“The Birthday Suit” (Colossians 3:12-17)

“Clothes makes the man.”  This age-old saying dates back to the 1400s, but despite its age it still carries weight and meaning.  Most of us understand this saying to mean that people are judged based on the clothing they wear and are treated accordingly.  That is a part of human nature to base our opinions on outer appearance; yet, at the same time we should treat all people with respect no matter what they wear or what their outer appearance might be.  But the truth of the matter is that we treat people differently based upon what they look like and what they wear.  The better they look, the better we treat them.  As I said, it is human nature.

 

For several years when I was in high school, I volunteered to work with an organization that did social events for people with disabilities.  The most popular of those events were the dances . . . semi-formal dances.  Being ignorant about such things as formal and semi-formal dances I had to ask what that meant for me to wear to the dances.  I was informed that for me it meant that I had to wear a nice pair of slacks, collared shirt, and any shoes but my standard Chuck Taylors.

 

So, for my first semi-formal dance I dressed accordingly . . . nice slacks, not only a collared shirt but a button-down collared shirt, and some fancy shiny shoes.  Imagine my surprise when I arrived, I was caught off-guard by what the guests of the dance were wearing.  There were no nice slacks, collared shirts, and shiny shoes . . . no, the males were wearing suits and the females were wearing fancy dresses.  To be honest with you, I felt under-dressed . . . that I had somehow missed the memo saying proper attire was a suit.

 

I didn’t get it.

 

It was then explained to me that this was standard practice at these dances.  Those individuals with disabilities were dressed to the hilt . . . they were dressed to the hilt because “clothes make the person.”  Remember, the better you dress the better you are treated.  Since people with disabilities is one of those populations within society that are under-valued and not treated like everyone else, it made sense to dress them up fancy.  And it worked.  People treated these individuals differently . . . they were nicer, kinder, and more respectful to them.

 

At the same time there was another reason why this practice was done.  This brings us to the saying’s other and deeper meaning.  By dressing a certain way one can become empowered . . . can boost one’s self-confidence.  Dressing in certain ways based on the image which your clothing choice gives off can begin to make a person feel that way just as well.  Here we tell people to dress the role you want to be.  For people with disabilities clothing and what they wear does make them feel better about themselves.

 

The topic on this first Sunday of Christmas is clothing . . . after all, clothing makes the person.  Christmas is marked with the birth of Jesus . . . the coming of the Lord . . . and Jesus came kicking and screaming into this world naked.  Clothed only in his birthday suit.  Of course, we miss all this action in the story.  When we pick up the story Jesus is all wrapped up in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger.  But it is that birthday suit that represents Jesus . . . grace, love, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, peace, and justice.  This is the clothing of Jesus . . . this is what his clothing tells us about him . . . this is who he is.  This is the gift we seek, the gift we embrace . . . God is with us!

 

As the followers of Jesus, we are called upon to clothe ourselves in the birthday suit of Jesus.  The Apostle Paul writes to the Colossian congregation: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  He also throws in there love, peace, forgiveness, thankfulness . . . virtues that Jesus lived by.  These are the clothes that makes a follower of Jesus a true adherent of the ways of the Savior.  These are the garments that define the individual . . . that lets the rest of the world know who he or she is.  Remember, clothes make the person.

 

With the arrival of the Lord and our acceptance of the Holy, we are born again.  And, once again, we have the opportunity to step out of what binds us to the ways of the world and to step into our birthday suits . . . to clothe ourselves as Jesus did.  We put on our birthday suits and we dress the part of a follower of Jesus.  We dress the part to fit the role.  And the world sees.  God is pleased.

 

Yet, at the same time, we need to remember that it is more than the clothes that we wear that makes us followers of Jesus.  It is a matter of how we wear those clothes . . . we are empowered to live the virtues of those clothes just as Jesus lived his life.  We not only wear these virtues, we live these virtues each and every day.  In this way we become who God created us to be . . . God’s children.

 

After all, clothes make the person . . . right?

 

After the long, dark season of patiently waiting for the coming of the Lord . . . we have been gifted.  A gift is never a gift until it has been given and received.  It is now up to us to receive the gift.  It is now up to us to use the gift.  It is now up to us to clothe ourselves in the birthday suit we have received.  We are to live our lives as Jesus lived his and in this the world and people will know who we are . . . we are the children of God.  The apostle tells the Colossians: “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.”

 

In this Christmas season we have been blessed with the gift of God’s presence through Jesus.  May we embrace the gift and give thanks to God.  Let us clothe ourselves in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

“Soundtrack of Faith” (Luke 1:39--55)

Every have a parapraxis?  A parapraxis is what we commoners would call a “Freudian slip”.  This is a verbal or memory mistake that is believed to be linked to the unconscious mind.  Supposedly these slips reveal secret thoughts and feelings that people hold.  These speech blunders reveal those thoughts and things that we don’t want to reveal or make public.  They are things that we say and then think to ourselves, “Did I just say that out loud?”

Few of us want to reveal to the world the running commentary that happens in our heads.  That soundtrack may be more than others could handle and may be more than we are ready to deal with once revealed.  Yet, the truth of the matter is we all have this running soundtrack bouncing around in our head and hearts.

