Sunday, February 3, 2019

Mt Brother's Keeper


My Brother’s Keeper
Genesis 4:1-11
            Recently I used this phrase in Sunday morning worship.  On the way out one of my parishioners said, “We’re not our brother’s keeper, we’re our brother’s helper.”  It took me a few seconds to see where she was going, but I figured it out.
            Her meaning was sociopolitical.  Her point was that we are not to keep our brothers and sisters:  that is, we are not to care for them in such a way that they become dependent on us for everything—food, clothing, shelter—so that they remain in a subservient relationship to us, never achieving independence.  Too often we help people so much they remain in that relationship not only for the length of their lives, but for generations.  My wife and I saw the disastrous results of that policy when we lived in eastern Kentucky.
            What my friend meant was that we should help them when and how help is needed, but constantly move them to a place where they can care for themselves.  As the old adage says, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” 
            I agree that the goal of any helping program should be the eventual independence of the person being helped.  Many organizations are using this approach successfully with the women of some African countries.  By teaching them useful skills, and giving them seed money to start businesses, they are preparing them for a lifetime of being able to feed themselves and their families.
            I believe the biblical account meant keeper in a different sense.  For whatever reason (we’ll never know why on this earth) God was more pleased with Abel’s sacrifice than with Cain’s.  We are told nothing of what was in the hearts of the two young men, and certainly nothing of what was in God’s heart.  After Cain’s sacrifice was rejected God gave him a choice:  “If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.  Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
            Cain chose the path of least resistance, and got rid of his problem (he thought) by getting rid of his brother.  When God asked Cain, “Where is your brother?”   Cain replied, “How should I know?  Am I my brother’s keeper?”  God’s reply seems to indicate that Cain was indeed responsible for his brother.
            In this sense, to be your brother’s keeper does not mean to care for him to the point of keeping him dependent on you.  It means to be responsible for the safety and well-being of our brothers and sisters, not only doing them no harm, but seeing that they are treated justly and fairly.  Cain violated his brother’s right to life, and by doing so failed to look out for Abel’s welfare.
            Let me suggest an alternate word that might fit better than either helper or keeper.  The word enabler has negative connotations because of the way it is used in psychology.  An enabler in this sense is one who allows another person to keep the worst of her bad characteristics, reinforcing them to the point where that person continues to be less than she could be by taking responsibility for her faults and seeking to overcome them. 
I suggest we use the word in a more positive sense.  The one who teaches another to fish, thereby giving him a way of supporting himself for life, is an enabler.  He enables the fisherman to become independent, to care for himself without needing to be dependent on another person.   
We should all seek to be our brothers’ and sisters’ enablers. 
I think God would approve.

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