Navigating the Peaks and Valleys of Faith

Introduction

Picture yourself as a hiker, setting out on a journey through a vast wilderness. You've studied the map carefully and have a clear destination in mind. The first few miles are easy, with gentle slopes and well-marked trails. You feel confident and excited, enjoying the fresh air and stunning views.

But as you continue on, the terrain begins to change. The path grows steeper, and the valleys deeper. At times, you find yourself struggling to climb over boulders and navigate through dense underbrush. You grow weary and discouraged, wondering if you'll ever reach your destination.

Just when you feel like giving up, you crest a ridge and find yourself standing atop a breathtaking peak. The view is incredible, stretching out for miles in every direction. You feel a sense of accomplishment and awe, knowing that the struggle was worth it for this moment alone.

But then, as you begin your descent, you lose your footing and tumble down a steep embankment. You're bruised and battered, your supplies scattered across the ground. As you sit there, nursing your wounds, you can't help but feel like a failure. Maybe you're not cut out for this journey after all.

In that moment of despair, you remember the map in your pocket. You pull it out and study it once more, tracing your finger along the route you've planned. You realize that the peaks and valleys are all part of the journey, that there's no way to reach your destination without experiencing both.

In the same way, our faith journeys are filled with peaks and valleys. There are moments of joy and triumph, when we feel close to God and confident in His plan for our lives. But there are also moments of struggle and doubt, when we feel like we've lost our way and wonder if we'll ever find our way back.

In those moments, we have a choice. We can give in to despair and turn back, or we can trust in the map God has given us – His Word – and keep pressing forward. We can choose to embrace both the peaks and the valleys, knowing that God is with us through it all.

As we dive into the story of Cain and Abel today, we see two brothers navigating their own peaks and valleys. We see the joy of new life and the sorrow of rejection, the struggle between good and evil, and the consequences of letting anger and envy take root in our hearts. But through it all, we also see a God who is present and active, reaching out to His children with love and grace.

May we have the courage to keep navigating the peaks and valleys of our own faith journeys, trusting in the God who walks beside us every step of the way. For it is in the valleys that we grow stronger, and on the peaks that we catch a glimpse of the incredible view that awaits us at the end of the trail.

If you have your Bibles, or on your devices, would you turn to Genesis 4:1-8

If you are able and willing, would you stand with me as I read God’s word this morning.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Amen. Please be seated.

The First Family

Last week we saw how God ushered Adam and Eve out of the garden. In a presence they were created to enjoy, they were now being protected from it. It is a moment of lament. It is a moment of grieving. It’s worth sitting in. It’s both about what Adam and Eve have lost but also what God has lost as well.

It’s a grief not without hope though… there is the promise of Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.””

The enemy will be crushed. Maybe this was it! Can you sense or feel the excitment and tension… maybe everything was going to be made right, RIGHT AWAY (Don’t we want that… to have the hard times go away quickly… and while I want us to dwell here for a moment just to try and feel a glimpse of what Adam and Eve might be feeling, I want us to remember that it is in hard, the difficult, the painful where we grow the most)

We take heart because God is at work. He would not bring the savior yet, but there is great cause for rejoicing… a son has been given.

Eve overjoyed at the birth of Cain…

Genesis 4:1 “Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.”” NIV

Now the man had marital relations with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created a man just as the LORD did!” NET

A bit of light in this new world that they are experiencing.

They have been ushered out of the garden, ashamed, and no doubt reeling from their choices.

Hope has been born.

Cain’s name means “to acquire” or “to create” … a source of joy and hope.

Then, another son. Abel comes next… his name means “breath” or “meaningless”, “vanity”

We see the first family begin to grow.

Cain tills the ground and Abel becomes a shepherd, taking care of sheep.

Life, Sacrifice, and Envy

Life: Abel kept the flocks and Cain worked the ground. Both had difficult work, long work, hard work.

Sacrifice: So now in verse three we see that some sort of sacrifice has been instituted, offered, and both are participating in it.

Sacrifice in our modern context is with our goods, our talent, our money, and our time. Why we do this is because what we are telling ourselves (and a witness to others) is that everything belongs to the Lord. We take a portion of what we have been given and out of gratefulness we give it to the Lord. So we tithe regularly and consistently to the church, we support non-profits or missionaries, we volunteer in programs/ministries at the church, we serve on boards or as help in community organizations, we use our skills and trades to better and improve the church, the community, our neighbors as we have opportunity.

So here too, Cain and Abel in this context give to God what is rightfully his but what they enjoy… Abel sheep and Cain fruit and grain.

Abel’s was recieved and Cain’s was not. It would be easy to get distracted by the sacrifice.

Was it rejected because their was no blood? Was it inferior and Cain was providing something from the work of his hands? It’s all conjecture, not helpful, and not what the text would have us to focus on.

What we do know is that Cain was sacrificing but yet, it was honored by the Lord. That can be frustrating.

So we can try and put whatever motive, intent, or circumstance on Cain’s sacrifice. But whatever we do we have to understand that God saw it and it wasn’t pleasing.

Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.”

Cain is angry. Being angry isn’t a sin. The Bible would admonish us that it’s ok to be angry, but don’t sin in your anger.

There have been life situations in the last few years that have made me angry. I’ve been more angry at times than I can ever remember being in my life. I don’t like it. But it is part of whatever my journey is right now. Angry at situations I can’t control where stress and hurt are happening. Angry at the choices of others that affect others negatively. Angry at how people have sought to take advantage of me or of others with only concern to their well being and wants.

