Genesis 4:9-14: a reflection

9The LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10The LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. 11Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14Behold, you have driven me out today from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Whoever finds me will kill me.”

After Cain has killed his brother Abel, God asks him, Where is Abel, your brother? And Cain answers with a question that has echoed ever since: I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper? It is an evasion, a refusal of responsibility, as though Cain owed his brother nothing, as though his brother's welfare were no concern of his. But the very question exposes a truth Cain was denying: we are, in fact, our brother's keeper. We are not free of responsibility for one another; we are called to care for our brothers, not to shrug off their welfare as no concern of ours.

Notice the responsibility Cain tried to evade: responsibility for his brother. His question, Am I my brother's keeper, was meant to deny that he owed his brother anything, that his brother's welfare was his concern. But the denial is false; we are our brother's keeper, responsible for one another, called to care and not to shrug off the welfare of those around us. Cain tried to disown a responsibility that was really his; his evasion could not make it untrue. We are not islands, free of concern for one another; we are keepers of our brothers, answerable for how we treat them.

That is worth taking to heart, for we too can try to evade responsibility for our brothers, as Cain did. We can shrug off the welfare of others as no concern of ours, telling ourselves we are not responsible for them, asking in effect, Am I my brother's keeper; but the truth Cain denied is still true: we are our brother's keeper, called to care for one another. Do not evade responsibility for your brothers, shrugging off their welfare as no concern of yours; you are your brother's keeper, called to care for those around you. Own your responsibility to care for your brothers rather than evading it as Cain did, for we are our brother's keeper, called to concern ourselves with the welfare of others and not to shrug it off; and the love God requires will not let us disown responsibility for those he has placed around us.

Lord, after Cain has killed his brother Abel, you ask him, where is Abel, your brother? And Cain answers with a question that has echoed ever since: I don't know; am I my brother's keeper? It is an evasion, a refusal of responsibility, as though Cain owed his brother nothing, as though his brother's welfare were no concern of his. But the very question exposes a truth Cain was denying: we are, in fact, our brother's keeper. Show me the responsibility Cain tried to evade: responsibility for his brother. His question was meant to deny that he owed his brother anything. But the denial is false; we are our brother's keeper, responsible for one another, called to care and not to shrug off the welfare of those around us. Cain tried to disown a responsibility that was really his; his evasion could not make it untrue. We are not islands, free of concern for one another. Take that to my heart, for I too can try to evade responsibility for my brothers, as Cain did. I can shrug off the welfare of others as no concern of mine, telling myself I am not responsible for them, asking in effect, am I my brother's keeper; but the truth Cain denied is still true: I am my brother's keeper, called to care for others. Keep me from evading responsibility for my brothers, shrugging off their welfare as no concern of mine; I am my brother's keeper, Lord. Help me own my responsibility to care for my brothers rather than evading it as Cain did, for the love you require will not let me disown responsibility for those you have placed around me.