Naked Before God

Series: How to Look Good Naked
Sermon: Naked Before God
George J. Saylor
February 10, 2008

Last week we kicked off our How to Look Good Naked series. I have to give God the glory because I had some amazing conversations this past week. People shared how hard it really is for them to look in the mirror. They see shame, guilt and regret. It usually came down to one two reasons. One group sees the names they have been called, the things that have been done to them, the image that was superimposed over their body, their mind, their soul. Others see the faces of those they have sinned against. They carry the guilt and shame of what they called others, what they did to their children, to their spouses, to the parents, to their friends.

I hope and pray that as we looked in the mirror this past week we began to see reflected back to us the very image and likeness of God. Not that we are Gods, but unlike all other created things, we alone are the image bearers of God. We learned three things: We were uniquely created in God’s image. We have a unique role to fulfill as his stewards. We have a unique relationship with God in all of creation.

I hope and pray that as you looked at yourself in the mirror, you were able to simply say- you are made in the image of God and you look MARVELOUS. Because before anything else, before we consider the way others look at ourselves, before we even look at ourselves, we need to get straight how God looks at us and what God sees in us. Because that is the way that we will start to get this whole sense of self, who we are and what we were created to be and do, straightened out. God looks at us and see his very image, his very likeness reflected back. And God says it looks marvelous! You are dearly beloved children, the people of God, I made you to know you and to be known by you. If you are struggling today with self image, with body image, with your identity there is good news that you are made in the very image of God and I want each and every one of us to get that straight before we go on.

Today we go the next step. We want to go into that relationship with God which we were created for. And as we go into that relationship, we need to realize that we have to go in naked. We really have no other option. Psalm 139:13-16 says,

“For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of the came to be!”

The psalmist reflects on the fact that God knows us inside and out because he made us inside and out. He wove us together; he knew the days of our lives before one of them came to be. And I love that verse, I praise you God, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I know that full well.

I totally get that. Fearfully and wonderfully made. You know how? I’ve made kids. Three of them in fact. Making them was the wonderful part. Raising them is the fearful part. But really, bringing children into the world is this mix of fear and wonder. And every parent knows that. Every parent knows the exhilarating thrill that goes hand in glove with the paralyzing terror, the reality, of a new life. As I held each one of my kids as they came into the world it was this moment where the line between heaven and earth became almost non-existent. This moment in eternity where the miracle of life unfolded before me, and you can’t help by cry. With all of my kids I’d just stand there holding them, and I had to cry. You cry because you are so excited at the beautiful little life in your hands, and you cry because you’re like what an earth am I going to do now!

As we get naked before God, as we enter into the wonderful and fearful reality, as we gaze deeper and more honestly at ourselves, we begin to see our selves the way God sees us- and something else emerges in the image. We start to see that there really are some blemishes. We start to see that there really is some baggage. We start to see there really is some junk that we are carrying around with us.

That thing is sin. It’s the thing that messes up the image. It messes up the way we see ourselves reflecting the glory of God. I suppose there are folks out there, maybe in here, that would argue that there is no such thing as sin, that their lives are perfect, that everyone they’ve encountered is fine, that the world is completely just and right. I have no idea what world they live in or what lives they live. Because in my world I’m messed up. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve hurt myself and I’ve hurt others. In my world I’ve been messed up and messed with. In the world I live in I daily read of war and murder and rape and abuse a hungry and misery. The world I live in has a vast amount of empirical proof that sin and evil exists and is real and is at work. It messes up our role as stewards made in the image of God. It messes up the relationship that were made to enjoy as men and women made in the image of God. It messes up our relationship with our neighbors and ourselves. It messes up this image in the mirror.

But the great news for us is that God has provided the means to begin repairing that image. It’s called confession. And the bible is full of stories of confession. One of my favorites is from a man named Isaiah.

In Isaiah 6:1-7 we read…

1 In the year that King Uzziah died (740BC for you history buffs) I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

Isaiah goes to the temple to worship God, and there he is transported into the vision of the Holy of Holies. The veil between heaven and earth is lifted and Isaiah sees reality- heaven and earth for what they really are. This image from Isaiah’s vision has worked it’s way into our culture- in movies, in television, in numerous episodes of the Simpsons, where God is pictured as this majestic figure, standing larger than life, in resplendent robes of white that flow down to the ground and beyond. He sits on a throne that towers over us mortals. He speaks and the ground shakes.

What is the first thing that Isaiah calls out when he stands before God- “Hey big man, what’s up? I’ve got some questions for you.” (people always say they have all sorts of questions for God when they die). No way. Isaiah is naked and he knows it. Isaiah is busted. He says, “Woe to me, I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!” When we stand before God we see ourselves in a whole new light. And that light reveals everything, every thought, every deed, every word, every motive.
When we are confronted with the reality of the presence of God in our lives the human response, the natural response to our creator, the maker of heaven and earth, the holy and perfect Lord Almighty, is to assume that we are goners. That God is gonna smote us good!

