(January 5, 2003 Sermon Transcript)

Isaiah 61:10-62:3

        Hear the words of the prophet Isaiah. For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

        Dear friends in Jesus Christ, perhaps you’ve noticed that second-hand clothing stores have been springing up all over the place. It used to be that those stores were just for the poor and the needy. But I’m here to tell you that that’s no longer the case. Indeed, if you get just the right pair of jeans with just the right holes, and just the right tears, well then, you are in fact just what the fashion doctor ordered.

        And so, second-hand clothing stores are very much a part of American life, in virtually every town that we find ourselves living in, or visiting. Now second-hand clothes, you see, are cool. And so we remember that just the right kinds of clothing make us acceptable to the people we see. Or so it would seem.

        As we go through life, all of us are in search of a set of spiritual clothing with which to adorn ourselves. And so we look in all kinds of spiritual clothing stores, if you will, trying to find just the right thing that will make God happy with us. But what this text tells us today is that there is only one possible set of clothing that can be worn, and that is the very clothing I described to the children a moment ago, and that is the clothing that is not found by us, but rather provided to us, by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who crowns us, and who clothes us, in righteousness, and in holiness, and in resplendent grace.

        He gives us the gift of forgiveness of sins. He clothes us with His very own perfection. This is the clothing, this second-hand clothing, if you will, of our Lord, that makes us fully acceptable in the sight of God, and fully ready for citizenship in the kingdom of heaven, for which we now can claim citizenship.

        Have you ever had this experience? You go into your clothing closet and you see before you all the clothes that you own (except for what’s in the dirty clothes), and there you sit, and you look, and you’re getting ready for a particular occasion, and you say, "I can’t find a thing to wear!".

        Now that’s a little incredulous, if you stop to think about it, because there’s all kinds of clothes, right before you. But I think what we’re really saying when we say that, is whatever we’re looking for doesn’t really fit the occasion. What we’re looking for is something that is just absolutely appropriate for the event we are contemplating going to. But you can’t find clothes that would fit the occasion.

        It would seem then, we just continue to plow through the closet and hopefully finally find something to wear to whatever it is we are going to. Something that would be just right.

        In speaking of our spiritual dress, however, I think this describes with complete accuracy precisely our situation before God. And that is, we are looking for just the right outfit. In fact, I would say to you, that just about everyone in the world is looking for just the right spiritual clothes to make God happy with us.

        And so we hunt. And we run to the various spiritual malls, and we gaze speculatively from one church to another, from one religion to another, trying to find something, anything, that will work. That will make us feel as though God approves of us.

        Well, so we go into the closet, and we dig out our cloak of good works, our compliance with the laws of God. To demonstrate to God that we have done the best we could. "We have really put a good effort, God. Now because we have done that, hopefully you’ll like us." Of course, one always has to wonder, "How many good works are really necessary? How good does the coat have to look? Or is a coat that’s full of holes of sin, is that OK?" And we come away with nothing but fear and doubt.

        Or perhaps we dig into the chest of drawers, and pull out little tidbits, if you will, of our charity. Or maybe we go into our boxes of storage goods which we have up in the attic, or in some back room somewhere, and we hunt around for those spiritual rituals we have always enjoyed, and sometimes never thought about as we went through them.

        Well, it seems that no matter how we attempt to cover up our sin, no matter how we attempt to cover up our unrighteousness, no matter how we attempt to cover up with clothing of our own acquiring, those things which estrange us from God, we find that our own efforts are completely inadequate. Our own clothing, completely, if you will, full of holes.

        Indeed, our good works look entirely beggarly in the scope of our lives. And what’s more, our charity seems to be constantly overwhelmed by our selfishness. And furthermore, our rituals done with an empty heart only display our spiritual poverty, not enhance it.

        And so, my dear friends, it is God, through Jesus Christ alone, who has the covering for our sins, which is adequate. Indeed, we must say, that He alone is our dresser. He is the only one who can possibly give us what we need so that we can stand before God on that great and last day, without fear and without dread, knowing that our clothing is that of His son, our Lord.

        Spiritually in our nation, we always do precisely what everyone else does. We run around from one mall to another, looking for something that pleases us and catches our eye. We look for things that we think, perhaps, will help us look good in the eyes of others. And yet we find that when we seek our spiritual well-being, we often buy goods that aren’t very good at all. And are of no help, even though they look really good.

        And so we run down to the local New Age store, and buy a good cloak of enlightenment. So we cloak ourselves in this inner knowledge, and convince ourselves that perhaps that will do the trick. Or maybe we pull on a good pair of socks, which we might call moralism, from those who are selling obedience, often times in the guise of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That if we are obedient enough, then indeed, God will be happy with us. After all, your faith should show, shouldn’t it? And of course, we all realize that sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t show so good after all, does it?

