WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? -> COL. 3:14
[for this sermon, a clothes rack was placed on stage with tons of clothes. Each point was printed out and attached to a piece of clothing, when said point is reached, pull it out on the piece of clothing.]
-I’m sure all of you have noticed that there’s something happening this evening… Something big… Some sort of game…
-SuperBowl! Okay, so while every other church in the greater Indianapolis area will be talking about football and relating it to religion in some way, I won’t, because that’s just me.
-instead I want to talk about what you’re wearing. Your clothes. I’m sure you noticed today that there seems to be a fair amount of blue and white in church today.
-so why are people wearing it to church? Because being a Colts fan inundates their lives. It is in everything they do, including church.
-but like being a fan, does being a Christian cross over to all areas of your life? Specifically, do you wear it? And I don’t mean some cheesy “Jesus is my homeboy” t-shirt. Please don’t wear those.
-but do you wear Christ?
**Col. 3:14 -> 14Even more than all this, clothe yourself in love. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity. (NCV)
-we are supposed to be wearing love. Okay, that’s nice and metaphorical and for all of you like me who hated English, what does that mean?
-well, here’s some questions for you to think about.
1. DO PEOPLE SEE LOVE ON YOU? [shirt that says "Grumpy"]
-is it visible? When you walk into a room can people tell you’re loving?
-does it show on you?
-when we’re talking about love here, we don’t mean some feeling. I don’t want you to wear some gushy emotion like a teenager who was just kissed for the first time. So annoying.
-I mean love is a verb. You show love to people through your actions.
**Heb. 13:2 -> 2Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (ASV)
-are you showing love to strangers? Can they tell you are a Christian by your love (like the old song says)?
-when you go to the store are you smiling or grumpy? Are youpolite or do you ignore the checkout person? If someone followed you around Wal-Mart would they get a good idea of what God is really like?
-and I don’t want to hear any excuses. Just because you’ve had a bad day doesn’t mean you get to stop loving people as Christ loved you for ten minutes and take it out on the guy bagging your groceries. Being loving is always a choice. Always. Just sometimes it’s a harder choice than other times.
-but that’s what God wants from you more than coming to church or pious obedience of traditions.
**Hosea 6:6a -> 6I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. (NLT)
-showing love to people is one of the most important things God wants in your life, because it let’s people see what’s inside you. It’s how we show we have Christ in us. Jesus told us this.
**Matt. 5:14-16 -> 14“You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead he puts it on the lamp-stand, where it gives light for everyone in the house. 16In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven. (GNT)
-they’ll see what? The good things you do. Your love in action.
-just like faith without deeds is dead, love without action is dead.
**I John 3:18-19 -> 18My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action. 19This, then, is how we will know that we belong to the truth; this is how we will be confident in God’s presence. (GNT)
-we show that we belong to God by our actions. By wearing our love. The only way love is seen on us is by what we do.
-so what are you doing? Do people see love on you?
2. DOES LOVE KEEP YOU WARM? [winter jacket]
-why was clothing invented? Not to make you look good. That came later. It was originally made to keep you warm. To protect you from the elements.
-most of you did not come to church in a t-shirt today. Why? Because it’s stinking cold outside.
-when I was writing this I thought I’d look up my old town in the mountains to say how cold it is there and guess what? It’s colder here! Go Indy…
-we need clothing to keep us warm. To protect us.
-we need love to protect us.
**Ps. 5:12 -> 12You bless those who obey You, LORD; Your love protects them like a shield. (GNT)
-love protects us. It stands in the way of things that try to drag us down. When you are tempted, instead or worrying about it, look to love.
-we need love to cover us and keep us warm, to keep out the rain, to keep us safe.
-but did you notice the first part of the verse? [SHOW VERSE AGAIN]. God blesses those who obey.
-again, love is not a warm fuzzy feeling. It’s an action. We are supposed to be doing something. We are not supposed to be sitting in the corner feeling love, we are supposed to be out loving.
