In Spite of Our Shortcomings

Embracing Sin

Genesis 9:18–29 (NIV)

The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.

Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said,

“Cursed be Canaan!

The lowest of slaves

will he be to his brothers.”

He also said,

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!

May Canaan be the slave of Shem.

May God extend Japheth’s territory;

may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,

and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”

After the flood Noah lived 350 years. Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.

The flood waters have receded and the Lord has provided safety for Noah and his family. The Lord has called them out of the ark and has made an eternal promise with them sealed by the rainbow. He has told Noah and his sons to go and be fruitful and multiply. There has been a restart to all of creation, an opportunity to approach things differently and lean heavily into the relationship that God continues to offer His creation.

Noah gets drunk and passes out fully exposed to the world. This act was an embarrassing act. Take note that our relationship with God was not removed because of our sin.

Genesis 8:20–21 (NIV)

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

God knew the heart of man was still prone to wander, but He chose to lean in to the relationship with mankind all the more. He removes the possibility of distinction and instead doubles down on the promise of relationship to lead man to life instead of death.

The scene depicts our response to sin. We will sin, but how we respond to that sin will either lead us to life or keep us even more ensnared by death. Ham sees his fathers sin and he responds by continuing down the path of sin. He goes and he tells his brothers and invites them to come and see that they may mock and ridicule their father. Ham’s response seeks to destroy and hinder relationship. Ham seeks to mock and shame his father, shame causes us to shun away from Father. Shame becomes a stumbling block between our sin and our forgiveness. Ham then tried to destroy Noah’s relationships with his other sons and he invites them to come and shame Noah as well.

We all will sin, but we do not have to be shamed and condemned in our sin.

Embracing Grace

Genesis 9:20–23 (NIV)

Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

Shem and Japheth choose to respond by covering their father in grace. Grace restores dignity, worth and value to a person. Grace puts sin in its proper place, as an action or attitude, and reminds the person that they are greater than their sin. Grace reminds people of who they were created for. When we see our value in the Lord, then sin becomes apparent and the damage of sin can be clearly seen.