THE RAGMAN
TEXT: Psalm 45:8
Psalms 45:8 – “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.”
l. INTRODUCTION – THE CLOTHES OF A MAN
-I am told that clothes make the man. Whether or not that is true (which I sincerely doubt), I cannot say. However, I will say this that there are times that clothes do seem to give a man a sense of presence.
-The last few weeks, most of us, probably unconsciously have found that we do pay attention to the clothes that others wear. President Bush in his speeches before the nation has been very conservatively dressed and his clothes have seem to portray to us his position.
-The military uniforms that our generals of the Armed Forces also indicate to us that there has been a place of power associated with how they have been dressed.
-We would never expect our great leaders to dress themselves in rags. Such a thing would be shocking to us. And yet I would like to preach to you about the world’s greatest man, The Ragman.
-Not a lot is said in the Gospels about the clothes that Jesus wore.
We know that John the Baptist was a man dressed in camel hair.
We can infer that Isaiah probably dressed in royal robes as his presence was primarily in the courts of the kings.
We can presume that Peter, Andrew, James, and John probably wore the clothes of working fisherman.
-But little is said of what Jesus dressed in. Yet, there is one reference to something that He wore. That is found in John 19:23-24. It speaks of a robe that was seamless. One that was gambled on by the soldiers at the foot of the Cross. Other than that we are left to our own imagination.
-But before we fully look at Psalm 45, to go back to look at some of the clothing and garments that men wore in the Bible would serve us well.
ll. THE GARMENTS OF GOD
A. Joseph and His Coat
-It is a story that has been told a thousand times in the Sunday School rooms. It has been told by parents to children and by grandparents to grandchildren. The story of old Jacob and his construction of the coat of many colors for Joseph. It seemed that coat caused him more difficulty than what it was worth.
-The beautiful coat isolated Joseph from his brothers. It separated him to such an extent that they decided the thing to do would be to kill him. When those brothers saw that coat it caused jealousy to surge within them, it caused hatred to choke the life from their souls, and it gave rise to a spirit of envy.
-So they set out and when the end of the scene had been played, when all of their evil plans were accomplished, Joseph was at the bottom of the pit and his coat had been shredded and saturated with the blood of a lamb.
-When the coat had been presented to Jacob, he went into mourning thinking that his favorite son had been destroyed. Gone was Joseph, gone was the dreams of the father for his son.
-Joseph was taken from the pit by a roving band of Ishmaelites and sold into Egypt as a slave to Potiphar. But the pit taught a very valuable lesson to Joseph. He learned that the garments supplied by men will fail you. It does not matter how beautiful and how extravagant the coat may be there is coming a time that your garment is going to fail you if it is not supplied by God. They are not really coats as much as they are bank accounts, CD’s, cars, houses, paychecks, careers, and insurance policies. Joseph, put your trust in the Lord.
Psalm 118:8-9 -- "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes."
Psalm 146:3-4 -- "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."
-Man made garments are described in Scripture:
Original but not sufficient -- Genesis 3:7 -- "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."
Natural but not clean -- Zechariah 3:4 -- "And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment."
Smart but useless -- Isaiah 64:6 -- "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
Mended but made worse -- Mark 2:21 -- "No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse."
-Joseph learned a very valuable lesson about being able to leave the coat behind. There was coming a day when he would resist the temptations of the flesh for a final time. He would have a choice to either keep his coat or let it go. He chose to let it go because it was a coat made by a man.
-After the continual onslaught of Potiphar’s wife toward Joseph, he left his garment in her hand and fled.
Genesis 39:12-13 -- "And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out." "And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,"
-It was the last garment that he would leave behind him. God took him through a dungeon and elevated him to a throne. God gave him a robe and a crown. There is a song that I am reminded of, We Shall Wear a Crown. I’m gonna wear a crown, trading in all of the coats that the world has tried to give to me. We shall wear a robe and crown.
-Joseph, hold on a little longer, stay focused on your dreams. Joseph there is a place in the kingdom for you, there is a crown for, there is a robe for you, one of the garments of God.
B. Elijah’s Mantle
-There is another garment of God that must arrest out attention as we move along. It was a mantle. A mantle that two of Israel’s greatest prophets would hold.
-The origin of Elijah’s mantle bears investigation. The very first time that we notice the appearance of the mantle is in some high isolated cave in the mountains of Israel. Elijah has just come from tearing up four hundred and fifty of Baal’s prophets. The real God had answered with real fire. But Elijah found out about the bounty on his head set up by Jezebel. So he flees to the mountain.
-In those mountains on the outskirts of Beersheba, he witnesses some great movings of nature.
I Kings 19:11-13 -- "And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:" "And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." "And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?"
-The same is true with all of us. There have been times in our lives that massive spiritual victories have occurred and still our faith has waned. See the fire of God fall on situations out of our control and God takes care of it every time. Still my faith is weak.
