Garments of Freedom, March 15, 2015

Garments of Freedom

Luke 23:50-56, Colossians 3:12-17

Grace Presbyterian Church

March 15, 2015

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

 

Review So far in our journey through Lent, we have looked at the Ashes of Mourning, the Coins of Betrayal, and the Sword of Revenge. This morning, we look at the Garments of Freedom. We’ll do so by reviewing the various garments of the Bible and particularly those associated with Jesus leading up to the crucifixion. We’ll also look at the spiritual garments we can put on that free us from the powers of sin and evil.

Garments As we know, garments have many functions. We wear clothing for modesty and comfort. For safety and style and social status. Garments keep us from getting wet or too hot. Clothing also reflects religious preferences. If people visit Calvary and see me in my clergy robe, they conclude rightly that I am the pastor. My Mennonite ancestors dressed in such a manner that when they went to town, people knew at once their religious preference.

Clothes of the Bible If we look at the clothing in the Bible, I read some where that in the beginning Eve had three complaints; "I haven't a thing to wear." "I haven't a thing to wear." "I haven't a thing to wear." Of course, this problem was solved when they sewed fig leaves together as a garment to cover themselves when they heard God approaching. [Genesis 3:7] And later on, when they left the Garden of Eden, God provided both Adam and Eve with clothes made from sheep skins.

Coat of Many Colors  We move from fig leaves and sheep skins to Joseph’s famous Coat of Many Colors which he received from his father, Jacob. It was the designer fashion of the day. [Genesis 37:3]

Camel’s Hair  John the Baptist wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist. [Matthew 3:4]

Sackcloth  Sackcloth worn as sign of repentance and sorrow [Daniel 9:3]

The Clothes of Jesus If we look at the life of Jesus, we find that he wore many different garments. When he was born, Matthew tells us that Mary “brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger..” [Matthew 2:7 KJV].

As he grew older, he dressed in the traditional garments of the day. This included six items of clothing:

1. A linen shirt was worn next to the skin..

2. Over the linen shirt was worn a coat or tunic.

3. To secure the tunic. a leather or linen girdle would be wound several times about the waist.

4. Over everything was the outer garment, called a mantle or cloak.

5. On their feet were worn wooden or leather sandals.

6. And although never mentioned specifically in the Bible, no Jewish teacher of Jesus’ day would appear in public with his head uncovered. So it is likely that Jesus wore a turban made of white linen

Over his lifetime, Jesus wore many special garments, some reflecting glory and some not.

For instance, at his Transfiguration, Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white [Matthew 17:2]

At the Last Supper, the night before he died, Jesus took off his outer robe and put on a towel. [John 13:4, 11]

When he was arrested and flogged, the soldiers stripped Jesus and mocked him by putting a scarlet robe on him. [Matthew 27:28, John 19:2, 5]

When he was led to be crucified, his clothes were taken away entirely and divided up between the guards. [Luke 23:34, John 19:24] However, since his tunic was woven without seam, they cast lots to see who would get it.

At the same time, they placed a blindfold on Jesus, taunting him. [Luke 22:64, Mark 14:65]

When Jesus was placed in the tomb, Joseph from Arimathea wrapped his body in a linen cloth and placed a burial cloth around his head. [John 20:6-7. cf. Lazarus, John 11:43-44]]

Birth and Death  So Jesus was wrapped in cloth at his birth and again at his death. Just as he outgrew the swaddling cloths of his infancy, so he cast off the cloths that bound him at his death. We are bound by sin as tightly as the dead were wrapped with binding strips of cloth. When Jesus cast off his burial cloths at his resurrection, it enabled us to throw off the binding clothing of sin.   

Putting on Spiritual Clothing   Today we are asked to put on spiritual clothing. Paul mentions such clothing several times in his letters.

1. In Colossians, he wrote: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” [Colossians 3:12-14]

When you awakened this morning, did you clothe yourself with compassion? With humility? Gentleness and patience? Did you forgive those who have hurt you? If so, you are beautifully dressed!

2. To the church at Ephesus, Paul wrote : “Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)/ Here Paul is talking about getting a brand new wardrobe! Clean out your closet! Get rid of all the clothes that belong to your old nature and dress yourself with the new garments of righteousness and holiness. After all, Jesus paid for it on the Cross at Calvary.

3. To the church in Corinth, Paul wrote: “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” (I Corinthians 15:53) “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling....” (II Corinthians 5:1-2) When we die and leave our earthly tent, we receive a building from God not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Our mortal nature is replaced with an immortal life. We are clothed with our heavenly dwelling.

4. To the Ephesians, Paul writes: “ Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ” [Ephesians 6:13] The armor Paul describes includes the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. The belt was used to hold the sword and the breastplate protected against weapons of the enemy. Paul goes on to say that we are to carry the shield of faith with which we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Then we are to put on the helmet of salvation and carry the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. As you’ll remember, when tempted by the Devil in the wilderness, Jesus used the sword of the Spirit, that is scriptures, to withstand temptations when they come.

Charles Wesley  As many of you might remember, Charles Wesley was a prolific hymn writer. He wrote such hymns as “Jesus Christ is Risen Today,” and “Hark, the herald angels sing.” In 1749, he wrote the words to “Soldiers of Christ, Arise.” The first stanza reads: “Soldiers of Christ, arise and put your armor on, strong in the strength which God supplies through his eternal Son. Strong in the Lord of hosts, and in his mighty power, who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.”

Results of Garments of Freedom  All of these garments are garments of freedom which have been created by God. When we put them on, two things happen.

1. We become protected from the darts and arrows of temptation. We must get dressed every morning with the armor of God for we have no idea what test might come our way during the day.

2. We become ambassadors for Christ to the extent that we model the clothing he has given us. People can tell we are Christians by our garments of speech and actions. We model these garments so that others will want to put on the garments of freedom - freedom from the power of sin and death.

Clothe Ourselves with Jesus  Finally Paul says, “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.”(Romans 13:14). When we do this, we clothe ourselves with his power, his forgiveness, and his love. So every day we need to allow Jesus to clothe our thoughts to make them pure, clothe our minds to make them clean, clothe our words to make them uplifting, clothe our actions to make them useful, and clothe our hearts to make them loving. Then, we need to put on the whole armor of Christ to make our lives strong and courageous. As we leave here this morning, I urge us all to pay careful attention as to how we’re dressed. Amen.

Luke 23:50-56 NRSV