“Am I  
MY   BROTHER’S KEEPER?”

Rev. David C. Hammerle,

MA., M.Ed., DAPA

      When God confronted Cain concerning the whereabouts of his brother Abel, He was looking for a confession rather than seeking information.  God was fully aware of what had happen when Cain conversed with Abel in the field.  As a matter of fact God knew about this incident well in advance.  He had already warned Cain of the potential for sin should he make a wrong decision concerning his rejection.

Cain and Able had both offered a sacrifice to God.  Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable, but Cain’s was not.  Cain became very angry.  God responded by offering Cain an opportunity to do right.  On the other hand, Cain chose to vent his anger on his brother and killed him in a fit of rage  (Genesis 4:1-8).

            God’s warning to Cain would indicate that He knew what was in the heart of this man.  Genesis 4:7 reads, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?  and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.  And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” 

            The choice to sin or not to sin has always be left up to the individual.  James 1:14 tells us that “…every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”  While sin was at Cain’s doorstep, the choice was still up to him.  He could rule over sin by making the right choice. 

            On the other hand, man is so easily deceived into thinking that his way is the right way even to the point of choosing his own destruction.  Jeremiah 17:9 tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

God knew that the heart of Cain did not foster the concept of brotherly love.  The hurt that he nurtured because of his rejection would blind him to the cause behind his failure.  It was not just his rejection that hurt him, but the fact that his brother’s sacrifice had been accepted over his would make his brother the target of his anger.  Anger is a secondary emotion—it always starts with a hurt and then, when the hurt is nurtured, it turns into anger. 

            My mind goes to the story of another brother that is mentioned in the Scriptures.  Jesus shares with us the parable of the Prodigal Son.  Most of the attention of this story focuses on a wayward son who asks his father for his inheritance.  He then takes that inheritance into a far country and wastes it away in riotous living.  When his wealth was gone, the young man found himself taking a job caring for swine in an effort to survive.  A draught in the land caused such hardships for the man that he desired to eat the husks that he had been feeding to the swine. 

            After meditating on his situation, he concluded that his father’s servants had a better life than his.  He then decided to return to his father’s house and ask for the role of a servant.  When he arrived, his father was so excited to see him that he ran out to greet him, ordered that a ring be placed upon his finger, and a robe be given him.  He then instructed that his servants kill the fatted calf and arrange a feast to celebrate the return of his son.

            The plot of the story centering on the father’s love and his desire to forgive his wayward son is tainted when we discover that the older brother was not happy with his father’s decision.  His pouting attitude caused his father to seek him out and ask what was wrong.  Volumes of self-pity came to the surface as the older brother complained that his father had never given to him a fatted calf so he could have a feast with his friends.  He would argue that he had been a faithful son and in self-pity focused on the thought that his father did not recognize his loyalty. (Luke 15:11-32)   

            When I was lying on a hospital bed waiting for tests that I needed to go through, a young pastor stopped in to visit with me.  In the course of our conversation, he shared a question that caught my attention.  The question was evidently part of a sermon thought that he had shared with his congregation.  He asked what might have happened if the prodigal son would have had to go through the older brother in order to get to the father.

The parables of Jesus have often been described as earthly stories with a heavenly message.  I think that we do this parable and its message an injustice when we focus only on the wayward son who has returned home.  While it is true that God wants us to know that His love is great enough to forgive the straying heart, it seems also evident that the message of this parable wants us to consider the attitude of the older brother. 

It was clear that the older son did not share the same love that his father had toward his brother.  Jesus tells us of one sign by which His followers could be identified—“if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).

            A professor in Bible College once told our class that we make it harder for a person to get into the church than God does for them to get into heaven.  Paul addresses the need of the older brother when he writes, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1) 

In another passage Paul notes that we have the liberty to eat meat offered to idols because we know that there is no other god but one God and our Lord Jesus Christ.  However, he also noted that if eating meat would offend a weaker brother he would eat no flesh as long as the world would stand (1 Corinthians chapter 8).

            It would appear that God’s answer to Cain’s question—Am I my brother’s keeper—would be “yes”.