Yes, you did read that right; “Worship Naked.” But PLEASE keep your clothes on!
For the past couple of weeks at Ephrata Community Church we have referenced the statement of Jesus in John 4:23-24, “…true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (ESV).
We’ve focused on the truth that the God that we serve is an all knowing, all seeing, and all hearing God. There is nothing about us that is hidden from him. He knows our past and our future, the good and the bad, the hurts we have received and the hurts we’ve inflicted on others. He knows the thoughts, motives, and intents of our hearts. He simply knows it all. Yet we often act as though he does not. We can even attempt to hide specific aspects of who we are, struggles, doubts, sins, and hurt, behind a facade of religious activity.
In John 4:23-24, Jesus says that the worshippers the Father is looking for worship him in spirit and truth. The word translated truth, in addition to the obvious, includes aspects such as honesty, candor, integrity, and my favorite, full disclosure. You see, when we worship in truth, it is not just the truth about who God is, but it is the truth about who we are as well. We worship him in full honesty about who we are.
In Genesis 2:25, the word describes Adam and Eve before each other and the Lord as “naked and unashamed.” Naked means the obvious, but it goes beyond the physical to the spiritual as well. Adam and Eve had nothing to hide from God and they could worship God in full disclosure. Unfortunately, the following verses record their sin and, as silly as it sounds, one of their first responses was to try to hide from an all knowing, all seeing God. And we humans have been following their lead ever since, attempting to hide from an all seeing and all knowing God. Today we had behind the religious facade, the churchy talk, and the masks that we paste on our faces.
Worship God in truth, realizing that he sees all about me, my past, my future, my hurts and disappointments, my sin and shortcomings. Yet he loves me and invites me to come to him as I am, in Christ Jesus. In Christ, we can come to God just as we are, no hiding, no shame, just worship in authenticity and integrity. Just as we are. So I invite you to “worship naked,” hiding nothing from God, it is the kind of worshippers the Father is seeking. And again – please keep your clothes on.