Clothed in Christ

The Rev. Tommy Thompson

Galatians 3:23-29

Proper 7C

19 June 2016

In the name of God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m honored to be here today to proclaim the word of the Lord on this wonderful occasion.  My name is Remus; I am from the first century, from the region of Galatia, and when I heard you were to be baptizing today it brought back so many memories of gatherings just like this where we welcomed new sisters and brothers into the fold of our Lord Jesus.  I’m glad you also receive letters from our beloved Paul.  You know he was the first one to bring us Galatians the good news of Jesus?

We Galatians are a diverse bunch; I know it sounds like we are just Gentiles, Jews, or Greeks, but really we call everyone who isn’t Jewish a Gentile.  I’m sure you can understand what good news it was for us to discover that even though we weren’t Jews, that we could belong to God too…  You see that’s the good news that Paul came and proclaimed to us. He came preaching peace to those who were “far off” – those Gentiles like me and to those who are “near” – my Jewish sisters and brothers.

Paul preached to us that it is no longer because of ethnic heritage that people become beloved children of God. I was so grateful to hear that to be a child of God is simply to trust that God has been faithful and has triumphed over evil and death on our behalf through Jesus Christ. One of the things Paul likes to say often is that it is not by the works of the law, or circumcision or anything else that you are saved. It is only by the free gift of God which is Jesus Christ.  By His faithfulness you are saved and made children of God – all of you, Jew and Gentile alike.

We Galatians received this good news with great joy.  But after Paul left, things took a turn for the worse.  While Paul was away furthering his missionary journeys, these so called apostles came to us. They acted like they were some super apostle or something.  They manipulated some of our folks into believing that we Gentiles were second rate citizens unless we first embraced the torah and were circumcised.  They claimed that unless we were circumcised and relied on the works of the Law for our salvation, that we could not be a part of God’s precious people.   This was the opposite of what Paul had proclaimed to us.  But I’m sad to say that many of our people were swayed.  These so called super apostles were good salesmen. 

Anyhow, this is why Paul wrote the letter / sermon of which you heard a small portion proclaimed this morning.  Paul was not happy when he heard about how we, his beloved community were being bullied and betrayed by these who came claiming to be the “real apostles.”    So Paul called us back to the faith first delivered to us – of freedom in Jesus Christ, the good news of salvation through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who will simply believe / trust in what God has done through him. 

That part of the letter we heard this morning (Galatians 3:26-29)… that was the best part of Paul’s sermon.  Does it speak to you like it did to us?  Listen to these words…

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

You may not realize the impact of these words.  You see, these are not Paul’s words.  These words are some of the most precious of all words to us in Galatia.  This is straight from our baptismal liturgy…  Now, I don’t know how you do it here, but when we welcome sisters and brothers into the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection through baptism, we receive new clothing. 

Oh, I remember the day when it happened to me! First, I took off the clothes that I wore to church that day.  I then walked to the edge of the baptismal font which by the way, is in the ground, large enough for an adult to be submerged completely under the water…imagine that being in the floor here…  I walked to the edge of the font, naked…disrobed of the ‘clothing of the age that is passing away…”  I was then submerged into the baptismal waters, the old life being buried with him in his death.  Then I come up out of the waters, rising to new life in Jesus Christ…

Immediately after my baptism I was smeared with that precious oil, and then, my favorite part.  I received my new clothes.  A fresh clean white robe…my baptismal garment.  And when it was put on me, oh, I remember those words like it was yesterday. The celebrant exclaimed:  “You are clothed with Christ.  There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” 

Oh the power of those words.  Living in a world where ethnic, social, and gender distinction is very real, and not with positive implications for all mind you, baptism is liberating!  In baptism, the woman is no longer subservient to the man; the gentile to the Jew, the slave to the free.  No, in Christ, we all are God’s children – sisters and brothers on level playing field.  That’s what the grace of God does.  It breaks down all these binary oppositions.  In this new world in Christs these oppositions that characterized all human existence in the old age have been dissolved!” 

The good news that we celebrate in our baptism and the good news that we celebrate today with the baptisms of Daniel, Cooper, Henry, Ethan, and Hudson is that distinctions have lost their power to divide and oppress – social, ethnic, gender distinctions, distinctions of sexual orientation, or whatever other kind of distinction!  We have been clothed in Christ and this means that we begin to take on the qualities of him in whom we are clothed.  And what I see Jesus doing as much as anything else in the gospels is seeing people for who they really are – removing the oppressive labels and stereotypes forced on God’s precious children and inviting all on a journey of becoming more fully themselves than ever before! 

This is what you signed up for and are signing up for in and through Holy Baptism.  Distinctions that oppress are abolished, but distinctions themselves are not abolished.  This is not some cheap uniformity that is not really unity.  No, we are being called to be in the world the way God is at God’s very core as Trinity – diversity unified through the power of self-giving and other embracing love.  No longer are distinctions used to abuse, but now distinctions are seen through the loving eyes of the Creator and difference is embraced and celebrated and cherished.  Male and Female, Black and White, Gay and Straight, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile.  We are a mutli-colored, diverse, beautiful mosaic that is God’s great masterpiece that God is crafting in this world – a masterpiece that continues to woo the world back to it’s source – the God who is making all things new.

Today, Daniel, Cooper, Henry, Ethan, and Hudson will be clothed in Christ.  Clothed to continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers. Clothed to persevere in resisting evil; clothed to join us in proclaiming by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.  Clothed to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself. Clothed to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. 

And, my sisters and brothers, our work is to help these new Christians grow into their new clothes, into this new identity, into this new life in Jesus, that they, with us, may become a living sacrament in and for the world….

Thanks be to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who makes all things new.  Amen.