"Say Yes to how Jesus Dressed"

 

Sermon 10-11-20

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our lord and savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Who would have guessed that, based on how 2020 was going, we would have a total of six baptisms this year? One of the things that I miss about not being able to do baptisms with the whole congregation present in person is carrying the baby around to say hi to all of her new siblings in Christ. In my first call congregation, my pastor colleague would hoist the newly baptized youngster around the sanctuary “Lion King Style” – we would sing “you have put on Christ, in him you have been baptized. Alleluia, alleluia.” And every time, I would marvel at his upper arm strength. 

When many of us were baptized, we were wearing a white gown to represent that we are now clothed in the grace, eternal life, and love that Jesus has promised to give us. In baptism, we are welcomed to God’s victory feast over death and the grave, which we receive a foretaste of whenever we celebrate Holy Communion.  In our baptisms, we are now invited to that feast, the biggest party in the universe, and there is a special place for us at the Lord’s Table. But with that special place also comes that special garb that we wear.

You might be familiar with the TV series “What Not to Wear.” Or you might watch award shows like the Emmys and the Grammys and hear the female actors be constantly bombarded with the question, “Who are you wearing?” When really, they should also be asked about, you know, their actual acting careers. Or even the show, “Say Yes to the Dress.” In preparing for a wedding, one of the big ticket items is THE BIG WHITE DRESS. Choosing THE DRESS. Finding the necessary accessorize for THE DRESS. On the big day, revealing THE DRESS. Everyone admiring THE DRESS.

In the parable for today, that feast in described as a wedding feast, or a wedding reception. God is compared to a king with a son who is getting married. Some scholars had said that the groom is Jesus, and the bride is the church. Martin Luther took this idea and ran with it – calling this “the happy exchange” or “the blessed exchange.” Even though we forget that a marriage is not JUST about the dress, or even the wedding itself, but really it is about two people linking everything they have – economically, emotionally, personally…. To be part of a partnership for the long haul.

 You know that funny saying about marriage that goes, “what’s yours in mine, and what’s mine is ours”? So, in this “blessed exchange,” what do WE bring to the relationship between Jesus and us? Honestly, not very much at all…. And what we DO bring is mostly not good. Sin, brokenness, pettiness, fear, hate, selfishness, and shame – not what we would exactly consider assets.

What does Jesus bring to the relationship? Everything. Life, resurrection, freedom, love, joy…. There is a reason it’s called the Blessed exchange. WE are the ones getting blessed. When we are chosen and named as beloved in our baptisms, at that moment Jesus gets all that WE have and all that HE has becomes ours, when we “put on Christ” and all that he has given us. Maybe not in a literal garment, but in the way we carry ourselves in the world.

A few weeks ago, in a Facebook group I’m in that’s called “Things they didn’t teach us in seminary,” a clergy person from another denomination posted about something interested that happened to him at a baptism he had just done. He asked, “What does a pastor say when a family shows up in church for a baptism and the grandfather tells you that the beautiful christening gown the baby is wearing (and the family has used for generations) was made by a family slave in 1836?”

I mean, what DO you say in the face of SUCH an intense dichotomy – the very white gown that is intended to represent our union with Christ gifted and clothed with free and abundant life is at the same time an item created under conditions that are the exact antitheses of this freedom – chattel slavery in the United States and the denial of human dignity toward another person. Honestly, it made my brain explode and took my breath away. I did not envy this pastor once bit.

I simply cannot fathom that, upon this baptized person’s deathbed in seventy, eighty, or ninety years from now, this child of God would be refused welcoming into God’s eternal rest because of the fraught history of his or her baptismal garment. I don’t believe that, based on what the baby was wearing, that their baptism can and would be invalidated.

However. At one point during our baptismal liturgy we do ask the parents and sponsors of the child being baptized to publically profess their faith… which does include a renunciation of certain things: the devil and all the forces that defy God, all the powers of this word that rebel against God, and the ways of sin that draw us from God. You all know that I love to bring up the fact that this part of our baptism liturgy comes from the ancient Christian right of exorcism – casting out and banishing evil forces in our midst. And don’t think it’s a stretch to say that chattel slavery is evil, and must be renounced…. Rather than taken pride in as a source of family history… ESPCIALLYALLY to co-opt something as symbolic as a baptismal garment on an infant.

It is also easy to take the high ground here, and be affronted at the apparent fragrant callousness and hypocrisy in this family… and maybe even this pastor. But….  How are WE doing at turning our backs on the forces of this world that defy, rebel, and draw us away from God? For example, do you know WHO you are wearing right now? When was the last time you checked the labels on your favorite T-shirt to see where the sweatshop was located that created it? Almost everything we wear was created by people across the ocean working for pennies a day in virtual slavery. Fast Fashion is an evil plague that destroys economies and ecosystems, and yet, there is almost no option to except it’s reach – almost all of our clothes are made this way.

And this is not even to mention the food we eat, the cars we drive, the hygiene products we use, the electronics we buy. Everything is tainted. We are all tainted. God has good reason not to let any of us “into heaven” for any and all of these reason alone.

However… do we really believe that God would do this? That God would toss one of God’s guests out into the cold, bound hand and foot, just because the guest was wearing the wrong thing? I don’t believe so.

Then if God isn’t the king… who is? And if Jesus isn’t the son or the groom in the story… what if Jesus is the ejected wedding guest?

“Come Lord Jesus, be our Guest” is a common table prayer that I grew up with. But what happens when Jesus does show up for you… but also refuses to play by the rules of power, privilege, and authority that we are used to and take for granted as the “way things are”… ? How are we going to react when Jesus instead, takes off his robe, takes up a towel, and tries to wash our feet and the feet of our neighbor? Let me give you a hint. It didn’t go very well for Jesus on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. But Jesus did it anyway. And so we are to as well.

As theologian Debie Thomas shares: “May we choose affliction over apathy, even when it costs us a spot in the palace.  May we refuse sham banquets while our cities burn and our streets run with blood.”

To wear the robe of Jesus – to fully embrace our baptismal promises, also means taking off the garments and trappings of the world. Hate, fear, a spirit of scarcity, privilege.

What SHOULD we wear? Love. Kindness. Generosity. Empathy. Justice. Mercy.

In short, we should be “wearing” everything that Jesus has so generously given to all of us.

Come Lord Jesus, be our guest. Let THESE gifts, to us be blessed. Thanks be to God. Amen.