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.
Hebrews 11:4
Even though we’ve never talked, I know something very important about you. And you know something that’s at the core of me. About who I am. We all want something better than what we’ve already got. Something bigger. Something more expensive. Something that people will notice and say, “Wow! Just take a look at Chet. Look at what he’s got.”
While I can’t speak for you, I know that deep down inside there’s a want. And this want is to be liked. But not just liked. Oh no, that’s not enough. I want to be liked more than I am. And once I’m liked more, that’s not enough. So, I want to be liked more and more. It’s a never-ending want. Nothing in this world seems to be enough.
The President of one of the companies I worked for was really skilled in this want thing. Every day, he showed us rookies how to want more. More and more. He was the pro at wanting more and we were just childish when it came to wanting. As a matter of fact, every so often he’d wear a tee-shirt to work that said, “My tastes are simple – I want the best.”
Sometimes wanting more can a good thing. What makes it different than the normal kind of want is that it’s not focused on us. When husbands are commanded to be presently and actively loving their wives just like Jesus loved the church and gave himself up for her[1], there’s no limit to this. There’s not a bar that we can measure ourselves up to. It’s lovingly forever just out of our reach.
Which brings us to the question of why the writer of this letter to Hebrews that are living under persecution would bring up Able’s sacrifice. He’s just defined and described what faith is, so why bring up Able?
I have to tell you that it’s not as obvious of a question as we might think. After all, what’s our first thought when we’re about to do something? Is it to get someone’s attention? To get something back? To earn something?
So, why did Able offer a sacrifice to God? It was because of faith. God said to do something, so Able did it to please the one who made him. To delight the one who loved him.
And more than just do it, Able did it the way that God said. He didn’t try to improve it. He didn’t look at sacrificing animals and say, “Eww! That’s going to make an awful mess. Who’s going to clean it up? What a waste! Killing and offering those animals isn’t going to put money in my pocket or food on the table for my family. There must be a better way.”
The reason Able’s sacrifice was better is because it was done by and through faith. Better not in the amount or how much it cost. But better in quality because it was what God asked for. It was by faith.
Faith says, “God, not my will but yours be done[2].” Faith prays “God, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven[3].” Faith says, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief[4].” Faith runs to Jesus when someone we love is sick and dying[5].
And there’s another reason for bringing up Able’s sacrifice of faith. What happened after he was faithful? After Able did exactly the right thing, doing what God wanted him to do, what happened? He was invited by his brother to a deserted spot where he attacked Able. The result was the first murder in the long history of murders.
What? This makes no sense. We think that if we’re faithful to God, doing everything he tells us, that there’s nothing but rewards in this life. That people will throw us a parade every day. That money, fame, and fortune will just flow into our lives. That success will fill all the days of our lives.
This is exactly where the Hebrews were. They had been faithful to God. They received the one-time sacrifice of Jesus for all their sins. And everything was great – for a while. But now pain and persecution has overwhelmed them. They’ve lost everything. Some are in jail and some have been murdered.
Maybe that’s where some of us are. We were expecting life to get a whole lot better with Jesus. After all, all our sin and shame are gone. What’s to stop God from pouring down lots and lots of blessings on our heads? Why shouldn’t we get more and more? Better and better stuff and lives?
I’ll tell you why. There’s actually something better than stuff. Better than money. Better than fame. Better than having thousands of likes on your latest social media post. The very best thing that we can experience in this life is to be loved by God. And even through all the stuff that happens in this world, he will walk with us and bring us to himself. Living with him forever. Now, what could be much more better than that?
Noodling Questions
Explain your desire for things to be better. For live to be better.
How do you feel inside when you know that you haven’t done your best?
Why is stuff not as good as being known and loved by God?
[1] Ephesians 5:25
[2] Luke 22:42
[3] Matthew 6:10
[4] Luke 9:24
[5] Luke 8:41,42
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