Everything is Naked

¹² because God’s word is living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates to the point that it separates the soul from the spirit and the joints from the marrow. It’s able to judge the heart’s thoughts and intentions. ¹³ No creature is hidden from it, but rather everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of the one to whom we have to give an answer. (Hebrews 4:12-13 CEB)

I’ve heard that it is common for those who do public speaking to occasionally have a dream where they find themselves speaking before a large crowd in their underwear, or worse yet they are stark naked. Ever since Adam and Eve’s choice in the garden to go their own way, we humans generally don’t like to be naked before another.

Nakedness represents one of the ultimate human vulnerabilities. With our clothes we not only cover up our private parts, but clothing becomes one way we present ourselves to the world. Some of us dress plainly while some of us like to dress with a lot of color and style. Either way we are covered, we are less vulnerable.

As I read this lectionary text from Hebrews, in many ways it describes what a God encounter can be like. God’s word “penetrates to the point that it separates the soul from the spirit and the joints from the marrow.” No creature can hide, “but rather everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of the one.” When God comes near it can sometimes feel like he’s whispering, “I see you as you are, you can’t hide from me, truly you are naked before me. Stop trying to cover your true self, stop trying to be something you really aren’t.”

It seems the church can collectively behave the same way. As a group we work hard to present our church a certain way to our community. But hearing the church assessment results last week almost felt like God was whispering to me, “You all are naked. You can’t hide, I see you. Look in the mirror and see what I see.”

Facing our nakedness isn’t comfortable, most of us would prefer to avoid it. However, thankfully the author of Hebrews reminds us, in Jesus we have a high priest who can sympathize with our weakness. Jesus “was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin.” In other words, God is also saying to us, “You aren’t perfect, but you are loved. You have things you need to work on, but I am with you.”

Verse 16 concludes, “let’s draw near to the throne of favor with confidence so that we can receive mercy and find grace when we need help.” We can be confident that when we concede our nakedness before God’s throne, we will then receive mercy and grace.

I’ve joked before, I’m glad we all wear clothes most of the time! However, in a spiritual sense we all could benefit from recognizing our nakedness before God. Will you pray with me?

Lord, everything, everyone is naked before you. We can’t hide, we can’t pretend to be something we’re not. We are all exposed before your throne. Help us to approach your throne with confidence, knowing you will meet us there and reveal our heart’s thoughts and intentions. At the same time, we give you thanks your throne is one of mercy and grace. We are grateful you sympathize with our weakness and come alongside us when we need help. We pray this in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Shawn