord.
The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.
Let's pray as we receive this word from God.
Lord, we ask that you would help us to distinguish between the way of Cain and the way of Christ,
that you would make the way of Christ beautiful to us,
so beautiful that we live in that way as a blessing to this world.
For our own good and for your glory, we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You know, I've really been looking forward to preaching this particular passage today,
and it's not because we have a jealous murderer problem here in this church,
or even that we're terrible at being our brothers' and sisters' keepers.
No, the reason I find this text so convicting and relevant for us, and really for me,
is because beyond the jealousy, the murder, and the malice,
there is a more basic evil here that led to the kind of competitive jealousy,
the kind of image of God denying selfish, murderous godlessness that we see in this story,
and also that we've witnessed, right, in these past few weeks in our headlines nationally and internationally.
There's a deeper, more basic evil on display in this text in Cain's heart and life,
and it's an evil that we bear witness to every single day,
and not just out there in the world, but in me and in you.
So, this morning, I want to make the argument that there are two ways to live,
the way of Cain or the way of Christ.
And I want to argue that while the selfish, striving way of Cain has reigned for most of history,
it is and it will be the selfless, surrendered way of Christ that's going to change the world.
You know, like many of you, my family, we just got back into the school rhythm,
and it's an exciting year for us.
Our oldest, Cammie, she's starting first grade,
and our youngest, Leah, she's starting kindergarten.
She just started kindergarten.
But as exciting and as cute as that first day of school was,
you know, I was getting them ready for school, getting their stuff together,
Chelsea's yelling at me as she gets the girls on the porch,
get your phone, Andrew, get your phone!
Got to take that first day of school picture, right?
As all that was happening, as I felt excitement and love and gratitude,
do you know what I also felt as I prepared my little girls for their first day of school?
It's the same thing I felt last year when Cammie started kindergarten.
I felt dread, trepidation, anxiety on my girls' behalf.
Because in my mind, not only was I sending them off to get an education and to grow up
and to develop skills and competencies that will help them go in the name of Jesus
to love and serve this world,
but in my mind, what tugged at my heart was the sense that I was also sending them off
out of our carefree home into the rat race,
into the realm of brutal competition,
where there are winners and losers,
and where the stakes will only get higher for them with each passing year.
And where, yes, I do want them to crush it,
but at what cost?
By what means?
For whose glory?
And according to whose standards?
So as I stood on that porch,
taking Leah's first day of school picture,
I couldn't help but think,
what way of life is little Leah about to enter into?
What will she live for?
What will she be known for?
And as her dad, what do I want her legacy to be?
What do I want our family's legacy to be?
What will define little Leah?
What will define the Ong family?
Our hard work and hustle?
Our achievements and accolades?
What we've built and begotten?
Or might our defining distinctive be something deeper,
purer, holier,
something far more sacred and lasting?
As we open up Genesis chapter 4 this morning,
I want to remind you of the hopes and dreams
that Adam and Eve had for their own offspring,
the legacy on their minds as they ventured east of Eden
and gave birth to their first child.
Remember, they were longing for what?
They were longing for salvation,
someone to reverse the curse,
defeat the serpent.
And you can even hear it in Eve's voice here in verse 1.
Adam made love to his wife Eve,
and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.
She said,
with the help of the Lord,
I have brought forth a man.
She's thinking, or at least hoping,
here he is.
Here he is.
I did it, and labor was painful,
but I have brought forth,
you could translate this as,
I have procured a man.
And she names him after that.
Cain means gotten, procured, acquired.
And as we shall see from the moment of Cain's birth,
he and his descendants will live up to that name,
that everything that I want in life,
I have to get,
I have to procure,
I have to acquire myself.
Then verse 2.
Later she gave birth to his brother Abel,
and Abel just means emptiness,
vapor, even vanity,
meaninglessness.
It's the same word as in Ecclesiastes.
It's almost like Abel is an afterthought
to their firstborn son,
because Cain is the one upon whom
all the family's hopes and dreams rest, right?
