CSI Series: Dealing with Murder

Pastor Meyer's Sermon

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Crime Scene Investigation. It doesn't matter which show you watch, CSI , CSI Miami , CSI New York , these shows are not for the faint at heart. You see, CSI has made a reputation for itself by providing cool, slick special effects. Not only do you get to see the person shot, but you also get to see the bullet pass right through the body. You get to see how the bullet inflicts the body and what wounds it causes on the inside. Yes, cool special effects. Not only that, but if there is some corpse decay, then, in time lapse setting, you get to see the body decay complete with insects that would be normally found in that kind of a setting. And all this is done with true-to-life artificial body parts with lifelike blood and also with all the makeup they need.

These crime scenes are gruesome, and they are messy.

Well, this morning, we continue on with Gloria Dei's version of CSI . That's right, CSI Holy Land . And this particular site, this particular crime scene is also not for the faint at heart. There is blood here. There's a lot of blood here. And it is gruesome, and it is messy. So messy, in fact, that I'm going to go ahead and put my gloves on when we go ahead and investigate the crime scene. And not only that, but, as they always do on CSI , they always have their mach light.

So let's see what's here at the crime scene. Now you know, when we first come to the crime scene, we need to take in the whole scene because there may be some aspect of the scene that can give us a clue to what happened here. And so what do we have? We have a field. We're in the middle of a field, and there is a body laying here. And the body looks like that of a young adult male. And, well, let me check. Yes, he's dead. And it looks like, by the clothes he's wearing, he must have been some kind of shepherd or herder of livestock. And this site is especially gruesome because this man seems to have been beaten to death. Not only that but mercilessly beaten to death. And there is a lot of blood around. And it looks like there has been a struggle because all of the grass and vegetation around this area has been matted down. By the physical evidence here, it looks like this man has been murdered. This is a homicide.

As we take in the rest of the crime scene, we look over here and we see there is one trail, no, there are two trails and they look like they lead into the crime scene. We can tell because the grass and vegetation are slanting toward the crime scene. So it looks like there were two people who walked here to the crime scene. Now the question is where does this trail lead? We need to follow the trail because it might be able to give us a clue as to actually what happened here.

So we see that it goes up to a slight hill and, over here, we see two altars. This was a worship area. On one altar, there is the remains of some livestock. And on the other altar, there is what's left of grain and other plant life. Hum. I wonder what happened here in this worship area that would lead down here to the crime scene. I wonder if this is more than just a murder. I wonder if there is a motive behind all of this. I wonder if there are any eye witnesses to this crime.

Yes, there's an eye witness. There's a reliable eye witness and that particular eye witness has written out a testimony, and it goes like this: “In the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the Lord but Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering but, on Cain and his offering, He did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry and his face was downcast.” Cain was angry. He was angry at God because God looked with favor at Abel's sacrifice but didn't look with favor on his own sacrifice. Why would God do that? I mean, both of them were sacrificing to God. What's wrong with that?

Well, we need to go back to the evidence, the written evidence. Now see if you can tell the difference. “Cain brought some of the first fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord but Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.” The evidence shows Cain merely brought some of the fruits of the harvest whereas Abel brought the firstborn of his flock. God's acceptance didn't have anything to do with the actual sacrifices themselves. They had all to do with the heart of the person bringing the sacrifice. Abel brought to the sacrifice what he thought God would want, but Cain brought to the sacrifice what he thought God would want, what he thought was best. Can you see the difference? Abel was thinking about, “What would God want?” Cain was just thinking, “What do I want to bring to the sacrifice?” Can you see the self-centeredness there of Cain? Can you feel his desire that everything and everyone revolved around him, his inability to see through another person's eyes. Cain brought what he thought was best.

