The proper school clothes

Sermon Text: Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This week we had picture day at WLS. It was nice seeing the girls with their dresses and hair bows. The boys were dressed nicely in button down shirts and good pants. I know there was one young boy in our Lower School who wore a shirt and tie – so he could look good like Pastor Zarling.

Today is a very big day for us. Today we install the eleven teachers whom Epiphany and First Evangelical Lutheran Churches have called through our Inter Parish School Council. These called workers partner with parents to “train a child in the way he should go, so when he is old he will not turn from it.” Parents dress their children every morning to come to our school. And our teachers then dress those children in the clothes Jesus Christ has laid out for them.

Our WLS Handbook states that all the clothing the children wear is to be neat, clean and a decent fit, not faded or torn. No offensive t-shirts or short shorts are allowed. The pants are to be worn at the waist and no lower. Etc. So that means that the children should look pretty good when they enter our classrooms. But the apostle Paul has some suggestions for the clothing the children are to wear under their t-shirts and blue jeans. These are the clothes that go over their hearts, minds and souls. He writes, “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  

First of all, whether you are entering our WLS buildings, our church, your college or your workplace, clothe yourself with compassion. Compassion is a deep feeling of affection rooted in the love of Christ that fills your hearts. Compassion means that you see the hurt that you have caused somebody and you are immediately moved to do something about it.

On top of compassion, put on kindness. Now there’s an article of clothing that gets to be in short supply – whether it is on the bus to school or on the drive to work! When you are clothed with kindness you will be seeking the other’s good as you deal with each others’ weaknesses and sore spots. We would rather suffer injury than inflict it.

Then there’s another item of clothing that does a school good: humility. Lack of humility leads to a kind of power struggle in the classroom. The teacher needs humility to get down to the child’s level so no child is left behind. The child needs humility to realize that he or she really does not know everything.

Clothe yourself with gentleness. Gentleness is the garment of the God-controlled person. When you put on gentleness, others can take off their self-defensive armor, wariness, fearfulness, and, instead, put on trust. Parents need this gentleness as much as teachers and students. The parents who feel their child has been wronged needs to approach the teacher gently (because I hate to burst your bubble, moms and dads, but your kids don’t always tell exactly the truth – your kids are sinners, too, and they’ll tell whatever story they can to get out of being in trouble). So, good pastoral advice would be to deal firmly with your own children and gently with those whom you have entrusted in the spiritual care of your children.

No matter who we are, we could all use several garments of patience. The patient Christian does not bear a grudge and refuses to harbor thoughts of revenge when he is wronged. Gentleness and patience are rare characteristics among human beings, but they ought to be distinguishing marks for the chosen, holy and beloved children of God. Patience requires humor, a spirit of live and let live. But mostly patience takes love. 

So the apostle Paul says, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” I love walking by our classrooms at the end of the school day to hear our children praying with their teachers. A common prayer I hear from the hallway is: “Jesus, Savior, wash away all that I’ve done wrong today. Make me ever more like you, good and gentle, kind and true” (CW: 593 v2). That prayer is an example of what sets our school apart from every other public or private school in Racine. As excellent as those other schools may be, they cannot offer forgiveness in Jesus’ name. In those schools, if a child does something wrong, the child apologizes to another student saying, “I’m sorry.” And it’s done. Here at WLS, the child will say, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” And the student will reply, “I forgive you, because Jesus forgives you.”

And so pastors, teachers, parents and students are partners forgiving each other, rather than cruelly tearing each other down. Just as Christ daily restores and forgives you for your injustices and injuries you cause Him when you sin, so, too, you are to have immediate, unconditional forgiveness toward one another in the spirit of Christ.

Love is the final piece of spiritual clothing that is put on. Love is like a belt – a belt that would be useful holding up those saggy pants the teen boys like to wear. Love coordinates, completes and binds together the rest of the believer’s spiritual clothing. The teacher shows love to the student, even when he acts unlovable. The student demonstrates love to her teacher, even when she is irritable. Love is a conscious, purposeful, self-giving action that we show to others – in the church, in our school, in your home and in your workplace - just as Christ showed love to us, the unlovable, without discrimination. He did it consciously. He went from the manger to the cross for us out of love. When we show off these characteristics of Christ, when we put on these spiritual clothes listed here, then people can see Christ through us.

