The
Noah and the ark story in Genesis 9 is a tremendous story of deliverance and
what God is able to do. We love this
story! It’s time to think about the
power of God and celebrate it. This
story shows how God helped a family through very difficult circumstances. After a great victory low moments
happen. Difficult days come. How do we handle those days? How do we handle the valleys? We’ve seen Noah at his finest and now he’s at
a low. How do we help people through
difficult times like these? We know how
Noah and his sons responded.
The world
quickly returns to normal after trauma.
For
example, after we have a hurricane come through the very next day the sun is shining! There’s trees down everywhere, but the sun
still shines. It can seem like this in
our lives too. Everything continues on
and we are left dealing with difficulties in our lives.
From
Genesis chapter 9 and forward we see the repopulation of the earth through the
sons of Noah. There’s many more stories
of how God grew his people. They’ve been
through trauma and now life is back to normal.
This passage echoes what it’s like to go through trauma.
Noah
plants a garden. We think Noah had
plants on the ark that served as food. Some
of you are doing this now. You’re
growing plants inside and you’ll take them outside when it’s time. A garden in established. Some things are different than they were
before the flood. Not all plants and
animals were rescued. Some became
extinct. In Genesis 9:2 the animals are
described as wild for the first time.
There’s an enmity between animals and mankind and this is a change. The first eight chapters of Genesis are more
peaceful. From chapter nine forward
there’s descriptions of hostilities and fear between man and animal.
For example, in the book of Revelation when Christ returns to establish peace on earth, the lion and the lamb lie down together. Here in Genesis 9 we see something isn’t quite right. There’s a part of us that’s never the same after great difficulties and traumas. Something is lost. They’re moving forward, things are growing and this is a fresh start.
Our internal
struggle can continue after an external threat ends.
They
made it through. Noah spent 120 years
preparing the ark and a year getting through the flood. In Genesis 6 Noah is described as a man who
walked with God. When it came time to
stand up, Noah stood up. He shared his
hope in God with others and he was strong.
Noah lived through the greatest catastrophe that ever happened on our
planet and now we see a low moment in Noah’s life.
21He drank of the wine and became
drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.
Shaming a
person in their struggle damages long term relationships.
What
do we do when someone is going through a difficult time? There’s something that’s not right when Ham
walks into Noah’s tent and sees his naked and drunk. How do we respond?
Ham
further shames his father. Instead of
covering him he publicly dishonors him by announcing what he sees to his
brothers. “Hey, come look! Dad is drunk and naked!” This is sometimes our response too especially
if someone is a hero. There’s a tendency
in us to publicly shame. This is also a
fear we have. This tells us what kind of
friend we want to be. How do we respond
when people are struggling? Ham isn’t
sure what to do. There’s moments when we
discover our parents doing something disgraceful. Ham gives a response that troubles us. One of the commandments is to honor our
father and mother. Our parents cared for
us. We can imagine what our parents put up with
when we were children. What happens when
a parent sees their child in a dishonoring situation? To a Hebrew person, being seen naked was one
of the worst things that could happen to you.
Hebrews were careful to never shame someone publicly through
nakedness. The Romans knew this. When Jesus goes before Pilate the first time
and he stripped naked and whipped the point was public embarrassment. Then while Jesus is on the cross they are
casting lots for his robes because they unclothed him. Jesus took our shame to the cross. He had no shame of his own. He defeated our shame before the whole world. Ham is increasing the shame of his
father. This isn’t the right
response. Later, Noah will pronounce a
curse on Ham that’s carried out throughout the Old Testament.
Creating a
safe space in a time of need promotes healing.
23Then 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
second response the other sons have makes a huge difference in Noah. I can imagine them walking backwards, trying
not to embarrass him and then covering him up and leaving. This is a different response. They did not increase Noah’s shame; they
covered it. All of us are capable of
experiencing shame. If a child falls and
no one sees him he gets up and continues to play, but if a child falls and
people see him there’s wailing, gnashing of teeth, and we know the child is ok,
but they’re experiencing shame. We know
what this emotion feels like. What kind
of friend do we want to be? What kind of
family member do we want to be? What kind
of church do we want to be? Noah’s tent
became a safe place where he could recover.
