Mark of Cain

Genesis 4:1-16 (NRSV)

Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ‘I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.’ Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.’

 Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out to the field.’ And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ And the Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.’ Cain said to the Lord, ‘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.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.’ And theLord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

This has never been one of my favorite Bible stories.  Serious destruction happened both within and without the church over the millennia because of the terrible racial assumptions made by the "mark of Cain" in this text.

Instead, I see the mark of Cain as a wonderful sign of God's promise of grace.  For those who tend to think of God in the Old Testament as somehow meaner or stricter or more vengeful than the God of the New Testament (as if they were separate entities!), this text I believe puts that to rest.  At least it does for me.

Yes, God punishes Cain.  But then what?  The mark is given as protection.  Cain's life is spared and this mark of grace will shield him from the same fate he gave to his brother Abel.

The mark of Cain is a mark of promise.  Not one of separation by race or color or creed or any other such boundary we impose. 

I think always of the mark of Cain on Ash Wednesday when I receive my ashes.  It also reminds me of the sign of the cross that was placed upon my head at my baptism.  That marks defines me and shows that I have a God who claims me and loves me and wants me to return over and over even in all of my brokenness.  God's mark shows to whom I belong. It reminds me of my sin and yet also of hope.

Gracious God, I have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.  Remind me always to see that mark on others as well rather than the false marks of separation that we so often use.  Amen.