They Covered Their Father's Nakedness (Morning Prayer 1/22/20)

Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated. Noah, as a man of the soil, began by planting a vineyard. He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked. When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him, he said:

Canaan is cursed. He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers. 

He also said:

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem;

Let Canaan be Shem’s slave.

Let God extend Japheth; 

let Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem;

let Canaan be Shem’s slave.

Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood. So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died. 

-- Genesis 9:18-29 (CSB)

Nobody is perfect, ya know? Noah is often lifted up as a hero of Scripture and as an example of how to live a life following the Lord, and rightfully so. Noah was the only one following God when the time of the flood came, and is a great example in many ways of the Christian life. However, Noah was also a human with a sin nature, and in this tale, he sinned. He got hammered and stripped naked in view of everybody.

Now, in this moment of shame and embarrassing behavior, anyone could have two real options: help Noah or hurt Noah. Ham chose to laugh at Noah's embarrassing situation, highlighting his father's sin with a sin of his own. Shem and Japheth, however, chose to help their father, which was the correct choice. 

We, too, are faced with a similar opportunity each day. We can either help or hurt anytime another is in a bad situation--by their own doing or by no fault of their own. When we choose to help them get out of that situation, we are making the same choice that Shem and Japheth made: the choice to love. To help others is to love others, and that is what the Christian life is to look like. It's, frankly, what Christ did when He came, lived, died, and rose again--all on our behalf. He chose to love us, to help us, rather than to hurt or ignore us. Our plight was and is a direct result of our sinfulness, and yet Christ still loved us enough to come to our aid. 

Will we chose to follow the example of Shem, Japheth, and Jesus today? Will we choose love by choosing to help, or will we choose to hurt?

Father God, help us choose to help today. Help us choose to love. We know that is the way that you would do, because it is the way you have done. Aid us in becoming more like you today. In Christ's name, amen.

Dirty Love: It Ain't Easy to Love Like Jesus, But We Kinda Need To.

It is not an uncommon occurrence for people to tell us about a problem that they are having. After all, they are either griping and grumbling or they have a legitimate dilemma in their life. In the event of having a legitimate problem, they need someone to be there by their side. Yet, in our culture, we are often too busy to give people that support.

Christians are called to live in a sacrificial manner, loving people in a way that is anything but beneficial from the Earthly viewpoint. Would loving that person inconvenience you? Would it make you late for something? Would you lose productivity? If you can answer yes to any of those, then you probably should go ahead and do what you can to show love. Love is dirty and difficult.

So, what are some ways to show love to people? Perhaps you'd like to know how and simply cannot think of a way. Well, here's a quick list of things that I thought of. There are many more, but I hope this gets you thinking!

1. Say nice things. When someone is having a hard time, or even just trying to get through a normal day (which is hard enough, amiright?!), they could almost always use a word of encouragement. Job was not having a good time of things when he lost all of his possessions, children and own personal health. It appeared that God had completely abandoned him, and he could have used a little bit of cheer. Instead, his friends opted to shame him and try to get him to confess whatever sin he had committed to make God do this. Job even calls them out on it in chapter 16, calling them "miserable comforters." How often are we miserable comforters, either failing to support at all or filling their lives with all of our "advice" about how they can get out of their situation?

Rarely does the person going through a breakup, battling a health issue or failing a class need more advice, especially not in the midst of their darkest hour. What people need more than anything is support and love, letting them know that we are there for them. If there is a sin problem causing their issue, it should be addressed, but not in the form of a brutal chastisement. Think about how you'd feel in their shoes, and respond with love.

So send someone a little note. Say they look cute (in a non-creepy way...) or notice their new hair. Compliment their Tervis tumbler (those are still popular, right?). You never know how far that brief word of positivity can go.

[Side bar: someone who really understands this is Hannah Brencher, the founder/starting blogger at www.moreloveletters.com. Go check out their work. It's officially one of my favorite things right now.]

2. Do something nice. Sometimes people just need to know you are thinking of them. When Jesus saw the crowds hungry in Mark 6:34, the Bible says that He "had compassion on them." He then proceeded to give them a simply dinner of fish and bread (for 5,000 people!). Now, this does not mean that we must feed crowds of people, but it does mean that we have compassion for people in need and be willing to go out of our way to do a little something for them.

Bring them coffee on a cold morning. Surprise them with a little gift that they mentioned in conversation a while ago. Drop some food over at a friend's room during finals. Scrape the snow off their car. Pay a drive-thru meal behind you, or maybe even just give someone a ride home when they need one. It's the little things, y'all.

3. Spend time with them. People get lonely, and that can actually increase during the holiday season. Be willing to make time in your schedule for the people in your life that need you. You and I are likely surrounded by a group of people that could use a little bit of our time. So what if you're busy? I get it, that is usually my excuse, too. But Jesus, ruler of all, stepped out of His eternal rule of all things that exist, have existed and will ever exist in order to walk around Israel for a few years, spend time with some rather dense individuals and ultimately die on a cross and rise again for our benefit. If He made time for the people that deserved His least (note: that's us), then we can give up an hour (or afternoon!) somewhere in our schedule for people that need us.

Go grab lunch or tea. Give them a call and talk about life. Watch basketball with the kids. Drink hot cocoa with your elderly grandparents. Help someone fix their car (unless you're more likely to break it more, and in that case go with them to get it fixed). Show that your schedule is not as important as the people around you.

People need love. Simple as that. Our lives should not be so pristine, and I know that mine has been far too clean for far too long. Love is dirty and difficult, and loving people the right way (the Jesus way) is hard work. So be willing to put in the time and effort to do it. It can be as cheap as a hug or a little smiley face on an index card stuck between the keys of their keyboard. It ain't easy, but it is necessary for the Christian. No efforts are perfect, but all efforts are better than the one that doesn't happen!

Go out, and by the end of the week, I want you to do one thing for somebody, and then shoot me an email at thefreedbug@gmail.com. Lemme know how it went. After all, I could use some more ideas on how to love people myself. :)