Covering Sin

Proverbs 10:12 Love covers all sins.

Pop quiz, how many kids did Noah have?

We all know the story of Noah. Somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 years after the world was created, the human race had become very, very wicked. The Bible says in Genesis 6:5 that "everything they thought or imagined was totally evil." Then again in verse 11 that the whole earth was filled with violence. Can you imagine being Noah - the only righteous man on the planet?

Well, fast forward about a hundred years or so. Noah and his family had just gotten off the ark into a brand new world. Nothing here was the same. All of a sudden, all of humanity bottlenecks into one man and his family! So, it's easy to see that Noah might've have been a little overwhelmed for a while. Unfortunately, the way he handled that pressure wasn't very smart. He made some wine and got drunk. The New King James Bible says, "he became uncovered in his tent." That's a nice way of saying that this mighty man of faith was passed out naked. Can you believe that? How could Noah, a "preacher of righteousness", hero to our faith, ancestor of everyone on earth, do something so stupid?

While he was passed out drunk, naked in his tent, his son Ham walks by and sees him there. He was shocked that his father would do that! He was disgusted at how Noah was acting! But now Ham had a choice to make. Was he going to take care of his dad in this moment of weakness?

He didn't so much as close the tent! Instead, he literally told the whole world! He went to his two brothers, Japheth and Shem, and told them. "You are not going to believe what our dad is doing! That old man got himself so drunk that he can't stand up. Now he's in bed naked - how in the world did he end up naked?"

Japheth and Shem didn't listen very long. They loved their dad too much to let him stay like that! The went to his tent, put a blanket on their shoulders, and walked in backwards. They didn't want to look at what Noah was doing wrong! They covered his sin! If I had to guess, they never brought it up again.

Now think about this. In your mind, which was worse - to pass out naked and drunk, or to pass on the news that someone is passed out naked and drunk? The fact is, nothing more came out of Noah's little episode. He seemed to sober up and still remained the head of his family. Ham's gossip, though, brought a curse on his family line! The flip side is, Shem and Japheth's act of love (their covering of their dad's sin) brought a huge blessing on their families!

Remember this when you see your brother or sister do something stupid and crazy. In God's eyes, your repeating the matter to your friends is worse than the matter itself! God hates gossip! According to Proverbs 6:19 ("these things are an abomination to Him...one who sows discord among brethren") and 24:9 ("a scoffer is an abomination to men") - God feels the same way about gossip as you would feel about someone who is constantly laughing and making fun of you. He hates it!

If you want to walk in God's love. if you want to receive your Father's blessing like Shem and Japheth did, then you must guard your tongue from gossip. Even if what your saying is true, even if you really did see that person mess up - love will cover that up. No one else needs to know!