Drunk In Your Birthday Suit Series

Weird Stories in the Bible

Drunk in your Birthday Suit

Genesis 9:20-29

Opening words: Last week, I began a six part sermon series, Weird Stories in the Bible. There are more weird stories in the Bible then you would think. They are not the ones we visit annually like the nativity or the passion of Christ. They are words that are seldom read because they don’t seem to fix with the rest of the book. For example, last week’s text was about bears eating teenagers. (2 Kings 2:23-25) It comes from the Bible but it does not sound like Bible. In the weeks to come we are going to be looking at other odd stories. Let me give you a list:

1. Enoch’s eternity

2. Lot’s incest

3. Ezekiel’s bones

4. Hosea’s favorite prostitute

Today, we have this odd story about Noah’s nudity. In a world that demands physical perfection, very few have perfect bodies. Does anyone here have a perfect body? There is nothing to indicate in the scripture that Noah had a perfect body. Yet, the story still speaks to us because it is not about physical perfect. The story is about human imperfection. It’s about making a mistake. Has anyone one here ever made a mistake? May God give you ears to here this morning’s scripture lesson, Genesis 9:20-29. Let me call this message Drunk in your Birthday Suit.

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Genesis 9:20-29 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

“Cursed be Canaan!

The lowest of slaves

will he be to his brothers.”

26 He also said,

“Praise be to the LORD, the God of Shem!

May Canaan be the slave of Shem.

27 May God extend Japheth’s territory;

may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,

and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.

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Buddha once said, “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.” At the very heart of this morning’s scripture lesson is a mistake. It is one that the world has been examining for years. Please do not be critical of Noah. He lived a good life but he made a mistake on one particular day. The Bible, itself, has promoted his mistake. If it wasn’t for the Bible this mistake would have been forgotten in time. How many mistakes have you made in your life have been forgotten in time? How many mistakes have you made in your life? How many mistakes have you made in the past year? How many mistakes have made in the past week? How many mistakes have you made today? Making mistakes is part of life. Experts in human behavior tell us there are four different kinds of mistakes a person can make. I want to look at all four but I really want to look at the kind of mistake Noah made in the scripture lesson for today. So if you are ready to look at the four different kinds of mistakes you can make say, “Amen!”

Stupid Mistake

The first kind of mistake you can make is a stupid mistake. It is just the stupid things we do. Have you ever made a stupid mistake? You can admit you make stupid mistakes because we all make stupid mistakes. Let me give you one example.

Years ago, I lived in the Cleveland area and went to the local mall. I am not a great shopper. I don’t like shopping. I don’t like malls. I just wanted to run in and out with my purchase. However, I ran into a friend. We talked more than a few minutes. In time, we said, “Good-bye” and I walked out the exit. It was at that moment that I discovered I had forgotten where I had parked. I stood there looking at that sea of cars. I tried to remember but I didn’t have a clue. After looking for a half an hour I discovered I was looking in the wrong parking lot. I had walked out the wrong exit. I felt so stupid. Have you ever made a stupid mistake? I have ever dropped your slice of pizza on you fleshly cleaned carpet? Have you have pocked your eye while eating a banana? The first kind of mistake is a stupid mistake. If you have ever made a stupid mistake say, “Amen!”