June 6, 2021 Text: Genesis 3:8-15
Dear Friends in Christ,
Naked. Do I have your attention? I figure there are two reactions when I say naked. Naked, all right this sermon is going to be good. Naked. Should Pastor be talking about that from the pulpit?
If you are familiar with the early chapters of Genesis, you realize nakedness existed in the Garden of Eden. Before the fall, Adam and Eve lived naked. Because of their innocence, lack of shame, and freedom from sin, nakedness did not affect them. They stood naked before God in Paradise. This topic is Biblical, so if you are little nervous, relax. Let’s step into the Garden and talk about being . . .
“NAKED”
Recall life in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were made to live in a loving relationship with God and reflect for them their own relationship and in their stewardship of creation. God said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen. 1:28) They were defined by the love of God that brought them into being and the honor of being stewards of God’s earth.
Then sin crept into God’s creation. The serpent promised they could be like God. Adam and Eve abandoned their privileged position among God’s creatures. By coveting godhood, they separated themselves from the life-giving love of God that had made them and defined them. They thought if they had the knowledge of good and evil, they wouldn’t owe anything to anyone. But this knowledge didn’t make them more divine. It only opened their eyes to how evil their abuse of God’s love had been. It exposed their nakedness. They were now free to define themselves, create their own godhood. But this freedom proved to be an endless struggle to cover their shame – a struggle filled with pain, doubt, and death.
Isn’t their naked shame quite amazing? We understand this if we have ever been naked in front of someone or many some ones. But their shame was before God, not necessarily each other. This is why they played hide and seek. They weren’t hiding from each other, they were hiding from God. “Who told you that you were naked?” They would cover themselves with fig leaves but Adam still complained to Eve that she had put his pants in the salad again!
Ever since the fall, we mark our lives by self-definition. We are judged by how much we have achieved in life, how much education we have or how much we earn. We make a statement: “This is what I’ve made myself to be.” We dress ourselves up in our achievements for everyone to see.
There is nothing wrong with all of this unless they become our gods. “This is what I made myself to be” can never be our creed. When what we accomplish turns into a means of self-creation, we fall into the same sin as Adam and Eve. This deceives us into thinking we are naked unless we clothe ourselves with our successes. This blinds us to the fact that all we are and all we have comes from the hand of God, the only and true Creator.
God didn’t just leave Adam and Eve naked. He cursed them yes for their disobedience but He then promised a covering for sin – a Savior who would bridge a right relationship with God. He would bring them back.
We also are not left naked. We can never do enough to cover ourselves up. Thanks be to God, by the resurrected, ascended, and glorified body of Jesus Christ, we do indeed become clothed. All sinners who repent and are washed in the cleansing flood of Baptism receive a robe of righteousness. The Spirit recreates us as members of Christ’s holy, glorified body in union with our Savior. He makes us, the Bride of Christ, one with our eternal Husband. Our Lord and Savior covers us in His holiness and righteousness. So when the Father looks at us, He sees the clothing of His beloved Son. Those glorious fashions are bestowed by grace as part of our dowry and inheritance. Clothed with the robes of Christ, we can enter the divine and holy presence of God with boldness and confidence. Because we partake of Christ, we presently stand in God’s heavenly presence in this flesh. We abide in Him; He dwells in us. And when He returns to bring us into His eternal home, we will receive the radiant clothing of His majesty and glory forever.
Talking about naked wasn’t so bad now, was it? What happened to Adam and Eve happens to us daily. The world tries to clothe us with their constant drivel and their “look at me” mentality. Through the Holy Spirit we know better. The love of our Savior, Christ’s love covers us now and into eternity.
You can lift your head now . . . it’s time to say . . . Amen.