20 January 2010
Psalm 38; Gen. 9:18-29; Heb. 6:1-12; John 3:22-36

The story of Noah and Ham is a sad epilogue to Noah’s life. The man got drunk and his sin led to the sin of Ham uncovering his father’s nakedness, disrespecting the man. Noah certainly isn’t blameless in the story, he got drunk. Nakedness, however, has already been an issue in the Bible, Adam and Eve were first naked and unashamed but after sin entered the world they covered their nakedness in shame and distrust. Here Ham shows us the continuing effects of the fall. We don’t know that Ham did anything other than make fun of Noah to his brothers, but for a man who was righteous and whose righteousness was responsible for their very lives, this is a serious matter of attempting to destroy a man’s reputation. Noah certainly felt strongly about his son’s sin, cursing his line to be slaves of their brothers. (Sadly, this was used as justification for enslaving Africans who were presumed to be Canaan’s descendants.)

John the Baptist is an extraordinary man, able to take a step back from the limelight with grace. Jealousy is one of the biggest problems in life, perhaps the motivation for Ham’s sin, a desire to bring down someone else in order that they might be on our level. It is a problem in the church, the desire for recognition, a problem that Jesus spoke about regularly with His disciples because they struggled with it. John proves that his humble words about his role, only a voice of one crying in the wilderness, aren’t just words. He is able to allow Jesus to become more prominent without it becoming a blow to his ego. He knows and understands his role.

The writer is telling his readers to believe first principles, repentance, baptism, resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment in order to move ahead spiritually. The issue here isn’t sin after faith, it is losing faith in those first principles and going back to some other hope of salvation. The first five chapters of the letter are to establish that Jesus is better than the old system and the folly of going back to the old ways. If we have known Jesus and yet have now lost faith in Him it is difficult to restore than faith and bring about repentance. Jesus is pre-eminent and the old things should be let go. In our worship we acknowledge those foundational principles of the faith in the Nicene Creed in order to establish us in them. It is vitally important that we maintain our connection with those confessions in order to say that whatever else was taught or preached this day simply builds upon those foundations.

For you, O LORD, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.