Tuesday, February 24
Read: Psalm 32; Genesis 4:1-16; Hebrews 4:14-5:10
One of my husband’s favorite quotes from The Andy Griffith Show comes from an episode called “The Sermon for Today.” A big-city preacher arrives in laid-back Mayberry to preach about the need to slow down. Barney, unsurprisingly, falls asleep. As they leave church, Andy and Aunt Bee gush about the sermon. Barney finally adds, “Yes—that’s one subject you just can’t talk enough about… sin!”
Yet sin is not where the Bible begins—or ends.
Scripture opens with God’s beautiful and good creation and closes with a new creation, a New Jerusalem, where God once again dwells among God’s people. But in between—and we live in between—it’s a mess.
After Adam and Eve leave the garden, violence enters the story in Genesis 4 with Cain and Abel. While that story raises many questions, today the focus is God’s interaction with Cain. When God looks favorably on Abel’s offering and not Cain’s, Cain becomes angry and resentful. And just as God came looking for Adam and Eve and as the father goes out to the resentful elder son in Jesus’ parable, God goes out to Cain, asking, “Why are you angry?” and warning him that if he does not address it, sin is waiting at the door.
This was likely not the first time Cain harbored resentment toward his brother. God names a truth we all know: unaddressed anger opens the door to sin. As Jesus later teaches, what comes out of us begins in the heart.
We know what happens next. Cain allows his resentment to take hold, and he kills his brother. And once again, God comes looking. Cain faces real consequences: the land will no longer produce, and he will become a wanderer.
But when Cain cries out that this is more than he can bear and fears for his life, God does something unexpected. God places a mark on him—not a mark of shame, but a mark of grace. A sign of protection and of God’s continued care, even after terrible sin.
Our psalm today echoes this truth. David describes how the weight of hidden sin wore him down, but confession brought healing. Guilt acknowledged before God leads to restoration; shame that hides from God leads only to isolation and pain.
Too often, preaching about sin turns guilt into shame, convincing us that we are the problem rather than pointing us toward the God who heals. But God’s response to both Cain and David tells a different story.
Even in the face of brokenness, God offers presence, mercy, and grace. Consequences remain, but abandonment does not.
That is why we can walk through Lent with honesty and hope. While we have been marked with ashes to remind us of our mortality, they also mark us as people held by grace.
Prayer:
Gracious God, search our hearts and turn us toward you. When anger or fear takes root within us, meet us with your mercy. Help us to confess honestly, receive your grace freely, and walk this Lenten journey trusting in your love.
Amen.
The Reverend Sherrill Clontz is Superintendent of the North District of the North Alabama Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church and serves on the Huntingdon College Board of Trustees.
