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Let's Honor Our Parents Well

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(Genesis 9:24-27)

When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers." He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave."

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There was a time when people greatly sinned in front of God. So God punished the people by pouring rain for 40 days and nights. In the whole world, a ship was the only thing that was floating.

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The only survivors were 8 family members of Noah, who served God very well.
God restarted humankind with these 8 people.

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God said to Noah and his family. "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. Everything on earth will fear you. I will give you everything on this earth."

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Noah and his family followed God's words very well and lived diligently. Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth had many children. The number of people increased more and more.

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Noah started farming. He started grape farming. His farming had an excellent harvest.
Noah harvested lots of grapes.

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Noah made grape wines with the grapes he harvested. The wine tasted so good.
Noah felt good so he drank too much.

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Then, Noah got drunk and fell asleep. Noah, being drunk, did not know his clothes were taken off. He did not know that he was naked when he fell asleep. Ham, Noah's second son, saw that his father was sleeping naked.

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Ham was so amused by his father. So he went out and said to Shem and Japheth.
"Shem! Japheth! Go to your father's tent and see. There's something funny to see.
Father is drunk so he is sleeping naked."

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Upon hearing Ham's words, Shem and Japheth brought a cloth. They put the cloth across their shoulders and entered Noah's tent by walking backwards. Then, they covered their father's naked body by the cloth they brought. They did this for them not to see the naked body of their father.

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Noah woke up and he heard about his son‘s deeds. Upon knowing what his second son, Ham did, Noah became very angry. Then, Noah cursed Ham. "You will be cursed. You will be the lowest slave that belongs to your brothers."

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And Noah blessed Shem and Japheth. "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem. Ham will be a slave of Shem. May God enlarge the land of Japheth, may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, Ham will be a slave of Japheth."

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Ham mistakenly saw his father sleeping naked and thought his father as a laughing stock and he impulsively told that to his brothers. Because of this mistake he got cursed by his father, Noah and became a slave of his brothers.

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But Shem and Japheth reacted very differently. When they heard that their father was sleeping naked, they brought a cloth, walked backward and covered the body of their father. They got blessings from their father and lived a blessed life.

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God did not make us born in this world alone. Everyone in this world are born through their parents. And God ordered to serve our parents well. Let us read it together. "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you." [Deu] 5:16

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So we should not take our parents lightly like how Ham did. We should be careful not to make a mistake of speaking impulsively about our parents and making them a laughing stock. Serve our parents well and when our parents make mistakes, we should cover and help their mistakes just like how Shem and Japheth did. When we honor our parents, God will pour blessings of living well in this world.

(You can change the conclusion of this sermon best suiting to your listeners of this sermon. We want to make it clear that the provided conclusion is only a sample conclusion provided by CTM.)