Christmas isn’t over yet – There is a new set of clothes for you

Colossians 3:12-17 ¹²Therefore, as God’s elect, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³Bear with one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against anyone else. Forgive, just as Christ forgave you. ¹⁴And, in addition to all these things, put on love, which ties things together in perfect unity. ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, to which you were also called, in one body. And be thankful.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And everything 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.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Amen. (Ephesians 1:3)

Growing up, my cousins and I would give our Christmas lists to our Grandma. We each put different toys and games on our list. But then our moms must have added underwear to all our lists. There aren’t any kids who actually ask for underwear.

Except, that’s precisely what everyone of us got one year for Christmas.

My whole family – grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, siblings and the eighteen grandkids all gathered in my grandparents’ basement on Christmas Eve. We went around the room, each opening a gift from Grandma.

The first grandchild got underwear. The second grandchild got underwear. After the third grandchild received underwear from Grandma, we noticed a theme. We all started chanting “Underwear! Underwear!”

That became the chant that Christmas and every Christmas after it.

Even though most people are done celebrating Christmas, we’re not done yet. With the Sundays after Christmas, we see that there are two more presents left under the Christmas tree for us. The first of these presents is a set of clothing.

Underwear, socks, pants, shirts, gloves, hats, jackets, and shoes may not be the most exciting Christmas presents for kids. We would much rather receive toys, gadgets and electronics. But we can all use clothes.

These clothes are not khaki pants and a dress shirt or a fancy dress with a nice sweater. St. Paul tells us that as God’s elect, his chosen children, “clothe yourselves with heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”

Clothe yourself with heartfelt compassion. Compassion is certainly lacking among all of us these days. We are quick to judge each other’s attitudes and actions, without ever asking for the reason behind the attitude and actions. Compassion does the opposite. Compassion is a deep feeling of affection rooted in the love of Christ that fills our hearts. Compassion means that you see the hurts others are feeling and you immediately are moved to do something about it.

Compassion is when there were fourteen bald fifth graders in Lake Elementary School in Oceanside, CA. One of the 5^th graders named Ian was going through chemotherapy for caner. Knowing he would probably lose his hair, he took the initiative and shaved his head. Of course, a single bald boy draws a lot of attention. And attention is not something most fifth grade boys want. So, to help Ian fit in, his male classmates had their heads shaved, too. That’s compassion.

On top of compassion, put on kindness. Kindness is watching out for the other person. We naturally care only about ourselves. When you are clothed with kindness, you are seeking the other person’s good. You overlook each other’s weakness. You ignore sore spots. You forgive past hurts. You would rather suffer injury than inflict it.

We have been asking you to greet each other after worship for a long time. But I know of a church where that practice was just starting. The pastor had made the announcement that on a certain Sunday they would start greeting each other. After the announcements, as the congregation got up to leave, one man turned around and said a cheerful, “Good morning” to the lady behind him.

At first, she was shocked by his boldness. Then with great dignity she replied, “I beg your pardon! That friendliness business doesn’t start until next Sunday!”

Thankfully, most of us don’t feel that way. Friendliness and hospitality are ways to demonstrate kindness to those around us.

I would suggest that humility is the undergarment of our spiritual clothing. As I’ve done marriage counseling with couples over the years, we often begin our discussions together talking about humility. Many of the conflicts in marriage are because each spouse wants to be right. Neither one wants to admit fault. Neither one wants to back down or apologize. It becomes “my way or the highway.”

True humility is not thinking lowly of yourself but thinking accurately of yourself. Humility knows your part and plays it. Humility is quick to applaud the success of others.

An elementary-age boy came home from the tryouts for the school play. “Mommy, Mommy,” he announced, “I got a part. I’ve been chosen to sit in the audience and clap and cheer.” When you have the opportunity to clap and cheer for others, that’s humility.

Even though clothes are kind of boring to receive for Christmas, we could all put on the garment of gentleness.

Gentleness is the garment of a self-controlled person. When you put on gentleness, others can take off their self-defensive armor.

We don’t hear much talk about gentleness these days. We teach our kids to toughen up and suck it up. Our culture views gentleness as synonymous with weakness.

Being gentle means to have a softness of speech, a quiet disposition, a loving touch and a calming presence. It is not harsh or severe in actions. Gentleness is not a vice but a virtue.

Gentleness is the little sister who is upset when she sees her older brother on crutches. She says to him, “I’m your nurse. What do you need me to do, Patient?”

Living in Wisconsin winters, we know all about layering our clothes. Another garment to put on is patience. The patient Christian does not bear a grudge and refuses to harbor thoughts of revenge. Patience requires humor, a spirit to live and let live. But mostly patience takes love.

People with hair-trigger tempers usually aren’t very thoughtful. Impulsive people aren’t known as being great planners. God desires for us to be thoughtful, planning and patient.

Then we are instructed, “Bear with one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against anyone else. Forgive, just as Christ forgave you.” Years ago, after attending a seminar I taught on parenting, a mom and dad came up to me to talk about their teenage daughter. They said that though they always corrected their daughter and told her they loved her, they never said, “I forgive you” to her.

That’s one of the saddest things I ever heard. Jesus extends his gracious forgiveness to us for our accidental and intentional sins. He wants us to extend that same gracious forgiveness to others, whether they sin against us accidentally or intentionally. We forgive as Christ has forgiven us.

Love is the final piece of spiritual clothing under your tree. “In addition to all these things, put on love, which ties things together in perfect unity.” Love is like a belt – a belt that’s useful for holding up those saggy pants teen boys like to wear. Love coordinates, completes and binds together the rest of the believer’s spiritual clothing. Love is a conscious, purposeful, self-sacrificing action that we give to others.

Just like the kids who like to show off their new clothes when they come back to school after Christmas, so we want to wear and show off these spiritual clothes Christ has set under the tree for us.

Why do we need all 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.

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 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. If those fifth-grade boys showed compassion by shaving their heads in solidarity with their classmate, Jesus demonstrated divine compassion in his solidarity of becoming one of us, living our life and dying our death.

He showed kindness by interceding for those condemned by society, stopping a woman from being stoned, and reaching out to a despised tax collector. He shows kindness to you, not by overlooking your weaknesses or ignoring your sins, but by taking your weaknesses and sins upon himself and giving you his righteousness in exchange.

St. Paul gives a beautiful description of Jesus’ humility: “Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant. When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8), In humility, Jesus thought more of you than he thought of himself.

Jesus showed gentleness, extending his love to little children his disciples thought were a nuisance. He shows gentleness to you by approaching you with a quiet disposition, a loving touch and a calming presence.

He showed patience, bearing with the disciples when they did not understand, teaching them correctly and opening their eyes. He shows patience with you by not judging you immediately but giving you time to repent and believe.

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.

Unwrap the first of two presents left under the tree. Wear these nice new clothes to church, to school, to work, at home, out in the yard, when going shopping, wherever you go. Wear these clothes proudly. Then people will see you as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved. Amen.

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.” Amen. (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17)