What are You Wearing?
Colossians 3:12-14
INTRODUCTION
The Bible is filled with Word pictures that explain to us spiritual truths. There are obvious word pictures that the author intends us to see and then perhaps there are others that we may see as we read. A great example of a word picture that the author uses is Paul’s picture of jars of clay in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Paul talks about the great light of the Gospel as a treasure that is carried by us... jars of clay that are easily broken. He is trying to explain that the greatness of the Gospel does not come from us, but from God.
ARTICLE... http://www.speecheducation.com/html/word_pictures.html
One of the most effective things a speaker [or writer] can do is to paint a picture in the mind of the listener. It’s been said that “ a picture is worth a thousand words.” A good word picture can make more of an impact and have more of a lasting effect on the audience than thousands of words...
A word picture can be created in a single sentence: “My Uncle Bob looks and walks like Frankenstein, ” “It was hailing the size of golf balls,” “When he accidentally touched the hot stove, it left a mark on his hand that looked like a cattle brand.” You can see how these readily cause pictures in your mind.
When I read the passage that we will look at today, I got a specific picture in my mind. The Apostle Paul painted a picture for me with his words and I hope to paint the same picture for you today. I got the picture of sewing together the clothing of Christ. He says to ’clothe ourselves’ with different elements that follow the pattern of Christ that are all bound together by love.
READ COLOSSIANS 3:12-14
The Apostle Paul tells us that because we ar the chosen people of God, that we ought to dress a certain way. He is not talking about outward clothing, but is speaking about the dressings of our hearts and our spirits. What does your heart look like? What does your spirit look like? He says to ’clothe ourselves’ with different elements that follow the pattern of Christ that are all bound together by love.
I. THE ELEMENTS OF THE CLOTHING (VERSE 12)
A. The first element that Paul commands us to clothe ourselves with is compassion. We’ll call it the “collar of compassion” since we are speaking about sewing and clothing. What is compassion? The 9th Chapter of Matthew gives us a great picture of compassion:
Compassion is Jesus healing the paralytic lying on a mat (Matthew 9:1-2).
Compassion is Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners (Matthew 9:9-13).
Compassion is Jesus healing the woman who touched His cloak (Matthew 9:20-22).
Compassion is Jesus rasing a dead girl back to life (Matthew 9:23-26).
Compassion is Jesus healing the blind (Matthew 9:27-31).
Compassion is the attitude of Jesus all through His ministry on this earth (Matthew 9:36).
Compassion is all of these things. Did any of these people deserve the healing that they received? No. Their ailments may have been their fault or out of their control, but that does not matter to compassion. Compassion sees and need and seeks to alleviate the pain and suffering that surrounds the need. Compassion is the attitude of the heart that seeks the best for those around them. Compassion is that part of Christ that hangs around our necks that reminds us what our attitude should be.
ILLUSTRATION... -James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited p. 378
A fifteen-year-old boy came bounding into the house and found his mom in bed. He asked if she were sick or something. He was truly concerned. Mom replied that, as a matter of fact, she didn’t feel too well. The son replied, ’Well, don’t worry a bit about dinner. I’ll be happy to carry you down to the stove.’
B. The second element that Paul commands us to clothe ourselves with is kindness. We’ll call it the “cuff of kindness.” Kindness and compassion many times go hand in hand, but not necessarily. I call it the “cuff of kindness” because kindness is love in action. Hands doing good things will most often be described as kind. I ask you a serious question: What good is having a heart for people, being concerned for them, having a loving heart... if you never do anything about it? It comes to nothing... does it not? We have sang the song, “They Will Know We are Christians” several times in the past few weeks. The song echoes the words of Jesus that people will know that people are Christians by love. I would add to that... by the love that we show... which is kindness. Kindness is love in action. Kindness is that part of Christ that directs our hands that reminds us what our love should do.
ILLUSTRATION... Personal Touch, Bits and Pieces, December, 1989, p. 2
Mamie Adams always went to a branch post office in her town because the postal employees there were friendly. She went there to buy stamps just before Christmas one year and the lines were particularly long. Someone pointed out that there was no need to wait on line because there was a stamp machine in the lobby. “I know,” said Mamie, ‘but the machine won’t ask me about my arthritis.”
C. The third element that Paul commands us to clothe ourselves with is humility. We’ll call it the “hem of humility.” The hem is the part of the dress that is the bottom and surrounds the whole outfit. If the hem is frayed, the clothing looks bad. So it is with humility. Humility should surround us and when our humility becomes frayed, we tend to look bad.
ILLUSTRATION... Star Wars Episode I
The Trade Federation is angling to take over the planet of Naboo, placing Queen Amidala, its ruler, in peril. The incursion sets off a galactic political struggle. One of the pivotal points in the movie comes when the Queen seeks out the other inhabitants of the world to form an alliance. They have never been on friendly terms and never really talked with one another. But now they have a common enemy that threatens them both.
The Queen goes to ask for assistance in helping to defend their world. The chance of these folks helping is slim to none. Yet, when Queen Amidala approaches the leader, she does something unexpected... she bows. The Queen bows. In humbleness and respect she asks for their help. There is silence for a moment. Then the leader, Boss Nass, a huge alien looking creature starts to laugh. No one knows if this is a laugh of “you silly people” or some other kind of laugh. He laughs and explains that he likes that she does not put herself above them. He agrees to help and to fight. What made the difference. The difference was the humility of the Queen.
