“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.
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