He's the firstborn.
He's gonna be the one.
Verse 2.
Now Abel kept flocks,
and Cain worked the soil.
So Cain is the one going into the family business.
He's working the cursed ground with his dad.
He's sharing in the sweat and toil.
He's battling the thorns and thistles,
helping the family produce their own daily bread
to survive.
Then verse 3.
In the course of time,
Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil
as an offering to the Lord,
and Abel also brought an offering,
fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.
The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
but on Cain and his offering,
he did not look with favor.
So Cain was very angry,
and his face was downcast.
So Adam and Eve are trying to raise
these God-fearing young men
who offer worship unto God with these offerings.
But only one offering is accepted by the Lord,
only Abel's.
Why?
Well, see, Abel's gift was the fattiest firstborn, right?
Not his leftovers after seeing
how well his flock did that year,
but his firstborn,
not knowing how many more sheep
he would even have that year.
He gave the best of his firstborn sheep.
And the writer of Hebrews
interprets this fatty firstborn offering
as an act of faith,
as Abel saying,
I'm gonna worship you, Lord,
because you deserve it all.
And I'm gonna trust you with all that I have
and give you the first and best
of what you've given me.
Abel lived by the principle
that God has given to me,
and I'm gonna live out of that.
But for Cain,
he lived by a different principle.
The principle of,
I gotta get mine.
And that's why he was so angry with God.
He thought God owed him
a good response to his offering.
Abel offered authentic faith and worship,
but Cain offered performative,
tokenistic religiosity.
Cain just did his duty.
He gave his offering,
and so God should have been obligated
to accept his offering
and be happy with him.
But for Cain,
it was all transactional.
I give, then I get.
And the moment Cain's transactional way of life
stopped working for him,
it says his face fell.
He wasn't just angry.
He was depressed and despairing,
all because he had a flawed understanding
of who God is
and of who he was
and of what he owed God.
He didn't get that God is not a God
who's so interested in having
a transactional relationship with his people
as if we could get God into our debt.
Like the elder brother,
Cain wanted a transaction
and not a father.
But just as the prodigal son's father
humbled himself
to go and pursue
not just his prodigal son,
but his petulant older son,
so does God approach Cain.
Not with immediate condemnation,
but with intentional questionings,
almost like a counselor.
Look at verse six.
Why are you so angry?
Why is your face downcast?
If you do what is right,
will you not be accepted?
But if you do not do what is right,
sin is crouching at your door.
It desires to have you,
but you must rule over it,
my son, he says.
God comes to Cain
trying to help him understand
his own heart,
his own lack of faith
and worship and love.
God is trying to help him understand
and get out of his transactional way of life.
He's trying to help him
into something far better.
But even after hearing directly from God,
Cain goes on living up to his name,
procuring, acquiring,
even if it means taking from others.
See, because you have to understand,
for his whole life,
Cain had been living
by the Ricky Bobby Creed, all right?
If you ain't first, you're last, all right?
But now he finds
that his supposedly meaningless brother
has come into first place with God,
and so in his self-centered jealousy,
Cain would rather dismantle his own brother
than dismantle his own
me first, gotta get mine way of life.
Verse eight says,
Now Cain said to his brother Abel,
let's go out to the field.
While they were in the field,
Cain attacked his brother Abel
and killed him.
Only the second generation
after Adam and Eve,
and humanity has fallen so far,
so fast,
from foolish disobedience in the garden
to family murder in the field.
Verse nine,
Then the Lord said to Cain,
Where is Abel, your brother?
And listen, it's not because God
doesn't know where he is, right?
No, he's pursuing Cain
as a gentle father.
But here Cain has the gall
to lie to God
and to renounce his responsibility
and to do it with sass.
He said, I don't know.
Am I my brother's keeper?
And this is the more basic evil,
the me first denial
of our human responsibility
to love one another.
So God makes it clear to Cain,
you are supposed to be
your brother's keeper,
and so much more actually, Cain.
