Easter Sunday - New Clothes - New Life
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Happy Easter. It is wonderful to have you here today as we celebrate Christ’s resurrection and the new life he gives us.
A pastor went to see a man who lived in the community but never attended church. He told him, "We would love to have you come to our church." The man replied, "But I can’t." The pastor asked, "Well, why not?" The man replied, "Clothes. I don’t have any good clothes." The pastor thought a moment and then said, "If I talk with the men of our church and we get you some new clothes, then will you go to church?" The man said that he would. The pastor talked with the men and together they donated over $500. The pastor went out and bought the man a beautiful new suit and took it to him. The pastor said, "Now you’ll go to church on Sunday, right?" The man looked at his new suit with a big smile on his face and said, "I sure will, Pastor." Sunday morning came and the pastor looked out over the congregation, but the man was not there. So he went to the man’s house that afternoon and there he was wearing his new suit. The pastor asked, "I thought you said that if we got you a new suit you would go to church?" The man smiled and said, "Well, Pastor, I did go to church. You see, when I put on this new suit it looked so good on me that I went to the Episcopal Church!"
It looks to me like many of you got new clothes for Easter. You look great, but I am glad you came here instead of the Episcopalian church! (1)
Getting new clothes is a symbolic tradition that can be traced all the way back to Jesus. In our gospel text a surprising amount of attention is paid to the fact that when Peter and the disciple Jesus loved looked into the tomb, they saw that Jesus was not there, but that the graveclothes were still there. The text says that the linen wrappings were lying there, and that the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head was not with the linen wrappings, but was rolled up in a place by itself. The gospel writer wanted to emphasize that Jesus had been raised from the dead. If his body had been stolen, the body snatchers would not have taken the time to unwrap the graveclothes. Jesus left them behind because he didn’t need them any more. They were graveclothes and he had burst out of the tomb. He was alive!
Now, some have wondered where he got new clothes. Some have even speculated that he borrowed some clothing from the cemetery caretaker because Mary Magdalene mistook him for the gardener. I don’t think that is a big issue. If God is powerful enough to raise Jesus from the dead, he can certainly arrange for a new suit of clothes.
God wants us to have some new clothes too. Sometimes we are dressed in graveclothes also. We are wearing clothes that are fitting for death.
Sometimes we are wrapped in a mantel of fear. We can be afraid of the future; afraid of losing our job; afraid of losing our love relationship; afraid of what the doctor is going to tell us; afraid of death. That fear can paralyze us and keep us from really living.
In Matthew’s account of the resurrection the first words the angel says to the women who came to the tomb were, “Do not be afraid.” The story continues and these women encounter Jesus as they are running back to the disciples and the first thing Jesus says to them is, “Do not be afraid.”
Just as Jesus left his graveclothes behind, so we can get rid of our mantel of fear. We do not need to be afraid. One of the most frequent messages in the Bible is “Do not be afraid.” or “Fear not.” or “Do not fear.” There is over 100 Bible verses that tell us we should let go of our fear. One of my favorites is from Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”
We can let go of our fears because God is stronger than anything that might threaten us. God is even stronger than death. So we can leave behind the graveclothes of fear and we can join St. Paul in putting on the whole armor of God. We can gird our loins with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness. We can carry the shield of faith and
wear the helmet of salvation. With that armor we can leave fear behind and live in faith.
Sometimes we also dress ourselves in the dark clothes of despair. We can feel helpless and hopeless, which leads to sadness and depression. There is much to be sad about in our world: hunger, homelessness, poverty and pain. We can despair over all the war, conflict and violence that exists and we can feel helpless to change it.
After the crucifixion, I am sure the mood of Jesus’ followers was that of despair. They had been sure he was the one to free Israel. They had followed him in faith for years and now they had seen him executed in the most excruciating way possible. They could not help but be depressed.
But, when they saw the empty tomb and the graveclothes lying there, when they heard the angels announce to them, “He is not here; for He has risen!” their hearts must have almost burst with joy. Just as Jesus left his graveclothes behind, so they could get rid of their dark clothes of despair and begin wearing rainbow colored robes of rejoicing. And so can we! We can live as people filled with Easter joy for God has promised to be with us and strengthen us and give us new life. That promise empowers us to live in a new way.
