MAKING OURSELVES A NAME

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.  Genesis 11:4

         How small God must have been.  Solidarity was created among the peoples of this region to think that they could build a tower tall enough to reach into the heavens and, in the process, make a name for themselves that had nothing to do with God.  It was ridiculous and yet nothing has changed.  Our small worlds are full of those who are feverishly building a kingdom to impress, one where God is ignored, one that will give them a name that inspires awe.

         People were never meant to be the objects of another’s worship.  We are to be worshippers.  We were never meant to make a name for ourselves.  God offers us His name instead.  Why would I possibly want another?

         The real tragedy is when people in ministry try to build towers that offer them fame.  Feeling small, they devise their own source of healing.  Continue Reading »

CURSING GENERATIONS

When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”  Genesis 9:24-25

         Noah is remembered for building the ark but perhaps his greatest moment was the pronouncement of this curse over Ham’s descendants.  Just 24 hours earlier, he had been drunk with wine.  At this moment, he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

         The curse was not made against Ham, per se, the one who had reveled in his father’s nakedness.  The curse was against Ham’s youngest son who, it is believed, already exhibited some of the same sinful bents of his father.  Continue Reading »

HOW DO I HANDLE MY PARENT’S SIN?

And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 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.   Genesis 9:22-23

   Noah was drunk.  In his compromised condition, he stripped and lay naked in his tent, fully exposed.  Ham went in and looked upon his father, took in the scene in way that was immoral, and went to report it to his brothers.  It wasn’t that Ham just glanced and left.  Several translations present a Hebraic picture of looking upon someone with lust and desire, and then relishing the exposure.  Noah’s two other sons, after hearing, approached their father with their backs turned toward him and covered up his nakedness.

   There can be something evil bent in the heart of a child to glory in a father’s or mother’s weakness.  If the parent has been a poor one and there is unresolved hurt, a child, no matter what age, can rejoice when the power and grandeur of a parent begins to crumble.  The need for revenge takes over to party over their sin.  Though I am surprised that Ham, after being saved from worldwide destruction by the faith of his father, is not more humbled and reverent!

   I have no idea what Ham’s issue with his father was but at that moment, his own heart was revealed.  Noah had not been a perfect father and leader but he had been righteous.  Like David, he had a heart bent toward faith and had proven it over a century.

   Honoring parents is one of the conditional foundational requirements for God’s blessing.  He instituted the family and for anything to pollute the beauty of the relationships is to hurt the heart of the Creator.  Nothing is more tragic than parents who won’t forgive children and children who won’t forgive parents.

   In a particular movie from a few years back, I remember a line that struck me.  A son in his forties is having a heated discussion with his mother.  He raises his voice to make a point.  The mother says, “Son, who taught you to be this cruel?”  His answer, “You did, mother.  You did!”  In this hotbed of anger, each is looking for the vulnerability of the other to rise up and strike.

   Parents aren’t perfect.  Some try their best and fail.  Others don’t care and fail.  Should all parents be forgiven?  Yes.  To fail to forgive is to hurt, not only the parent but the ones who carry the anger.  I realize today that I teach my children how to treat me by how they hear me talk of my own parents.  Respect and honor are godly legacies I can pass on.  Disrespect and dishonor can just as easily become hallmarks of family trees.

Your forgiveness covered my sins.  How grateful am I?  Can I not, in remembrance of Your mercy, cover my parent’s shortcomings?  Drive the point home.  Amen

COASTING

Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.  He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.  Genesis 9:20-21

         Wine is spoken of favorably in scripture.  God asked for wine to be used as an offering in the book of Numbers.   But like anything, when it is consumed in excess, clear and sound thinking is compromised.

         Noah coasted for just a moment.  While he is recounted as a righteous man in the hallmark chapter of the bible, he was not perfect.  (Nor is anyone else mentioned in Hebrews 11.)  Noah had passed God’s great test of obedience by faithfully building the ark for 120 years.  He withstood the emotional and spiritual challenges of leading his family while hearing the earth destroyed.  Now, the flood is behind him.  The storm has passed and earth is a friendly place to live.  Coasting is never a wise posture because vigilance is laid aside.

         For a moment, he laid his judgment aside and drank too much.  He stripped himself bare, exposed what he never would have thought of exposing while sober, and succumbed to shame.  His judgment was suspended while under the intoxicating effects of alcohol.

         Some years ago, Jaime and I were at a major airport about to board a plane.   At the gate, we stood in line behind our pilot and crew who were checking in with the gate agent.  The smell of alcohol was overwhelming. Continue Reading »

IS IT WRONG TO ASK FOR A SIGN?

         And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Genesis 9:12-13

         Most anytime a believer talks about God giving a sign, or asking God for a sign, it is inferred that signs are unpleasing to God.  I had a discussion about this yesterday with Jaime.  We were celebrating the times God had given signs to us in the ministry after asking Him to confirm a decision we had made that we felt was right.  We said to each other, yet again, how gracious God is to give signs to those who are wanting to walk in His paths.

         Today’s story is another confirmation that God is a sign-giving God.  Most every Biblical covenant has been confirmed by some visual symbol.  The Abrahamic covenant included circumcision, the Mosaic covenant had the Sabbath, and the new covenant had the Lord’s Supper.  God made a covenant with Noah by setting a rainbow in the clouds.

         “But wait!” you might say.  “What about Jesus words in Matthew where he says that only an evil and adulterous generations seeks for a sign.  Then He called them wicked and perverse.”   Continue Reading »

THE DIFFERENCE ONE SACRIFICE MAKES

And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.   Genesis 8:22

            What changed from the time before the flood to the time after the flood?  Not much as far as sin goes.  Judgment hadn’t take away the sin nature of man.  The family who exited the ark was just as sinful, by nature, as the families who had been destroyed in the flood.  Judgment had not changed individual hearts.  So why was God making a beautiful promise to Noah if he and his descendants were going to sin again?  Continue Reading »

THE FIRST ACT OF NOAH

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.  Genesis 8:20

         What was Noah’s reaction to mercy?  The first moment his feet stepped off the ark, he built an altar and offered burnt offerings.  It wasn’t like he had plenty of each kind of animal either.  He had pairs of each, that’s all.  Yet, he didn’t think twice at offering half of his food supply to the Lord in response to God’s salvation of him and his family.  Mercy understood equals generosity expressed. 

         My offerings to God are a barometer of how much I believe God has been merciful to me.  If I really understand that I’ve been snatched from the fire, won’t I give everything?  Expressions like, “I can’t afford to give that much while times are hard!” will be obsolete.  Especially in light of the fact that when we give, God promises us increased blessing!

         The greatest thing I can lay on the altar is not a sacrifice for my sin.  While Noah had to offer atonement for the sins of he and his family, Jesus came and laid on the altar for us.  In response to such love and sacrifice, my offering to God is not the blood of an unblemished animal but my life. 

I lay my life on the altar.  Take it all.  Not just a token act of service on a certain weekday.  All of it, Lord.  Your mercy, and your grace, came kicking down the door to rescue me.  I know it and spend my life to show you my gratitude.  Amen