Am I My Brothers Keeper?

This problem of division and animosity towards others started a long time ago.

8Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” ^d While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:8-9                      If we cannot love our brothers and sisters, is it no wonder that we have problems politically.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31   The problems we see today with political division is spiritual. There have been problems like this since Cain and Abel. Abel didn't do anything wrong. Cain was jealous, and became angry and killed his brother. Is our anger always justified? No of course not. Abel did not do anything wrong, he did not wrong his brother. But sin was in Cain's heart. God warned Cain. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to^c you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:3-7  I have been angry with people that sit at a light too long and make me miss the green light. Do I really have reason to be angry? Is it that important for me to make this green light and not have to wait for the next one.  I will pull ahead in an intersection where I am making a left turn to where I will block the cross traffic and have to clear the intersection when the light changes. Not everyone thinks like me and I really have no reason to be angry. Some of our political stuff is just as silly. We are to love our neighbors. Well that liberal next door is my neighbor.  I am to love him. In the familiar story of the good Samaritan that stopped to help the man robbed by the wayside and left for dead. The good Samaritan cleaned up his wounds and took care of him. The good Samaritan did not even know the man, but Jesus said he was a neighbor to him. It is a sin problem in our nation today just as it was for Cain. It is something we can correct with the help of Jesus. We are to rule over the sin in our lives. All have sinned and come short. Those we come in contact with are our neighbors as we see in the story of the Good Samaritan. We are to be our brothers keeper. We are to care about those around us, even those we disagree with. Sometimes it feels hard to do, when we are at odds with others. In Romans a verse tells us to be at peace with all me as much as is possible. I am glad that as much as is possible in in that verse. Sometimes it is not just left up to us. The other side has a say in it. As much as is possible, I can't carry on a one sided relationship. This problem with family members is as old as the Old Testament, where we see Cain had an issue with his brother Abel. Abel did nothing wrong, all he did is give an offering to God that was accepted, while Cain's offering did not please God. We are not told why or what was wrong, but God did say sin was at the door and Cain needed to deal with it (rule over it). When we see sin in our hearts, we need to deal with it. Perhaps Cain could have asked God to help him see what his anger was about. Abel was righteous. Why was Cain angry? His anger was misplaced, and perhaps we do the same today. Do we really know why we are angry when that emotion arises in our hearts. Sometimes we need to stop and understand it before we react against someone innocent like Abel. We see road rage. Once when I was driving down the freeway near Tacoma, I was listening to a podcast on my phone. I wasn't talking on it. I was just listening like I would to a radio. except it was on my shoulder. In Washington state it is against the law to talk or text while driving. Someone saw the phone on my shoulder and they threw something at me and hit my van. I am sure their perception was I was talking on the phone. I felt it was no different than listening to the radio. Was that mans anger justified? He really didn't see the whole picture. Sometimes we need to look at anger when it appears, it is just an emotion, but it is signaling something is wrong. Is sin at the door of our heart? We need to understand it and deal with it before we do wrong. Be angry and sin not the Bible tells us. Cain sinned because of his anger. Perhaps he should have asked why am I angry with my brother, what has he done? We are our brothers keeper. Love your neighbor as yourself, consider others more important than yourself. We are to be our brothers keeper. We are to concern ourselves with our neighbor and when we see a need, do what we can.   God bless, LVZ.