Why do we need all of these pieces of spiritual clothing? Because by nature, we are naked and sinful. Not just coming out of our mother’s womb naked, but coming out of our mother’s womb sinful. By nature we are uncaring, selfish, proud, rude and impatient. We hold grudges and seek revenge. By nature, we will never offer forgiveness, unless we’ve gotten exactly what we’ve wanted from the other person. And, if you don’t think that’s true, hang out with children for a little while on the bus or on the playground. Of course we are going to have problems with children in our school – there are 171 little sinners in it. The sinful nature is still alive and well, even within a Christian school.

But we have the greatest tool ever given in order to repair these troubled children and heal their broken, sin-filled hearts – God’s almighty Word. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” It is the almighty word of Christ that our faculty uses to teach and admonish your children. The all-powerful Word that makes the lame walk, the deaf hear and the mute speak. The invincible Word of the Lord that rips your child out of Satan’s hands and places him or her into the arms of the Good Shepherd. The omnipotent Word that changes your kids from running around like the spawn of Satan into the dear, sweet, and blood-bought children of their Heavenly Father. The awesome Word of God that creates saving faith in their hearts, forgives their many sins and opens wide the gates of heaven to them and all believers.

A number of years ago, Chicago had a very nasty winter. The weight of snow on the roofs of many homes exceeded structural recommendations. Bob McGrath had one such building – his garage. McGrath wasn't too concerned about things until his wife went into the garage to get some boxes and, shortly afterwards, he heard a great crash.

A glance out the window revealed the garage roof had buckled and caved in. McGrath didn't stop for a hat or coat. He ran from the house, grabbed a snow shovel and called out for the neighbors to help. The sweat on his face froze, as he dug at the snow and pulled the debris from the wreckage. Eventually, thankfully, he heard his wife's voice and saw her hand.

In moments the crying couple was reunited. Those who were there say it was a touching moment. In answer to her husband's repeated question, Mrs. McGrath assured him she was all right, and she was. In fact Mrs. McGrath had always been all right. That's because she wasn't in the garage when it collapsed. She had entered the garage through the side door but had come out through the back. She was in the house and quite comfortable, when the garage roof went down.

But rather than throwing cold water on her husband's noble efforts to save her, Mrs. McGrath snuck back into the garage and waited patiently to be rescued.

Both Mrs. McGrath and we, and all of humanity, had a dedicated rescuer. Mrs. McGrath had her husband, but we have Jesus Christ, the perfect bridegroom. So that we might be rescued from death and destruction, caused not by an accident, but by our own avalanche of disobedience and sin, the Lord sent His Son out from His home in heaven out into this cold and cruel world.

So that we might be rescued from this world’s forces of darkness, the Son of God clothed Himself with humanity’s flesh and bones. So that we might be saved, Jesus resisted every temptation of the devil that we fall victim to. So that we might know that death had been transformed from our enemy into a gateway to eternal life, Jesus rose from the dead. With single-minded purpose, without a flaw or a failing in His entire life, Jesus did for us all that we could not do. His success assures that we have been rescued.

Today the apostle Paul invites you to clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And forgive as the Lord forgave you. But, hard as you try, you cannot do this on your own. That is why you need Jesus as your Rescuer and Savior. He is the One who dresses you with all of these virtues by first accomplishing these virtues in His own life, and most perfectly in His sacrificial death.

He showed compassion by talking with the down-and-out, giving importance to the outcasts, healing the ill and lame; even raising the dead. He showed kindness by interceding for those condemned by society, stopping a woman from being stoned; reaching out to a despised tax collector. He showed gentleness, extending His love to little children, that His disciples thought were a nuisance. He showed patience, bearing with the disciples when they did not understand; teaching them correctly and opening their eyes. 

These were not just random acts of kindness, disconnected from each other. But they were acts that lived out the kind of love that God gives to us. And all these virtues were crystallized in Jesus’ death on the cross, where His compassion, humility, forgiveness and love were seen so clearly, in His willingness to forgive even those who crucified Him. He took up every insult, complaint, sin, and grievance upon Himself, and spoke the dying words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He is the source of that limitless love, and He clothes us with it. He gives you these new clothes through His Word that dwells in you richly. Christ’s Word and love clothe you like new school clothes – but these clothes also have a transformative power on your lives.

Teachers and students, tomorrow when you go to school, dress nicely in your shirts and ties, your dresses, jeans and sweatshirts. Look nice in the classroom. But most importantly, put on the clothes that Jesus Christ has picked out for you. Wearing these clothes of Christ, everyone should be able to tell that you are a student, graduate, parent or teacher at Wisconsin Lutheran School – for they will see you as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved. Amen.