The First Haunting

The first murder was motivated by jealousy; the jealousy between brothers.
(Genesis 4:1-17)
Genesis tells us that God favored Abel's offering over Cain's.
Enraged over the unfairness, Cain brutally murdered his own brother.
And God confronted Cain, saying, "What have you done?  Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground!" (Gen. 4:10)  God heard Abel's blood crying out like the shrieking of a ghost.

And from then on, for the rest of his life, Cain was haunted by the voice of his dead brother.
From then on, for the rest of his life, Cain was cursed.
Before he killed Abel, Cain was a farmer.
After, the ground would no longer yield any crops.
Before he killed Abel, Cain had established a home near where he planted.
After, Cain was forced to wander.

Upon reading Genesis 4, many assume that it was God who cursed Cain as a punishment for his sinful act.  Not so, not so.  For God said, "And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand" (Gen. 4:11).  The ground was haunted.  Abel's blood ruined the ground and made it infertile, so that Cain could not farm it.  Cain was cursed "from the ground," not from God.

Cain was ripped away from all he knew--from his home and from his vocation.  It was the blood he spilled that cursed him.  Haunted by the blood of Abel and his guilt, Cain said to God, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!  Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; i shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me" (Gen. 4:13-14).  Cain blamed God!!!  How often when we are guilty of some sin and forced to face the consequences of our own actions, do we turn on God and blame him for our "misfortune"!!!

Ignoring the consequences of his own actions and blaming God, Cain wished for death--hoped that someone, anyone would kill him, so that he would no longer be haunted by his brother's ghost.

But God, who always remains faithful to his children, even when they turn on him, said, "Not so!  Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance."  Then, the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one would dare kill him (Gen. 4:15).

Once again, when reading this passage, the reader is so easily mistaken.  We believe that the so-called "Mark of Cain" is another aspect of Cain's punishment.  Think of the horror that implies!  The assumption we make is that death is, indeed, better for Cain than for life.  And further, that God punishes Cain by forcing him to live.  Life is turned into an evil and death into a good.  Oh, how backwards!  Oh, how much we twist the Word of Life.

No, the Mark of Cain is a blessing.  The Mark preserves Cain's life, which is always a good.  The Mark protects Cain from the same sin that he committed against his brother.  You see, God didn't want murder to beget murder or violence to beget violence, and so he broke the cycle with a Mark.  And that Mark created time and space for Cain's redemption.  For the scriptures tell us that Cain went on to find a new home, and to start a family.  Cain founded the first city on earth and named it after his first-born, Enoch.  Cain started a new civilization and culture on the earth that would transform the way humanity lived.  All of this happened because God preserved his life by marking Cain as God's own.

When we are haunted by our sins, we must remember that we, too are marked by God.
We, like Cain, are marked so that our life can never be taken away from us.
We, like Cain, are marked so that God can continue to do great things through us.
Our mark is the Cross.
We are given that mark at baptism, when God promises to always redeem us and forgive our sins.
We are given that mark on Ash Wednesday, as a reminder that not even death can take our life away.

No haunting ghosts can withstand the power of Jesus Christ.
We do not fear what has come to pass, but instead rejoice with courage for what is to come.
And so, when you hear blood crying out from the ground, do not fear it.
Fear, instead, the Lord, who does awesome works and who has power over death itself.
Thanks be to God for that.
Amen.