Naked Before the World

Series: How to Look Good Naked
Sermon: Naked Before the World
George J. Saylor
February 24, 2008

I found a quote that pretty much sums up everything we’ve said so far in our "How to Look Good Naked" series, and points to where we’re finishing today. And I know there is at least one person here whose hero is Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

“In Confession the break-through to community takes place…If a Christian is in the fellowship of confession with another brother, he will never be alone again, anywhere.”

We started this series by taking an honest look at ourselves naked. What we saw, what we need to see, before anything else, is that we are made in the image of God- uniquely created for a unique role and a unique relationship with God. When you see yourselves in the mirror embrace the fact that you are the image bearers of God, the children of God. Get that in your bones and being, and you’ll start to know who you are, whose you are, where you are, and what you were made for. It is the beginning knowing yourself, and being known by God.

Two weeks ago I said that when we stand before God we have no choice but to stand naked- He knows us inside and out and all the days of our existence in this world and beyond. And since God knows us naked we really have only two options in our response- conceal or confess. We can try to be like Adam and Eve, caught with our pants down, trying to cover up with fig leaves, trying to hide the truth of who we are and what we’ve done. And when we do that before God we look about a pathetic as Adam and Eve did trying to conceal themselves and their disobedience to God. Or we can simply confess- God you know me, inside and out. You caught me in nothing but my birthday suit. God says there is freedom in confession. With confession comes mercy we learned from Proverb 28:13. Just confess what God knows, what you know, what you know that God knows. You know?!

Last week Ben Joliffee did an awesome job talking about the leap of faith we make to strip down and get naked with other people. To finally say enough loneliness and isolation, enough covering up my deep need to know and be known by other people, and get into relationships. I’m going to take the step to get real with someone else. Maybe this past week you took that step. You had coffee with a friend and took it to the next level. Maybe life forced you to get real- crisis hit, tragedy came, something shook you out of you comfort zone and you had get naked with someone else for the first time- to say help me, I need you, I need something, I’m lonely, I don’t want to do this on my own anymore. Honestly, I hope you took that step, or I pray that God forces you into that step in the near future. I know, that’s a mean prayer for a pastor to pray- but I pray it for your own blessing, and the blessing of others. Because think of it this way- if you don’t get real with other people, you are robbing them of the chance to be blessed by you.

Today we have to wrap it up, and get naked before the world. What does it look like to unveil ourselves before the world, before community, and start living authentic lives.

I think there are two types of people in the world- prudes and exhibitionists. One group wants to flaunt it, the other group wants to cover up. (One guess on which category I fall into.) Children are naturally born exhibitionists. Nobody told me this was part of the deal when I became a dad. In my house, at any given moment, you run the risk of seeing a naked little body go streaking through the living, into the kitchen, even out into the back yard. Yes, I’ve actually seen my kids bouncing naked on our trampoline. You have to love how kids naturally love their bodies and are unashamed of them. They know they are naked underneath it all, and healthy, normal kids, are really unafraid to expose themselves. In fact, developmentally, we know that this exactly how kids should live and think- this is who I am and I know I will be accepted for who I am without fear, shame or judgment. In the safety of their home they can be exhibitionists. One of the first phrases they learn and then say often is "Look at me!"

But live begins to teach us that in a fallen world, there is a time and place for our birthday suits. Life begins to teach us to be more prudent in revealing our nakedness. In fact one of the most common human fears that people confess is being caught naked in public. When my wife was young she saw a little kid come out of a change room naked at a swimming pool. Since then she has had a reoccurring nightmare that she forgets to put on her swimsuit. She walks out only to be humiliated. But how many of us have had that nightmare, or that reality- who here remembers the guy who got his shorts whipped down in gym class? I remember that guy- I was that guy!

