200426 Easter 3 Drive in Service audio 200426 Easter 3 Order of Service Sermon Manuscript: There are a lot of different voices that say, “Follow me!” Your financial adviser says, “Follow me; I’ll make you a lot of money.” Your professor says, “Follow me; I’ll lead you out of the darkness of superstition into the light of reason.” Your doctor says, “Follow me; I’ll make you healthy.” Your political candidate says, “Follow me; I’ll lead you into a better future.” There are a lot of such voices, and they do not all agree. One financial adviser says, “sell;” another says, “buy.” One professor says “study humanities,” another professor says, “humanities are a waste of time. You should study the STEM subjects.” One doctor says this medicine will work, another says it won’t. And as for the politicians, they talk as though they are worlds apart, but they all seem to be in the rich people’s pockets.This multitude of voices, all saying, “Follow me!” is part of the human condition. It goes all the way back to the earliest days of creation. Adam and Eve had heard a definite, “Follow me,” but they followed someone else instead. Adam and Eve’s descendants followed different voices. Their sons Abel and Seth followed in the paths of their parents, but Cain and his descendants did not. When you read this very early history of mankind in Genesis chapter 4, you find out that although Cain was a murderer and a vagabond, his descendants were great innovators. They discovered many things about agriculture, metallurgy. They were the first artists and musicians.Adam and Eve’s son, Seth, was born after Cain murdered his brother Abel. When Moses describes Seth and his descendants you don’t hear anything about innovations. All that you hear about them is that they called on the Name of the Lord. That means that they were preoccupied with what God had said to Adam, and they prayed, praised, and gave thanks. Whereas the family line of Cain culminates in Lamech bragging about how he has two wives instead of one, and that he would kick anybody’s butt who tried to stand up against him, the family line of Seth has its highpoint in Enoch. Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God. Then, Enoch was not there, for God took him. Enoch is one of the very few people who have been taken into heaven, body and soul, without experiencing the bitterness of death. What a contrast you see between these two! Lamech was a mover and a shaker. Nobody was going to tell him what’s what. Enoch’s outstanding feature was that he walked with God. God said to him, “Follow me,” and Enoch followed, until he was no more, for God took him.It is interesting that Moses wrote what he did about this earliest of all histories. In a sermon a while back I talked to you about how surprisingly honest the Scriptures are about the many embarrassing and shameful things that it records. There is no effort to clean up the family history. If anything, it seems that the Scriptures are determined to boast about the weaknesses of the people of God, for when we are weak, then we are strong. Same thing here. Moses lists the accomplishments and mountains of glory that Cain’s descendants were able to climb. At the least you might think that Moses should edit that out and be silent about it, but he doesn’t. Cain’s descendants were richer, smarter, and better looking than Seth’s descendants. The voices that Cain’s descendants listened to seemed to offer much better prospects for advancement and happiness and practicality than the Sethites’ “calling on the name of the Lord.”Here’s the thing, though: God’s people have never been at home in the business of salesmanship or propaganda. So much that passes for salesmanship and propaganda is lying and manipulation. The commercials that you see on TV lie to you and manipulate you. They tell you that if you follow them, and buy their product, you will be rich or beautiful or smart or whatever else. That is to say, if you follow them you will be happy. That is to say,