In the name + of Jesus.
St. Paul reminds you of your status as one
who has been baptized. He wrote to the Galatians,
“as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). You are clothed
with Christ which means that Jesus’ innocence covers your guilt. Jesus’ blood and righteousness are your
beauty, your glorious dress. When God
the Father sees you, he sees Christ.
Therefore, God’s favor rests upon you.
But your baptism is
more than just a change in your status. We
sing along with King David in Psalm 51: “Create in me
a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me”
(Psalm 51:10).
Baptism produces a clean heart which is focused on what is pure. It creates a right spirit which is devoted to
righteousness. Baptism clothes us with Christ and works a change in our minds,
hearts, words, and actions. We want to
be like Jesus because his righteousness covers us, and his name is upon us.
St. Paul wrote to the Colossians about the old sinful nature being taken
off like a ratty, filthy garment and about the new man being put on who is being
restored to the image of God. The metaphor
of putting on a new garment continues in our reading. “Put on then, as God's chosen
ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12). St. Paul tells
us to put these characteristics on because they are not inherent in us. But now we are a new creation in Christ; this
is what we were created to be, and what we are restored to be.
There is a
bumper sticker which says, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” We would agree with that. But the fact that people have to be told to
be kind betrays the fact that many people are not. Restaurants and shops are posting notes to
remind customers that they are short-staffed and ask them not to get angry at
the people who did show up for work. The
fact that such notes are necessary tells you what kind of behavior they are
experiencing. People are demanding, rude,
and arrogant. They cut people with sharp
tongues and pour bitter words into the wounds they have made.
That’s not to say we are above it. We are impatient when we have to wait for attention. We become unkind when our schedule gets interrupted. We are short on compassion: “My problems matter;
yours don’t bother me at all.” It is a daily
battle against our sinful nature. Therefore,
put off these sinful traits like a ratty garment and dress yourself with godliness. This goes way beyond, “Be kind.”
St. Paul says, “If one has a complaint
against another, [forgive] each other; as the Lord has forgiven you,
so you also must forgive” (Colossians 3:13). Our natural reaction when people sin against
us is to retaliate. We favor vengeance over
mercy. And you might argue, “They don’t
deserve my forgiveness.” That is
true. We judge rightly when we recognize
that sin is wrong. We should not tell
anyone who sins against us, “It’s okay,” because it is not. Sin is never okay. Mercy is never deserved. Forgiveness, by its definition, is not deserved;
it is graciously given. We are clothed with
Christ; therefore, we also act like Christ who has freely forgiven us.
Our Lord
did not choose to save sinners because we have earned or deserved it. He did it because he loves us. He loves all mankind. He does not want anyone to perish. God the Father sent his Son to deliver us
from fiery punishment because he loves us.
The Son came willingly because he loves us. Jesus lived in meekness and humility among people
who flaunted superiority over others. He
had compassion for people who did not show mercy to anyone. Then Jesus accepted every charge of guilt despite
his perfect innocence. All this because
Jesus came for all to redeem all.
So, Jesus
went to the cross for all people—for those who loved him and for those who hated
him; for those who spoke well of him and for those who slandered him; for those
who were eager to listen to him and for those who wanted him to shut up. Jesus’ love for mankind is not determined by how
well mankind behaves or responds to him.
Out of his steadfast love for all, Jesus died to deliver all out of the
curse of sin and the sentence to hell.
Jesus made the sacrifice which pays for the sins of the world, even
though many in the world still do not care and, sadly, will not benefit. But the Lord has made you wise for
salvation. By faith that trusts in
Christ alone, you are cleansed of sin and arrayed in a robe of righteousness. You are clothed with Christ.
So now, continue
to shed whatever filth tries to stain you and put on the godly qualities which the
Lord has always intended you to have. “And
above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect
harmony” (Colossians 3:14). Love is not
an emotion; it is the policy. It is committing
yourself to doing what is good for others.
As it was with Jesus, so it is with us: We will do good no matter what. If people do not notice, do not care, or do
not like it, we will do good. When it is
hard, costly, or when we just don’t feel like it, we will do good. Just as Jesus’ behavior was based on his love
and not on people’s response, so it is with us.