The evidence here points to pride. It wasn't anger that drove Cain to kill Abel. No, no, it was pride. Pride was the cause of this crime scene. And, because of it, an innocent man was killed. Now God tried to warn Cain. Do you remember? He said, “Watch out. Sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you.” But Cain wouldn't listen to God. In his pride, he thought he knew what was best. He didn't listen to what God had told him. He wanted to do what Cain wanted to do. And in that pride, Cain cut off God, his relationship with God. And then he said to his brother, “Let's go out to the field,” and there, at this crime scene, Cain killed Abel. The evidence is overwhelming.

What about the crime scenes in our own lives? Sure, they may not be bloody. We have them, don't we? When we put our gloves on and we shine our mach light into our own lives and we look at our own crime scene, we see they are just as gruesome and messy. Breaking our relationship with God. Life is going really well for me right now, so we spend less and less time in God's Word. Worship becomes more of a bore and a snore and a chore instead of passionate. We are tempted to think, “Why do I need God in my life? Things are going really well for me right now.” Pride is the cause of that crime scene.

What about the killing of a relationship? A couple who begin their life together with love in their hearts for each other but now they stand in stony silence as they sign that paper that would shatter their bond and they're both feeling empty and drained. Pride was the cause of this crime scene.

What about attempted relational murder? A student who finds himself in a fight with his best friend, and he is unable and unwilling to speak the words that would help to fix the relationship that has been broken. Pride was the cause of that crime scene. And yes, the evidence is overwhelming.

We would prefer the agonies of separation and divorce rather than to endure the counseling and the commitment. Let us go out into the field and end this. And in work places and relationships, the same sad retort is heard. Let us go out into the field and end this. There is no talking. There is no hard work. There is no building bridges and trust to see through the other person's eyes. Again, pride is the cause of these crime scenes.

Yes, the evidence is overwhelming but the question now becomes what is the verdict? And we go back to the evidence, the written evidence. We started to collect the evidence last week, remember? Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you,” that is, the serpent, “and the woman and between your offspring and hers and He will crush your head and you, serpent, will strike His heel.” And now from Genesis 4:15, “Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.” Just like God took care of Adam and Eve despite the fact they had disobeyed Him, they had doubted Him, and had eaten of the fruit. And once they did, they found they were naked and they were embarrassed. What did God do? He provided clothes for them. And now, with Cain, despite the fact that he deserved death, Cain received the mark so he would not be killed.

And, My Friends, we have a similar mark. Because, even though the evidence is overwhelming in those crime scenes of our own lives where pride has taken precedence over caring for others, we have the mark of baptism, the mark of forgiveness. At your baptism, those words, “Receive the sign of the cross on your forehead and on your chest, marking you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.”

And this mark points to another crime scene. Yes, there is another crime scene and this scene is also not for those who are faint at heart. It is too gruesome and it is too messy because there is a lot of blood here starting with the butchering of babies at Bethlehem, the relentless insults of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the denial from His own disciples, the false accusation before Herod and before Pilot, the insistent whipping Jesus received. The people yelling, “Let's go out into the field and crucify Him.” And all this, even with the possibility that Jesus could have been prideful. After all, He had power. He was able to heal. He could make food abundantly. He could change water into wine. He could raise the dead. Jesus had it all. And His pride could have made us serve Him. But instead, He followed that trail and it went to a hill called Golgotha . And He was beaten without mercy. There was no sign of struggle here as they nailed His hands and His feet to the cross. Insult after insult being heaped up on Him and what did Jesus do? He showed His ability to see through the eyes of others. “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” And, at that crime scene, another innocent man was murdered. And, in the words of Colossians 1:20, “Jesus did this to make peace for us through His blood shed on the cross.”

Yes, the evidence is overwhelming. When we look at our own lives, the evidence points to us. But God has given us a mark to protect us, the mark of our baptism so the evidence now points to His Son, all of this so, in the words of Paul, “When you were dead in your sins, God made you alive with Christ.” He forgave us all our sins. He took it away nailing it on the cross. That is what God has done for you and for me. Amen.