"ABEL" TO GIVE
What Was the Difference?
The first children ever to be born on this earth also became the first murderer and the first martyr. The story of Cain and Abel is one of the most tragic events in Scripture as well as the story that immediately follows Adam and Eve eating that piece of fruit in the Garden. Cain took the life of his younger brother Abel. But it wasn’t because they had had a fight, it wasn’t because of what Abel did against Cain or even because of something Abel said that upset his older brother. Cain murdered Abel because he was mad that God was pleased with his brother’s offering but not his own. That’s it! That’s all there was to it. It seems like a rather trivial reason for wanting to kill your own brother, but that’s exactly what happened because Cain’s sinful nature got the best of him. He just could not handle the fact that Abel’s offering was better to the Lord than his was; and so he killed him for it.
But why was Abel’s offering “better” than Cain’s in the first place? Was it because God appreciated the fat of animals over and above the grains and fruits and vegetables that Cain brought? Was it because Cain didn’t give the best of his crops to the Lord while Abel gave the best of his flocks? Was it because Cain didn’t follow the unnamed instructions God had given them about offerings? No, there wasn’t anything wrong with Cain’s offering itself. Scripture doesn’t indicate in any way that what Cain brought to the Lord was inferior to what Abel brought to the Lord in any way. But Scripture does tell us this: “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. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” The difference between Cain’s offering and Abel’s offering was faith.
Faith Inspires Gratefulness
Abel believed. And not just in God, of course. Cain knew that God existed too; Cain was even able to talk directly to God if he wanted. No, Abel believed not only in God but also in what God had promised. Remember what the Lord promised to Abel’s father and mother: The Savior would come from Adam and Eve’s offspring to crush the serpent’s head and save all people from the consequences of their sins. Abel believed this. Abel looked forward to that Savior who would come into this world. Abel was overjoyed that the Lord would be so gracious to him. And so by this faith he brought his offering to the Lord out of gratefulness.
Faith inspires gratefulness. When someone believes what God has done for them, when a person fully grasps through faith what the Lord has promised and truly appreciates his love, gratefulness is a natural response. Zacchaeus, a tax collector in Jesus’ time was so grateful for Jesus’ forgiveness that he not only threw a great banquet for Jesus and his guests but also gave half of his possessions to the poor and paid back anyone he had cheated four times the amount. In the Old Testament, Josiah the king of Judah was so grateful for the Lord’s patience with him and the rest of the people that he celebrated the Passover according to God’s instructions for the first time in 400 years, contributing 30,000 sheep and goats and 300 cattle from his own possessions. The apostle Paul was so grateful for God’s gracious intervention in his life that he dedicated the rest of his days to preaching and spreading the gospel about Christ to everyone that he could. Faith inspires gratefulness. And Abel was so grateful for the Savior God had promised him that he wanted to give, he took pleasure in being able to give something back to the Lord out of all the blessings the Lord had already given to him.
Gratefulness or Habit?
I write a couple checks each week and place them in the offering plate on Sunday mornings, one for the general offering and one for the building fund. And I don’t really think about it too much; I just do it. I’ve done it that way for years and so it’s become a habit for me, one of the many little things I do in preparation for a Sunday morning. But that’s what worries me: it’s become a habit. And so I give the same amount almost every week not necessarily because it’s what I am happy to give but because that’s what I always give. And it’s not something that necessarily brings joy to my heart as I drop those envelopes into the offering plate; it’s sometimes just another item that I can now check off a long list of weekend duties. Now, getting into the habit of giving is not wrong and failing to have an overwhelming feeling of joy in my heart every time I give back to the Lord is not wrong either. But I have to be careful. I have to be careful that I don’t start giving to the Lord out of habit or out of some sense of obligation rather than out of faith.
And I would encourage you to re-evaluate your own reasons for giving too. Tonight or tomorrow, at least sometime before next Sunday comes around sit down and determine what you have been giving and why. I would hope and assume that most of your motives as Christians are commendable. But I also realize that, as sinners like me, you probably have some less-than-commendable reasons mixed in as well. Whether it is giving out of habit or obligation, a sense of duty or guilt, there are plenty of inappropriate reasons why we give to the Lord. And if habit or obligation, duty or guilt are driving those offerings, they are just as unpleasing to the Lord as Cain’s offerings were. They are not “acceptable” to him; they don’t make him happy. They are empty actions as far as the Lord is concerned. They are pointless exercises on which the Lord does not look with favor.
