Break Free the hold of the vine

Bible Passage: Genesis 9:20–29

My junior year homecoming I went with a group of friends. The girls we went with all wanted to go to this party but me and my other friend didnt want to party we werent about that life. The girl I went with ended up getting drunk anyway even though we didnt go to the party. The party that they wanted to go to is where all of the popular kids went after Homecoming. Several kids got in a lot of trouble that night. There was a lot of drugs and alcohol there. If I had gone to that party my life could possibly have gone a completely different direction. As teens you are all at some point going to be faced with decisions maybe not while youre in school but maybe later in life. when a friend invites you to that party and you want to be cool like them. So you drink like them. You start to live like them. This isn’t saying that alcohol is bad but drunkenness has consequences just like all sin does. All sin will lead you astray.

We all know the story of Noah. He was a righteous man who had close communion with God. Among all of his generation he was described as perfect. God looked at the world and saw that there was wickedness covering the world and he needed to fix it. So he decided to wipe man from the face of the Earth. Because of Noah going against the status quo of the world so he caught God’s eye. He told Noah to create the ark so that man and creation would survive except all the wickedness would be wiped away.

After the floods came humanity was wiped out. Noah and his family survived. His faithfulness to God helped his family to survive. After the flood waters subsided and they were off of the Ark His family was tasked with repopulating the Earth. While that did happen Noah started to lose sight of his purpose.

(read Genesis 9:20-29

Genesis 9:20–29 ESV

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” 26 He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.” 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

1. Noah's Nurturing to Neglect

Genesis 9:20–21 ESV

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.

Noah all his life had nurtured his desire to not be of the world. He didn’t fall into the sins that the rest of the world was committing. His desire to not be of the world is what led God to chose him. As soon as he was off the boat the first thing that happened was he farmed the soil and planted a vineyard. That was the first thing that he did. He never in his life had given into those desires. He grew the grapes and he made the wine and he got drunk from the wine. His drunkenness caused him to lose control of himself. He would pass out drunk in his tent naked. The vines of the Earth took ahold of him. They chained him down and they caused him to act a fool. He sought out momentary joy and fulfillment that the things of this Earth offer. The only true fulfilment and joy comes from the true vine. Jesus. Who will heal our pain and suffering.

2. Family Facing Failure

Genesis 9:22–23 ESV

22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

The sons of Noah were ashamed of their father and his sins. Ham saw his father sprawled out in his tent butterball naked. His worldliness brought shame on himself. So Ham told his brothers what he had seen. He mockingly told his brothers. Hey check out dad in there passed out naked on the floor. So his brothers went and without looking at their father they covered him so that he wouldn’t be exposed for all the world to see. They didnt want to see what his sin had done to him. As Christians we need to help others when they struggle and not think of them only as their sin as Ham did. Noah’s sin not only affected him but his sons. The things that we do affect others. Our sins are worn on our sleeves even if we hide them people will notice. If you let drinking into your life and you let it take over in the words of Luke Bryan “One margarita, two margarita, three margarita shot. Don’t worry about tomorrow Leave all your sorrow out here on the floatin dock” Its just one drink why not another one. That mentality will lead you down a dark path. It will cause a lot of hurt in your life as it did in the family of Noah.

3. Curses Cause Chain Reactions

Genesis 9:24–29 ESV

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” 26 He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.” 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

Each of the brothers would end up being the leader of a group of people. Noah knew that Ham had exposed his nakedness and sin to his brothers. He knew that Shem and Japheth covered him and took care of him. All four individuals in this passage faced consequences for their actions. Noah cursed Ham who would go onto lead Canaan his people were cursed to serve his brothers and their people. The things that we do can lead to long lasting effects. You may be leaving a party and get in the car with your friend thats also been drinking and then you may never make it home. You may do something while drinking that can end you up in prison because you cant control yourself very well. We must live our lives after Christ. We must make our decisions according to his will. When you make a decision to follow Christ your action to do so and oppose the world can have lasting impacts for generations. Your salvation can lead to so much more than just changing your life.