-What doest thou here, . . . . ??? And so I stand back and cover my face with the mantle and God begins to speak to me in the still small voice. "I love you," "I need you to do a specific job for the Kingdom," "I want to give you unfettered blessings," "I have a plan for your life," and "All in good time, just be patient with Me." Not surprisingly, the mantle begins to surge with the anointing of the Spirit.
It is during the tough times that God supplies us with the mantles.
It is the time when discouragement spends more time with you than faith does that God brings on the mantles and they become the garments of God.
It is the times when your kids are sick and you spend all your money at the doctor’s offices that God gives you another mantle.
It is during the times that more money is going out than is coming in even though you have held your commitment and paid your tithes, unsure of which way to turn, God supplies you with a mantle.
It is during the times that it seems like you are on your own and the world is nipping at your feet and you just cannot run fast enough, God gives you a mantle.
It is during the times that you have taken on more than you can handle in obligations in life but God faithfully and dependable supplies you with another mantle.
-Elijah would take that mantle after that experience and toss it about the shoulders of Elisha and God would call another prophet. Take your mantle and toss it on the shoulders of someone that God is wanting to win and reach.
-Walk up to the impossible situations in your life and smite them with your mantle. The waters will part. Instead of walking up to the impossible situation and asking "Can God?" Instead, walk up to the situation and say emphatically, "God Can!!!"
-Get the mantle moving in your life and:
Jordan will depart for you (ll Kings 2:14)
The Salt Waters will become pure (ll Kings 2:21)
Water will be supplied (ll Kings 3:16)
The Widow’s Oil will be multiplied (ll Kings 4:5)
God will use your life to feed multitudes with spiritual things (ll Kings 4:41-43)
Children will be raised to life (ll Kings 4:35)
Namaan’s will be healed (ll Kings 5:10)
Axe heads will float in impossible situations (ll Kings 6:6)
The Syrians will be smitten (ll Kings 6:18)
Dead men will come back to life (ll Kings 13:21)
C. The Hem of The Garment
-It is a very remarkable thing to find in Exodus 28. An entire chapter that God spent telling Moses how the garments of the priesthood were to be completed. Forty-three verses that God provided His stipulations for the embellishments and attachments and colors of the garments of the priesthood.
-One specific thing that we should elaborate on is found in verse 33.
Exodus 28:33 -- "And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:"
-It is significant to notice the color blue around the hem of the garment. Blue in itself is always typical of heaven. When you began to study out the particular types and shadows of the Old Testament, blue generally without fail have a reference to heaven.
-Every person no doubt has seen paintings contrived by artists of men who carried different types of burdens. In the majority of the pictures of the struggle, the painting displays a man who is bowed under the burden and he is generally looking downward. The burden has him bent over. Such is true with us. The robes of salvation have a bit of blue in the hem. When life seems to be choking us and difficult situations arise, start looking for your blue. God has made it that way, it is called hope. When you can’t make it any further start looking for the blue border. Heaven is near.
Hebrews 6:18-19 -- "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:" "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;"
-The blue was placed there for a reason. That reason is that we should never feel so overwhelmed by life that we can’t make it. Heaven is in sight, just a little while to stay here just a little while to wait.
-I am reminded of a little lady over in the account given by Mark. This little lady had spent everything on physicians who could not heal her. Her situation was so bad that she had exhausted all of her resources. Her burden was great and she too was bent over by the situations that were present in her life.
-This little lady was probably from Capernaum. Jesus was on his way to the house of Jarius because of the daughter who was sick. This little woman no doubt knew of the blue in the hem of the garment. She had heard of the miracles but she did not want her faith to get too high. So we see the great struggle through the crowd. Finally, jostling up near the Messiah, she just bends over and touches Heaven. All of Heaven seems to pause just for a moment.
-How many times have you been in the place that Heaven seemed to suddenly stop for you? God has a way of meeting us every time. But there is more to the Hem of His Garment than just that touch of Heaven.
lll. CONCLUSION -- THE PRODIGAL SON
-In conclusion (some of you have been waiting for that), there is one last garment that needs to be looked at. Luke 15 gives us the story of the Prodigal Son. It tells the story of a son who gained his inheritance and then went and lost it on riotous living. He ended up in the hog pen contemplating all of the blessings of the Father’s house. When he returned home, his Father re-established him as a son and brought him a robe.
-The garments of God are the only thing that are sufficient for us, man-made garments are just not good enough.
-Adam and Eve tried fig leaves but it would not work. The man who fell among thieves of Luke 10 was stripped of his raiment. The demoniac of Gadara was not clothed.
-But after God came along with his garments all of that changed. Isaiah reminds us of the final steps in the clothing of God’s garments.
lV. PSALM 45
A. A Look a Psalm 45
-There are three pictures that we find in this particular psalm: Myrrh, aloes, and cassia. All of these materials were used in the process of burial during Bible times.
I saw a strange sight. I stumbled upon a story most strange, like nothing my life, my street sense, my sly tongue had ever prepared me for.
