"LISTEN TO WHAT ABEL HAS TO SAY!"

GENESIS 4:1-8, HEBREWS 11:4

This week-end we commemorate a special day. It used to be called "Decoration Day" because people would go with flowers to decorate the grave sites of loved ones. It used to be, from its inception after the Civil War, a memorial for loved ones who died in military action. It was subsequently broadened to be a time of memorial for all those we love who have gone on. There is value in keeping special days. It reminds us of our national heritage. It reminds us of the worth of sacrificing even life for the good and welfare of the broader community. It reminds us of the lessons we learned and the joys we shared and the tears we wept with our loved ones. It keeps our hearts soft and sensitive. When we think of the brave souls whose lives were cut short in freedom's quest, and when we think of the significant people with whom we shared life for even a brief while, we allow them to speak again to us of important things, courage, unselfishness, sacrifice and commitment to a purpose. We inscribe on a wall or on a stone the names of those whose memory we want to keep alive. We might well call Hebrews 11 "God's Memorial Wall." whereon are inscribed the names of many faithful predecessors. They witness to us the significance, the way, the cost, and the necessity of faith. Abel is one among many who is included. He is a witness to us today. Though dead, he still speaks. Listen to what Abel has to say:

• HE SPEAKS OF FAITH:
• Faith as used in the Biblical sense means:
• Persuasion, assurance, and belief; conviction of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God
• Reliance upon Christ for salvation.
• Believing, trusting and obeying. All three elements are requisite for Biblical faith.
• As Paul put it, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1.
• Abel demonstrated that kind of faith.
• He desired to honor God in what he gave.
• He sought to be obedient to what God had evidently instructed.
• The widow in Mark 12:41-44 demonstrated faith: Jesus "sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the multitude were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, 'Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.'"
• What would she do about her own needs?
• She'd give in faith and rely on God to provide.
• We believe that God's way is right, that He can provide for us, that he is worthy of our Trust and obedience or we don't. Our giving and our living will manifest which is true for us.

I want to illustrate what I am talking about. I read recently about 7 year-old Nicholas Green. His father, mother, he and his little sister Eleanor had traveled from California to visit Sicily when Nicholas was shot in an attack by car bandits. He lay comatose in a hospital in Messina. Through the worst night of their lives they prayed and hoped and waited. Reg and Maggie Green illustrate the qualities we see in Abel; qualities of which he speaks, though he is dead. They had to operate by faith; faith in the doctors and faith in God for the outcome of their precious son's shooting. The doctors said that miracles do happen and they hoped for a miracle, but in spite of all that was humanly done, Nicholas succumbed. The family decided to donate his organs. They were convinced it would be a worthwhile gift to someone who needed what Nicholas could give. Abel, too, made a decision about what to give. In that, Abel still speaks; listen to what Abel has to say.

• HE SPEAKS OF SACRIFICE:
• To sacrifice
• Is to suffer willing loss of something dear to us for the sake of something or someone more dear.
• Is to give up what we might have kept and used for self to use and expend it for something or someone more important. It might be our time or our energy or our material resources.
• Is to make a deliberate and voluntary offering of the best we have to bring honor to God who gave it to us in the first place.
• Is to recognize that ultimately it is not our own anyhow, it is His to whom we render it.
• Though there is no record of the instruction, it is apparent that God had given direction as to acceptable sacrifices. Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice; Cain did not. What was the difference? Moses records simply that Cain gave an offering of the fruit of the ground. Of Abel, however, he wrote, "And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering;" Genesis 4:4.
• Cain offered of the fruit of the ground, Abel offered of the flock. God must have specified what to give and Abel gave it.
• Cain may have given seconds, Abel gave of the first fruits.
• Cain may have given culls, Abel gave the best, the fat portions.
• Cain may have given dutifully, Abel certainly gave willingly and freely.
• The attitude of real sacrifice is seen in:
• David when he wanted to offer something to God. A man named Araunah offered to give him what he needed for the sacrifice and David replied, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 2 Samuel 24:24.
• The widow who gave her mite also represents real sacrifice! Jesus singled her out from all those who gave out of their surplus as an example of real giving.
• She gave her whole living. She gave all she had.
• She gave unstintingly, unselfishly and beyond the normal bounds of giving.
• When we sacrifice, we take our hands off it and place it in God's hands; we renounce personal claim to it and recognize His claim; we stop clinging to things and surrender them.

This weekend, we remember all those who willingly sacrificed life and limb for our benefit. We remember our loved ones and the sacrifices they made to make our lives fuller. And we remember Nicholas, too, though we didn't even know him. His family decided to donate his organs because they felt it was the right thing to do. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, they unselfishly thought of others. They simply wanted to do some good. Abel wanted to do right. In that he still speaks; listen to what Abel has to say.

• HE SPEAKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS:
• The word "Righteousness" has its origin in the Old English "rightwiseness."
• It means being morally clean and innocent.
• It means being virtuous, ethical, lawful, honorable and scrupulous.
• It means being just, right, and upright before God and man and giving both their due.
• It means, in short, "Doing right."
• Many today are more concerned about getting their rights than in being truly right. Righteousness involves forgetting and forgoing our own privileges and desires for the sake of what is truly good in the sight of God.
• Righteousness ought to be the motivating force in our lives:
• Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."
• Matthew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you."
• Romans 6:13 "and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."
• 2 Timothy 2:22 "Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."
• As far as piling up merit and righteousness by our own efforts, the case is closed, it is impossible to attain. But in Christ we become righteous; God declares us righteous; He imputes to us a righteousness not of our own that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

As a result of Abel's faith, sacrifice and righteousness, he was accorded a place in God's memorial list. And though dead he still has much to say to us. As a result of Nicholas' death, and his family's decision, a man who had given up on life was motivated to try again. Someone else was motivated to donate vital organs, saving the life of a man who needed a new lung. And Nicholas himself provided life for a 19 year old girl who would have died within 48 hours. A 60 pound 15 year old became a growing bundle of energy with Nicholas' heart beating in his chest. A man who received a cornea can now see his children and can watch them at play. Out of tragedy, Nicholas still speaks. As a result of Jesus' self-giving on the cross, the lost can be saved, the dead in sin can be made alive to God, the hopelessly enslaved can be emancipated, the blind can see, the numb feel again. Jesus who died rose again and offers life to all who come to Him in real faith: believing, trusting and obeying. He, once dead, now alive, still speaks. He says, "Believe in Me; trust in Me; come to Me, obey Me and I will give you life." Who will hear, listen, and pay heed to what Jesus says today? Who will come?

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