Putting On Your Sunday Best Everyday Colossians 3:12-14

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1 MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 25, 2009 CHRISTIAN HOPE CHURCH OF CHRIST, PLYMOUTH, NORTH CAROLINA by Reggie A. Braziel, minister Putting On Your Sunday Best Everyday Colossians 3:12-14 READ: Colossians 3:12-14 P R A Y E R **************** I N T R O D U C T I O N It is perhaps one of the most vivid memories of my childhood. Every Saturday night, my mom would sit on the couch in our living room with the shoe shine kit by her side and polish all the shoes my brothers and I would wear to Church on Sunday morning. After polishing our shoes, mom would go to our bedrooms and lay out the clothes we were to wear to Church. -For my brothers and me it was always a colorful plaid sports coat that looked like something a game show contestant might wear, a white shirt, a thin clip-on necktie, dress pants and white socks. Yes I said, WHITE socks. -For my sisters, it was always a frilly dress, white bobby socks and black patent leather shoes. This was my mom s Saturday night ritual for many, many years until all of us kids were old enough to pick out our own clothes. Why was this so important to my mom? I ll tell you why. It was important to her because she always wanted us to be DRESSED IN OUR SUNDAY BEST!

2 What to wear to Church is a dilemma that faces each of us every Sunday. And perhaps it is more of a dilemma to you women than it is to us men. Over the years I ve even known some women to skip Church a time or two because they didn t think their clothes were good enough for Church. Some Christians even frown on other Christians who show up for a worship service in anything less than their Sunday best. Remember that poor guy we read about in our recent study of JAMES CHAPTER TWO? James wrote: Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, Here s a good seat for you, but you say to the poor man, You stand over there or sit on the floor by my feet, have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? What kind of reception do you believe that poor man would have received had he shown up at Christian Hope Church dressed in less than his Sunday best? And wonder what kind of reception John the Baptist would have received had he shown up for Church wearing a garment made of camel s hair and a leather belt around his waist? Now in case you think I m suggesting that we all dress down and come to Church in the same clothes we wear to mow the yard or work in the garden, I m not. But here is what I AM SUGGESTING: How we clothe our hearts matters more to GOD than how we clothe our bodies.

3 In our scripture text, the apostle Paul lists SIX VIRTUES we should be wear each and every day, not just on SUNDAYS. First of all.. I. We Must Be Clothed With Compassion vs. 12a Therefore as God s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with COMPASSION.. 1. The Greek word Paul uses for compassion in this verse has a very interesting meaning. The word is splanchnon (splonk-non) which is the same Greek word for bowels. 2. Now that sounds pretty gross until you put Paul s words into context. When Paul tells us we should be clothed with compassion he is saying we should feel an inward movement and uncontrollable urge to reach out to others. 3. Are you clothed with that kind of COMPASSION? When you see someone in need.someone who is hurting.someone who is discouraged or depressed someone who is struggling..someone who is beaten down do you literally feel your insides moving toward that person to help them and comfort them and encourage them?

4 ILLUSTRATION On a cold night in Oklahoma City, a trembling man was brought before a judge charged with stealing a loaf of bread. The man told the judge he wasn t a thief..but he had lost his job and didn t have any income to feed his family and that he had taken the loaf of bread out of sheer desperation. The judge said, I m sorry about your situation sir, but I m going to have to fine you $10.00 for petty theft. When the judge saw the man digging through all his pockets for even the smallest of change he felt compassion for him. The judge reached in his own pocket and pulled out a $10.00 bill and said, Here s $10 dollars to pay your fine. Further more the judge continued I am fining everyone in this court room.50 cents each for living in a city where a man has to steal a loaf of bread just to feed his starving family. 4. Brothers and sisters, may each of us be clothed with CHRIST-LIKE COMPASSION! ******************** Secondly. II. We Must Be Clothed With Kindness vs. 12a, b Therefore as God s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion and KINDNESS.. 1. The Greek word Paul uses here for kindness is the word chrestotes (kree-stote-eeze) which means goodness of heart.