Even before the dawn one Friday morning I noticed a young man, handsome and strong, walking the alleys of our City. He was pulling an old cart filled with clothes both bright and new, and he was calling in a clear, tenor voice:
"Rags!" (Ah, the air was foul and the first light filthy to be crossed by such sweet music.) "Rags! New rags for old! I take your tired rags! Rags!"
"Now, this is a wonder," I thought to myself, for the man stood six-feet-four, and his arms were like tree limbs, hard and muscular, and his eyes flashed intelligence. Could he find no better job than this, to be a ragman in the inner city? I followed him. My curiosity drove me. And I wasn’t disappointed.
Soon the Ragman saw a woman sitting on her back porch. She was sobbing into a handkerchief, sighing, and shedding a thousand tears. Her shoulders shook. Her heart was breaking. The Ragman stopped his cart. Quietly, he walked to the woman, stepping around tin cans, dead toys, and Pampers. "Give me your rag," he said so gently, "and I’ll give you another." He slipped the handkerchief from her eyes. She looked up, and he laid across her palm a linen cloth so clean and new it shined. She blinked from the gift to the giver.
Then, as he began to pull his cart again, the Ragman did a strange thing: he put her stained handkerchief to his own face; and then HE began to weep, to sob as grievously as she had done, his shoulders shaking. Yet she was left without a tear.
"This IS a wonder," I breathed to myself , and I followed the sobbing Ragman like a child who cannot turn away from mystery. "Rags! Rags! New rags for old!"
In a little while, when the sky showed gray behind the rooftops and I could see the shredded curtains hanging out black windows, the Ragman came upon a girl whose head was wrapped in a bandage, whose eyes were empty. Blood soaked her bandage. A single line of blood ran down her cheek. Now the tall Ragman looked upon this child with pity, and he drew a lovely yellow bonnet from his cart. "Give me your rag," he said, tracing his own line on her cheek, "and I’ll give you mine."
The child could only gaze at him while he loosened the bandage, removed it, and tied it to his own head. The bonnet he set on hers. And I gasped at what I saw: for with the bandage went the wound! Against his brow it ran a darker, more substantial blood - his own!
"Rags! Rags! I take old rags!" cried the sobbing, bleeding, strong, intelligent Ragman.
The sun hurt both the sky and my eyes; the Ragman seemed more and more to hurry. "Are you going to work?" he asked a man who leaned against a telephone pole. The man shook his head. The Ragman pressed him: "Do you have a job?" "Are you crazy?" sneered the other. He pulled away from the pole, revealing the right sleeve of his jacket -flat, the cuff stuffed into the pocket. He had no arm.
"So," said the Ragman. "Give me your jacket, and I’ll give you mine." Such quiet authority in his voice! The one-armed man took off his jacket. So did the Ragman - and I trembled at what I saw: for the Ragman’s arm stayed in its sleeve, and when the other put it on he had two good arms, thick as tree limbs; but the Ragman had only one. "Go to work," he said.
After that he found a drunk, lying unconscious beneath an army blanket, and old man, hunched, wizened, and sick. He took that blanket and wrapped it round himself, but for the drunk he left new clothes.
And now I had to run to keep up with the Ragman. Though he was weeping uncontrollably, and bleeding freely at the forehead, pulling his cart with one arm, stumbling for drunkenness, falling again and again, exhausted, old, old, and sick, yet he went with terrible speed. On spider’s legs he skittered through the alleys of the City, this mile and the next, until he came to its limits, and then he rushed beyond.
I wept to see the change in this man. I hurt to see his sorrow. And yet I needed to see where he was going in such haste, perhaps to know what drove him so.
The little old Ragman - he came to a landfill. He came to the garbage pits. And then I wanted to help him in what he did, but I hung back, hiding. He climbed a hill. With tormented labor he cleared a little space on that hill. Then he sighed. He lay down. He pillowed his head on a handkerchief and a jacket. He covered his bones with an army blanket. And he died.
Oh, how I cried to witness that death! I slumped in a junked car and wailed and mourned as one who has no hope - because I had come to love the Ragman. Every other face had faded in the wonder of this man, and I cherished him; but he died. I sobbed myself to sleep.
I did not know - how could I know? - that I slept through Friday night and Saturday and its night, too. But then, on Sunday morning, I was wakened by a violence. Light - pure, hard, demanding light - slammed against my sour face, and I blinked, and I looked, and I saw the last and the first wonder of all. There was the Ragman, folding the blanket most carefully, a scar on his forehead, but alive! And, besides that, healthy! There was no sign of sorrow nor of age, and all the rags that he had gathered shined for cleanliness. Well, then I lowered my head and trembling for all that I had seen, I myself walked up to the Ragman. I told him my name with shame, for I was a sorry figure next to him. Then I took off all my clothes in that place, and I said to him with dear yearning in my voice:
"Dress me." He dressed me. My Lord, he put new rags on me, and I am a wonder beside him. The Ragman, the Ragman, THE CHRIST. (Walter Wangerin, The Ragman and Other Tales of Faith)
-He’s Alive. . . . . . He’s Alive. . . . . .
Philip Harrelson
barnabas14@yahoo.com
