Posted on 03/17/2006 6:15:24 PM PST by sionnsar
Continuing in his excellent series on the Book of Genesis, the Rev. William Klock of Christ Church REC in Oregon asks, Do we have a sense of shame?. Looking at Genesis 9:18-29, Fr. Klock makes many good points, including this one:
The final story of Noah and his sons reminds us of what our response to sin ought to be as believers and it ought to remind us just how bad a thing sin is. What strikes me here is how much we tend to downplay sin. The example in this story of Ham dishonouring his father emphasizes just how much we have lost a sense for the wrongness of sin. We don’t think much of dishonouring our parents. But look at the Ten Commandments and think about how many of those commandments we don’t make much of anymore: taking the name of God in vain – watch TV for ten minutes and tell me how seriously we take this commandment. If the Mosaic Law were put back in place every network executive in the country would be executed. Thou shalt not commit adultery – people do it all the time it doesn’t seem that many people care. Thou shalt not covet – our consumer culture and advertisements that bombard us all are based on the idea that if marketers can get us to covet, we’ll eventually buy their product. And that’s just the outward actions – Jesus reminds us that the attitude of the heart and the inward reaction to temptation is just as important! Most of us know better, but when it comes down to it, I don’t think we think of sin as a big deal anymore.Indeed, along with our societal loss of shame, we have lost a sense of how much we do in today's culture that truly offends God. May the Lord help us to renew a right spirit within us that we might not sin against Him, and to seek to honor and obey Him in all that we do and think.
We need to recover that sense that our sins, no matter how small, are an affront to God’s holiness. Look at the example of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu. They decided to experiment with the offering of fire or incense on the altar in the Tabernacle and divine fire fell from heaven and burned both of them to a crisp on the spot. We think, “So they changed God’s rules on how to make sacrifices by a little bit – what’s the big deal?” The big deal is that they disobeyed God and disobedience is disobedience.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Klock's sermons are available as a podcast at:
http://homepage.mac.com/klock/ChristChurch/sermons.htm
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.