The Book of Proverbs echo the underlying emphasis of this story and the truth about humility. Proverbs 22:4 says, “Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.” Proverbs 29:23 says, “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.” The Apostle Paul tells us that we should always have an air of humbleness about us. It should surround us. Humility is that part of Christ that surrounds us that reminds us what our place is in this life.
D. The fourth element that Paul commands us to clothe ourselves with is gentleness. We’ll call this the
“girdle of gentleness.” I will avoid any underwear jokes or anything like that, but I want you to think of gentleness as that which is closest to you and hugs you the tightest. Gentleness is that which will underlay everything else in your life.
I did not know this, but there are seven sense of the word “gentle” (www.synonym.com/synonym/gentle)
Sense 1 gentle => mild (vs. intense)
Sense 2 gentle => kind (vs. unkind)
Sense 3 gentle => soft (vs. loud)
Sense 4 aristocratic, blue-blooded, gentle, patrician => noble (vs. lowborn)
Sense 5 docile, gentle => tame (vs. wild),
Sense 6 easy, gentle, soft => light (vs. heavy)
Sense 7 easy, gentle => gradual (vs. steep)
ILLUSTRATION... The Fish Tank... - Richard L. Dunagin
At their school carnival, our kids won four free goldfish (lucky us!), so out I went Saturday morning to find an aquarium. The first few I priced ranged from $40 to $70. Then I spotted it—right in the aisle: a discarded 10-gallon display tank, complete with gravel and filter—for a mere five bucks. Sold! Of course, it was nasty dirty, but the savings made the two hours of clean-up a breeze. Those four new fish looked great in their new home, at least for the first day. But by Sunday one had died. Too bad, but three remained. Monday morning revealed a second casualty, and by Monday night a third goldfish had gone belly up. We called in an expert, a member of our church who has a 30-gallon tank. It didn’t take him long to discover the problem: I had washed the tank with soap, an absolute no-no. My uninformed efforts had destroyed the very lives I was trying to protect.
Sometimes in our zeal to clean up our own lives or the lives of others, we unfortunately use “killer soaps”—condemnation, criticism, nagging, fits of temper. We think we’re doing right, but our harsh, self-righteous treatment is more than they can bear.
E. The fifth and final element that Paul commands us to clothe ourselves with is patience. We’ll call this the
“pants of patience.” Patience is one of those things you either have or you don’t, and if you don’t you most likely will be embarrassed. Similar to pants I guess. Where does patience come from? How do you get patience? I think, and I know this will sound quite profound, but you get patience by being patient. How is that for a novel thought. Patience is one of those things that must be worked on and practiced in order to have. My dad always used to tell me that if he had wanted patients, he would have become a doctor. While that is funny, all of us need patience with those around us.
ILLUSTRATION... Patience Finds Peace, www.net153.com/illustrations/index3.html
A wise old gentleman retired and purchased a modest home near a junior high school. He spent the first feweeks of his retirement in peace and contentment. Then a new school year began. The very next afternoon three young boys full of youthful after-school enthusiasm came down his street beating merrily on every trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the wise old man decided it was time to take some action.
The next afternoon, he walked out to meet the young percussionists as they banged their way down the street. Stopping them, he said, "You kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your exuberance like that. I used to do the same thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I’ll give you each a dollar if you’ll promise to come around every day and do your thing."
The kids were elated and continued to do a bang-up job on the trash cans. A few days later, the wily retiree approached them again as they drummed their way down the street. "Look," he said. "I haven’t received my Social Security (Pension) check yet, so I’m not going to be able to give you more than 25 cents. Will that be okay?"
"A lousy quarter?" the drum leader exclaimed. "If you think we’re going to waste our time beating these cans around for a lousy quarter, you’re nuts! No way, mister. We quit!"
II. THE PATTERN (VERSE 13)
We now have all the elements that Paul has talked about. Paul has commanded us to clothe ourselves wit compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. But how do all these things fit together? Are there any instructions on how to be compassionate or patient or gentle? Is there an example to follow? I am so glad you asked! When I was in Home Economics in high school, my favorite part of the class, besides eating the things we cooked, was sewing. I believe I made a pair of boxer shorts and an apron. How did I figure out how to make these things? I had a pattern.
The Apostle Paul gives us a pattern to follow in verse 13. Verse 13 says, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.” We’ll get to that part of the verse next week. But what comes next is the pattern that Paul lays out for us: “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Who or what is the pattern? How do all of these things fit together in our lives? The pattern is Jesus. We must look to the life of Jesus and His example of how to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient.
III. THE THREAD THAT BINDS IT ALL (VERSE 14)
So, we have the elements of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We have the pattern of Christ to look at. What will we fit it all together with? What will be our thread? How will we keep all of this from just falling away from our lives.
The Apostle Paul tells us in verse 14 that “love binds them all together in perfect unity.” The thread that ties compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience together is love.
* Compassion is loving others when they do not deserve it. Are you a compassionate person?
* Kindness is love in action. Are you a kind person?
* Humility is loving others before yourself. Are you a humble person?
* Gentleness is treating others with love. Are you a gentle person?
* Patience is enduring and long-suffering love. Are you a patient person?
The Apostle Paul painted a picture for me with his words and I hope that I have painted the same picture for you. I got the picture of sewing together the clothing of Christ. He says to ’clothe ourselves’ with different elements that follow the pattern of Christ that are all bound together by love. Well, how do you look?
CONCLUSION
