A good friend of mine told me that on Christmas Day she gave her four-year-old granddaughter a Christmas gift. When it was time to go home, my friend reminded her granddaughter that they would see each other again later that week.
Her granddaughter became excited and asked her if that meant she would get another Christmas present! Catching her off guard with that comment, she told her granddaughter, “I just might have another Christmas gift for you.”
We just can’t get enough Christmas gifts, can we? I think that this is why Epiphany Sunday on this Sunday after Christmas Day is so important. There are still gifts for us to open! Even though the Wise Men came a little late on the scene, they still had gifts for the Christ Child. Those Christmas gifts were gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
On this Sunday, we too, have another Christmas gift to open. And I’ll give you a little hint as to what it is. It’s related to fashion. And no, I’m not talking about another Christmas sweater or another Christmas tie.
This is something even better and it’s based on our Colossians scripture reading this morning which talks about putting on the clothing of our faith.
It says that we are “to put on” or wear the following: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness. And to complete the outfit, he suggests putting on love. These seven words are connected because they all have to do with relationships.
Compassion is seen in an attitude of caring with mercy. Kindness is evident in the way we look at or speak to another person. Humility is having a self-contentment of heart. Gentleness is an appreciation for how fragile another soul may be. Patience is revealed in a persistent openness. Forgiveness is not seeking revenge or pay back. Love is seeking the best for the other person and desiring what God would want for them.
These intentional attitudes and actions are as obvious as the clothes that we wear. This is the Christmas gift that we are invited to open and wear on this Sunday and throughout the upcoming New Year.
Single mom Kim Kerswell thought getting into a fender-bender was the worst thing that could have happened to her in December. It turned out to be something quite different. Kim works at a Panera Bread outside Boston. She rear ended another car in the parking lot which belonged to Sherene Borr.
As the two women exchanged information, the young mom told Sherene that she was struggling to make ends meet and raising two kids on her own. Sherene felt that there was genuine need here and she wanted to respond. Surprisingly, she sent Kim a text later in the day which said she wanted to help give her family a nice Christmas!
Not only did she forgive any damages to her car, Sherene with other friends is making sure that Kim is stocked with groceries, gift cards, and toys and clothes for her kids. Both hope that their friendship will continue after Christmas. It sounds as if Sherene was wearing the right outfit of clothes that day: compassion, kindness, forgiveness. She had put on all that was needed and had tied it up with love.
Who is well dressed in God's eyes? What is your fashion style? To relate to other folks with love, to recognize them as children of God with their own dignity, to see them as worthy of our time and actions is quite a spiritual fashion statement. This wardrobe does not come naturally. We are prone to be self-centered, distant, critical, and impatient.
Consciously we have to decide each day how we are going to treat each other. Allow God to pick out what we are wearing. In everyday encounters, we can be signs of God's love in this world.
Nell Mohney is a motivational speaker, and writer. She is the author of an Upper Room Advent booklet that was published and used in churches a few years ago. In this Advent collection she wrote of experiencing the power of God's love through her family.
When she was a junior in high school, she had a Christmas season job downtown and would window shop as she went to work. In the window of a dress shop was the most beautiful green coat she had ever seen, and she wanted that coat more than anything.
One day she even tried it on and it just fit. The price tag was over the top. She shared about the coat at home but with the family's tight finances it was not going to be a reality. Each one understood that Christmas would be limited that year.
On Christmas Eve when she passed by the store, the coat was gone. She asked inside and was told that it had been sold. She prayed that whoever got it would love it as much as she had. Her family had a subdued opening of presents on Christmas morning. It became apparent that there was one more gift under the tree, and it was for Nell. Opening the box, Nell discovered the green coat!
She found out later that her mother had sold her watch and others in the family had agreed to cheaper gifts in order that she could have this coat. She wore the coat for many years. It represented such sacrificial love from her family. When she wore it, she felt wrapped in her mother's love and in a greater sense, by God's love that was hard to comprehend. Her soul was nourished for life by that love.
Love is a frequent verb in the Scriptures. We are to love God, we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, we are even to love our enemies. We are to treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. Paul considers love as the greatest action over any other gift.
At the end of the Gospel of John, we have the story of Peter, Jesus' disciple, being questioned about his love by Jesus. He answered” Lord, you know I love you. Jesus said “Make it visible by feeding my sheep. Take care of my children and may they realize my love through you.”
When we are in the midst of irritating situations with difficult people, perhaps this is where God is provoking us into seeing how much more we need to grow in our love for one another! In those moments where our patience is stretched and our kindness runs out, it becomes apparent that we need God to refresh the wardrobe of our hearts, to give us a makeover.
God has been so generous with love. What are we doing with the love God gave us?
A man was reminiscing about his childhood. He said: “The saddest words I remember from holidays came in my grandparents living room- when all the presents were unwrapped, the cleanup nearly done and my dad tapped me on the shoulder to say” Son, let's go; Christmas is over.”
However, he said, we know that isn't true. We know better. Christ came to be with us, to “abide with us,” to be Emmanuel. After all the presents and the food, when we are back in the routine, (at work, at school) when life is back to normal, Christ is with us.
Christ is here filling us, guiding us, “dressing us,” empowering us to express the message of Christmas every day of the year. With each encounter with another person, his love can be visible. Christmas is not over.
So, I guess we really do have another Christmas gift to open on this Sunday after Christmas Day. It’s the clothing of our faith. And it’s a gift that we are invited to open every single day.
This clothing never goes out of style and we’re always going to look great in it.
Listen to the reading from Colossians once again and as you hear these words, imagine yourself trying on these clothes of faith.
This reading is from The Message Translation by Eugene Peterson.
“Every item of your new way of life is custom made by the Creator. With his label on it. All the old fashions are obsolete. So chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all purpose garment. Never be without it.”