        And so if we look to our own obedience, we are looking within, and not to God. If we look for enlightenment, we are looking within, and not to God.

        Sometimes we look into the spiritual mall and find a store that is selling a kind of "feel-good" religion. A kind of religion that never demands anything from us, but always makes us feel just fine, thank you very much.

        And so, a false sense of security is secured, and we think of ourselves as being just fine with a God we have arrogantly chosen to design ourselves.

        And so we continue to shop.

        Shops abound in these spiritual malls, make no mistake about it. There at the spiritual mall they will sell us anything that makes us think that if we buy the right thing, then everything will be OK with God. But we have overlooked, my friend, in all this seeking, and shopping, and looking, is that the One who clothes us comes to find us and goes shopping for us, if you will, rather than us shopping for Him.

        Now, it seems that we are often so preoccupied with looking for something that we can do, that we completely forget the one who is looking for us.

        Let me tell you about my dog. Her name is Tabasco. She is a sweet little dog, except she always barks when people come to the house. But if my dog were a beggar, out standing on the street corner with a sign, the sign she would hold would be, "Will do anything for food". And I’m here to tell you, when you haul out those little tidbits which are referred to in our house as "treats", nothing will divert that dog’s attention from that treat. No matter what you do, she will focus like a laser beam on that little morsel that I wouldn’t put in my mouth for anything, until she finally gets it. She will roll over. She will sit up. She will let you put it in between her eyes and wait, not very patiently, until you give her permission to eat what was on her nose. But until that tidbit is gone, you will not divert her attention in any way, shape or form.

        I would suggest to you that that is precisely what happens many times in our world as people are on a spiritual quest. They look at one religious bauble after another, and they will look at that, and be so distracted by it, and so attracted to it, that they will completely ignore the one who is coming to search for them. They will not pay any attention to God, to His word, or to His sacraments. But rather, they will look at whatever has come next. And so we look for one spiritual religious bauble after another, until, of course, the next bauble comes along which will completely drain our attention so we look at it for a while.

        Sometimes in the church we see that happening too. We have one religious gimmick that comes along as time goes by, and we find that it is something that is so attractive to us that we will beat down the doors of whatever spiritual mall is offering it so that we can be the first to have it, and look, well, religiously popular, and well-dressed, I might add.

        Meanwhile, our gracious God has come into this world in human flesh. Not with flash, not with power, but humbly as a baby born into a manger. And He has come precisely to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He has come to clothe us with clothing that is not our own. Second-hand clothing. His clothing.

        He has dressed us, through His grace, through His mercy, through His suffering and death on the cross, and through His resurrection from the dead, in clothing that is righteousness and sinlessness. It gives us the forgiveness of sins. And that forgiveness, purchased through the drawing of His last breath on the cross. All the nakedness of our sin no longer exists. Let me say that again. All the nakedness of our sin no longer exists.

        And the reason it does not exist, is because our Lord Jesus Christ has taken it on Himself. He has paid the penalty for our sin, and He has nailed it to a cross with His own hands and with His own feet.

        Now, why would we want to look for something better?

        What other clothing would be more stylish? What other clothing would make us more acceptable to God when we stand before Him in heaven on the great and last day? He has even given us a crown, if you will. A seal. It is our baptism, through which the forgiveness of sins is conveyed and the blessings that Christ has merited on the cross are ascribed to us. And that crown reads, "Child of God". Nothing less.

        There is no better alternative. There is no greater gift. And there is no other source. God has given us a true crown of splendor. Listen to the words. You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

        What else could it be, I ask you. With all the rest of the world running around pointing at themselves, we find ourselves to be the only people in the world pointing to God. No wonder we stand out like a sore thumb! Like that big cross in Groom, Texas when you drive by. Have you seen that? One hundred and ninety feet tall. Sitting on the flat Texas plains. It’s pretty tough to miss. And why? Because it points to the one who was crucified on it.

        And so our lives have the glory and the honor and the blessing of not pointing inwardly but pointing only to Christ. Pointing to the clothing which He has given us. Pointing to the resplendence which is ours alone through His mercy and by His grace.

        Perhaps you’ve heard the expression, "All dressed up but no place to go". Well, that can’t possibly be true for me and for you, I assure you, or anyone who bears the name of Jesus Christ. God has clothed us from on high with garments that will never wear out, that will always fit just perfectly, and will never need to be returned, thank you very much.

        He has given us righteousness, and salvation. And so our great honor, for the remainder of our days on this globe, however many may remain for us, is to point to Christ. And to say, with words clear and unconfused, that here, and here alone is the raiment which God provides. Here is the raiment of Christ crucified and risen. In Jesus’ name, Amen.