"Why" Not "What"
Because the Lord doesn’t care so much about “what” you give than he cares about “why” you give it. Just think about the offerings of Cain and Abel along with the rest of the sacrifices and offerings that were presented to the Lord in Old Testament times: For what purpose was the Lord ever going to use the fat trimmings of sheep and cattle? Or how would the Lord benefit from an entire animal being consumed by fire on the altar? Or what advantage would there be to the Lord for requiring a drink offering of wine to be poured out on the sanctuary floor? God was not going to personally gain anything from these offerings of his people. He didn’t have to. God doesn’t need anyone’s help or assistance in anything he does. These offerings were simply opportunities for his children to show their appreciation to him. And when those pieces of fat or fruits and vegetables or lambs and goats or bread and oil were offered through faith in their coming Savior, God was pleased.
It is no different for us today. The Lord cares more about “why” we give instead of “what” we give. Because he doesn’t need our help or assistance either. He can do whatever he wants at whatever times he wants for whatever reason he wants. He will certainly use what we give to him for the good of his kingdom, but he does not restrict himself to our meager contributions. And so if he doesn’t absolutely need what we can offer, why does the Lord still want us to give? He wants us to give because it’s an opportunity for his children to show their appreciation for everything that he has done and everything that he has promised. It is a way in which we can thank him for who he is and what he has made us to be.
Review of the Reason Why
And if the Lord cares more about why we give than what we give, then it’s probably beneficial for us to review the reason why we as Christians would ever want to give something back to the Lord. 1) We shouldn’t even be here! After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, that should have been it. That could have been it. The punishment for sin was death and the Lord could have automatically sent Adam and Eve to hell, destroyed the world he had made, and he still would have been just as fair and patient and loving as he is today. But you are here today - by God’s grace. You are living on this earth because the Lord forgave the sins of Adam and Eve and provided for their salvation. Abel understood that. Abel knew it was by God’s grace that he even existed. And that’s the reason he wanted to give back to the Lord.
2) We were born into a race that is completely sinful, spiritually depraved through and through. We were not initially God’s children, but God’s enemies. But here you are today as a child of God anyway - once again because of the Lord’s grace. He sought you out. He worked on your heart through his Word. He gave you the gift of faith through the Holy Spirit to believe everything that his Son did for you on this earth and on the cross and on the Third Day and now on the throne. Abel knew that too. He didn’t have the New Testament perspective we have, but he did realize that he was nowhere close to the perfect standard that his parents had once enjoyed. But God had brought him into his family anyway and had promised him an eternal life in heaven.
3) Nothing we have really belongs to us anyway. The home that you live in, the paycheck you receive, the clothes that you wear, the vehicle you drive, the very body that you occupy is not yours! Everything, both physically and spiritually, comes from the Lord himself. There is nothing that you have earned, nothing that you have gained, nothing that you have accomplished without the gracious hand of your Lord giving it to you. You can be sure that Abel trusted that this was true. And so he had no problem giving back to the Lord what was already his.
4) No matter how many times you have sinned in this life, no matter how awful those sins have been, and no matter how many times you have been ungrateful for what the Lord has provided for you, his promises still stand. Heaven is still yours and God’s love will never be taken away. These are the reasons “why” we would want to give. There is no “have to” here; there is no “must,” no “necessary,” no “should.” There is only what the Lord has done. How could we not respond to that in gratefulness?
Countless Opportunities
And so let’s get a little practical here: In what ways can we respond in gratefulness for what the Lord has accomplished? In the offering plate? Sure. That’s a wonderful way to show your appreciation for what the Lord has done for you. It doesn’t matter what. It doesn’t matter how much. It matters why. If you give something out of love and thanks and faith in your Savior, the Lord is more than happy and will use whatever it is according to his will.
We have another obvious way to give sitting right in front of us: Builders for Christ. It’s not money in the offering plate, per se, but it is a sacrifice of time and talents and skills for the greater good of God’s kingdom. What a wonderful example of giving to the Lord out of what he has given to us. And look at the back counter and tables: there are multiple things that are waiting to be purchased for the new church building and even more things that can be helped out with in the meantime.
And let’s take it outside of these congregational walls. There are plenty of avenues available to you to give to the church body at large for things like called worker education, foreign missions, humanitarian aid, and the like. There are neighbors that need a helping hand, relatives that need your support, friends that need your time. There is an astounding array of ways you can give something back to the Lord, and he is pleased with all of them! He does not consider one way grander than another. Nor does he require specific manners in which to give. He just gives to us so that we can give back in some way.
We are able to give; there is no doubt about that. And we have the opportunities to give; there is no doubt about that either. But how will we give? Like Cain, hesitantly, begrudgingly, out of obligation? Or like Abel, willingly, joyfully, energetically, out of faith in your Savior? I pray that we are all filled with the faith of Abel and the willingness that he displayed. Because what a wonderful blessing it is to be able to give something back to our Lord who has given so much to us!
Amen.
