New Clothes for the New Year
Biblical Text: Colossians 3:17 NRSV
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
It’s that time when we vow to do everything differently than we did the year before. We’ll strike up new attitudes, motivations, and goals. Some of us have been making lists of promises. We will repair the friendships we had with our neighbor before he put up that ugly fence.
When Paul describes the Christian life, he often uses a clothing metaphor to describe what the Christian life is like. There are clothes we remove and others we put on.
Our scripture text outlines what the well-dressed Christian ought to wear. Paul describes how the good news of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection will affect us. We are told what to put off and what to put on. As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive as the Lord forgave you. These virtues put on love, binding them together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts as members of one body, and be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Whatever you do, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Christ’s resurrection is also our resurrection; therefore, the way we did things before no longer applies to us today. The old self has died with Christ and must be taken off, and the new self has to be put on.
Paul begins to list the clothes that reflect these truths. In other words, our clothes reflect our ownership and our status before God. God made this resolution list, and if we want to be Holy, we must follow God’s commands. Holiness reflects God’s ownership of us, not a description of a lifestyle but a relationship. If we want to be holy, we have to be set apart. Being set apart is the mark of ownership. If we resolve to follow Christ, God assures us that we won’t face that same frustration again because our holiness depends less on our goodness and more on His grace. It’s not about our loveableness; it’s about his love.
The qualities listed are not how we seek to please God. Instead, they are evidence of God at work in us. Because God chooses, our responsibility to one another does not disappear; it heightens. We are not here because we have decided but because of God’s choice. We have no reason to behave in a manner that does not reflect God’s goodness.
Our clothes reflect our Savior, not a grocery list of options; instead, they reflect what Christ has done for us. Similarly, thelifestyles we adopt reflect the gospel we profess to believe.
Paul’s list starts with compassion. The original Greek translates it as “hearts of pity” or, more literally, “bowels of mercy.” Paul says we should reflect God’s compassion. We are sincerely and inwardly moved to help. It’s a real desire to mimic the gospel and wear our faith in our lives.
Paul moves to kindness. Kindness is at the heart of showing mercy, taking the internal response to a need, and then filling that need. Kindness is at the heart of what Christ did for us.
Next on the list is humility. A Christ-like attitude towards oneself. Our attitude toward others should not convey an air of superiority or self-achievement,
Then comes gentleness, the opposite of the harshness that seeks our way above all others. The gentle person doesn’t need to demand his way.
To those who do not know Christ, Gentleness can be perceived as a weakness, A servile, cringing self-abasement. For those who accept Christ, gentleness is the incarnation of God, taking on flesh for us.
We move to patience. The old translation refers to patience as longsuffering. Longsuffering means to endure wrong without flying into a rage or crying out for vengeance.
Paul moves to forgiveness. Christ forgave your sins, and the memory of them was cast from Him…as far as the east is from the west. That’s the true essence of how we are to forgive others.
Paul says that love is central to our Christ-like character. Without love, our motives would be suspect. Our to-do list is hollow unless it affects how we interact with people.
This New Year, consider the real value of the Cross. Why not allow it to equip you to live a pleasing life to God?
Come determined not to become self-absorbed and live as a vacuum that sucks up everything life offers without considering the clothes that God has laid out for us.
Come, allow the Lord to transform you.
Come, reduce your mountains into molehills and reshape your tragedies into triumphs.
Come, rediscover the Source of your sufficiency and regenerate your soul.
Come, resolve your doubts, and reshape your thinking.
Refashion your life, reaffirm your commitment, reform your attitude, and replenish your joy!
The Reverend Dr. Charles R Watkins, Jr., Itinerant Elder (Retired), Summerville, South Carolina, Columnist
