naked time!
03.24.06

today i had one of those intellectual self-talks, they type where i spontaneously catch on to something i hear or read and follow the rabbithole, take a couple of tangents, and arrive at a wonderful, worshipful place. i love those moments. actually, they're not so much moments as hours at a time, but i love indulging them anyway. gets me closer to God.

well, today i was on my way home from a nice lunch at mama's sack lunches with jen, and i was listening to this song off of the 3rd city on a hill album, the gathering. the song in particular that grabbed hold of me was holy is the Lord by andrew peterson. beautiful song (not quite safe for those easily provoked to tears). peterson sings about abraham and his son isaac, about their love for one another, about abraham's obedience to God, and about the desperate wish that God would make another way besides having the poor father sacrifice isaac. it's powerful stuff. the chorus is an echoing of God's holiness, which calls us to obedience even when we are downright confused. similar to matt redman's blessed be the name, which reechoes these sentiments when redman sings, "blessed be your name on the road marked with suffering, though there's pain in the offering blessed be Your name." i'll get to my point.

i'm not going to talk about suffering or pain really. i'm thinking about shame. excepting a test of obedience, why did God demand such a sacrifice? besides the covering of sin, what is a sacrifice like this for? i was reminded of my time at the tabernacle the other week. our guide asked us what was the first sacrifice made in the bible? we were all kind of clueless, which he could tell, so he answered his own question.

the answer:
"the Lord made garments of skin for adam and his wife and clothed them." -genesis 3:21 (niv)

and some other references to take this further:
"the man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." -genesis 2:25 (niv)

"when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. but the Lord God called to the man, 'where are you?'
he answered, 'i heard You in the garden, and i was afraid because i was naked; so i hid.'
and He said, 'who told you that you were naked? have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?'" -genesis 3:6-11 (niv)

(i always think this is the exact point in history where the word nekkid was invented. those folks weren't just naked- they were nekkid! cut to nathan capps' b.e.t. music video impersonation: "get nekkid.")

the Lord made garments for adam and eve to cover their shame. what is there to be ashamed of in nudity? for real, think about it. from the moment we are children we have a sense of shame that somehow develops as we become aware of our own bodies. it's not like we're reading magazines and watching television, learning what the perfect body looks like, and being brainwashed and pressured by society to conform to a certain body image. we're kids! where does our shame come from? perhaps there is something in shame about being vulnerable before the world. vulnerable to friends, peers, strangers, creation, and God. being laid bare is a precarious thing when you don't know what people around you think or feel, but i digress.

i think these thoughts chalk up another point of thanksgiving in God's favor. without the spilling of innocent blood there can be no forgiveness for our sins. and not only does the covering of blood, poured out for us, cover up sin; it covers over shame. it creates in us cleanliness, creates in us holiness, and makes us just like the thing that was killed for us. a ram was killed in place of isaac, and abraham's family assumed the innocence that the creature symbolized, becoming sheep under a great Shephard. so too, under the blood of Christ we are made like Him, free of sin, guilt, and shame that would cripple us. and when we allow those things to cripple us anew we are to draw near to the Shephard who cares for us, as innocent, vulnerable little sheep.

something else, going back to the genesis account- who was there for adam and eve to be ashamed of? it was just them and God in the garden. yes, they did feel guilt over their sin, but why did that mean they needed to cover their bodies before God? i guess this shows some of how far our awareness goes, to the point that even before an all-seeing, all-knowing God we still like to think that we can hide ourselves somehow. it's a little silly, really. i mean, the God of the universe, and we think that wearing some fig leaves and hiding in the bushes will keep Him from finding us out or laying hold of us.

just some tangents, but good tangents nonetheless. thank You for the blood, Lord.

and a ps- if and when we ever reach a point of perfection in heaven as we enjoy the presence of God, i wonder if we will all walk around naked and happy like adam and eve? i think that would actually be pretty cool.


check it out - 01.20.07
vapor - 11.15.06
can't complain - 11.10.06
turn the page - 11.09.06
who invented the word "me-maw"? - 09.28.06

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