Verse 10,
The Lord said,
What have you done?
Listen, your brother's blood
cries out to me from the ground.
Don't you know?
No injustice goes unnoticed before me.
And God says,
Now you are under a curse
and driven from the ground
which opened its mouth
to receive your brother's blood
from your hand.
You further curse the ground, Cain.
This ground that was supposed
to deliver life
is now drinking in death.
This ground that I gave to you
from which you were supposed
to receive your daily bread,
you have force-fed it
your brother's blood.
So now verse 12,
So,
when you work the ground now, Cain,
it will no longer yield
its crops for you.
You will be a restless wanderer
on the earth.
You will be anxious,
fearful,
homeless,
and insecure
for the rest of your life.
But still,
Cain isn't even remorseful,
repentant,
or even ashamed.
All he can think about
is himself.
Verse 13,
Cain said to the Lord,
My punishment is more
than I can bear.
Today 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.
All he can think about
is himself.
But for some reason,
God delays justice here.
He's apparently got some plans
to temporarily preserve Cain,
even use Cain,
for his purposes in history.
So he says in verse 15,
Not so.
Anyone who kills Cain
will suffer vengeance
seven times over.
Full justice.
Full vengeance.
Then the Lord put a mark
on Cain,
so that no one
who found him
would kill him.
And this is the beginning
of a long motif
throughout the Bible
of the innocent suffering,
and of them crying out
to God for justice,
as Abel's did to God.
Crying out,
How long, O Lord?
How long will the unjust?
How long will the strong?
How long will the arrogant
oppressors continue to,
continually seem
to just rack up
all these wins, right?
And while this is a sad
and confusing motif
throughout the Scriptures,
it's also the very wisdom of God,
the thing that God
will eventually use
to save the world, right?
The suffering of the innocent one.
But in the meantime,
as the strong men,
as the wicked ones
continue to win,
this story now presents us
with a rather challenging choice.
A choice to live Cain's way
or God's way.
And it's a challenging choice
because though Cain
doesn't exactly have it easy,
what we're going to find
in the rest of this passage,
like from this point on,
is that he's actually
quite successful.
Even when he chooses
not to be his brother's keeper
or anyone else's,
even as he commits himself
to looking out for number one,
it works out pretty well for Cain.
Verse 16 says,
So Cain went out
from the Lord's presence
and lived in the land of Nod,
east of Eden.
So the worst possible thing
has happened to him.
He is expelled
from the presence of God,
but you can still see him
fighting to survive,
fighting to preserve
the worldview of his name.
He refuses to wander.
He settles somewhere.
Verse 17 says,
he starts a family.
And if you're wondering
how he started a family,
how that works,
who is threatening him
outside the garden,
talk to Jonathan about that,
all right?
I know we're happy
to chat about that,
but we want to focus
on what the text
is focusing on here,
all right?
So continue with me
in verse 17.
Cain was then building a city,
and he named it
after his son Enoch.
So Cain,
he manages to survive
and to procreate,
and not only that,
but he even builds a city
and he names it
after his son Enoch.
And Enoch means
inaugurated,
initiated,
dedicated.
Basically,
Cain is glorying
in his accomplishments.
He's naming
his self-made city
after his self-made son.
He's celebrating himself
as a self-made man.
Like, sure,
God exiled me,
but look at me now.
I built a city,
and I'm dedicating
this inaugural city
to myself and my offspring.
I don't need God.
I will initiate.
I will get,
acquire,
procure what I want.
I will survive on my own
outside of the presence
of God.
And thus,
in Cain,
who's actually turned out
to be the very first offspring
of the serpent,
in Cain's own heart
and life,
the serpent's lie,
it lingers.
See?
You will not surely die.
Life without God works.
You're fine.
You're better than fine.
After being banished
from his presence,
you aren't just surviving,
you're thriving.
Cutting corners
pays off.
See it for yourself.
God's way is whack.
Verse 18 tells us
that Cain's line
continues on
and then especially thrives
under Lamech
in verse 19,
who takes not just
one wife,
but two,
because to him,
it's all about the gains,
right?
