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My Brother's keeper?

rr-713

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We have been discussing stewardship.  We talked about being a
good steward in general terms, then we looked at our
responsibility for the stewardship of our time.  Today, we are
going to find out what the Word has to say about stewardship of
relationships.

Our first text today is Genesis 4:8-10.  We are familiar with
the story.....  Cain killed his brother over worship, by the
way.  And when God confronts him, he sarcastically replies. "Am
I my brother's keeper?"  

That is a question that can still be heard echoing down through
the millennia.  "Am I my brother's keeper?" "Are you your
brother's, your sister's keeper?"

Jesus' answer is an emphatic "YES."

We are responsible for the way we treat our brothers and sisters
in this world.  And particularly our brothers and sisters in
Christ.

Until you look for it, you do not see the impact of this
message.  But today we are going to look for it.  

You have heard of the Exodus many times.  Have you ever stopped
to think of how much of what God said from Sinai, and that Moses
brought down to the tabernacle had to do with how we are to
treat each other?  There were Laws about relationships.  How to
treat slaves.  How to treat foreigners.  How to treat women. How
to treat children.  How to treat parents.

Exo 12:49  ""One law shall be for the native-born and for the
stranger who dwells among you.""

This tells us that there are not to be two sets of laws among
His people.  Stranger and Israelite were to be judged by the
same law.  Which says to me that God saw all people as His
people.  

Exo 22:21  ""You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress
him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."

If you recall the beginning of the commandments, the people were
to observe them because of what God had done for them.  Here He
reminds them again of what they went through and in essence is
saying that they should not put anyone else through the
experience that they had lived through.

Not only was God concerned about the stranger, He was also
concerned about the poor of the land. 

Lev 19:10  "'And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall
you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them
for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God."

Here we see God concerned with the physical necessities of
stranger and the poor alike.  Those who were doing OK were to
look after those who were not doing so well.

Lev 19:34  "'The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you
as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for
you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."

Here God takes the whole thing to a higher plane.  Not only was
the stranger to be judged by the same laws, not oppressed,
provided for, but also loved.  This was so that the stranger
would grow to love God.  

Perhaps the story of Ruth and Naomi tells this better than
anything else.  Because of Ruth's love for Naomi, she also
developed a love for God, and in fact, became one of Jesus'
ancestry.

Lev 25:36  "'Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your
God, that your brother may live with you."

37  "'You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him
your food at a profit."

Well, we have seen some of the ideals.  How did the stewardship
of relationships play out in the Bible?  

First let's look at "father Abraham."  How would you score him.

--with his family?

--With Pharaoh?

--With Abimelech?

What about Joseph?  Gen 39:7-9  "And it came to pass after these
things that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and
she said, "Lie with me." {8} But he refused and said to his
master's wife, "Look, my master does not know what is with me in
the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. {9}
"There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept
back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How
then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?""

Potipher's wife may have been angry with Joseph, but to be a
faithful steward to Potipher and to God, Joseph had to refuse. 
If he had not, he would not only have brought disgrace to
himself, but to God as well.  And I rather imagine that Potipher
knew what really went on.

How about Joseph and Pharaoh? Gen 41:15-16  "And Pharaoh said to
Joseph, "I have had a dream, and there is no one who can
interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can
understand a dream, to interpret it." {16} So Joseph answered
Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an
answer of peace.""

Joseph could have taken the credit for explaining the dream. 
But he didn't because he was again being a good steward of God's
name.  

And he was a good steward for Pharaoh, because when the famine
was over, Pharaoh owned all of the land except for the priest's
land.

Time and time again, we see in scripture one important
principle.  What we do to other humans we do to God.  How we
respond to other humans is how we respond to God.

Mat 25:40  ""And the King will answer and say to them,
'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the
least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'"

When we cheat someone, we are cheating God.  The amount is
irrelevant.  It is the motive that counts.  When we hurt someone
else, we hurt our God.  When we are angry with someone else, we
are angry with God.  We could go on.

Jesus explains how God sees it in:

Mat 5:44-45  ""But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those
who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those
who spitefully use you and persecute you, {45} "that you may be
sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the
evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the
unjust."

Zec 2:8-9  "For thus says the LORD of hosts: "He sent Me after
glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you
touches the apple of His eye. {9} "For surely I will shake My
hand against them, and they shall become spoil for their
servants. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me."

I believe that God particularly delights in children.  

Mat 19:13-14  "Then little children were brought to Him that He
might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked
them. {14} But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me,
and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.""