There is life
after trauma.
in
Genesis 9. Noah is struggling. In Daniel
2 Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. In his
dream is a huge giant with a chest of bronze and iron legs. It’s a towering figure. The feet are a mixture of iron and clay. A rock hits the feet and the giant falls
over. Daniel is able to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s
dream. Feet of clay are a weakness. We all have clay feet. This image reminds us that no matter how
strong we are, we all have clay feet.
Even the strongest people in the Bible had weaknesses. Noah lays uncovered and his sons respond in 2
different ways:
Shaming a
person in their struggle damages long term relationships.
What
do we do when someone is going through a difficult time? There’s something that’s not right when Ham
walks into Noah’s tent and sees his naked and drunk. How do we respond?
Ham
further shames his father. Instead of
covering him he publicly dishonors him by announcing what he sees to his
brothers. “Hey, come look! Dad is drunk and naked!” This is sometimes our response too especially
if someone is a hero. There’s a tendency
in us to publicly shame. This is also a
fear we have. This tells us what kind of
friend we want to be. How do we respond
when people are struggling? Ham isn’t
sure what to do. There’s moments when we
discover our parents doing something disgraceful. Ham gives a response that troubles us. One of the commandments is to honor our
father and mother. Our parents cared for
us. We can imagine what our parents put up with
when we were children. What happens when
a parent sees their child in a dishonoring situation? To a Hebrew person, being seen naked was one
of the worst things that could happen to you.
Hebrews were careful to never shame someone publicly through
nakedness. The Romans knew this. When Jesus goes before Pilate the first time
and he stripped naked and whipped the point was public embarrassment. Then while Jesus is on the cross they are
casting lots for his robes because they unclothed him. Jesus took our shame to the cross. He had no shame of his own. He defeated our shame before the whole world. Ham is increasing the shame of his
father. This isn’t the right
response. Later, Noah will pronounce a
curse on Ham that’s carried out throughout the Old Testament.
Creating a
safe space in a time of need promotes healing.
23Then 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
second response the other sons have makes a huge difference in Noah. I can imagine them walking backwards, trying
not to embarrass him and then covering him up and leaving. This is a different response. They did not increase Noah’s shame; they
covered it. All of us are capable of
experiencing shame. If a child falls and
no one sees him he gets up and continues to play, but if a child falls and
people see him there’s wailing, gnashing of teeth, and we know the child is ok,
but they’re experiencing shame. We know
what this emotion feels like. What kind
of friend do we want to be? What kind of
family member do we want to be? What kind
of church do we want to be? Noah’s tent
became a safe place where he could recover.
There is life
after trauma.
Imagine
Noah wakes up and realizes he’s covered with a coat that isn’t his! He knows someone covered him. He needs to figure out what happened. It’s clear from Noah’s response that he knows
what happened. Noah learns who helps and
who doesn’t. We also learn who wasn’t
there for us and who made things worse.
Noah
recovers. He lives 350 years longer
after the flood and then he dies. When
we are publically embarrassed we can remember that Noah lived another 350
years. There’s life after embarrassing
moments. Jesus Christ has given us
hope. There’s life beyond our challenges. Noah is restored and we don’t hear about him
again until Hebrews 11 mentions him as one of the heroes of the faith.
What
about us? I want you to know there’s no
shame in having a difficulty or a mental health challenge. There are times to seek help. Maybe you’re dealing with depression? Thoughts?
Maybe you’re thinking you might need to get some help? If you’ve already had the thought that you might
need help you need to go ahead and seek help.
There’s no shame in seeking help.
God has placed some wonderful people in our community that can
help. Don’t think your weakness is
something to hide. We all have clay
feet. Noah needed help and his sons
helped him. The power of the cross is restoration. Not all things need medical attention; not
all things need therapy. Whatever you have
before you, may you let God restore you.
God loves you more than you can imagine.
God doesn’t just love you when you’re building an ark. God loves you when you’re drunk and uncovered
in your tent as well. Will you let God
restore you today?
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