Sunday, December 27, 2009
Colossians 3:12-17
Minister
of Discipleship
………New clothes, new toys,
new electronics…..There are probably a number of new things in our homes today
thanks to the gifts we have received over Christmas. The question is – do they make us who we are? All you have to do is watch the news or read
a magazine these days and you will discover that someone who “looked” one way
may actually “be” someone else when you get behind the façade! Sports stars cheating on their families or
are acting out in some other way.
Actors who play roles on TV as nice guys helping others turn out to be
selfish and greedy in “real life.” It’s
one thing to “dress up” and play a part for a short period of time. It’s another thing to live committed to a
way of life. That is what the author of
Colossians wants us to understand when he encourages to “clothe yourself with
compassion.”
We can decide to dress in the latest fashion or use the
latest trendy gadgets, but that is just what my grandmother used to call
“window dressing.” Those things may get
people’s attention, but that is not what tells them who you really are. True character comes from deep inside. A few years ago I came across a poignant story
told by the mother of a little girl about 5 years old. This young girl had cancer. She and her family had been through some
very difficult times of surgery and treatments. The little girl was bald following her latest treatment of
chemotherapy. But, things were now
looking up and so the family decided they would go out to dinner to celebrate
the end of her treatments. They decided
upon a nice restaurant – not really fancy, but nice. They felt that this would be the kind of place where the
clientele would have the good graces not to stare at their bare-headed
daughter.
The evening progressed well – no one had openly stared at
them – and they had just finished ordering their meals when their daughter
announced to her mom that she needed to go to the restroom. So, she and her mom headed out across the
room. They noticed a beautiful, elegant
looking woman at the first table they passed and she smiled at the young girl. Just as they were finishing up in the
restroom, this elegant woman walked in and kneeled down in front of the little
girl and said, “You’ve had cancer, haven’t you?” The mother was shocked that this woman would be so bold. Then before she could protect her daughter
from any more humiliation, the woman said, “Me too. In fact, I’m bald also.”
And with that, she pulled off her beautifully coiffed hair and placed it
on the young girl’s head. The little
girl giggled and the three of them laughed and admired how beautiful the little
girl looked in the mirror. Then the
mother gave back the wig and she and her daughter returned to their seats in
the restaurant.
When they got back to their table the little girl was so
excited to tell her dad how grownup she had looked in the mirror. Then before her mother knew what was
happening, she walked over to the elegant lady’s table and said, “can I borrow
your hair to show my dad?” You can
imagine the horror of the mother who went rushing over to the woman’s
table. But, before she could get there
this beautiful lady had taken off her wig and placed it on the little girl’s
head. Then she looked up at her date
and winked as she said, “Go on over and show your daddy how you look”
The story ends with these words, “Greater love has no
elegant woman than this: that she take off her hair for an anonymous little
bald girl.” [from Fruit of the Spirit – Growth of the Heart by Bonnie
Thurston, pg 24-26] What made that
woman beautiful was not her lovely wig or her expensive clothes. What made her beautiful was her kindness and
her generosity! Once we have received
the gift of God’s love, once we know we
are precious in God’s sight, then we are ready to clothe ourselves in
compassion and kindness. We don’t have
to try to dazzle people with fancy things when we can blind them with love
instead!
However, to walk
out into a painful, difficult world clothed in such attire is not always
easy! To live without pretenses, to not
have our “dress up” clothes to hide behind takes real strength and courage. Not everyone is easy to love. It is not easy to respond with kindness
when someone has said something mean to you.
Patience can run thin when others are acting in selfish ways. And who wants to be seen “wearing” humility,
giving in to another person’s way of doing things, when you KNOW you have the
right answer!! If we are going to be
seen wearing God’s gift of love, we need a deep reserve from which to draw our
strength.
This past summer
I had the opportunity to spend a few days at a monastery in the middle of the
Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. As
you drove south from the Phoenix airport, you begin to see more and more
desolate ground. It’s so dry that
hardly anything will grow there. And
then, suddenly you come to this beautiful oasis – this incredible garden –
situated right in the midst of the cactus and rocks. It seems like a miracle!
And, in a way it is. When the
monks came to Arizona to build the monastery, they believed that God had told
them this was the place to build. It
was hard to believe that they could develop something beautiful in such a
place, but they trusted God. Even as
they began to drill looking for water, the engineers told them they would find
no water. But, they kept drilling
deeper and deeper until it happened…..they found one of the largest water
reserves in all the southwest right there under their land! Today, you will find beautiful flower
gardens and vegetable gardens in this spot in the desert. They have started an orchard and even a
vineyard right in the middle of the cactus and sagebrush. All of this beauty and bounty has blossomed
because they were willing to trust in God and dig deep enough to find the
reserves they needed.
Beauty comes
from deep reserves – it is true of gardening and it is true of the human
life. When we are willing to tap into
the deep reserves that God has available to us, then we will blossom with the
kindness and love. God gives us the
reserves to live as generous people – generous with our time and our resources. When we live such a life, what people will
see is not the outer clothing we wear or the “act” we are trying to
perfect. What people will see is the
“clothing” of inner peace and the beauty of a faithful life.
As this new year
begins, let’s resolve to be dressed like that!
Let’s clothe ourselves in kindness and patience and love. Let’s make a commitment to spend a little
time every day tapped into the well of God’s love. If each of us would take even 10 minutes every day sitting
quietly in God’s presence or walking peacefully with God in a beautiful place,
it would begin to change how people see us.
Many of us will make resolutions about exercising or dieting so we can
look better and our clothes will fit us better in the New Year. But, if we really want people to see us in a
different way this year, what we need is a committed time with God every day.
We have opened many beautiful gifts in these last few days. Why not “open” and “wear” this gift, the
gift of God’s unfailing love and guidance.
What a beautiful sight that will be!!