Pastor John Maxwell tells a story about a blue blazer that he bought from Nordstrom’s Department Store. The more he wore it the more he knew he didn’t like it. It wasn’t the right color and it attracted lint like it was a magnet. After wearing it for six months he put it in the closet and didn’t wear it any more. About a year later he got to thinking about Nordstrom’s famous unconditional-return policy. He thought there was no way they would ever take it back after 18 months, especially after wearing it a bunch. But, he decided he had nothing to lose. He pulled the blazer out, threw a lot of lint on it to make it look bad, and took it down to Nordstrom’s men’s department. He walked in, and immediately felt nervous. He felt like he was about to pull a scam of some sort. But he walked up to the first salesman he saw and gave his little prepared speech. He said, "I am about to put your famous unconditional-return policy to its ultimate test. I bought this blazer here. I’ve worn it lots. I’ve had it for a year and a half. I don’t like it. It’s the wrong color, and it attracts lint like it’s going out of style. So I want to return this blazer trading it for a blazer that I like." Then he stood there. He couldn’t believe it. This salesman with a big handlebar mustache just looked at him and shook his head. He said, "For heavens sake, what took you so long? Let’s go find you a blazer." Ten minutes later he walked out with another blazer that was marked seventy-five dollars more than what he paid for the one that he brought in. It was perfect. It didn’t cost him a penny. His conclusion was that in a small way, the Nordstrom Department Store is a lot like God. They are willing to back up their promises. (2)
God has told us that we do not need to be afraid, that we don’t need to dismay or be in despair because he promises to be with us. He promises he will strengthen us and help us and uphold us with his victorious right hand. We can trust in that promise. And when we do, we find that we not only have new clothes, we have a new life.
Sometimes we discover that we are clothed in the filthy rags of sin. Dragged through the dirt of doing the wrong thing; torn by the pull of temptations; shredded by lies and deceit; we are ashamed of what we are wearing. We think there is no soap that can ever get our clothes clean again. We feel dirty and guilty and unacceptable.
But that is why Jesus died. He died so that our sins could be forgiven. He died so that we could leave behind those sinful rags and receive his gift of the bright, white robes of righteousness.
A pastor tells of how they used to do baptisms in the church where he grew up. The church was right next to the river so in the spring, once the water was warm enough, baptismal candidates were baptized in the river. On their baptism day they symbolically left their old clothes on the river bank, were baptized by immersion and then were given a brand new white robe to wear. It was a reminder that they were leaving the old life behind and through baptism they were entering into a new life, clothed in God’s righteousness.
With his resurrection Jesus not only leaves his graveclothes behind, he leaves death behind. What is more he tells us we can leave death behind also. Through the power of his resurrection we are raised to new life also.
St. Paul emphasizes that as he speaks about baptism in Romans 6:4 saying, “Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” We can live in a new way right now. God has promised us not only new clothes, but a new life. Easter and the resurrection means that we can leave our old sin, our old guilt, our old shame behind in a dark, cold, empty tomb and bury them there, because God gives us a new life to live as a loved and forgiven person.
Pastor Bass Mitchell tells of the terrible grief he and his family experienced over the sudden death of his father-in-law, Bennie. One minute Bennie was vibrant and seemingly healthy; the next minute he had a massive heart attack and died. When the family was trying to clean up Bennie’s house they came across his clothes. They gave some of them to Bass, since they wore the same size. Many were like new, but he couldn’t even bear to look at them. Then one day while searching through the closets for items to donate to a church yard sale, he came across this sport coat he had seen Bennie wear. It was gray with light blue lines running up and across. There was nothing fancy about it. Bass took the coat off the rack and looked it over. He was about to hang it back up when I noticed something in the inside pocket. It was a folded piece of paper - a church bulletin. Bennie must have tucked there the last time he had worn the sport coat. The bulletin cover was light purple with a Bible open to Mark chapters 15 and 16. Beside the Bible were white lilies and one bright candle. Written in script at the top in dark purple was the word, "Alleluia!" It was a bulletin for Easter! Easter Sunday, April 7, 1996! Of all that could have been there, of the other 51 Sundays in the year, the one and only item in Bennie’s coat was a bulletin that proclaimed the message of Easter! Bass had been feeling like it was Good Friday for so long, but now Easter started to come for him in a deeply personal way. For he knew as surely as he stood there holding this coat that Bennie had been given new clothes, Easter clothes, and he didn’t need these anymore! (3)
The good news of Easter is that the Great Designer has Easter clothes fitted and made for us too. We can wear the clean, new Easter outfit that is befitting a loved and forgiven person. We can wear those new clothes and live in a new way because Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! And because he lives we shall also live. Alleluia! Amen.
1. Homiliesbyemail.com - New Clothes - Bass Mitchell.
2. Sermoncentral.com - Steve Kellett - The Empty Promises of Easter
3. Homilesbyemail.com - Ibid.
