Sunday LinkUp – December 29, 2024 – Colossians 3:12-17

Get Dressed

Colossians 3:12-17  NIV

Although we are still in the Christmas season, many have set their sights on the new year, which is only days away.  People have lots of different traditions for how to bring in the new year, however, for many lovers of classic science fiction, there is only one way to celebrate: “The Twilight Zone” marathon.  For the past 28 years, the SyFy Channel (An American cable tv channel specializing in science fiction) has offered 24 hours (sometimes more) of “The Twilight Zone” episodes from New Year’s Eve through New Year’s Day, although the channel now offers the marathon around the July 4th holiday.

In past marathons, due to the proximity to the Christmas holiday, the SyFy Channel would always air the episode “Night of the Meek,” the only truly Christmas-themed episode.  In it, we are introduced to Henry Corwin, played by Art Carney, a department store Santa who was fired because of his alcohol use.  We soon learn that Mr. Corwin used alcohol to cover up his pain and heartbreak at the loss of human empathy and concern for others.  As he walked the street in his Santa suit lamenting the loss of the Christmas spirit, he came across a large sack filled with presents.  He proceeded to go around town handing out magically appropriate gifts to everyone he met.  Eventually, all the presents were handed out and there was no gift left for Mr. Corwin.  It was then that he realized that being able to give out the presents was his gift.  The episode concluded with a reindeer sleigh showing up with an elf sitting upon it.  It was waiting for Mr. Corwin.  He sat upon the sleigh and rode it into the sky shouting, “Merry Christmas!”  The man who pretended to be Santa Claus actually became Santa Claus.

In addition to being a poignant reminder of the importance of compassion and generosity, “Night of the Meek” points to a deeper truth: sometimes pretending leads to becoming.  It is possible to change things on the inside by making changes on the outside.   This principle can be found at play in today’s passage. Please turn to Colossians 3:12-17:

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 one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put onlove, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.  Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it allin the name of the Lord Jesus,  giving thanks to God the Father through him.   (Colossians 3:12-17 NIV)

In the passage, Paul told his audience to “clothe” themselves with the qualities of Jesus Christ and “put on love.”  This is an inspired metaphor that speaks to our limitations while calling us up to greater works.  To clothe oneself implies that one is not already dressed.  I cannot put on a shirt that I am already wearing.  Paul could be telling his audience that human beings do not naturally “wear” compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love.  In other words, these unselfish traits, of esteeming others better than ourselves, don’t always come easily.  Furthermore, I cannot put on a shirt that is not already in my possession.  Paul seems to also be indicating that you already possess these qualities in Christ, now put them on. (2 Peter 1:3)

The problem is that there is a difference between how we behave and how we want to behave.  We may want to respond with kindness when a driver cuts us off.  However, what bubbles up in our hearts is often frustration, annoyance, contempt, and/or other emotions.  If we wait for kindness to be our automatic response to an annoyance or frustration, we may be waiting a long time.  We are being transformed into the image of Christ, and we participate in the renewing of our minds.   We actively cultivate love for our neighbors and righteous relationships.  This is why Paul exhorts his audience to get dressed; to put on Christlikeness like a garment.

Getting dressed means behaving as an image-bearer even when we do not feel like it.  We strive to treat our neighbor as Christ would treat them, even while secretly having a fleshly response inside.  This is not simply putting up a fake veneer.  Rather it is following the leading of the Holy Spirit to temporarily put aside our self-focused feelings in order to be like Christ to our neighbor.  We are not talking about times when we are being insulted, abused, or neglected (although it could).  Instead, we are talking about times when we don’t yield to the Holy Spirit, and we choose greed, selfishness, and pride.

Getting dressed also means we take our true feelings to God in prayer at the earliest possible moment.  To God, we confess the true feelings of our heart while thanking him that, despite our own issues, God is conforming us to Jesus.  We pray for God to cause our inside to match our outside.  In this way, we can become what we put on, by God’s grace.

This is not an easy process.  Getting dressed can feel like a type of death.  We can feel like we are denying part of ourselves, and those efforts may or may not be recognized or appreciated by our neighbor.  It is no wonder that Paul instructs his listeners to wisely “teach and admonish” each other with songs.  To say it another way, we are to proactively remind each other of Christ’s greatness with joy and celebration.  We are to make much of Jesus.  We are to joyfully declare who he is and what he has done.  In doing so, we remind ourselves that he is worthy of our sacrifice.  We celebrate the fact that we can participate in his suffering and in his glory.

From the passage, we can highlight three things: growing in knowledge of Christ,  recognition that Jesus is our mediator, and gratitude to God.

First, believers are instructed to “let the message of Christ dwell among you richly.”  Getting dressed in the garment of Christ, involves getting to know who Jesus is and what he is like.  We also need to know about his work of salvation.  Otherwise, we risk following a god of our own making instead of imitating Christ.  Spending time studying the four Gospels, reading books about Christ, doing devotionals, exploring websites like The Bible Project, attending a Sunday gathering, and watching shows like “The Chosen” are all ways to get to know Jesus better.

In addition to building our knowledge of Christ, recognizing Jesus as our mediator is needed as we get dressed in the garment of Christ.  The passage advises that whatever we say or do is to be done “in the name of Lord Jesus.”  To do something in another’s name is to do it in their place as they would do it.  We try to not merely follow our emotions.  Instead, we look to Christ first — what he would say, what he would do — then we follow his lead.  We look to him to teach us how to be a neighbor, mother, brother, friend, etc.  But it is so much more than that!  Christ is loving our neighbor perfectly, and we are in Christ.  As the mediator of our relationships, Jesus is standing between us and every other person.  As a result, “loving our neighbor” and “being Christ to our neighbor” are synonymous.  Sometimes our neighbor feels hard to love; we can focus on Christ our mediator, loving them as if they were Christ.

Lastly, getting dressed in Christlikeness calls for “giving thanks to God the Father” through Jesus.  We need the Holy Spirit’s empowering to put on Christ and love our neighbor.  It does not come easily.  We point to the attitude and behavior of our neighbor as a reason to not clothe ourselves in Christ.  We point to our own pain.  We point to history and politics and anything else that would justify why we won’t sacrifice for someone else.  This is why gratitude is important.  Our indebtedness to Christ should cause us to respond gratefully to the grace we have received.  The love debt we owe our neighbor should motivate us to get dressed.  Therefore, we would be wise to engage in practices that cultivate gratitude.  In particular, confession to God helps us to see our own shortcomings and our need for grace.  We are more likely to extend empathy and grace to others as we enjoy God’s forgiveness.  

In this Christmas season, let us be reminded that Jesus came in the form of a little baby to rescue and redeem humanity.  He came to reveal God and show us what love looks like.   He came to show us what it means to be truly human.  We have an opportunity to participate in the work that he started.  We can put on Christ and bring the sweet aroma of his presence to those around us.  By the Spirit, we have everything we need to love our neighbor, so let us get dressed.