It's all about the wins.
It's all about
maximization
and productivity.
While God told Adam and Eve
that husband and wife,
the two shall be one,
and then bless them
as a couple
to be fruitful
and to multiply,
Lamech says,
forget that.
I can multiply
twice as fast
with two wives.
And this is the beginning
of polygamy.
It's the beginning
of the objectification
of women,
using them
to continue
the way of Cain,
to acquire
and to self-produce
more and more
and more.
But look what happens.
Lamech actually is
quite productive.
Civilization is built
from his offspring,
from both his wives.
Verses 20 and 21
tell us that
from one wife
he gets two sons.
One is the father
of tent dwelling,
the father of wilderness
survival
and livestock rearing.
The other is the father
of music
and instruments,
right?
And then Lamech's
other son
from his other wife,
Tubal Cain,
he's the forger
of metal instruments.
And not just plowshares,
but probably also
swords.
Swords.
So while the only sword
humanity had ever known
up to this point
was the flaming sword,
prohibiting them
from the tree of life,
here humanity is saying,
fine, fine.
If we can't partake
of the tree of life
and live forever,
we will now live
by the sword.
We will exercise
dominion by swords
that we forge
for ourselves.
And so from the line
of Cain,
particularly through
his descendant Lamech,
cities and kingdoms
are forged.
Farm raising,
music,
craftsmanship,
technology,
and military power,
culture,
kingdom,
and empire
are being developed
almost,
almost like God
intended when he
told us to be fruitful
and to multiply.
And yet,
there's still something
very off
about this picture,
isn't there?
A familiar arrogance,
a godless,
self-sufficient spirit,
the worship of power,
a familiar propensity
for violence
and oppression.
And even the celebration
here of all this wickedness,
look,
Lamech is so pleased.
He is so proud here
of all his accomplishments,
all his children's
accomplishments.
This is the birth
of mansplaining
and peacocking here
in verse 23.
Lamech said to his wives,
Adon, Zillah,
hear my voice,
you wives of Lamech.
That's who they are to him.
Not human beings
with personal,
individual integrity.
They are his wives,
the wives of Lamech.
Listen to what I say.
He's commanding them.
And this is what he sings
and celebrates.
I have killed a man
for wounding me.
That's what he celebrates.
Lamech celebrates
improportional violence.
He sings of power
and dominance.
His song goes like this,
A young lad
struck and wounded me
and I,
a strong grown man,
I killed him for it.
Then Lamech even makes
a godlike declaration
about his own future
and security
even greater than
what God spoke
over Cain.
Lamech says,
If Cain is avenged
seven times,
then Lamech 77.
Lamech here
is an ancient
proto-Machiavellian here,
all right?
It's all about
ruthless power
and preservation
for himself.
And this,
this is the way of Cain.
This is the way of Cain.
See, the way of Cain says,
I go and I get
what I want.
I take what I can,
I make my own fortune,
I win by being on top
and staying on top,
and if anyone crosses me
or threatens me,
I outdo them
or I take them down.
I will build my own city,
I will fix my own security,
and I am able
to do it on my own
and therefore,
all glory to me,
all glory to my city,
and that is how
I will be remembered
in history,
by my achievements,
by my hustle,
by what I produce,
by my self-made life.
The way of Cain
is the way
of impersonal transaction,
performative posturing,
brutal competition,
godless self-sufficiency,
arrogant empire building,
and self-interested survival
at all costs.
And so see,
the point of Genesis 4
isn't merely
thou shalt not kill.
It's not just
thou shalt not covet,
thou shalt not be jealous
like Cain.
It's not even simply
thou shalt love your neighbor
as yourself,
or thou shalt be
your brother's keeper.
The point of Genesis 4
is that the way of Cain
is still so very much
the way of our world,
the way we've all been
programmed and conditioned
to live,
because why?
Because why?
Because what if we don't
live the way of Cain?