-Prov. 4:23 tells us to guard our heart [SHOW NIV]. There’s a phrase my wife heard for the first time the other day and she thought it was some stupid movie line, but I know everyone watching the game tonight will know it, especially the way the Colts play. “The best defense is a good offense.” Maybe one of the ways we could guard our heart a little better is not by hiding in our little church away from all the evils of society, but actually going out and showing love, being proactive,letting our light shine that’s not supposed to be hidden.
-so, do people see love on you? Does love protect you, does it keep you warm?
3. HOW FULL IS YOUR WARDROBE? [swim suit]
-how much love do you have on? Does it cover all of you?
-it needs to, it should be fully over us.
**I John 4:12 -> 12No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us. (NLT)
-God lives in us is brought to its full expression in us. Full! All!
-if we are supposed to be clothed in love, we should be covered from head to toe in love. It should be all over us.
-all you have to do is turn on TV and you’ll see people who aren’t wearing enough clothing. They’re not covered. [PICTURE 1] But this girl, she is covered. [PICTURE 2] Look at this guy. You can barely see his head. He is covered. [PICTURE 3] He’s covered. His parents want to keep him warm. Fully covered. [PICTURE 4] This guy, he’s not covered. [PICTURE 5] These guys, not covered. [PICTURE 6] He is not covered. He needs more clothing, he looks like he’s in an airport or something.
-we need to be completely covered in love. Our actions that show love, they need to be coming out of us all the time. We should be constantly clothed in love, thereby constantly loving others.
-it’s not easy to always be loving, to be completely covered in love. I’ve had bad days at Wal-Mart too.
-and forget about bad days, what about those people that are just hard to love? Like Liz (I’m kidding). What about when someone else just makes it impossible to love.
-Jesus addressed this when He was speaking at His famous sermon on the mount. He talks about loving your enemies, praying for them, saying hello to people other than your friends, but then He ends with this:
**Matt. 5:48 -> 48But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. (NLT)
-the bar is not, “meh, that’s okay.” It’s not “really good.” It’s perfect. That’s where God wants us to be when loving others. It’s to be complete. Whole. 100%. We are to be completely covered in all we do in love.
-are you covered in love? Does it protect you? Do people see it on you? One step further.
4. ARE YOU PROUD TO WEAR LOVE? [favorite sweater]
-are you known by your love and are you proud of it? Do you wear it on you in a way that people see it in your actions? In your lives?
-right now every Colts fan is wearing blue and white, and every Bears fan is wearing dark blue and orange. Why? Because they are proud of their choice of team. They are proud to be associated with them. They are proud of that part of their lives.
-are you proud of your love? When someone introduces you, do they say, “This is Jon and he’s loving.” And when they say it, are you proud of that, or do you hit them to prove them wrong? [POW, “No I’m not”]
-do we proudly proclaim that we are Christ’s and He is ours?
-Song of Solomon was written as a love song, showing our relationship with God should be like that of a marriage. And what do the two lovebirds proclaim in that song?
**Song 6:3a -> 3I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. (KJV)
-they’re not shy to say, “I love them.” They constantly tell others. They boast about their love.
-we’re supposed to do this with God.
**Ps. 34:2a -> 2I will boast only in the Lord. (NLT)
**II Cor. 10:17 -> 17But, “If people want to brag, they should brag only about the Lord.” (NCV)
-we shouldn’t be silent with our love! We should be constantly wearing love, then when someone asks why we do what we do, what makes us so loving, why we can love when it should be hard, we can point them to Jesus.
**I John 4:7 -> 7My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. (MSG)
-our love is a lighthouse to people for Jesus. They may never hear a word from us, they may never get a chance to sit down and have the gospel explained to them, but they can see it in
action, they can see it in us and that is something that will speak to them louder than words.
-you have no problem wearing a Colts jersey to show where your allegiance lies, but will you wear love to show who you truly love?
-Col. 3:14, clothe yourselves in love. Always. Wear it loud, wear it proud. Be that shining light for Jesus in everything you do.