 

Over the past year there has been a show that plays with this idea . . . this idea of a soundtrack that plays in our minds and is rarely revealed to the world or others.  Zooey’s Extraordinary Playlist is about a person, who through a freak occurrence, is able to hear people’s innermost wants and desires through popular songs.  She can hear these wants, desires, feelings, and thoughts . . . in music and song.  She hears the musical soundtrack playing in their heads that reveal their true selves and feelings.  She is exposed to those thoughts and feelings that they don’t want exposed to others . . . she kind of stumbles into a parapraxis of humanity.

 

Now I don’t know about you, but I am a person raised on television and movies.  Every television show and movie I have ever seen has a soundtrack that plays and sets the mood against the action that is on the screen.  And I always wanted that . . . wanted that soundtrack that played in the background of my life.  Can you imagine what that would do with the relationships we have in our lives?  We would know . . . we would know that when we hear that ominous music playing that we might want to leave certain individuals alone.  Unfortunately . . . we can’t.  We can’t unless we or others let it slip out, and for most of us we aren’t going to let that happen.

 

From our reading this morning we see music popping out all over the place.  Mary, knowing that she is bearing the child of God, goes to see her older cousin Elisabeth to share the news.  Elisabeth greets Mary with a little musical jingle as the baby in her womb jumped for joy.  Then Mary, unable to contain herself, breaks out in song.  We hear the Magnificant . . . the Song of Mary . . . or the Canticle of Mary.  It is a song of praise . . . a song of joy . . . that expresses the awe and wonder Mary feels for the presence of God in her life.  The feelings are so powerful she cannot contain them . . . they burst out like the big number in a Broadway play.  One almost expects Mary to look towards the audience, smile sheepishly, and say, “Oops!  Did I just say that out loud?”

 

Mary cannot help herself.  So overwhelmed to be chosen to bear God’s child . . . the child of great promise and potential not only for his people but all people.  This child is special in that he will carry the salvation of his people and people everywhere.  It just bursts out of here.  Mary proclaims: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.”  In that moment the soundtrack of Mary’s life and faith breaks free of the constraints holding her back.

 

As we witness this expression of great joy, we cannot help but to be caught up in the praise being expressed . . . pure exuberant joy.  What an expression of one’s faith.  What a parapraxis . . . what a Freudian slip.  Oh, to have such faith that it burst forth from us in such a heartfelt and honest way.  To have such an expression of faith . . . bursting at the seams with song . . . songs of faith.

 

Then people would know.  People would know where we stand.

 

I recently heard this story about folk singer Pete Seeger.  I do not know whether or not the story is true, but it is powerful story about the soundtracks that guide our lives and faith.

 

The year was 1970 and Pete Seeger had been invited to sing in Barcelona, Spain.  Fracisco Franco fascist government was still in power but declining and still ruled with an iron fist.  A pro-democracy movement was gaining strength in the country and to prove it, they invited Seeger to come as one of America’s best-known freedom singers.  Over a hundred thousand people were in the stadium listing to rock bands play as they waited to hear Seeger.

 

Prior to going on Seeger was handed a list from the government officials listing all of the songs that he was banned from singing.  Looking at the list it was pretty much his whole show.  Strolling up onto the stage he held up the paper and said, “I’ve been told that I’m not allowed to sing these songs.”  As he paused, he grinned at the crowd and said, “So I’ll just play the chords; maybe you know the words.  They didn’t say anything about you singing them.”

 

He strummed his banjo to one song after another, and they all sang.  Over a hundred thousand defiant freedom singers breaking the law with Pete Seeger, filling the stadium with words their government did not want them to hear, words they all knew and had sung together, in secret circles, for years.  What could the government do?  Arrest a hundred thousand singers?

 

The government knew that it had been beaten.  Knew where the people stood.  Heard the soundtrack fueling the lives of the people.

 

As we near the Christmas season it is hard not to feel the buildup taking place . . . the anticipation of what is coming . . . hard not to get caught up in the excitement.  It is hard to contain it.  Though Advent is a season that seems to be defined by darkness and our journey through it to the light of the coming of the Lord that does not mean we have to be stuck in it.  It doesn’t mean we have to hold in our excitement, anticipation, and building joy for what is coming.  No, it is an invitation to let it loose . . . to step into the light . . . and to rejoice in the awe of it all.  To let our faith rip out.  To sing our song and sing it loud.

 

Isn’t that what Mary does?  Think of the implications of Mary’s situation . . . think about what people were saying and would say . . . think about how frightening it must have been for her.  How dark a time it was in her life.  And, yet she breaks out in song.  Hearing her song there is no denying where she stands . . . squarely in the loving presence of God!

 

Despite our stoic reluctance to let out our building joy because it is not yet Christmas, it keeps slipping out.  We catch ourselves humming certain songs and hymns . . . Christmas songs!  We are experiencing parapraxis . . . little Freudian slips.  We can’t help ourselves . . . the joy is almost too much to contain.

 

And that is okay.  In fact, we need to let it out . . . we need to express it.  Not only now or during Christmas but always . . . every single day.  Advent is that invitation to let her out.  Remember, Henri Nouwen tells us that “life is Advent”.  That “life is recognizing the coming of the Lord.”  God is all around us if we have ears to hear and eyes to see.  Because of this we should be filled with great joy.  Great joy that should be shared.  So, don’t be bashful . . . let your light shine, let your song be sung . . . and, let the world know where you stand.  Mary did and we are better for it.  Amen.