We've seen it so many times,
right?
If we don't live
the way of Cain,
we're going to get
slaughtered like Abel.
Haven't we all
internalized that?
That it's the strong man
who always wins.
Everybody knows that Cain
and his descendants,
they're the winners.
They're the military
superpowers,
the political majorities,
the tech geniuses,
the CEOs,
the influencers,
the wealthy,
comfortable,
and least vulnerable.
They're the ones
who are written about
in Time magazine
and in our history books.
In our experience
of this hard,
cruel world,
it's pretty hard
to deny
that the first
are first
and the last
are last.
The thorns
and thistles
that infest our fields
of labor
are real.
And we constantly
find ourselves
bumping up
against scarcity
after scarcity.
Weaker dollar,
slower job market,
companies going lean,
conflicting national interests.
So what do we do?
We sweat
and we toil,
we neglect our families
and our relationships
with God
and the church.
We neglect our health
and our mental well-being
and for sure
we don't have time
to love our neighbors
or to consider ourselves
as our brother's keepers.
No, instead we grind.
We grind and we grind
ever toward these
self-made ideal versions
of ourselves,
always trying to level up
closer and closer
to first place,
always trying to acquire more
positions,
promotions,
profit,
or maybe some of us
are just trying to keep
our heads above the water
and not get left behind,
right?
Like Cain,
we feel the echo
of God's word
that to dust
we shall return
and so also like Cain,
we fight violently
to delay that dusty end.
To many of us,
the way of Cain
is really the only way
and we hope to sing
our own versions
of Lamech's song,
right?
Started from the bottom,
now we're here,
right?
It's the same song
but really,
what is the actual fruit
of living to sing
Lamech's song
in the way of Cain?
That's what I want us
to consider.
What is the fruit
of living in the way
of Cain?
If your whole understanding
of what it means
to be human
and how to be human
is to get what's yours
and to do whatever
it takes to survive,
survival to fit us,
does that truly lead
to human flourishing
or human floundering,
to arrogance,
selfishness,
division,
dehumanization,
oppression,
and violence?
These are the true fruit
of Lamech.
In his book,
The Tyranny of Merit,
the political philosopher
and Harvard Law Professor
Michael Sandel,
he says,
you know,
a lot of us think
we like the idea
of a very pure meritocracy,
the story of the self-made man.
But then he invites us
into that thought experiment
to imagine a purely
meritocratic society.
He says,
like,
think about it,
okay?
A purely meritocratic society.
He says,
it can actually be
a devastating double-edged sword
that not only commends
the winners,
but also condemns
the losers, right?
A system that justifies
hubris for winners
and humiliation for losers.
And the more we think
of ourselves as self-made
and self-sufficient,
the harder it is
to learn gratitude
and humility.
And so he challenges us
to consider,
is this way
in the world of Cain
really the world
of our dreams,
where our worth
can be based on
what we produce
and build
and whether or not
we crush it
and successfully build
our cities and empires?
Or is this actually
everyone's worst nightmare?
You know,
in his book,
The Prince,
Machiavelli, right,
he's advising new rulers
on how to maintain
and expand their power.
And he writes,
the lion cannot protect himself
from traps,
and the fox cannot defend himself
from wolves.
One must therefore
be a fox
to recognize traps
and a lion
to frighten wolves.
But the thing is,
what if we can't just become
these mythical lion-fox creatures?
What then?
Is this world only made
for those who can somehow
morph into this weird,
strange lion-fox thing?
Does that even exist?
Is there no place
for a faithful turtle
in this world?
Right?
A gentle rabbit,
a limping lamb.
Is it really not possible
for the lion and the lamb
to coexist?
And listen,
I'm not anti-hard work
and diligence.
I'm not anti-innovation,
institution building,
or culture influencing.
No.
Cain's descendants
accomplished what they did
because even their sin
couldn't extinguish
the profound culture-making image
of God that was within them.
God wants us
to pursue excellence
in our fields,
at our work.
He wants us to cultivate
His creation.
