“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” – Galatians 3:27

Beloved of God,

It’s become a favorite of our children and their friends.  Whenever they bring playmates over, they inevitably head for the basement.  That’s where all the cool stuff is: a growing Legos collection, an assortment of puppets, a wooden railroad set, a child’s kitchen, and—the best prize of all—the dress up trunk.

Chris and I acquired the trunk at a LATCH auction a couple years back.* A team of folks had taken it upon themselves to fill the trunk to the brim with dress up clothes designed to evoke imaginative play in young minds: high heeled shoes of great variety; party dresses, fancy hats, vests and ties, sequined blouses, even a feather boa.  (Yes, it was weighted toward female tastes…)  It was the one thing that caught our imaginations, so when its number came up, up went our bid card, and—surprise—we ended the evening shoe-horning a huge steamer trunk into the back seat of our compact!

The thing about playing dress up is that when kids don new clothes, they not only try on a different look, they try on a different identity, too.  They “make believe.”  We love this exercise because it allows us to glimpse areas of our kids’ personalities that might otherwise be hidden.  Whatever issues they may to be wrestling with at that moment in their lives come out in the ensuing dialog, and we learn something new about what’s happening at their core.

In the passage above from Galatians, Paul uses the term, “clothing yourselves in Christ” or “putting on Christ” as a metaphor for baptism.  What does this mean? Brother Martin says PUTTING ON CHRIST has two meanings: First, to “put on Christ” means to imitate the example of Christ—to want to be like him.  Second, to “put on Christ” means to cross the threshold to a whole new world where Christ becomes our garment.

In our worship life this month we make a turn from the season of Light to the season of Lent, and in that turning we mark a RE-turn to the roots of our faith life, to our baptism. When we step forward to receive the ashen cross on our foreheads, we hear the words: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”  What kind of clothes do people who are made of dust wear?  Adam’s clothes…Eve’s.

“We were dressed in the leather garment of Adam,” Luther wrote, “which is a deadly garment and the clothing of sin….The “old person”…must be put off with all his activities so that from [children] of Adam we may be changed into [children] of God.  This does not happen by a change of clothing… but by the rebirth that takes place in baptism….For in those who have been baptized a new light and flame arises; new and devout emotions come into being, such as fear and trust in God and hope, and a new will emerges.  This is that it means to put on Christ properly, truly, and according to the Gospel.” [1]

When we begin our life journey as human beings, our first clothing is that of Adam and Eve.  But in the great Bath at the font that ragged outfit is exchanged for a completely new wardrobe!  We “put on Christ”—and that changes everything—changes it for us, and it changes for God.  When we look in the mirror we no longer see the old person, we see a new self.  And not only do we see a new person, God does too.   When we “put on Christ” in baptism, we become—in the eyes of God—a beloved son or daughter through and through, the old Adam, the old Eve, are gone.

Being clothed in Christ changes the way we see, too.  God issues us new eyes.  When we look at one another through those eyes, we see the Christ in each other.  All the personality quirks and pet peeves that bother us move to the background.  Even the old boundaries that used to define us: gender, race, ethnicity, define us no longer.  Not that they disappear, but the envy, hate, prejudice, are put aside.

When Kai and Naomi put on dress up clothes, they take on new identities.  The process works its way in from the outside…but it only lasts for a while before their attention turns to other things.  When we are baptized, Christ works on us from the inside out, and we are gifted with an identity and equipped with a way to see the world that has staying power through all of life’s stages.

An invitation: as we make our turn into the season of Lent, spend some portion of these 40 days puzzling over what it means for you to “put on Christ.”  Then, choose a practice that will remind you of that identity each day.

Joy for the journey.

Pastor Erik

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*LATCH stands for Lutheran Alliance to Create Housing, a precursor to the Compass Housing Alliance.

[1] Luther’s Works, Volume 26: Lectures on Galatians.  Pp. 352-353.