Christians Wear Funny Clothes

Text: Colossians 3:12-17
Other texts: Luke 2:41-52

We spoke on Christmas Eve about all the possibilities inherent in the birth of a child. All the uncertainties and hopes that go with new birth. And how we can imagine all the things that might happen to a new infant. We hope that all children have lives of grace. We know that some might revolutionize the world. We have read that Mary pondered the future of her miraculous child in terms like these. What would her child Jesus be like?

But now, already, Jesus is growing up. There is not much about the childhood of Jesus in the gospels, just a couple of stories like the one we heard today. And thus there are only a couple of Sundays in the season of Christmas before we get to the ministry of the adult Jesus in the world. That hasn’t stopped people from writing about the young boy Jesus, but we figure those writings are fanciful.

What we do know from scripture is that Jesus was a good, well-brought-up boy. He almost surely could read. He certainly knew his Bible. People in the Temple are amazed at this young boy’s knowledge of Torah and his sophisticated understanding of it.

What a child needs to know as he or she grows up is how to be a part of the community, the culture. And to know how to behave as a responsible citizen. These are things we all need to know. And all need reminding of from time to time. Even as adults. Or maybe especially.

The apostle Paul, prime missionary for the newly born church of Jesus Christ, is a good one to remind us. That is pretty much what Paul does. He starts churches and then he writes them long letters reminding them how to behave. Because they forget. Being a follower of Jesus is sometimes a peculiar thing. It often goes against the “basic principles of this world,” as Paul [or an author claiming to be Paul] writes earlier in this letter to the Colossians.

Before the passage that we heard today from this letter, Paul tells his church all the things they are advised not to do. But in today’s reading he tells them what they should do. Which is much more helpful. He tells them first who they are. Then how they should appear. Then how they should behave.

He reminds them first that they are chosen, holy, and beloved. He is claiming for them the same privileges that Jews like Paul already have. They are chosen by God to be a light to others, to be an example of the way to live in harmony with God’s intent and will. They are holy, a word that means separate—set apart from the rest of the world both through their reliance on God’s word and through their actions in response. And they are loved by God. They live in God’s unconditional grace. All together these things mean they are God-focused. As a consequence, they—meaning we—spend time thinking—and praying—about what God wishes for us and how we might reveal the God we know to the world. And that we have both the requirement and the freedom to do that.

So, having set that foundation, Paul tells them: how to dress. He tells them they—we—should clothe ourselves in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Five things: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. We shouldn’t ignore how powerful and difficult to follow this advice is. All of these words imply servility. Servility is not something we usually admire in ourselves. This is more than being good to other people. It is more even than being a servant to other people. It means valuing others more than we value ourselves. It means also a willingness to waive our rights rather than gain at the expense of another. It means also to not be frustrated and angry at the idiotic behavior of those other people.

None of this is easy. We cannot, you might argue, control how we feel. But Paul only asks that we control the clothes we put on, not the body underneath. That is, how we act and therefore appear to others. Clothing can highlight the best of us and hide the worst. Fortunately for all. We can act compassionately toward those whom we despise. We can be humble toward those whom we feel superior. We can be patient in the face of aggravation. And I’m sure as some of you have discovered, when you act that way often you become that way. How you feel follows what you do. It is made of magic cloth, these clothes of Paul. Acting in love changes you so that you love more. So Paul says: finally, clothe yourself in love. Love binds them all together.

We speak of the assembly of Christians in the world as the body of Christ. The body is called together by God. But it is held together by our forgiveness. By, as Paul says, bearing with one another. It is the forgiving of others, the forbearance of others’ faults, that is the radical center of Christianity. It comes from God. As we are forgiven, so we forgive. But it happens through us. Through our actions day to day. Who would adopt a faith based on servility? Christians. Christians do.

We do this, and we can do this—even though imperfectly—because Jesus is in us and we are in him. Paul encourages the Colossians: the peace of Christ rule in your hearts and the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Make space for Jesus, someone described this. When in doubt, think: if Jesus ruled my heart—which in the time of Jesus was the organ you thought with, the center of rationality—if Christ ruled my heart, what would I do now? Or think: if I were at peace with myself and God, what could I do now?

As the chosen, holy, beloved people of God, we show the world who we are by the way we act—the clothes we wear. We are to be a light to the world. And we show each other that, too. New Englander Thoreau wrote “beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.” But we are taught that Christ makes possible a new world. Christians are supposed to put on new clothes, without first waiting to become or trying to become new wearers. The clothes are outlandish and noticeable. They signify Jesus Christ.

Ministers wear these funny collars. I wear one from time to time. When I have my collar on, I’m a better driver. Less of a jerk. It is silly, I know. But I don’t want people to think badly of ministers in particular and Christians in general just because I cut someone off or jumped a green light or didn’t stop for someone in a cross walk. Like it or not, people judge Jesus by what those who say they follow Jesus do.

Do everything in the name of Jesus, Paul tells us. We act in Christ’s name. When people know we are Christian, they judge Jesus by what we do.

Follow Jesus, says Paul. Be servile. Forgive others no matter what. Wear funny clothes. Change the world. Be changed.