“LOVE IS THE GLUE” Col. 3:12-14
INTRO – It’s interesting to see how clothing & fashion are different in different places in our culture & in our world. When I went to Russia several years ago, we Americans stuck out like a sore thumb whenever we wore our blue jeans. All the men there wore dark pants & black shoes. Never saw jeans or khakis.
It’s also interesting to see how different people wear different styles of clothing. Go to Kroger, go to Wal-Mart, go to a park, go to a ballgame – see so many different styles of clothes, so many different ideas about what is fashionable.
Our Scripture passage for today talks about some clothes that we, as Christians, are to wear. They’ve been called the “garments of grace.” And we need to put them on & keep them on as long as we are alive.
The clothing we wear can sometimes say a lot about us. Can tell which sports team we root for; which rock band we’ve seen in concert; which company we work for; which youth camp or DNow we went to. Uniforms that people wear can let folks know if we’ve got some expertise in some area – nurse, pilot, firefighter. They can let people know our rank if we’re in the military. They can indicate the level of authority a person has, like a police officer in uniform, or a judge wearing a robe. They can let others know which sport we play, or which athlete we like.
So, our clothes say a lot about us. And our spiritual clothes, these garments of grace, say a lot about us & our walk w/ Christ. One pastor said, “We need to deck ourselves out in the new man. The Christian never looks better than when dressed in the garments of the new man.” (Grant Richison, http://versebyversecommentary.com/colossians/colossians-312/) So, lets talk about these garments of grace.
The garments of grace are put on – They’re our uniform, identifying who we are.
Like a policeman’s uniform identifies who he is, & a soldier’s uniform identifies who he it, so these garments of grace identify who WE are. They identify that we are Christ-followers, believers in the Lord Jesus. They identify the condition of our heart, & the direction of our lives.
When I began to think of other places in Scripture that refer to putting on certain clothes, my mind immediately went to Eph. 6, the armor of God. The armor is given to us for a specific purpose – to give us the protection we need to withstand the attacks of the enemy against us.
- There’s a verse in 1 Peter 5:5 that tells us to put on humility to guard against pride & arrogance.
- Rom. 13:14 tells us to put on the Lord Jesus to keep us strong in the face of temptation to sexual sin, & jealousy & quarreling.
Each of those places deal w/ specific needs, specific situations, specific temptations, specific areas of our lives. Each of these is important, & it gives us great comfort, peace, & strength to know that God has always provided us what we need to face anything that comes our way.
When we look at the garments of grace in Col. 3, we see a comprehensive list that covers every area of our lives. If we want to live a life that glorifies God, we have the perfect description of what it should look like.
- The compassion we need to feel the pain that others are going through in their lives.
- The kindness we need to reach out to those who are hurting & struggling.
- The humility we need to keep our hearts completely dependent upon the Lord.
- The meekness we need to show others the gentle heart of Christ.
- The patience we need to not give up on those that the world has given up on.
- The ability to bear with others, to endure w/ them, when everything in us screams for us to walk away.
- The forgiveness we need when we’ve been hurt, or mistreated, or persecuted.
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Who do all of these look like? They look like Jesus. Everyone of them are a characteristic of His life & ministry among the lost, hurting, needy, sinful people He encountered. And when we put these garments of grace on, we are looking more & more like Him b/c we are becoming more & more like Him.
- When our hearts break for those who are hurting, we’re becoming more like Jesus. Mt. 9:36 – “When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them b/c they were harassed & helpless, like sheep w/out a shepherd.”
- When we CHOOSE to forgive those who don’t deserve to be forgiven, we are becoming more like Jesus. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Lk. 23:34)
- When we live a life of humility & total dependence upon God, we are becoming more like Jesus. Jesus made it clear that He was completely dependent on His Father for everything. “The Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing.” (John 5:19)
Putting on these garments & living in them identifies who we are – followers of Jesus Christ who desire to honor & glorify God.
The garments of grace belong to us – They’re a gift from God, identifying whose we are.
Most all of us here have gotten some article of clothing as a gift from someone – a tie on Father’s Day, that Christmas sweater that we tried to pretend like we liked. One year for Christmas, my parents gave all of us boots. About 19 of us showed up at Boots & More on High Street & bought boots together. Those folks really liked my parents that day!
If you had seen us that day in that boots store, you would have been able to identify that we belonged to Vern & Sara Daniels. The boots were gifts from them to their family, all of whom they love very much. And when we walked out of there that day, these Rocky boots belonged to me.
These garments of grace belong to us, & have been given to us by someone who loves us more than my mama & daddy love their family. They’ve been given to us by God to identify that we belong to Him! They’re not ragged, mismatched, random articles of clothing that aren’t worth wearing out in public. No, they’re beautiful garments that are made by God, given to us from God, & identify us as children of God. We are “God’s chosen ones, holy, & beloved.” I like the way the NLT puts it: “Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves.” What amazing truths, that we are CHOSEN by God to be His child, & that He has set us apart to live for Him & serve Him, & that He loves us w/ His perfect, special love! We need to remember whose we are, & b/c we are HIS, He has given us these garments of grace so that we can live for Him. That’s His plan for us, His will for us, His purpose for us. Everyone of us who belong to Him are supposed to be growing in Him, serving Him, & developing devoted disciples.
The garments of grace are held together by love – They’re dependent upon it, identifying what unifies us.
This brings us to our final point & the title of the sermon – Love is the glue! It’s better than Super Glue or Gorilla Glue. It’s even better than duck tape! That’s hard for folks in MS to belive! All of these garments of grace are held together by love. And if there is anything that is desperately needed in the Church today to hold us together, it’s love.
- Love is unequaled – “over all these things”
- Love undergirds – “put on love”
- Love brings unity – “which binds them all together in perfect unity”
Love is the supreme characteristic. Without it, none of the other garments of grace will operate. Without it, they don’t even make sense. 1 Cor. 13 – “If I speak…”
And love is an action word, not just a warm, fuzzy feeling. Love translates into action.
- It’s what moves us to have that compassionate heart, to show kindness, to be patient & forgiving.
- It’s what moves us to step out of our comfort zone & share Christ w/ someone who is not like us.
- It’s what moves us to rearrange our schedule so we can disciple someone in their walk w/ Christ.
- It’s what moves us to tithe & give when our bank account is already tight.
- It’s what moves us to teach a Life Group, or serve in the nursery, or help w/ DNow, or go on a mission trip, or work at Mission Byram.
And you know what happens when we do all of those things? We are drawn together in unity w/ our brothers & sisters in Christ. We find ourselves loving them more. And we find ourselves loving Jesus more.