“God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” - Philippians 4:19-20
What Was the Difference?
The first children ever to be born on this earth also became the first murderer and the first martyr. The story of Cain and Abel is one of the most tragic events in Scripture as well as the story that immediately follows Adam and Eve eating that piece of fruit in the Garden. Cain took the life of his younger brother Abel. But it wasn’t because they had had a fight, it wasn’t because of what Abel did against Cain or even because of something Abel said that upset his older brother. Cain murdered Abel because he was mad that God was pleased with his brother’s offering but not his own. That’s it! That’s all there was to it. It seems like a rather trivial reason for wanting to kill your own brother, but that’s exactly what happened because Cain’s sinful nature got the best of him. He just could not handle the fact that Abel’s offering was better to the Lord than his was; and so he killed him for it.
But why was Abel’s offering “better” than Cain’s in the first place? Was it because God appreciated the fat of animals over and above the grains and fruits and vegetables that Cain brought? Was it because Cain didn’t give the best of his crops to the Lord while Abel gave the best of his flocks? Was it because Cain didn’t follow the unnamed instructions God had given them about offerings? No, there wasn’t anything wrong with Cain’s offering itself. Scripture doesn’t indicate in any way that what Cain brought to the Lord was inferior to what Abel brought to the Lord in any way. But Scripture does tell us this: “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. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” The difference between Cain’s offering and Abel’s offering was faith.
Faith Inspires Gratefulness
Abel believed. And not just in God, of course. Cain knew that God existed too; Cain was even able to talk directly to God if he wanted. No, Abel believed not only in God but also in what God had promised. Remember what the Lord promised to Abel’s father and mother: The Savior would come from Adam and Eve’s offspring to crush the serpent’s head and save all people from the consequences of their sins. Abel believed this. Abel looked forward to that Savior who would come into this world. Abel was overjoyed that the Lord would be so gracious to him. And so by this faith he brought his offering to the Lord out of gratefulness.
Faith inspires gratefulness. When someone believes what God has done for them, when a person fully grasps through faith what the Lord has promised and truly appreciates his love, gratefulness is a natural response. Zacchaeus, a tax collector in Jesus’ time was so grateful for Jesus’ forgiveness that he not only threw a great banquet for Jesus and his guests but also gave half of his possessions to the poor and paid back anyone he had cheated four times the amount. In the Old Testament, Josiah the king of Judah was so grateful for the Lord’s patience with him and the rest of the people that he celebrated the Passover according to God’s instructions for the first time in 400 years, contributing 30,000 sheep and goats and 300 cattle from his own possessions. The apostle Paul was so grateful for God’s gracious intervention in his life that he dedicated the rest of his days to preaching and spreading the gospel about Christ to everyone that he could. Faith inspires gratefulness. And Abel was so grateful for the Savior God had promised him that he wanted to give, he took pleasure in being able to give something back to the Lord out of all the blessings the Lord had already given to him.
Gratefulness or Habit?
I write a couple checks each week and place them in the offering plate on Sunday mornings, one for the general offering and one for the building fund. And I don’t really think about it too much; I just do it. I’ve done it that way for years and so it’s become a habit for me, one of the many little things I do in preparation for a Sunday morning. But that’s what worries me: it’s become a habit. And so I give the same amount almost every week not necessarily because it’s what I am happy to give but because that’s what I always give. And it’s not something that necessarily brings joy to my heart as I drop those envelopes into the offering plate; it’s sometimes just another item that I can now check off a long list of weekend duties. Now, getting into the habit of giving is not wrong and failing to have an overwhelming feeling of joy in my heart every time I give back to the Lord is not wrong either. But I have to be careful. I have to be careful that I don’t start giving to the Lord out of habit or out of some sense of obligation rather than out of faith.
And I would encourage you to re-evaluate your own reasons for giving too. Tonight or tomorrow, at least sometime before next Sunday comes around sit down and determine what you have been giving and why. I would hope and assume that most of your motives as Christians are commendable. But I also realize that, as sinners like me, you probably have some less-than-commendable reasons mixed in as well. Whether it is giving out of habit or obligation, a sense of duty or guilt, there are plenty of inappropriate reasons why we give to the Lord. And if habit or obligation, duty or guilt are driving those offerings, they are just as unpleasing to the Lord as Cain’s offerings were. They are not “acceptable” to him; they don’t make him happy. They are empty actions as far as the Lord is concerned. They are pointless exercises on which the Lord does not look with favor.
