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)
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 5th 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)
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