We were made to work.
But see,
the more important question
is not whether to build,
it's not whether to build
and pursue excellence,
but for whom.
Who is worthy
of all our excellence
and effort?
And who is worthy
to rightly order
and prioritize
our ambitions,
our direction,
and the pace
of our lives?
In the final two verses
of Genesis 4,
after we've read
so much about
the way of Cain
and all his triumphs
and accomplishments,
or as David Brooks
likes to call them,
all Cain and his descendants'
resume virtues, right?
After all of that,
we find in these final,
just two verses,
an alternative legacy,
an alternative way
to live that emerges.
Verse 25,
Adam made love
to his wife again,
and she gave birth
to a son
and named him Seth,
saying,
God has granted me
another child
in place of Abel
since Cain killed him.
And notice,
Eve's tune
is different.
It is no longer
I have brought forth,
but what?
God has granted.
That's what Seth means,
granted,
appointed,
not taken by force
or achieved by hustle,
but given by grace.
Cain's name
meant I got.
Seth's name means
God gave.
Cain's name points
and says,
look what I achieved.
Seth's name points
and says,
look what God granted.
And verse 26 says,
Seth also had a son
and he named him Enosh,
and Enosh actually means
weak and frail,
mortal man,
very different from
the high-achieving names
of Cain and his descendants.
And yet,
as unremarkable
as Enosh may have been,
verse 26 tells us
that when Enosh was born,
it was at that time
people began
to call upon
the name of the Lord.
And see,
this is the beginning
of another way,
a different way,
not the way
of acquiring,
building,
dominating,
but the way
of receiving,
depending,
and calling,
the way
that will eventually lead
not to Babel,
but to Bethlehem.
No city is mentioned here,
no empire,
no long resume
padded with innovative
achievements.
Sure,
Cain built a proud city
he could call upon
and name after himself.
But here,
all we're told about
Seth's people
is that they called upon
the name of the Lord.
That's it.
And yet,
this is the very people
that God would use
to save the world.
The line from which
another Lamech would come,
the father of Noah,
the father of Shem,
from whom Jesus,
the Messiah,
would come.
And not just any Messiah,
but the way,
the truth,
and the life,
and what a uniquely
beautiful way
he has shown us.
See,
while Cain's descendants
toiled to build
themselves cities
to secure their own survival,
and these cities
lasted maybe a generation
or so,
always eventually
finding themselves
either being threatened
or threatening others,
Jesus says,
I go to prepare
a place for you.
A new heaven
and a new earth,
an imperishable
inheritance
with renewed access
to the tree of life
where there is healing
for all the nations
and no more tears
forever.
In the kingdoms of Cain,
there are pledges
of 77-fold vengeance
upon their enemies.
But Jesus says,
not in my kingdom.
In my kingdom,
you shall forgive
your enemies
77 times.
For while the blood
of Abel
cried out to God
a word of accusation,
the blood of Jesus
speaks a better word
of atonement.
And while the way
of Cain might sing,
I'm a lion
and I've slain a lamb,
in the way of Christ
we sing of a lion
who is the lamb,
slain in our place
and yet raised,
exalted,
and worthy
of our worship.
And this is the gospel.
This is the good news.
This is the core
of the Christian faith.
This is the only way
we will ever be
our brother's keepers.
This is the only way
we will ever experience
the security
that Cain
and his descendants
thought that they were
achieving for themselves
by building their cities.
Not by the way of Cain.
Not by the way of Cain,
but by calling upon
the name of the Lord.
This is the way
he wants for us.
For everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord
shall what?
Shall be saved.
That's the legacy
of Seth's line.
Nothing flashy,
nothing impressive
by the standards
of this world,
but most importantly,
it's a return
to a relationship
with God.
A life unremarkable
by most standards,
but unmistakably
set apart
by its commitment
to calling upon
the name of the Lord.
So the question for us
is what do we want
our legacy to be?
The legacy of our children.
What way will we walk
to get there?