"Why" Not "What"
Because the Lord doesn’t care so much about “what” you give than he cares about “why” you give it. Just think about the offerings of Cain and Abel along with the rest of the sacrifices and offerings that were presented to the Lord in Old Testament times: For what purpose was the Lord ever going to use the fat trimmings of sheep and cattle? Or how would the Lord benefit from an entire animal being consumed by fire on the altar? Or what advantage would there be to the Lord for requiring a drink offering of wine to be poured out on the sanctuary floor? God was not going to personally gain anything from these offerings of his people. He didn’t have to. God doesn’t need anyone’s help or assistance in anything he does. These offerings were simply opportunities for his children to show their appreciation to him. And when those pieces of fat or fruits and vegetables or lambs and goats or bread and oil were offered through faith in their coming Savior, God was pleased.
It is no different for us today. The Lord cares more about “why” we give instead of “what” we give. Because he doesn’t need our help or assistance either. He can do whatever he wants at whatever times he wants for whatever reason he wants. He will certainly use what we give to him for the good of his kingdom, but he does not restrict himself to our meager contributions. And so if he doesn’t absolutely need what we can offer, why does the Lord still want us to give? He wants us to give because it’s an opportunity for his children to show their appreciation for everything that he has done and everything that he has promised. It is a way in which we can thank him for who he is and what he has made us to be.
Review of the Reason Why
And if the Lord cares more about why we give than what we give, then it’s probably beneficial for us to review the reason why we as Christians would ever want to give something back to the Lord. 1) We shouldn’t even be here! After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, that should have been it. That could have been it. The punishment for sin was death and the Lord could have automatically sent Adam and Eve to hell, destroyed the world he had made, and he still would have been just as fair and patient and loving as he is today. But you are here today - by God’s grace. You are living on this earth because the Lord forgave the sins of Adam and Eve and provided for their salvation. Abel understood that. Abel knew it was by God’s grace that he even existed. And that’s the reason he wanted to give back to the Lord.
2) We were born into a race that is completely sinful, spiritually depraved through and through. We were not initially God’s children, but God’s enemies. But here you are today as a child of God anyway - once again because of the Lord’s grace. He sought you out. He worked on your heart through his Word. He gave you the gift of faith through the Holy Spirit to believe everything that his Son did for you on this earth and on the cross and on the Third Day and now on the throne. Abel knew that too. He didn’t have the New Testament perspective we have, but he did realize that he was nowhere close to the perfect standard that his parents had once enjoyed. But God had brought him into his family anyway and had promised him an eternal life in heaven.
3) Nothing we have really belongs to us anyway. The home that you live in, the paycheck you receive, the clothes that you wear, the vehicle you drive, the very body that you occupy is not yours! Everything, both physically and spiritually, comes from the Lord himself. There is nothing that you have earned, nothing that you have gained, nothing that you have accomplished without the gracious hand of your Lord giving it to you. You can be sure that Abel trusted that this was true. And so he had no problem giving back to the Lord what was already his.
4) No matter how many times you have sinned in this life, no matter how awful those sins have been, and no matter how many times you have been ungrateful for what the Lord has provided for you, his promises still stand. Heaven is still yours and God’s love will never be taken away. These are the reasons “why” we would want to give. There is no “have to” here; there is no “must,” no “necessary,” no “should.” There is only what the Lord has done. How could we not respond to that in gratefulness?
Countless Opportunities
And so let’s get a little practical here: In what ways can we respond in gratefulness for what the Lord has accomplished? In the offering plate? Sure. That’s a wonderful way to show your appreciation for what the Lord has done for you. It doesn’t matter what. It doesn’t matter how much. It matters why. If you give something out of love and thanks and faith in your Savior, the Lord is more than happy and will use whatever it is according to his will.
We have another obvious way to give sitting right in front of us: Builders for Christ. It’s not money in the offering plate, per se, but it is a sacrifice of time and talents and skills for the greater good of God’s kingdom. What a wonderful example of giving to the Lord out of what he has given to us. And look at the back counter and tables: there are multiple things that are waiting to be purchased for the new church building and even more things that can be helped out with in the meantime.
And let’s take it outside of these congregational walls. There are plenty of avenues available to you to give to the church body at large for things like called worker education, foreign missions, humanitarian aid, and the like. There are neighbors that need a helping hand, relatives that need your support, friends that need your time. There is an astounding array of ways you can give something back to the Lord, and he is pleased with all of them! He does not consider one way grander than another. Nor does he require specific manners in which to give. He just gives to us so that we can give back in some way.
We are able to give; there is no doubt about that. And we have the opportunities to give; there is no doubt about that either. But how will we give? Like Cain, hesitantly, begrudgingly, out of obligation? Or like Abel, willingly, joyfully, energetically, out of faith in your Savior? I pray that we are all filled with the faith of Abel and the willingness that he displayed. Because what a wonderful blessing it is to be able to give something back to our Lord who has given so much to us!
Amen.
“God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” - Philippians 4:19-20
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