And there is quite a curse for anyone who offends them, who
leads them astray.

In Jesus ministry the question was put to him by some Pharisees,
"Who is my neighbor?"

This was an important question to them as not everyone living in
Palestine was a Jew.  Some of them thought that only a Jew could
be their neighbor.  

Jesus replied with a graphic parable.

Luke 10:26-37  "He said to him, "What is written in the law?
What is your reading of it?" {27} So he answered and said, "
'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and
'your neighbor as yourself.'" {28} And He said to him, "You have
answered rightly; do this and you will live." {29} But he,
wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my
neighbor?" {30} Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man
went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who
stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving
him half dead. {31} "Now by chance a certain priest came down
that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
{32} "Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and
looked, and passed by on the other side. {33} "But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw
him, he had compassion. {34} "So he went to him and bandaged his
wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own
animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. {35} "On
the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave
them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and
whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'
{36} "So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him
who fell among the thieves?" {37} And he said, "He who showed
mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise.""

Our brother is someone that we may not like, may not respect, or
don't agree with.  But he is still our brother.  We are to be
stewards of God's mercy as we interact with His children.

Paul gives advice about relational stewardship within the family.

Eph 5:22-33  "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the
Lord. {23} For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ
is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. {24}
Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the
wives be to their own husbands in everything. {25} Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself for her, {26} that He might sanctify and cleanse her
with the washing of water by the word, {27} that He might
present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or
wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and
without blemish. {28} So husbands ought to love their own wives
as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. {29}
For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes
it, just as the Lord does the church. {30} For we are members of
His body, of His flesh and of His bones. {31} "For this reason a
man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh." {32} This is a great
mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. {33}
Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own
wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her
husband."

Eph 6:1-4  "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is
right. {2} "Honor your father and mother," which is the first
commandment with promise: {3} "that it may be well with you and
you may live long on the earth." {4} And you, fathers, do not
provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the
training and admonition of the Lord."

We have another family.  One that is sometimes closer to us than
our genetic family.  That is our church family.  We sometimes
tend to take them for granted, and even treat them worse than
those outside of the family.

Paul speaks to this family life in Rom 12:4-10  "For as we have
many members in one body, but all the members do not have the
same function, {5} so we, being many, are one body in Christ,
and individually members of one another. {6} Having then gifts
differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use
them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;
{7} or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who
teaches, in teaching; {8} he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who
gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who
shows mercy, with cheerfulness. {9} Let love be without
hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. {10} Be
kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor
giving preference to one another;"

Kindly affectionate.  Loving.  Part of the body.  Honoring each
other.  Sounds like good advice to me.

Why?  

Listen to what one wise woman wrote:

"If we would humble ourselves before God, and be kind and
courteous and tenderhearted and pitiful, there would be one
hundred conversions to the truth where now there is only one.
But, though professing to be converted, we carry around with us
a bundle of self that we regard as altogether too precious to be
given up. It is our privilege to lay this burden at the feet of
Christ and in its place take the character and similitude of
Christ. The Saviour is waiting for us to do this.  {9T 189.4}"

Brothers and sisters, God cares about how we treat our brothers
and sisters.

As a matter of fact, it is not your theology that is questioned
at the judgment.  It is not so much your righteous living. 
Let's read what the Man says: Mat 25:31-46  ""When the Son of
Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then
He will sit on the throne of His glory. {32} "All the nations
will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. {33}
"And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on
the left. {34} "Then the King will say to those on His right
hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world: {35} 'for I
was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me
drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; {36} 'I was naked
and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in
prison and you came to Me.' {37} "Then the righteous will answer
Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or
thirsty and give You drink? {38} 'When did we see You a stranger
and take You in, or naked and clothe You? {39} 'Or when did we
see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' {40} "And the King
will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch
as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did
it to Me.' {41} "Then He will also say to those on the left
hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire
prepared for the devil and his angels: {42} 'for I was hungry
and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
{43} 'I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you
did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
{44} "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we
see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in
prison, and did not minister to You?' {45} "Then He will answer
them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not
do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
{46} "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but
the righteous into eternal life.""

Not I, brothers and sisters, but the King himself says this. 
Your spot in heaven is reserved on the basis of how you treat
God's children.  If you can't get along here, you won't be
getting along in heaven.  The perfection that I read about in
Scripture is a perfection of love, of relationships.  By this
shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one
another.

I want to be known as a disciple of Christ, don't you?