Colossians 3:12-14 October 18, 2015 The Church of the Pilgrimage New Clothes In her book Wearing God: Clothing, Laughter, Fire, and Other Overlooked Ways of Meeting God author Lauren Winner indulges in a discussion of her closet, which sounds well honestly? Quite a bit like mine. First there are the super professional clothes. A suit and a tailored jacket or two, the things from Talbots or Anne Taylor a woman would wear perhaps for a job interview or a conference, but generally not very much or very often. Then there are the artistic clothes, the ones in bright colors, with flowy material and fit, and mixed in with these some funky vintage clothes. Truth is, Winner admits, these clothes remind her of someone she admires, a woman she knows who seems at ease around people. She puts them on now and then, when she is feeling celebrative, or bold, but again, this section of her closet is for the most part a pass by. Then there is the bulk of what s in there. Her daily garb, its mostly all black. Pants, shirts mostly.. a dress or two. All comfortable, all capable of hiding some things she d rather hide. As we all know, black goes with black and so this is the Grab and Go section of the closet Her regular clothes which, she says, she doesn t put much thought to. If she feels the need to break up the black, a nice orange or cranberry colored cardigan will do the trick, and she s off for the day. Our clothes reflect ourselves. The self we want to be, the sense of self we offer to others. This is why most women have times when half their closet winds up on the bed, doing the quick change artist routine. Who do I want to be this morning? Or tonight?
What self am I happy or comfortable or willing to present today? I don t think men generally do the half the closet on the bed routine. At least the men I know best don t. Every once in a very blue moon my husband will ask Do I look okay? And I say one of two things: Yes, good or Maybe too much gray. But we all of us at one time or another pause to think about the occasion and the self we are dressing for. Which brings us to our scripture today. As God s chosen ones, Paul says, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. It s a scripture that often is chosen for weddings. Be intentional about what you put on, the self you present to others, to the world. As much as possible clothe yourself as intentionally as you did this wedding day clothe yourself in loving kindness. But Paul doesn t have weddings on his mind. What he is talking is baptismal language. In many early churches, certainly in the Eastern Orthodox Church and in Eastern Catholic churches, the baptismal garment, white, is worn for eight days after a baptism. For adults the robe is a long sleeved garment, similar to an alb, tied at the waist usually with a white cloth or rope. For children, the robe may be a white gown and bonnet Something we see from time to time here in our Protestant church. But in the ancient tradition, these garments are placed on the newly baptized immediately after coming up out of the waters of baptism, baptism by immersion. As the robe is being placed on the new Christian, the priest says the prayer: The servant of God (Judy, or Sarah, or Sam) is clothed with the robe of righteousness, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit And the choir sings Vouchsafe unto me the robe of light, O Thou who clothest thyself with light as with a garment, Christ our God, plenteous in mercy. In Galatians 3 Paul says As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. What does this mean? That s our question today, really: What does it mean to cloth ourselves with Christ? To the newly baptized, it meant a turning away, and a turning towards. There s a painting: the baptism of Saint Vladimir.