We are clothed with Christ, and we strive to act like little Christs to
the world.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “The most important (commandment) is, ‘Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second
is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater
than these” (Mark 12:29-31). Our Lord not only gives us the commandment,
he also gives us the neighbors whom we are to love.
St. Paul instructs us to serve in our various vocations—wives and husbands,
children and parents, bondservants and masters (we would update this to be “employees”
and “employers”). In these and in all
other vocations, we get to exercise “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility,
meekness, patience” (Colossians 3:12), forgiveness, and love. To be kind, there must be someone to show
kindness to. To be patient, there must
be someone to be patient with. To have a
compassionate heart, there must be someone to show compassion toward. So, we put down our cell phones and look
others in the eye to listen to their concerns.
We put our task on pause to give our full attention to the request of
others and show consideration. We acknowledge
that our problems are not the only problems, and we help others to bear the
burden of theirs. In all our interactions
with other people, whether they are noble or wicked, we are clothed with Christ. The way we treat others reflects the way
Jesus Christ has treated us.
Now to be sure, some people make it hard
to do this. As Major Frank Burns once said,
“It’s nice to be nice to the nice.” But
it is hard to be kind to those who are rude.
It is hard to show patience to the one who keeps messing up. It is hard to remain humble when you listen
to the one who brags about how great he is.
And it is hard to have compassion for people who do not seem to have
compassion for anyone else. Perhaps you
heard about the story of the restaurant in northern Michigan which closed because
of the customers who were so demanding and demeaning to the staff who was
working there. When the owner of the
restaurant witnessed how badly her employees were being abused by the customers,
she decided that no profit was worth what they had to put up with. She evicted the customers and closed her doors. And who could blame her?
So,
what would motivate you to keep putting on “compassionate
hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience” (Colossians 3:12),
forgiveness, and love? St. Paul answers
the question for you: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts… Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God”
(Colossians 3:15-16).
It is the Lord
Jesus who fills you with his peace. He
continues to be faithful to you. He does
not cast you off because you had your own moments when you were impatient,
rude, and condescending. He forgives all
your sins because he has paid for them.
It is the Lord Jesus who works in you a clean heart and right spirit so
that you love what is good and desire to do it, even for people who are not
good. For, the love of Christ which dwells
in us is based on his undying love for us.
Love gives. Love seeks what is good
for others, regardless of what other people do.
We are clothed
with Christ. We all are. Therefore, we all encourage one another to
continue in purity of mind and spirit. We admonish one another so that we will not
embrace sinful desires for pride, revenge, or superiority. Rather, we encourage one another with the
word of Christ, with songs that teach the faith, and with prayers. Of course, to do that, we have to be together. We are here for the good of each other, and
we are here so that our Lord will continue to preserve us in the faith and
prepare us for acts of kindness, patience, compassion, forgiveness, and love.
We are clothed
with Christ. We are perpetually clothed
with Christ. There is never a time when
you are not a Christian. That means
there is never a time when you are excused from doing good or allowed to
embrace wickedness. If we are clothed
with Christ, then we always seek to have the mind and the heart of Christ. Likewise, there is also never a moment when the
blood of Jesus Christ fails to purify you of all sins. There is never a moment when the Holy Spirit
abandons you. There is never a moment
when God the Father hesitates to call you his “chosen ones, holy and beloved”
(Colossians 3:12). Whether you are with
your family or your colleagues at work, whether you are traveling or at home,
whether you are among friends or strangers, whether you live or die—you are clothed
with Christ.
Therefore, “Whatever
you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians
3:17). Whatever you do, whatever you
say, however you act, wherever you go, do everything in the name of the Lord—because
you always bear his name. He is pleased
to call you his chosen, holy, and beloved.
You rejoice to call him your Savior.
We are clothed with Christ. This holy garment marks us as the Lord’s now and forever. And so, let us join in our hymns to encourage one another with this promise and confession: Jesus, your blood and righteousness my beauty are, my glorious dress. With these before my God I’ll stand when I shall reach the heavenly land.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
