05/22/11  Sermon:
“Clothe Yourselves With Christ!”
( Romans 13:8-14 )
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     Clothing is very important.  During a North Dakota winter when it’s 20 below or colder it is very important to dress with warm clothing.  On the other hand, if it’s 105 degrees above zero and 95% humidity, it is very important to dress appropriately for that weather as well.

     If you’re going spend the day fishing or working in the garden, you will wear clothing appropriate to that situation.  If you’re going to a formal occasion or a fancy restaurant, then you will wear clothing appropriate to that setting.

     Of course, there are some types of clothing we Christians should never wear.  Scripture is clear that we should be modest and not dress in a way that would tempt another person.  We should also refuse to wear clothing with pictures, symbols and themes that conflict with Christ and His Word.

     There are many types of clothing in this world, and most of us have closets and drawers full of various types of clothing for various occasions and situations.

     At the end of today’s reading from Romans chapter 13 the Apostle Paul writes:  “…clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ,…”  So, what does it mean for us to clothe ourselves with Christ?  Simply put, this is a reference to our Baptism!

     For example, listen to what Paul writes about this in Galatians chapter 3:  “…all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”  Did you hear that?  When you were baptized you were “clothed with Christ.”  Being “clothed with Christ” is a metaphor of how Christ became an intimate part of our lives when we were baptized.  Therefore, Holy Baptism ought to influence how we live our lives every moment of every day.

     For instance, in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism he writes the following about the meaning of our Baptism for daily living.  Luther writes:  “[Baptism] indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”

     So then, “clothing yourself with Christ” means beginning each day remember WHO you are and WHOSE you are, that is, beginning each day remembering that you are a baptized child of God who has been clothed with Christ.
     The idea of being “clothed with Christ” means that He is part of us wherever we go just as our clothing is part of us wherever we go.  In fact, you could say that Christ is like the Christian’s uniform.  When people look at us and how we live it should be obvious to them that we represent Christ.  The question is:  Are our lives in harmony with our Christian uniform?  Are our lives in harmony with being clothed with Christ?

     You see, the devil is constantly tempting us to take off our Christian uniform and put on a different kind of clothing – a kind of clothing that identifies us with this evil world.  Sadly, we Christians wear this worldly clothing far too often.  Sadly, there are times when people look at our lives and the last thing they see is Christ.  I think you know what I’m talking about.

     We’re all guilty living in ways that mock God and hurt others.  If we continue to live like this and refuse to repent, our faith in Christ will grow weaker and weaker and one day we may lose our faith in Christ altogether.  When this happens we have thereby rejected our Baptism identity and have declared ourselves to be enemies of God – and the enemies of God will face His wrath on the Final Day.

     But God does not want that to be the fate of any sinner.  The Father sent His Son to die on the cross for our many sins so that we might be forgiven and clothed with Christ’s own Holy life.  As the prophet Isaiah wrote almost 3000 years ago:  “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.  For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,…”

     Martin Luther said that the meaning of your Baptism is that you live in DAILY repentance and that you DAILY remember that you are a New Creation in Christ.  

     You see, we Christians all struggle with various temptations and sins – and sometimes we fall flat on our face.  But rather than excusing our sin and joyfully wallowing in it like a pig in the mud, the Holy Spirit convicts us with guilt and moves to acknowledge that our sin is an evil thing that offends our Holy God.  

     The same Holy Spirit also gives us the faith to believe that we were clothed with Christ in Baptism and that means our many sins are forgiven and that we have been robed with Christ’s righteous life.  You can come to God EVERY DAY with your evil desires and sinful deeds and know that you are forgiven and that God will help you to live a new life.

     So, what does this Baptism life look like?  What kind of life should we live?  Paul begins today’s reading with these words:  “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.”  What does this mean?
     
     First of all, when Paul says “Let no debt remain outstanding” he simply means that we Christians ought to pay our bills.  However, most bills – even a huge home mortgage – are usually eventually paid off.  But this is NOT the case with love.  God says that we owe a debt of love to our neighbor – and that debt is never paid.  In other words, just as God never stops loving us, we should never stop loving one another.

     But HOW do we love one another?  This is an important question!  You see, many in culture define “love one another” to mean that you can live as you please as long as you are nice to other people and allow them to live as they please.  But this is not a life of love!  

     According to Scripture, a life of love is a life lived according to God’s Ten Commandments.  Listen again to what Paul writes:  “…he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.  The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  Love does no harm to its neighbor.  Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.”

     Do you hear that?  A life of love means repenting of the evil condemned by the Ten Commandments – the evil that harms other people.  In addition, living a life of love also means doing good to one’s neighbor and helping them with their needs.  For example, listen to Luther’s explanation of the 5th Commandment:  “We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.”

     The reason we strive to live in this way is that we have been clothed with Christ in Holy Baptism.  We have a new identity.  We are God’s forgiven children – washed from sin in Holy Baptism and clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness.  

     So, when people notice how we live – that we repent of our sin and strive to turn from it; that we do our best to help others and serve others – when people notice this about our lives we do not boast or take the credit.  Instead, we point them to Jesus who washed us from the guilt of our sin in Holy Baptism and gave us a new life – His own holy life!

     In today’s reading Paul goes on to say the following about the Baptized life:  “And do this, understanding the present time … The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.  So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let us behave decently, … not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.  Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

     You see, Paul understands that we Christians still have a sinful nature.  We all struggle with evil desires that are opposed to God’s will for our lives – and the devil dangles dozens of despicable delicacies from this demented world to deceive us and distract us from the lives God would have us live.

     You know what I mean.  Throughout the day we battle with evil desires – and we are constantly tempted to put those evil desires into action.  But God says to you:  “...do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”  How do we do that?  Paul writes:  “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.”

     Every morning before you get out of bed, put on your Christian uniform.  Luther said that in the morning, before we arise, we Christians should make the sign of the cross upon our foreheads and upon our hearts to remind ourselves that we have been baptized.  When we remember that God clothed us with Christ in Holy Baptism, we thereby remember WHO we are and WHOSE we are – and that gives us the desire and the determination to live our lives accordingly.

     In fact, Paul says we should live each day with the understanding that “the day is almost here.”  You could stand before Christ at any time – either at the moment of your own death or when Christ returns in glory, and you don’t know when either one will happen.  Therefore, we live each day trusting in Jesus and we ignore the devil’s lie that we’d be better off if we turned away from Jesus.

     We Christians have been saved so that we can live in God’s love for all eternity.  Since we will be living to God’s glory for all eternity, we strive to do that very thing also in this life – and we do that by remembering that we have been clothed with Christ in Holy Baptism.

     I’d like to say one more thin. I know that living the Christian life can be very hard.  We constantly battle the desires of our sinful nature, and sometimes we foolishly put those sinful desires into action.  I know I’m guilty of doing this.  

     But that’s the wonderful thing about being clothed with Christ!
You can come to God every day in repentance and faith and know that He doesn’t see your many sins.  Instead, when God looks at you, He sees Jesus!

     This good news of forgiveness and love in Christ not only gives us great comfort when we are burdened with guilt over our many sins.  In addition, the good news of forgiveness and love in Christ also gives us the desire and the strength to say “No” to the sin that offends God and harms others and “Yes” to the all the good things that please God and bless others.  You can do this, because you are clothed with Christ!   Amen!