To the left attendants are holding Vladimir s golden robe, which he has taken off, and the simple white baptismal robe, which he will put on. Remember baptism was in a large pool-like font. It was by total immersion. The convert took off the old clothes, and went down under the water, symbolizing death to sin, death to an old way of life, and rose up out of the water, symbolizing new life in Christ. The white baptismal robe became further symbol of that new life. And get this: everyone had the same robe. You could be rich, You could be poor, you could be of the powers that be, you could be decidedly not of that group. It was the same white baptismal robe for all. In some ways, the baptismal robe was like a school uniform. There will be no Uggs, no Lulu Lemons, no Tory Birch or Michael Kors or Vineyard Vines. We are one in Christ, and the old baptismal rites had us dress like it. There s a freedom in it too. Think about corsets, those awful things that gave women a false waist, or the bustle creating a faux derriere. And think about bloomers, those outfits that looked like a dress up top but with pants below.a new way of dressing that was, for the early feminists, about freedom of movement. The baptismal robe was more like that about freedom in Christ, about social barriers being broken down, about their being neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free, but all being one in Jesus Christ. I fear we ve lost much of this symbolic meaning with our practice of infant baptism. Oh, don t get me wrong, there is something powerful going on when we baptize a baby. For one thing, it s a great corrective. We realize this faith thing is not all about what we can understand or say we believe, or even what we can achieve, or do for God. Mikaela is adorable, but on that score, she wouldn t get big marks. But there s the way she and every baby baptized reminds us of how we are all children of God. There s the way she and every baby baptized reminds us of what a gift it is to be in relationship with God and one another. Still, as we reflect today the symbolism of new clothes and new life is here, challenging us on this baptism day. Can we put on Christ? Can we let Jesus affect the way we move, the way we share our affections, the means by which we negotiate others opinions of us? (Wearing God, p. 53)
There is a suggestion here: that just as we put on communicative clothing, say black for a funeral, communicating mourning or grief or the white baptismal robe communicating turning toward new life, there is a suggestion here that so, as with a garment, as with our dress Christians might wordlessly speak something of Jesus. People can look at us, see the way we relate to them, to others, to our community, and see Jesus, see in us the new life Christ brings. You have likely heard this saying attributed to Saint Francis: Preach the gospel. If necessary, use words. There ought to be among Christians a quality of life, of individual life and communal life, that will be readily seen and noticed. Molly Baskette is the pastor of First Church Somerville, UCC who will soon be taking her talented self to a church in Berkley, California. Her church in Somerville has begun a practice of testimony in the form of confession of sin. In worship someone will come to the microphone, or the pulpit and share their own personal confession of sin. This is not because they love to air their stuff before others, but because they believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is about transformation, and sharing how someone moves from isolation to communion, from despair to hope, from self centeredness to other-focus is something that needs to be shared! So rather than having a printed confession of sin, one person shares, quite personally. Sometimes it is about identity struggles, or relationship struggles, or problems with addiction. They, the people of Molly s congregation, are living out what Ed Bacon refers to in his book the Eight Habits of Love, in his last chapter on Community. Community Bacon says, is not just a collection of individuals, it is a coming together of people who work constantly to cast aside their fearful selves and open their hearts to allow the Beloved within (that is to say our own belovedness in God s eyes) to flow outward towards others. (The Eight Habits of Love, Ed Bacon, p. 173) This relates to some things we were talking about last week. When we find the answer to the question of what are we so afraid of anyway When we are able to name it, and confess it, it s grip on us loosens. Its like trading an old set of clothes for a new set of clothes -- one that suits us much better, one that was fashioned in love for us. I know some of you read Ed Bacon s book The Eight Habits of Love and some of you did not. The basic gist of it goes so nicely with our scripture today. Love isn t primarily a feeling.
Love is something we put in action, something we practice, which over time, becomes more and more who we are or the authentic really us clothes we wear. But Love isn t so much a possession, something we have in great quantity, or not. Love isn t the clothes, the closet of clothes so much as the putting on of the clothes. Love is an intention, a way of setting our heart, so as to be there for someone else, so as to be open to others and to the transforming power of God, so as to be made ever more patient and kind and loving. I want us to remember the dying to the old way of life, and rising to a new one. Because to be truly loving, there are parts of us that need to die. The part that s always thinking we ought to get more affirmation than we do. The part that competes with others or needs to be superior. The part that holds a grudge. And the part that wants what we want when we want it. Did you know the gospel lesson for today in Mark has the disciples approaching Jesus saying Master, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. Now I ask you does that sound loving, or controlling? Yes there are many things in us that need to be set aside, that need to die for us to put on Christ. Hear our scripture for today one more time, this time in Eugene Peterson s words: So chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. So let us rejoice today. Our baptism doesn t make us perfect or perfectly loving. What baptism does do is clothe us in love, so we can be what we always are: a work of God in progress people who turn to God over and over and over again. Amen.