A few days ago I provoked a fight. A Facebook fight. You know the kind, the one where comments fly because we can be mouthy on social media in ways we never would be face-to-face.
But these kinds of fights should not surprise us. Unity was dismantled in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned and consequently hid from their friend and walking companion, Jesus. And ever since, brothers have been fighting brothers, even murdering them.
When we step into the Garden, we find God gathering up dust and forming Adam. God gave Adam two specific tasks, “to work it and keep it.” Simple enough, right? Well, not really, because Adam failed.
The Hebrew word “to keep” is Shamar. It means to watch, to guard, to hedge about as with thorns. The garden was Adam’s sanctuary, one He was to protect. When Satan offered Eve a piece of fruit from the forbidden tree, Adam could have…should have, guarded the commandment of God and not eaten of the forbidden fruit. Instead, Adam abandoned His call to shamar the Garden and it’s commands. He deserted God and stood watch over his own pleasure, security, pride and defensiveness. “The woman, YOU gave me,” made me do it! For Adam and Eve’s failure, they were kicked out of the garden, bearing curses for them and their descendants.
If we fast-forward just a little farther, Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain was jealous of his brother and “rose up against him” and killed him. God came to meet Cain and asked him, “where is your brother, Able?” Cain’s reply jumps off the pages… “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Keeper. The same word that is used in Genesis 2 for God’s task for Adam. To watch. To Guard. To hedge about as with thorns.
Adam was supposed to “keep” the garden and he failed. Cain was to “keep” his brother, and he also failed.
But One came who would be our complete and ultimate Keeper. His name is Jesus. The second, perfect Adam. He is our guard. He is our protector. And to show it, He went to death on a cross, where upon his head was placed a crown of thorns as if to remind His children that forever He would be a hedge about us for our protection and security.
As I think about the work towards racial justice in America, these word pictures fan the flames in my heart. In our journey to image our Father God to this broken world, we must ask ourselves, am I my brother’s keeper? Am I guarding, watching and protecting my brothers and sisters in Jesus, the ones downtrodden and marginalized most of all?
To image God means that you reflect Him to the world like a mirror catching and casting His rays of glory. We must set our minds and hearts to keep, to watch, to guard, to hedge about as with thorns our Black brothers and sisters. But where do we begin?
- Listen and Learn. Do not be quick to judge, but rather lay aside your pride to humbly listen. If you are white, resist the urge to be defensive. Remember you have not lived as a minority in America, so you must lean on the voices of brothers and sisters in Jesus who have.
- Lament and Pray. As you learn your eyes will be opened in unexpected ways. Lament your own prejudices. Lament years and years of racist history. Lament the many ways your Black family has been hurt and fearful because of living in America.
- Take action steps. Find 2 or 3 ways to combat systemic racism, and do them. I lay out 5 do-able action steps in my Podcast Episode, Am I My Brother’s Keeper?
If God has promised to be our keeper, shouldn’t we be our brother’s as well?
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