A sermon preached by The Reverend Scott Dennis Nowack

on September 11, 2011 at the 9am service

at the First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore, Texas.

 

Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

Genesis 4:6-9

 

            Will you pray with me?  Our Lord and our God, pour out your Spirit on each of us today.  Grant us the ears to hear your word, the minds to understand it, and the hearts to put your word into practice.  Grant me the gift of preaching that the words spoken and shared here today would become a reality for each of us.  We pray this with confidence in the strong name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

            Our scripture reading this morning tells the story of Cain and Abel, the first two sons of Adam and Eve.  Cain and Abel are born after Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden.  Abel was a shepherd while Cain was a farmer.  The story says that Cain and Abel each brought to the Lord an offering: Cain brought “fruit of the ground” and Abel brought the best sheep of his flock.  God favored Abel and his offering and did not favor the offering Cain had brought.  This made Cain very angry and jealous.  Let’s pick up the story at verse 6 of Genesis chapter 4.  (Read Genesis 4:6-9)

            The Lord knows what Cain has done and banishes him to a life as a fugitive and a wanderer.

            What intrigues me the most is Cain’s question to God: Am I my brother’s keeper?  This theological question has been talked about and written about for generations in both Jewish and Christian religious circles; for it is a pertinent question that reverberates at the very core of our being as members of the human race.  What does it mean to be my brother’s keeper?

            It is clear that Cain did not see himself as “his brother’s keeper”, but as “the keeper of himself”.  I would describe the last twenty years in the United States as the “Days of Cain”.  We as a nation enjoyed the greatest period of economic expansion in our country’s history riding high on unprecedented economic growth.  It was an amazing time, as far as our material prosperity was concerned.  But it was also a time of great emptiness, scandal, pettiness, and greed.  Our society kept striving for those things that can only fill us for a moment and when the moment is gone, we would move on to something else.  We became complacent, self-assured, arrogant, and conceited in our prosperity blinding our hearts from the needs of others.  We were pre-occupied with me, myself and I.  It was about how much I’m making and how are my investments doing.  We allowed greed and selfishness take hold of us.  In the “Days of Cain”, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” was not a popular question to consider.

The catastrophic events of September 11 touched all of us and changed the psyche of our nation profoundly.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  The days, weeks and months following 9-11, the response for help and support was incredible; not only from churches and individuals, but from corporations and businesses of all shapes and sizes.  I remember seeing young children selling lemonade and ice tea in front of their houses.  Church youth groups sold baked goods to raise money and support for the relief effort.  The Salvation Army ran a food tent at Ground Zero where volunteers fed the workers day and night.  Other groups donated boxes of work gloves and wrote messages of love and encouragement all over them for the workers at Ground Zero to read.  Everyday there would be a new list of items and supplies that were needed at Ground Zero to be dropped off at various checkpoints in the NYC area.  The outpouring of love and support came from all parts of the country. 

Over the last ten years I’ve heard different stories of unique individuals who saw a need and tried to fill it and who saw a wound and tried to heal it.  At NJ.com I read about a man from Port Washington, NY who had been coming down to the Family Center at Pier 94 in Manhattan where the family members of those unaccounted for went to find information on their loved ones.  It was a place of grief and sorrow.  This man would come down to Pier 94 each day with his 4-year-old dog.  He offered his dog to the grieving families for petting.  The man was quoted in the article saying, “She’s not capable of evil, only love.  If she can bring 15 seconds of love to people who are sick with grief, then we’ve done our job.” 

In the New York Daily News, I recently read, “In New York City, over the past ten years, more than 200 city streets in all five boroughs have been renamed after those who were killed on 9-11.  The names of the dead also can be found on at least 5 public schools, the sides of every FDNY fire truck, and dozens of gardens and countless plaques.”  Offering compassion, caring and love to those who need it, remembering the pain and sorrow of 9-11 as a community:  Is this what it means to be my brother’s keeper?

            When I lived in Chicago, I had the privilege of being a member of the finest gym and athletic center in that city, The Solheim Center at Moody Bible Institute.  I played a lot of basketball there after work with several friends from my church.  We all had a heart for God and sharing the Gospel with others.  We realized that many of our friends played sports, especially basketball.  We decided to form teams to be a part of a winter basketball league.  We realized we needed some direction and help with this. 

This was where Sean came into the picture. 

Sean was the assistant athletic director at Moody.  He was a gifted athlete and a strong Christian.  He helped us to use the game of basketball as a way of living the Christian life and sharing it with others.  I’ll never forget this one thing he shared with us on teamwork.  He taught us that when we play, one should concentrate ones efforts on making their four teammates better players.  By doing so, they each become better basketball players.  And Sean went on to say that if each teammate plays the game with this in mind, the idea of lifting each other up and trying to make those around you play better, then all five players, the entire team, get lifted up and are able to play at a higher level of performance.  Working together, building each other up, and putting the needs of others before our own: Is this what it means to be my brother’s keeper?

            Like a scar that will never go away, the tragic events of September 11, 2001 have changed how we view ourselves as American citizens and how we view the world around us.  I think it’s safe to say that even after ten years, we are still uncertain of the future and what the future holds.  With the economic recession in 2008 to the longest and most severe drought in Texas history to floods and earthquakes back east, it’s hard to see a clear path.  It’s difficult to know which is the right way to go.  I know I am unsure of what is to come.  I don’t know what will happen now.  We’ve still got some difficult days ahead. 

But I have a hope that lives on in midst of strife and destruction and uncertainty.  I have a faith, a faith in God, that carries me along in my darkest hour.  I have a love that can overcome all the obstacles that evil places before me.  I have a joy in the Lord that shines like a beacon of light for all the world to see.  For in the words of William Cullen Bryant, “Truth crushed to earth shall rise again.”  We will rise again.  We will rise again when we put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ and in one another, working and living together as brothers and sisters taking care of one another; meeting each other at our points of need.

So am I my brother’s keeper?  The answer is no, I’m not.  I’m my brother’s brother.  I am my brother’s brother.  Amen.