“Claiming Our Belovedness: Embracing Our Nakedness”

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Matthew 4:1:11

Rev. Deborah Church Worley

March 1, 2020

White Rock Presbyterian Church

“Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; 

and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.”

(Genesis 3:7)

I haven’t ever done a sermon series before, but I decided last week that there will be a theme linking my sermons together during Lent. As you can see from the screen, that theme is “Claiming Our Belovedness.” Which, if you know much about me and my understanding–and experience–of who God is, you’ll know that’s my primary understanding of our relationship to God, my core belief about our fundamental identity: that we each are God’s beloved! But we don’t seem to know very well how to claim that identity and live from that place….

It seems fitting to me, in this season of Lent, that we explore some of what’s keeping us from claiming that identity, that we reflect on at least some of what’s preventing us from owning our belovedness…in the hopes that when Easter comes, six weeks from now, and we celebrate together the victory of God’s love over everything, including death, that we might be more ready to live as God’s beloved people, living from within the Reality of God’s Love…. 

You may have a sense that this theme, “Claiming Our Belovedness,” goes beyond my sermons–given that there’s a Lenten devotional available titled “Becoming the Beloved Community,” whose reflections we will be discussing during our Adult Discipleship time (discussions to which you are all invited and encouraged to come, by the way!), and a Lenten study group being offered on Sunday afternoons and Tuesdays at lunch time using the book, “We Are Beloved”! And you’d be right. It does. And not only does the theme go beyond my sermons, but it goes beyond Lent! Far beyond Lent. And far beyond me. And far beyond us here at WPRC! But we’ve got to start somewhere, right? And here, and now, is as good a place as any to start. 

So let’s start. Let’s see what Eve and Adam and the serpent, and Jesus and the devil, have to say to us about “Claiming our Belovedness”…..

Well, I’m just going to tell you: I think their lesson to us this morning is about “Embracing Our Nakedness.” 

Yep, I just said naked in church. From the pulpit. You’ll notice I waited to do that until after I had my annual review… 🙂 

And no, the next slide will not be one of Michelangelo’s nude David. Although that’s a beautiful piece of art. But I’m not talking about nakedness as in not wearing clothes. Perhaps we can jointly release the breath we’ve been holding these last few moments! Phew! 🙂 

I’m talking about nakedness in the sense of vulnerability. Nakedness in the sense of not hiding behind defenses. Nakedness in the sense of stepping out from behind our walls, stepping out from under our many, many layers of protection, stepping into openness, stepping into a relationship of complete trust in and dependence on God.

It is in embracing that nakedness, embracing our vulnerability, that we can move closer to claiming our belovedness.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, and need to back up.

Let me tell a story about my daughter Sarah.

When she was really little, I used to like playing peek-a-boo with her. She would cover her face with her little baby hands, and I’d say, “Where’s Sarah?” as if she had disappeared–because if she couldn’t see me, then obviously I couldn’t see her, right?–and then all of a sudden, she’d pull her hands away with a big smile and a giggle, and I’d say, “Peek-a-boo! There she is!”  

She seemed thrilled that I could see her again, thrilled, seemingly, that she was being seen— especially, I liked to think, by her mama, the one who–I had to believe she knew–loved her more than anyone else in the world!

There’s a lot to be said for the joy of being seen, especially by someone who loves you deeply…

There’s also a lot to be said, though, for the fear of being seen–truly seen–even by someone who loves you deeply…

I wonder if this is perhaps part of what’s happening with Eve, and Adam, in today’s story? Before they ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were perfectly happy, right? They were naked but that was fine. They were completely exposed; they were utterly vulnerable; there was nothing hidden between them. And that was all okay. It wasn’t a problem. All was good. They were at ease with each other and with God, they were seemingly comfortable in their own skin, comfortable with who they were as they were, comfortable with themselves, and with each other. And with God.

But then something changed. They ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and we are told that “the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” (Gen. 3:7) Suddenly, it seems, they realized they were exposed. Suddenly they understood their vulnerability. Suddenly they grasped that they were being seen, fully seen, and for the first time, it wasn’t okay. It was a problem. All wasn’t good.  

So what did they do? “…they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.” (Gen. 3:7) They took the first step toward hiding some part of themselves. From each other and from God. They took the first step toward creating mechanisms of separation. Between each other and God. They put on the first layer of what would only become more and more layers of protection and self-defense, layers that would create more and more distance from each other, and from God. Because they had realized that being naked, being exposed, being vulnerable, being fully seen, was uncomfortable and somehow unacceptable and not okay….

They realized they were naked, they understood they were vulnerable…and they felt what? Embarrassed? Ashamed? Afraid? Maybe. At the very least, it seems, uncomfortable and exposed. And they took steps to feel better, to feel safer, to feel more protected, to feel less exposed…

They succumbed to the very temptations, it seems to me, that the devil put before Jesus in the wilderness.

Let’s look again at that story. Jesus had been baptized by John, and immediately after that we come to today’s passage, where we are told that “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil,” where, we learn, “he fasted forty days and forty nights.” Wow! I don’t like missing a single meal! And he fasted for almost six weeks!! No wonder, as it says, “he was famished”!!  I would think so!!

So the devil shows up and tells him to just turn some stones into bread; surely if he’s God’s Son, he can perform a simple miracle so that he can feed himself….

The temptation not just of food, but the temptation, I think, to be independent, to take care of himself, to meet his own needs, to make himself comfortable…kind of like Adam and Eve did when they sewed the fig leaves together…. 

But Jesus says no…

So then the devil, we are told, “took [Jesus] to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'”

The temptation to be indestructible, to be protected, to be assured of one’s own personal safety…kind of like Eve and Adam did when they sewed fig leaves together….

But Jesus says no…

The devil tries once more, taking him “to a very high mountain and [showing] him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and [saying] to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 

The temptation of influence, of power, of being in control–or least having the illusion of being in control…kind of like Adam and Eve did when they sewed fig leaves together….

But Jesus says no…

To all of these temptations–the temptation to be independent and meet one’s own needs, the temptation to be indestructible and personally protected, the temptation to be influential and in a position of power and control–to all of them Eve and Adam seemed to say okay, we’ll give in and make ourselves more comfortable, especially with regard to our physical needs, because we don’t like feeling naked! We’ll give in and do what we can to protect ourselves, because we don’t like feeling exposed! We’ll give in and take control for ourselves where we can, because we don’t like feeling vulnerable and out of control! And in the process, they put distance between themselves and their true selves; they put distance between themselves and each other; they put distance between themselves and God…moving away from knowing themselves as beloved children of God.

Jesus, on the other hand, says no to those temptations, choosing to remain vulnerable, with his physical needs unmet; choosing to remain vulnerable, with his physical safety uncertain; choosing to remain vulnerable, with his personal influence and power undetermined and even more so, unimportant. He says no to independence, choosing to remain dependent on God; he says no to indestructibility, choosing to trust in God’s protection; he says no to ruling the kingdoms of the world, choosing to submit to God’s reign in his life. And in the process, he moves ever more firmly into his identity as God’s Beloved Son.

When we are faced with our own vulnerability, when we come face-to-face with our nakedness,  we can fear it, and feel discomfort, and do what we can to minimize it, but in the process distance ourselves from each other and from God….Or we can embrace it, accepting our vulnerability and embracing our nakedness; we can step away from our layers of protection, choosing instead to trust God, and in so doing, moving closer to claiming our identity as beloved children of God.

My prayer for this Lenten season and beyond is that we can be like Jesus, and embrace our nakedness. Amen.