Today’s scripture: Genesis 9:18-28 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Terri Brown):
When I was a child, mild-mannered men turned into super heroes after they ran to a phone booth and ripped off a suit, shirt, and/or tie and exposed the bright-colored outfits they wore underneath. They then rushed to save victims and serve justice. Over the years, alter egos were more likely to jump in a vehicle and suddenly be draped in costume and cape, or enter a vacuum tube and spin off their everyday clothes and spin on the crime-fighting ensemble. Regardless, we never see these brave people completely unclothed in order to don the garb that serves as their disguise.
In Genesis, Chapter 9, we encounter Noah and his sons in a predicament. For some unknown reason, Noah has stumbled to his tent in a drunken state and is discovered later by his son, Ham, who sees him unclothed. Ham steps back out of the tent and tells his brothers, Shem and Japheth. Those brothers carefully cover their heads and walk backwards into the tent so as not to see their father naked, then cover him up.
This brings to mind the predicament many of us find ourselves in. I recently had a discussion with a co-worker in the mental health field about this situation, and both of us discovered our own chagrin at how we handle similar situations when some indecency or wrongdoing of another is exposed. We discussed how, like Ham, we may gossip with others about the event. Just telling someone or spreading information without all the facts can be dangerous. Again, we do not know exactly why Noah had been drunk. The fact he now ran a vineyard is mentioned in the passage, but we do not know why Ham left the tent to talk about it either.
We regularly face situations where we expose others to injustice and do not take time to investigate why we react the way we do or what may be behind the nakedness that left someone open to scrutiny. Maybe we need to act as Noah’s other sons and drape ourselves with blinders so we can support the offended ones and maintain fairness with the grace of God.
In my situation with the co-worker, we actually decided to examine our own indecencies and discussed what may make us react to someone else’s indignity. One conclusion was our own discomfort with conflict, scandal, or disrepute. We giggle awkwardly, tell jokes about the disclosure, add flavor to the gossip, and spin our own tales, adding fuel from past situations to the fire.
So I personally have learned from Genesis 9:18-28, and in my conversation with my co-worker found that God’s grace is sufficient for all of us, as it was for Noah and his sons. And Shem and Japheth demonstrated how we can exhibit God’s grace and be mild-mannered citizens with big hero hearts as we mask our own personal perspectives and wear the cape of courage, faith, and compassion.
Thought for the day: Pray for someone today who may need their nakedness shielded and justice delivered.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.