Clothes (Pt 2)

Just in case people get the wrong idea, I was being sarcastic last week, concerning the meaning of Easter. Like all holidays that once started out with religious significance, Easter has changed into a secular event. Malls have huge Easter hunts on Saturdays. People line up their kids to have their pictures taken with the Easter Bunny. It’s all a song and dance now, another excuse to dress nicely, another excuse to have a huge sale to boost profits. Most likely if you are reading this, you know that this isn’t what Easter is all about. It’s all about the cross and the resurrection.

I’m not going to go into the main reason why the resurrection is so important. I’m sure that has been drilled into your heads since you first become a believer. I like to talk about another aspect of the resurrection, the application side of it. It was Paul who tells us clearly, what the resurrection means to us personally, and how we should apply it to our daily lives. The book of Colossians talks about it, mainly in chapters 2 and 3. I am aware that filling up this column with the Word of God is far better than my ramblings, nevertheless, I am going to pick out what I feel are the verses pertinent to my discussion. But I encourage and urge you to read the entire 2 chapters for yourself, so that you can understand the full meaning of what Paul is saying.

11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (Col 2:11-12)

Paul says that Jesus died and rose again. And we, being Christians, have died and rose with Christ as well. We are one with Jesus. So whatever he did, we must do as well, if we are to say that we love Him. Just as Jesus was circumcised, we too are circumcised, but not with a scalpel or a really sharp rock, but a spiritual circumcision. We are to cut away the sins that are a part of our being, much like the foreskin is cut from the wee-wee (Yes, it’s a technical term). And just like Christ who died for our sins, we die through baptism, and just as He rose again, we rise again. But what exactly happens when we rise? Are we like Frankenstein, a monstrous body with a soul of a artist (I’m comparing the novel Frankenstein, not the movie Frankenstein. Go read a book!)?

Well luckily, Paul answers that for us later on. But first, some more talk about dying.

20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? (Col 2:20-22)

When we die, we are out of this world now. You know, just like dead people. You don’t see them coming out of the graves and ordering McDonalds. They aren’t concerned any more about pollution, the environment, Wars in the Middle-East, elections, family, what college to send their kids, and oh-my-who crashed the car! So, since we are one with Jesus, we too are dead, and as such should not consider ourselves living in the world. Now, re-reading this verse, I can see how someone can easily misinterpret the verse as saying we shouldn’t obey any of the laws of the world since they no longer apply to us zombies. But that’s not what he was referring to. He was talking mainly about the rules and regulations of the faith, where we can’t eat this or touch that. Anyway, moving on!

1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. … 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, (Col 3:1-2,9-10)

But when we rise, we become new people. We are supposed to put off the old man, and put on the new. That’s where the clothes reference is coming from. Just like some of us put away the fashions that are now passé, we are supposed to put away the old man. Hang that skin up in the closet, and prepare to have your kids come back later to wear them again. Heh, just kidding! Seriously, this is the type of fashion you need to burn, along with Mohawks, leisure suits, and those clothes with the beads hanging down. Some things were never meant to have been invented, like fat guys in hot pink biker shorts. Yeah, you know who you are! Anyway, as that saying goes, “Clothes make the man.” In this case, literally it does. When we are resurrected, we are supposed to wear new clothes. We are supposed to put on love. And once we do, we are no longer separated by race, creed or position. We are all one body, in Christ.

Easter has come and gone, but I hope this lesson won’t. It’s hard to live what Paul has preached. In fact, I can say with certainty, that it is impossible. Look at churches today. Has there been any club or organization that is as racially segregated as churches? It’s getting better, there are more multi-cultural churches, but they are the exception rather than the norm. But anyway, we can only put on the new man with the help of the Holy Spirit and that’s all. So this is what Easter means to me. Peace out.