God's Designer Fashions
Colossians 3:12-17
August 5, 2007
Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf
There was a woman in the congregation I served in Wisconsin who loved to sew. Her name was Karen and she and her husband Jon had three daughters -Lydia, Nora and Sophia. Not only did Karen love to sew, she loved to create clothing that was specially made for each of her daughters. Each year, months before Christmas and then again before Easter, Karen began shopping for fabrics and patterns for the dresses she intended to make for each of the girls for those special days. But Karen never -ever- used a pattern the way it came from the store. She always added this or took that away, until it was the perfect design for the daughter for whom it was intended. Then once she had a style that was just right and as unique as each daughter, she would mix and match the fabrics that she purchased, so that the main fabric in say, Lydia's dress, was an accent fabric on Sophia's and maybe the bodice in Nora's; while the main fabric in Nora's dress was likewise reflected in Sophia's and Lydia's and the same for Sophie's dress. The result was that each daughter had her own special look and yet you knew, just by looking at them that they were from the same family. When someone would compliment one of the girls on her dress, beaming with the delight at the gift of love which it represented, she would invariably say, "My Mom made it just for me."
Now, I doubt that Paul had someone in his life who took that much special care with his wardrobe, but, being an observer of human behavior, I suspect he understood how much effort many people put into having the perfect outfit for each occasion. He might have even met a Mom or two like Karen who created beautiful clothing for her children. So when he wanted to help them understand a bit more about the life they -as followers of Christ- were called to live, he chose a metaphor they could relate to and understand.
"...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." [Colossians 3:12-14]
Now, some scholars believe that the reason Paul used the clothing imagery was to remind the believers of the fact that when they came up out of the water after having been baptized they literally put on a new garment, to signify the newness of life Christ offered. In the verses preceding our text for today, Paul talks about taking off the old garments -jealousy, envy, hatred, greed, lying, cheating, even racial prejudice and mistrust- all of which are, Paul says, "like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire." [Colossians 3:9] How much less closet space I would need if I got rid of every article of clothing when it no longer fit!
But did you notice, it's not like we are baptized or give our life to Christ and we are instantly transformed into something that we were not before? No, it takes effort, persistence and remembering each and every day to chose to wear the clothing God created for us, the clothing that will allow the beauty of who we are to shine through, the clothing that will help us fulfill the unique purpose for which we were created and to which we are called.
Each day, when we crawl out of bed and take care of all the personal hygiene stuff, we have to decide what to wear. I think about what I will be doing during the day and what kind of clothing is most appropriate -for example if I'm going to be working in the garden I don't wear my best dress. Likewise if I'm leading worship at the nursing home, I don't wear old jeans and a t-shirt. I've also noticed that sometimes I select clothing to reflect the mood I'm in; or sometimes if I'm in a funk I chose clothes that might lift my spirits.
Likewise as we face the day to day challenges of life, we have a choice about how we will respond -what clothing our spirits will wear.
When one of our many incredible musicians sings or plays an incredible solo, I have a choice- do I decide to silently criticize what they have done out of jealousy because I can't sing or play as well or do I decide to celebrate their gifts and affirm what they have done?
My friend Yolanda is a gifted pastor who has the ability to help a congregation catch their vision and then help them take the appropriate actions to bring that vision to life. When she talks about something she has helped a congregation birth, I have a choice; I could fall into a funk and begin putting myself down because I don't possess those gifts and eventually end up feeling like a failure, or I can choose to celebrate and affirm her gifts, learn from her if I can and focus on the gifts I possess.
This past week at camp the girls in one of the rooms quickly formed friendships which unfortunately did not include all of the girls in the room and left several of them on the outside. Some of those girls found friendships with girls in other rooms. But a couple of the girls seemed to stand outside of any group. Yet each and every time there was a crisis -as there often is with teen-age girls- one of these outsiders stepped into the situation with a genuine love and compassion that was far beyond her years. She acted in love, with love toward the very girls who didn't even seem to notice she was there. As the week went on this young woman became more and more beautiful as the radiance of Divine Love permeated everything she did and said and was.
What clothes am I going to wear? The clothes that allow my unique God-given self to shine through or the old ill-fitting clothing that makes me less than I am?
I think more often than not we react out of habit and fail to understand that just like choosing what clothing we will put on our body, we have a choice about what reaction we will have and what action we will take in any given circumstance in life. I remember the first time I really understood this I was driving from my home to the church I served in Wisconsin. I was in a real funk. I don't even remember now what the issue was. But I know I was crying and I felt just awful, more than likely stewing about something that had happened or worried about something that might happen. Suddenly out of the blue a question from a book I had bee reading popped into my mind: "Nancy, what is wrong in your life right now, right this minute?"
The question brought me up short. "Well," I thought, "at this moment, nothing is wrong. The sun is shinning. I have a good car to get me where I'm going. I'm not hungry or thirsty. No one is threatening me, etc. etc." With that realization, my whole mood changed, my attitude improved and it turned out to be a really good day.
"Compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline, even-temperedness, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense" these are God's designer fashions, perfectly tailored to fit your particular size and body type; perfectly styled to bring out the beauty of your heart. Whether or not we think we possess these qualities, they are all there -hanging in the closet of our soul. And in the same way that my friend Karen fashioned her children's clothing so that there was something that tied their outfits together and told the world they were sisters, the accent fabric God uses in each and every life is LOVE. When we wear God's designer fashions love shines through our lives, we reveal the brightness of the beauty of who we are created to be and we know the joy and peace beyond our wildest dreams.
What will you wear today?
Amen.
