Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. (Genesis 3:7)
A band I have followed for decades, The Seventy Sevens, released an album in 1992 entitled Pray Naked. The Christian label they were signed to at the time marketed the project as a self-titled album (without the band’s knowledge) and even blacked out the title song on the cassettes and CDs. There is something about those two words together that made retailers and executives making the money decisions uncomfortable.
I must admit that when I read the above verse, I cannot help but strip it from its dark context (not sorry about that pun) and giggle as my inner five-year-old imagines two grown-up people (after how many days in the buff?) coming to the sudden realization that they are not wearing anything and scrambling to cover themselves, And how about those crazy dreams of our own where things are going just fine until we realize (at work or school or even at church) that all our lack of glory is out before God and everyone?
Ask children why they laugh when someone even says the word naked and they will explain to you that people are supposed to wear clothes, except when bathing. And the older we get, the more “aware” we become of the idea that we not only must wear clothes but put on “appropriate” garments.
What does all this rambling, you might be asking by now, have to do with the Fall of Humankind, something which resulted from the disobedience of the World’s First Couple? I’m going to stop chortling and tell you.
When Satan deceived Eve and Adam, he told them, “when you eat of [the fruit of the tree] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil.” What did open eyes mean for them? They thought, “the tree was desired to make one wise.” They believed they would see with God’s eyes. To an extent they were right, but they did not get what they expected. Without knowing even what wisdom was, they wanted to be like God, and the first thing they learned was that they were uncovered.
Here is the old joke: under our clothes, we are all naked. And here’s the real secret: before God, we always were. The sooner we really grasp that fact and stop covering up and working to be presentable, the better off we will be. Before our Lord, we have nothing that makes us better or good or any other thing that is valued by society. God is not merely aware of the secret flaws of our exposed skin, but takes us like a loving parent and washes us, swaddles us in a towel, and holds us close.
Great all-seeing and all-loving God, wrap us in You, that we always know we need nothing else. In the strong name of Jesus, Amen.