And if the story stopped right there, I wouldn’t be standing here. If the story stopped right there we’d have to say there is no hope for us. We are unclean, we are guilty, we should be ashamed, and we will be smote. But the great thing is that the story doesn’t stop. As Isaiah stands there, kind of naked and exposed before God, totally helpless, as he confesses to God, God does something. God sends one of the Seraph angels who takes this burning coal and touches it to Isaiah’s lips, but instead of searing his lips shut with burning flesh, God says see, your guilt has been taken away, and your sin atoned for.

All Isaiah did was say, “Woe, I’m unclean.” And that was enough. You see, what Isaiah did at that moment was called confession. He confessed his sin, he confessed his condition, and he confessed the reality of his life before God.

This is one of those words where the original Greek is actually interesting. It from the Greek “homologeo,” which simply translates- “to say the same.” What confession is then, is to say the same thing about ourselves that God say about us. God sees us for who we are. God sees us naked. And we know God sees us naked because we see ourselves in this new light. And at that moment we are faced with two options: confess, or conceal.

Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but he who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

The bible says we have one of two options as we stand before God, one of two options when we stand naked- we conceal or we confess. Concealing means trying to cover up, to ignore, to put it off, to try and deny it. Confession is when we simply say- you know God, I agree. I’m willing to see myself as you see me and say the same thing.

Concealing our nakedness before God is the last ditch effort of a fool. And we do it all the time. Again, parents, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I think it happens every day that my kids sin and try to cover it up. I’ve found in our pantry a bag of opened chocolate chips. I’ve picked up chocolate chips off the ground. I’ve gone to my child and asked- did you take the chocolate chips without asking. And there, with big bambi looking eyes, with this sweet look in her face, with the soft voice she says no daddy I didn’t take the chocolate chips. All the while my child is the living incarnation of messy Marvin. She has this ring of chocolate around her mouth, all over her hands, all over her clothes. And I honestly don’t want to punish her. I really take no joy in punishing her, in grounding her or taking privileges away from her. I like chocolate chips myself. I’d actually be more than happy to give her a little bowl with some chocolate chips, if only, if only, if only she would confess. If only she would agree with what I already know, if only she would acknowledge what we both know to be the truth. If she would confess renounce her sin, she would find mercy. She would find compassion. I would show her grace.

Concealing does nothing but build a wall between us. It begins that downward spiral of disintegrating the relationship. And as that wall is built guilt begins to take hold. Guilt begins to eat us away. It begins to eat away at the relationship. It begins to tear us apart inside. It wreaks havoc on our intellect and emotions. It begins to take a toll on our physical bodies. Psalm 32 the writer David says “When I kept silent about my sin my body wasted away.” He couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep, he had no peace, he had no freedom, and truly he could not prosper.

But confession brings mercy friends. Confession tears down the wall of separation so that the relationship can flourish. Confession brings forgiveness so the guilt that consumes us can be washed away. Confession brings freedom. Confession brings us into the freedom to stand naked and unashamed before God. Confession brings us the freedom of saying you know God, I’m done concealing because I’m want to be done with this baggage, the broken relationship, this guilt, this shame. I’m done and I want to be free! Confession brings compassion by friends. And we need it.

There is actually a two fold purpose to confession. The first is to confess Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord. The bible says in Romans 10:9, “

That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. “

The first and foremost confession is always the confession of Jesus- to say the same of him as he say, as the bible says- Jesus is Lord.

But for those that confess Jesus as Lord there is the ongoing role of confession in our lives. This is so that we might continue to crow in the relationship with Jesus. The bible says in 1 John 1: 8-9,

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

That what it’s all about when we stand naked before God- he sees us for who we really are, he knows us inside and out, what we’ve thought and said and done. And we can go on trying to conceal ourselves to no avail. We only fool ourselves and not prosper. But if we confess we will find mercy, we will be forgiven, we will know freedom and release. But we have to own it. We have to confess it. WE are called to use our lips. There’s something about Isaiah saying, confessing it, and having his lips cleansed. There’s something about confessing it with our lips that seems to make it real in our lives.

I’ve made a friend here in London. I’ve been inviting him to our church since before our preview services. He’s never offended, I actually think he flattered. But he’s never come. I just keep trying to be his friend. I recently found out from another mutual friends that the other week he got up, got dressed, got in his car, drove here- and turned around. I asked why on earth would he do that?

And his friend said because he is afraid. I was like, where did I go wrong. I was assured that it is nothing I said or did. But rather, he feels guilty and afraid to come to church. He feels horrible about himself, and he thinks we’re going to make him feel worse. Because somehow the church has screwed up the most awesome message, the greatest news any of us could ever hear- that there is a way to find freedom from the junk you are dragging through life, that weighs you down, that hold you back from the relationship with you were created to enjoy.

Folks, the last thing I want is for you to feel worse this morning. I want you to feel free. I haven’t preached confession because I want to hear all the sorted details of you life. I want you to be able to unload on God, confess your junk, and find God’s mercy. Because that’s what’s promised to all of us who confess- no more concealing, no more guilt, no more baggage. I preached this for my friend who isn’t here because I want everyone here to know, and I want this church to become known as the church where people who feel guilty, and afraid, and ashamed, and judged can come to church. I want everyone here to know that you can invite your friends who are carry the burden and guilt of this world and their lives. Bring them here so together we can find the freedom that come sonly in being naked before God.