How did we get worship all wrong from the very beginning?
After some time Cain brought some of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the Lord. Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering, but he rejected Cain and his offering.
(Genesis 4:3-5)
From the very beginning, we’re shown what this is all about! This is an archetype – the model to follow. And we got it all wrong!
So why did God reject Cain and his offering and accept Abel with his? Was it because he secretly wanted a lamb as an offering and not grain? And, by extension, we conclude that Abel “got the religion right” while Cain did not? Here is where that thinking takes us:
- “Abel, you guessed what was behind door #3. Nice! Sorry Cain.” No, that doesn’t sound right, does it? So let’s dress it up…
- “You guessed by faith what was behind door #3.” Still no.
- “You determined by faith what was behind door #3.” Determined by faith? Huh?
- “The Spirit descended on Abel and…”
No matter how you dress it up, if that’s the framework, it always comes back to Abel guessing what was behind door #3. And that, of course, would be incorrect. (Btw, apologies for the “Let’s Make a Deal” television game show reference for those not familiar with it!).
When it comes to us relating to God, I’m afraid, our reflex is to put on “religious glasses” and look through them to God and the world around us. Let’s set them aside and take a fresh look at the passage:
- The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering…
It’s a simple conjunction; both statements are true:
- The Lord was pleased with Abel.
- The Lord was pleased with his offering.
Now, what we so easily read into the text is: The Lord was pleased with Abel’s offering and therefore the Lord was pleased with Abel. That is logically consistent – but wrong. You see, that is the religious trap man has fallen into since the dawn of time: If I can just get my religion right, then God will accept me.
How the passage should be read is just the opposite: The Lord was pleased with Abel and therefore was pleased with his offering. You see, it’s the life that validates the offering and not the offering the life. As one would later comment on this event:
It was faith that made Abel offer to God a better sacrifice than Cain’s. Through his faith he won God’s approval as a righteous man, because God himself approved of his gifts.
(Hebrews 11:4)
Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him.
(Romans 12:1)
The better sacrifice that was offered was Abel himself where its outward expression came from who he was (i.e., from his flock). Every creature is to worship God. But whether or not that worship is accepted or not depends on the life offering it.
(btw, did you notice that we’re talking about worship here and not religion?)