Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Genesis 9:18-23

Genesis 9:18-23 

  Well, nobody is perfect, right?
  It's interesting that this episode is included.  Here's Noah, having been the one shining light for humanity in a dark time, enduring months upon months in the ark, before finally leaving behind the ark to re-start humanity.  What does he do?  He gets drunk and lays around naked.  
  What's interesting here to me is the way Noah's two sons treat their father.  Noah has erred and embarrassed himself, but Shem and Japheth don't make him feel worse -- they treat him with dignity and return him to respectability by covering him.  They don't rush off to tell someone else like Ham does.  And that's a world of difference.
  You're going to see people down on their luck.  You'll see people having a bad day.  You may well meet someone on the worst day of their life.  
  How will you treat them?
  With grace and mercy, the same you'd hope to be offered, or as a story to tell?  Too many people in the world are too eager to pull out their phones and take a picture, moreso than they're willing to pull out their compassion and serve to return someone's dignity.  As the church, we should always be mindful that we are all in need of such compassion from Christ, who gives it freely.

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