5 2. Think of those times when you showed an act of kindness toward someone and they offered to pay you. And you said, No, there s no need to pay me, I just did this out of the goodness of my heart. That is what true kindness is. It is acting with the goodness of Christ toward someone regardless of whether they ask for it or deserve it. 3. Are you clothed with that kind of KINDNESS? Do you look for opportunities to make someone else s load lighter? Do you seize opportunities to make a difference in someone else s life? I L L U S T R A T I O N One Sunday during a worship service, the choir had just sung the morning special and the preacher was walking toward the pulpit to preach his message when all the sudden a teenage girl sitting in the choir bolted out of her chair, stepping over several choir members and around the piano. Several seemed perturbed at the commotion caused by the young lady, wandering why she hadn t quietly exited through the side door by the choir loft. Soon everyone realized the young lady wasn t leaving Church. She made her way to the fourth row of pews and sat down beside another teenager who was sitting all alone and she put her arm around her. It was then everyone knew what the young lady had done. You see, that young lady who was sitting all alone had lost her grandmother just a few days earlier.the grandmother who had sat beside her in Church since she was a little girl. And that teenage girl who had bolted out of the choir couldn t bear the thought of seeing her friend sit through that Church service all alone.

6 4. May God help all of us to have that kind of sensitivity toward others. The kind of sensitivity that causes us to show kindness toward others out of the Christ-like goodness in our heart. We must be clothed with COMPASSION. We must be clothed with KINDNESS. Thirdly.. III. We Must Be Clothed With Humility verse 12 a, b, c Therefore, as God s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with COMPASSION, KINDNESS and HUMILITY. 1. The Greek word Paul uses here for humility is so long I don t even want to embarrass myself tripping all over the pronunciation. More important than the pronunciation is the meaning. The word Paul uses for humility means, to be lowly of mind or to make oneself low in his own mind. 2. Many Christians believe humility means to think less of yourself or to be self-deprecating or self-condemning. That s not humility that s false humility. True humility doesn t mean thinking less of yourself but rather thinking of yourself less. And there s a huge difference between the two. 3. Humility is not one of those virtues you go around bragging about because the minute you start boasting about your humility you disqualify yourself as a humble person.

7 I L L U S T R A T I O N When the late Harry S. Truman became the President of the United States his close friend, Sam Rayburn gave him some sound advice. He said, Harry, from now on you are going to be surrounded by all kinds of people. They will try to build a wall around you and cut you off from anyone s ideas but theirs. They will tell you what a great man you are Harry. But always remember, you and I know you AIN T! 4. One of the greatest dangers we must guard against in the Christian life is PRIDE in ourselves to believe we re something we ain t! Don t ever forget no matter how much you have done for the Lord s kingdom.no matter how important you think you are to the Lord s kingdom the truth is each and everyone of us are sinners who have been saved by the grace of God. 5. President Theodore Roosevelt used to take walks every evening and stop to gaze at the brilliant stars above him. Once a friend who was walking with him asked Mr. Roosevelt why he took those long walks each evening. President Roosevelt said, I do it so I can get small again. 6. Just like a Church steeple, the closer you and I get to GOD the smaller we should become. 7. May each of us be clothed with Christ-like humility.

8 WE MUST BE CLOTHED WITH COMPASSION WE MUST BE CLOTHED WITH KINDNESS WE MUST BE CLOTHED WITH HUMILITY Next Paul tells us. IV. We Must Be Clothed With Gentleness vs. 12 a, b, c, d Therefore as God s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with COMPASSION KINDNESS.. HUMILITY.and GENTLENESS.. 1. The Greek word Paul uses in this verse for gentleness is the word epieikeia (epy-ee-kia) which means sweet reasonableness. 2. Has anyone ever told you you are as sweet as can be? Has anyone ever called you a sweetheart? 3. When one is clothed with gentleness there is a certain sweetness about their nature that is disarming. Some people are loud or obnoxious or abrasive. They cause you to tense up any time you are around them. Some people are pushy or overbearing or divisive and they build walls every where they go. 4. But a Christian with a gentle Christ-like spirit has a sweetness in their voice a sweetness in their touch.a sweetness in their whole demeanor.

