Homily

Put Your Clothes On!

Sunday, November 28, 1998 Colossians 3:12-16

Fr. Josiah Trenham, Pastor

St. Andrew Orthodox Christian Church; Riverside, Ca.

Introduction: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen. This morning’s Epistle lesson is about putting your clothes on. It is about getting dressed. The Scriptures have much to say about Christian adornment, and one of the first things we should know is that when the Scriptures speak of “dress” or “clothes” there on two types of clothing and of adornment referred to. The first is physical-material clothing. The Scriptures have much to say about this subject, as do the Holy Fathers in general, but this is not the type of clothing we are speaking about today. Instead we are speaking about a second type of dress. This second type of dress is the clothing of the soul. These “clothes” are not invisible. It is evident to all whether or not we are wearing our soul-clothes, but these clothes are not made of cotton or various fabrics. Instead these clothes consist of grace and virtue.

Our culture has a great love of physical clothes. We are all trained to dress in a certain way. What goes with what, what not to wear together, how much to wear, etc. etc. etc.. Getting dressed spiritually is far more important, and yet is something we are far less experienced in. With regard to physical clothing we are sheik. But with regard to our soul-clothes we are mostly tasteless and a bunch of nerds. To adorn our souls properly is far more necessary than clothing our bodies. For a man to leave the house for work in a coat, bow-tie, and boxer shorts may be embarrassing. To be clothed in improper attire in the desert or in the snow may be very uncomfortable or even dangerous and may leave one exposed, but to have our souls improperly clothes is far more embarrassing, disastrous, and dangerous.

Christ: Our Soul’s Most Important Garment: In the Garden of delights, where our first parents lived, Adam and Eve were clothed in a garment of light and glory. They donned no physical clothes as we know them today. The Scriptures tell us they were “naked” and yet “without shame”. Adam and Eve were clothed with the glory of God. They shone as His image, and were radiant in the Holy Spirit. They were adorned with the grace of God and every virtue. At this time our first parents lived in perfect harmony with God and with each other. They dwelt in love, intercommunion, and glory. They were adorned with the presence of God Himself. Physical clothes were unnecessary. There was no shame to hide. There were no harmful or dangerous elements or persons to be sheltered from. All of creation moved in blessing. It was only after the fall of our first parents that man knew nakedness, guilt, and shame. It was only after the fall that mankind and creation lacked harmony, and that man could be burned by the sun, frozen by the cold, or cut by the earth. To protect man and cover his shame God gave us physical clothing. Man had lost his original garment.

This garment of light is restored to man when his life and the beauty of God’s image is restored to him in holy baptism. “As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). This is why we bless the baptismal garment saying, “The servant of God N. is clothed with a garment of righteousness” and sing following the trine-immersion, “Vouchsafe unto me a robe of light, O thou who clothest thyself with light as with a garment”. Christ Himself is our fundamental clothing. He is the adornment of our souls. His glory and light is the true beauty of our souls, and it is preserving and living in this garment that is our first calling. Each day we must rise and put on Christ. When we clothe ourselves physically let this be a reminder of our great fall from glory, and a great encouragement to rise to regain what we have lost! Let this keep us from the insanity of glorying in what is our shame, and keep us from undue concern about material clothes! Why should we pride ourselves in that which is a sign of our sins!

The Garments of the Virtues: Having put on Christ, we are to adorn our souls with every virtue. Virtue is the true adornment of the soul, and it is what makes every person beautiful or unseemly. St. Paul calls upon us first, to “put on” compassion. We are to manifest sympathy from the depths of our being. We are to be moved in our bowels into action by the virtue of compassion. Compassion for the suffering. Compassion for the sinful, the addicted, the pitiful. Compassion requires the ability to forget about ourselves and think about someone else. As long as we have our eyes, ears and hearts only occupied with our own cares and concerns we will have no place for the sufferings of others. This is why putting on the garment of compassion is an action. It requires effort. Next we are to “put on” “kindness”. This involves a choice always to build up. To reject spite, revenge, and harshness, replacing these things with that which encourages and refreshes. Following kindness we are adorn ourselves with “lowliness” or “humility”. These means refusing to forget that one is a great sinner, but choosing to live in this knowledge on a moment-by-moment basis, and especially to keep this in mind when relating to others. No hardship afflicts the humble person that he does not consider warranted for his sins, and thus he does not complain. No offense or insult or neglect can upset the humble man or lead him to rise up in pride and retaliate. The next soul-garment is “meekness” or “gentleness”. The meekness garment is that which adorns the Christian soul who never lords his authority over others in church, at home, or in the workplace. The meek person refuses to use intimidation, coercion, brute force, and vengeance. Instead the meek person returns blessings for curses, and prays for those who abuse him. Next is “patience”. The garment of patience protects one from exposure to a judgmental attitude. It foregoes demands, choosing to endure and pray. It destroys stress and anxiety, and creates immense inner strength. Following patience is “forbearance and forgiveness”. Forbearance and forgiveness mean that we reject living with double standards: one standard of how we want God to treat us and another that we use to measure our treatment of others. We do not demand that our lives be free of abuse from others or hold grudges against those who harm us. We instead offer to others the very thing that God offers to us- complete remission and forgiveness. Period. We do not practice a three-strikes policy in our personal relationships (not even a seven strikes policy- but a seventy times seven!). We keep no records of wrongs. Above all these garments, we put on the coat of love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. If we want perfect harmony we must put on love. Love is the divine glue which unites all. Are you lacking harmony? Put on love! Lastly, we finish dressing spiritually by putting on the hat of thanksgiving. We sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts to God. Whatever we do, in word or deed, we do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Col. 3:17). Thanksgiving is not just a day to celebrate. It is a way of life. The most striking proof that there is a devil is that men do not feel constantly thankful for the innumerable blessings they receive from the hands of the Lord each and every day and hour.

These are the garments of the soul. These clothes are far more important than our physical clothes and offer us far greater blessing. To go without any of these clothes is to expose oneself to the spiritual elements. To adorn yourself with some of these garments but not all is to fall into spiritual immodesty. To receive the robe of light and glory in baptism but then to clothe oneself in passion instead of the virtues is to fall into the serious sin of spiritual cross-dressing. It is a perverse mixture. Let us instead adorn ourselves with that glory which is God’s will for all people. Let us put on Christ and His way of life, and find ourselves properly dressed for that coming Feast to which all mankind is invited. Let us be judged worthy of the wedding garment, and not find ourselves cast out because we have no clothes. To the Lord of light into whom we are baptized and with whom we are clothed, be glory, together with His Father and the All-Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto ages of ages.