The legacy of Cain
or the legacy of Seth?
The way of Cain
or the way of Christ?
The way of striving
or the way of calling
upon the name of the Lord?
Christchurch,
you know we joke here
at Christchurch a lot,
maybe even humble brag,
about how educated
and how high achieving
everyone in this church
is, right?
But what if God
is calling us,
regardless of how nice
our resumes look,
what if God is calling us
to a different distinctive,
not as a wealthy church,
not as a smart
and thoughtful church,
not as a church
with good preaching
or whatever,
but as a praying church,
as a church that's known
for calling upon
the name of the Lord?
Are our households
places of prayer?
Are our community groups?
In the coming weeks,
you're going to hear
from Truba and Josh
about how we hope
to expand our prayer ministries here
beyond our pre-service
boiler room prayer
on Sunday mornings
and beyond our
second Wednesday
prayer meetings every month.
You're going to hear more
about how we hope
to be a praying church.
But that's the question,
do we hope to be?
Do we want to be
a praying church?
Do we want our legacy
to be that we called
upon the name of the Lord?
You know,
near the end of his life,
my all-time favorite preacher
and thinker,
Tim Keller,
he was asked in an interview,
looking back on 50 years
of your ministry,
what do you regret?
What do you wish
you had done differently?
And without hesitation,
he said,
oh, that's easy.
I wish I prayed more.
And that's changing my life.
That's changing how I'm planning
to pastor you.
of all the things
that he could have said
after leading a more fruitful,
more impactful ministry
than I would ever dream
of having.
Keller's one regret
was not preaching more,
writing more,
building more,
but not praying more.
And if we're honest,
that probably sounds so strange
because doesn't prayer
just feel so inefficient
and ineffective, right?
Especially here in the Bay Area
where we're constantly
being told that the hope
of the world is artificial,
artificial innovation
and technology
and production,
if we can just move faster,
scale bigger,
produce more,
we'll be safe,
secure, and successful.
But will we?
Do you know what else
relentlessly scales
and advances
to achieve dominion?
Cancer.
And that's the way of Cain.
Sure, growth.
Sure, expansion.
But always restless,
consuming,
and devouring.
So what if God
is calling us away
from cancerous production
and into the slower,
steadier,
more life-giving way
of the tree?
Rooted,
stable,
enduring,
like that old redwood
in Oakland,
old survivor,
not impressive enough
to have been chosen
and cut down
during the gold rush,
but the only one
left standing
500 years later.
Not because it produced more,
but because it stayed rooted.
Because it committed itself
to a practice
that no one would see,
measure,
or celebrate.
Simply centuries
of seeking its roots
deeper and deeper
underneath the ground,
abiding in its source
of life.
See, that's what prayer is.
That's what it means
to call upon the name
of the Lord.
It's the shift
from technique
to trust,
from skill
to supplication,
from striving
to surrender.
So contrary
to what Cain
and all his descendants
after him
would preach to us
about what it takes
and what it looks like
to flourish
as human beings,
contrary to what
I often want to preach
to my girls
about how they better hustle,
you better grind,
you better fight
to get to the top
by any means possible
or else, right?
Or else no one
will ever call upon
their names
with respect
and recognition
for all their achievements.
The Holy Spirit
speaking to us
from Genesis chapter 4
this morning
has a better word
for us
and for our children.
That the kind of people
God's eye
and favor are upon,
the kind of people
among whom
he has chosen
to dwell,
the kind of people
whom God
will use
to change the world,
are those
who call
upon the name
of the Lord.
Let's pray.
That's our simple prayer,
Lord God,
that we'd be
a people of prayer,
prayer over production,
that you would
bring us
to our knees
in dependence
upon you,
that you would
wipe away
all our preoccupations
with our resume
virtues,
and that you would
make it beautiful
to us
to pursue
a legacy
in which
all we are known
for
is calling upon
the name
of the Lord
and therefore
being the people
who you will use
to transform
this world.
We pray this
in the name
of Jesus.
Amen.