In the spirit of leading by example, I have to tell the story of my most recent public exposure. One of the adventures I went on with my dad and brother and two uncles, was a fishing trip in 10,000 Islands, just off of the Everglades, three years ago. We hooked up with a guide who owned one of the few remaining cabins that was grandfathered in when it became protected wetlands. Well after the first day of fishing in the stinking hot sun we got dropped off at the cabin. Tucked into the mangroves, the deck overlooking a natural bay area, a gentle breeze keeping the mosquitoes away, the sun setting, it was awesome. The cabin had a cistern that collected rainwater for a gravity fed shower. And since this was in the middle of nowhere, the shower was simply the deck. Now bare with me (no pun intended). My brother takes a couple of rods, we load up some hooks with Kentucky Fried Chicken (I’m not making this up, and ok, maybe I am a redneck, but KFC makes some fine bait), and cast them out into the bay. I strip down and go to take my shower. At just about that moment as I’m cleaning up, one of the reels starts spinning. I yell in to my brother, "Hey, fish on." He yells back, "Grab it." So I turn off the spout, walk over the rod, and start reeling it in. And of course, at that moment, as I’m literally caught naked, standing on the deck, reeling in this fish, I hear from behind me, smile, and see all the others guys, my dear and beloved family, whom I used to trust, gleefully taking my picture. Pictures which where subsequently shown to my own mother if you can believe that!

Here's the point, if you can't trust your family who can you trust! No, actually, the thing was, it really wasn't so bad. In fact, it was kind of freeing to stand there before the world and say, "Hey, I'm George, I like fishing, and I'm naked!"

There are, shall we say, three stages of nakedness in developing authenticity. The first stage is Prudence. This is where we really need to guard who we are, and who others are. It’s not always right to reveal everything about yourself right from day one. You don’t introduce yourself to a new coworker by sharing all the sorted details of your past. People that do that are quickly ostracized from the work place community.

The bible even says, in Proverbs 12:23,

“A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly.”

This stage isn’t about authenticity, it’s more about protecting yourself from further hurt that can actually hinder authentic community.

The second stage let's call Prudent Exhibitionism. It’ the next step in being real and naked with other people. It’s making the decision to take authenticity deeper with other people. It’s not blabbing during the lunch break with everyone, but having coffee with the guy you think you could be better friends with. It’s about going on a second date and not spending 2 hours doing your hair and makeup and picking out that perfect outfit, or if you a girl just one hour doing you hair and make up.

There is a story in the Old Testament where a man named Moses encounters God on a mountain, and when he came down his face was actually glowing, not like the skiers tan I’m sporting, but actually glowing like a lightstick! Now what's so wild about that story is that after a little while Moses faces started to fade. He took a walk one night and realized his lantern head wasn’t casting quite the light it once did. But instead of saying, "Oh well, I suppose life goes on even after a mountain top experience with God," it says he put a veil over his face to hide the face that his shine was wearing off. Some time later he finally came before the people, took off the veil, and admitted the glow was gone. Paul goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 3:18

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

He tells us that because of God’s love for us we don’t have to go around with veiled faces pretending to be something or someone who we really aren’t. Instead we are free to live unveiled in community. No veils. No make up. No masks required.

So now I ask you, what’s your veil? What’s your mask? What needs to come off if you are going to get naked, get authentic, with some other people?

Maybe you need to strip off the biting sarcasm that laces every conversation.
Maybe the constant need to direct the conversation to the areas of your expertise.
Maybe you need to stop talking about the glory days when you were a kid.
Maybe you need to admit you don’t know everything, and some people are smarter than you. We all have a veil. We all have something we want to hide, and something we use to cover it up. We take one strength, and we start to leverage that against a weakness.

Some of us have been veiled for so long that we don’t even know it anymore. We don’t realize every attempt to get authentic is betrayed with some biting remark or snappy retort. If you don’t know what your veil is, you need to find someone to tell you. And to find those people you really have no further to look than your family or someone who has spend any significant amount of time with you. They see your veil, and chances are they have tried to help you lift it.

And we need to lift it. Because while the veil might keep us safe and secure and wrapped up, it also keeps us concealed. Veils keep us from getting naked and real. And ultimately, we aren’t drawn to veiled faces, we want to know the man behind the mask. We are attracted to people that we can truly see for who they are.