9 5. When I think of gentleness I can t help but think of that scene in Matthew 19 when the disciples tried to keep the little children from bothering Jesus and Jesus said to them, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. And with those words, Jesus GENTLY placed his hands on the little children and blessed them. 6. May we all be clothed with the SWEET GENTLENESS of Christ! ********************* We must be clothed with COMPASSION. We must be clothed with KINDNESS. We must be clothed with HUMILITY. We must be clothed with GENTLENESS. V. We Must Be Clothed With Patience (I know, some of you are probably sitting there thinking, Uh, oh, now he s gone to meddling. ) Look at verse 12 again. Therefore as God s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with COMPASSION, KINDNESS, HUMILITY, GENTLENESS.and PATIENCE. 1. If you remember from our recent study of James we learned the word patience comes from the Greek word hupmone (hoop-mo-nay) which means to be longsuffering.

10 2. This word is used in three different ways in the New Testament. -One, we are to be patient in waiting on the Lord s return. -Two, we are to be patient in the times of trial and testing. -And three, we are to be patient with the weaknesses and shortcomings of others. 3. Are you a patient Christian? I L L U S T R A T I O N One day a young preacher was talking with an older, more battle toughened minister. The young minister expressed his impatience with God, wishing that God would hurry up and reveal His plan for his life. The old seasoned preacher pulled a young tender rose off a rose bush and handed it to the young preacher. He told the young man to open the rose without tearing off any of the petals. As the young man tried to open the rose he soon realized it was impossible to do so without tearing off some of the petals. 4. Sometimes in our impatience you and I try to hurry God along. We try to put God on our schedule rather than His. But just as it takes time for the rose to open up and reveal its glorious beauty, it takes time for God to reveal the beauty of His master plan for our lives. 5. May each of us be clothed with Christ-like patience! *************

11 We must be clothed with COMPASSION. We must be clothed with KINDNESS. We must be clothed with HUMILITY. We must be clothed with GENTLENESS. We must be clothed with PATIENCE. Finally, Paul tells us VI. We Must Be Clothed With Love vs. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 1. Have you ever gone somewhere and realized when you got there you forgot to put something on? If you have ever had that experience you know at that moment it didn t matter what else you had on, without that one missing thing you didn t feel like you were properly dressed. 2. Paul is telling us it is important to put on compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience, but if we don t put on LOVE we aren t completely dressed. LOVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT GARMENT A CHRISTIAN CAN WEAR. LOVE IS THAT ONE GARMENT THAT DEFINES US AND IDENTIFIES US AS BELONGING TO JESUS CHRIST. 3. Jesus said in JOHN 13:35 By this all men will know you are MY disciples, if you LOVE one another.

12 4. LOVE assumes the very best about others. LOVE gives others the benefit of the doubt. LOVE causes us to forgive those who have failed us..those who have disappointed us..those who have wronged us..rather than holding bitterness and resentment toward them in our heart. 5. Where does this love come from, you ask? It comes from GOD, for GOD is LOVE! *************************************** C O N C L U S I O N In just a few minutes this worship service will conclude. We will all get in our vehicles and return to our homes. When we get home we ll slip out of our Sunday best and get into our casual, every day clothes. As you are changing into those casual clothes I want all of us to do something. Let s think about these spiritual clothes Paul has talked to us about this morning the clothes we should never change out of. As Christians who have been baptized into Jesus Christ we have put on Christ! Every day may we be clothed with Christ-like Compassion. Christ-like Kindness Christ-like Humility.Christ-like Gentleness.Christ-like Patience and Christ-like Love! Let s wear our Sunday Best every day!

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