Trauma informed care helps us regulate those emotions and feelings. I’m grateful for that. Please sign up for the class that pastor Josh is giving. Even if you have taken it before, it’s worthwhile for the refreshers.

But I’m in control of my actions. I’m responsible for my actions. That is what I can control. I can’t control others, but I’m in control of myself. How I respond in that anger is on me. I need to go through my steps to not do something bad.

Sometimes we are angry because we witness injustice, or we ourselves are experiencing injustice. Sometimes we think its righteous anger. Whether we believe it’s righteous or not, what comes out when we are shaken? What comes out when we are angry, this is what we can pull away from our story this morning.

Cain is upset and God meets him in his anger.

“And Cain had gotten angry, not puzzled; he had gotten angry, not humbled. Cain had set himself against a mysterious God — an inscrutable God who was such a finicky eater that he wouldn’t even touch his vegetables. But then, somewhere between the lines of the story, so quietly and subtly we can hardly see it happen, Cain’s anger pivots. He had hated the God who was so hard to satisfy. But then, in his anger, Cain slowly swivels around till he has Abel in his sights.” Plantinga, Cornelius . Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (pp. 158-159). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

One thing is clear for us… this is not just a one off, but like many of the things we see in Genesis, this is a paradigm that echos throughout scripture and even into our own lives. Plantinga writes again,

“But of one thing we may be sure: the story of Cain and Abel is not just a snapshot of an isolated incident. This story is rather a kind of paradigm, the first case in Scripture of a pattern that will appear again and again. In this pattern, God surprisingly prefers one person over another — typically the younger over the older — and then has to deal with the loser and his lethal envy. So when we read of Cain and Abel, other names should be lining up along the horizon of our memory — names like Jacob and Esau, Leah and Rachel, Isaac and Ishmael, Joseph and his brothers, even Herod and Jesus.” Plantinga, Cornelius . Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (p. 160). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Choosing who we will serve

Genesis 4:6 “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?”

(maybe) Honestly I would love to have a dialogue with the Lord like this. I tell you why I’m angry. In prayer there is a powerful tool we have. In naming our anger, in describing the situation out loud to the Lord, we are able to disentangle ourselves from the thought/anger in the moment and look at it.

God then exhorts Cain…

Genesis 4:7 “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.””

God is no respective of persons. Why did he choose Abel’s sacrifice over Cain? It’s not super clear. But what came out of Cain helps us understand that his heart was wicked and needed some purging.

GOD’S GOODNESS IS ON FULL DISPLAY IN APPROACHING CAIN AND MEETING HIM IN HIS ANGER.

This maps onto what we saw in Genesis 2 and 3.

Do what is right and there is life… do what is bad and sin wants to rule you and dominate you. But you have to rule over it.

We have capacity for good. We can do good things. We have capacity for bad. We can do bad things.

In that we choose good we have life. In that we choose bad, sin can dominate and devour us like a lion.

In Hebrew, the term "shalom" refers to more than just peace. It describes a state of universal well-being, completeness, and joy, where everyone's needs are met and talents are put to good use. It's a situation that brings happiness and wonder, as God welcomes and delights in his creations. Simply put, shalom is how things should ideally be.

“God hates sin not just because it violates his law but, more substantively, because it violates shalom, because it breaks the peace, because it interferes with the way things are supposed to be.” Plantinga, Cornelius . Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (p. 14). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

God is for shalom and therefore against sin.

Our nature. When we refuse to take responsibility for our sin, to accept blame for the consequences of our actions, and to be held accountable for what we do and say, we burn down the bridges of reconciliation. The only way back to reconciliation, forgiveness, and God has as its first step a recognition of the problem and repentant desire to do something about it. To put the problem another way, distance from God is not just because we sin; it is because we enjoy sin, cherish sinful ways, even protect our right to sin, and resist any attempt to harness our depravity

Walton, J. H. (2001). Genesis (pp. 267–268). Zondervan.

Paul would say it this way… Romans 7:21–24 “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”

We don’t always make the right decision. This is where we all have sin revealed. All of us. You, me, the pope… everyone.

But God calls for a mastery over sin, over those bad choices. It’s part of the mandate of subduing chaos and bringing order. How do we do it!!!?

The keys is confession, repentance, and then acceptance of God’s grace, kindness, and forgiveness.

The apostle Paul continues…

Romans 7:25 “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”

Responsible for ourselves, Responsible to others

Conclusion

We leave our text on a difficult note… but what we have the priveledge of knowing is that though we may fall short, though we may not do good, there is hope.

Though evil may have been done to us, it does not define us.

Though wickedness has been done in our presence, we are not beholden to it.

Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

Though overtaken by emotion and wrong choices made, we come to God the Father through Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit to receive the forgiveness of sins. We are made whole, we are born-again to a new life, a new hope, a new way of being.

We serve the God that turns thieves into faithful stewards.

We serve the God that turns murders into passionate advocates for the gospel and life in Jesus.

We serve the God that turns the complacent into fervent disciples passionate about the mission of Jesus.

We serve the God that turns the selfish into selfless servants.

God’s transforming power can change even the most self-centered hearts.

By the power of the Holy Spirit we are transformed and given power from on high to be His witnesses… which means reflect His character to a broken world. The power that is in us is greater than that which is in the world.

Be filled with the Spirit and with power to do the will of God when our nature wants to do something contrary to the will of God.

We are empowered to do good.

We are freed from the power of sin, we are saved from the consequence of sin, and we are one day going to be delivered from the presence of sin.