So finally we get to the third stage- unveiled lives. As Paul wrote, unveiled lives that are transformed more and more into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. We go from the prudence, to a kind of prudent exhibitionism, to find some people, not all people, that wouldn’t be prudent, to unveil our lives with. I say "with" because it has to be mutual. It has to be mutual, but it has to begin with one person beginning to pull the veil.

I remember when my best friend in college became my best friend whom I stood by at his wedding, who stood at my wedding, so still stands by me today when I need a friend. He was in my dorm as a freshman, he was my RA my sophomore year. We were in a bible study together and went on some camping and rock climbing trips. But he didn’t become my best friends through all these things. He became my best friend the day he came up to me and simply said, “You seem like the kind of guy I can be real with. You seem like the kind of guy that could be real with me. You seem like you are the guy that can be a true friend.” When he revealed his need for a real friend. When he said he thought I could be that kind of guy, man, that’s a conversation, that a brotherhood, you don’t find everyday.

But ultimately we are not called to unveil our lives and remain naked for al teh world to see. Instead, unveiled lives are to reveal the quality and character of our true and inner selves. God tell us exactly what he wants us to look like as we unveil our lives and are transformed into Christ’s likeness. He tell us exactly how he wants to clothe us...

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:1-14

The unveiled life isn’t about being naked, it’s about being clothes in the life and Spirit of Jesus Christ. We want to be able to strip away these things that veil our lives, that keep us from being authentic and real. We are to strip down and take off a lot of the things the world puts on us and we put on ourselves. And we can’t do it ourselves. We can take these things off without help- so we look to Jesus. We are so wrapped up in Jesus we die to our old selves the passage tells us. Then, raised to life in Christ, living in Christ we strip away sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed. Strip away anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language and all lying from your lips.

Then we want to get dressed up in what matters to God- to clothe ourselves with compassion, with kindness, with humility, gentleness and patience. These are the clothes that God looks at.

Clothe yourself with compassion toward your fellow human beings. Allow your heart to bleed with compassion for the orphans, for the widows, for the outcasts and outsiders. Show them the compassion not that they deserve, but that they desire, the compassion you desire in your heart.

Clothe yourself with acts of kindness towards those closest to you- to your spouse whom it’s so easy to take for granted, to you children who won’t always be young, to your neighbors who dog drives you crazy barking at night, whose kid plays their music too loud all day. Show kindness to you coworkers who are idiots and who don’t know how to do their job and who drive you crazy. Show kindness to strangers who you’ll never see again.

Clothe yourself with humility because if you don’t, someone else will. If you don’t humble yourself, sooner or later someone will do it for you, so folks, just beat them to the punch, laugh at yourself, give yourself some slack, and then give it to others as well.

Clothe yourself with gentleness because being a gentle man or gentle woman never goes out of style.

Clothe yourselves with patience. As the old saying goes- “Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can, seldom found in women, but never found in man.”

Bear with one another and forgive one another, and over all these virtues put on love, for love binds them all together in perfect unity.

Here’s the picture that scripture paints for us- strip away the clothes, lift the veil, and live authentic lives. God doesn’t really care about the label on your jeans, if they are relaxed fit, boot cut, or skinny, black, blue or acid washed. He might care if they are ultra super low rise. Honestly folks, say no to crack. He doesn’t care if you shirt is tucked or untucked, he probably just wants you to have one on. He doesn’t care if your Ugg boots are real or knock offs, he probably just wants everyone of his children to have warm feet in the winter. Strip away all the clothes, because that not what God is looking at.

But take away the veil, live by these virtues, and you will be smoking hot in the eyes of God. God’s gonna look at us say hey, did you see my girl Robin, she is looking fine today- I saw the compassion she showed her husband. Hey, you see George today, he is looking hot, because he was patient with his kids. I saw Nate and, oh yeah, he’s got it going on, because today he showed forgiveness to a brother. Did you see my children today at Connections church- they started to lift the veil. They started to prudently exhibit who they are, who they want to be. And I liked what I saw.

Friends, I like what I see in your unveiled faces, for I have seen and experienced the love of God in you. I need to see your unveiled lives. Other here need your unveiled lives. The world is dying to see some authentic unveiled lives.