Re: Clothe
James Cathcart
December 30, 2024
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Colossians 3: 12-17 (NRSVA)
12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Today we change the metaphor moving from a new address to a new wardrobe of clothes. The trouble is the clothes that Paul suggest we should be wearing, if we are truthfully honest don’t really fit. Compassion, kindness, and humility and patience, kind of hang loosely on most of us. So do we re-cycle the old worn out clothes or grow up into new ones?
It reminds me of my friend Ian, his father used to take him to “Wee McGeachy, the tailor”in the Gallowgate in Glasgow back in the 1960s to get fitted for his school clothes. When Ian was in the shop the jacket seemed to be a good fit, however when he got home, he realised what ‘wee McGeachy” the tailor meant when he said to his father with a wink, “That’s no a bad fit — he’ll grow intae it”. Wee McGeachy was a master at his trade, he knew how to pull the jacket in at the back using his fist ever so carefully holding the surplus material — while Ian, unaware, looked in the mirror — all seemed fine.
One day we will grow up into the full stature of Christian adulthood, until that day, I think God like ‘Wee McGeachy “ gives us clothes to wear that, one day, we will grow up into. And to keep us happy, his hand is on our back pulling in, kindness, and compassion, and humility, making them fit. I also think some days God removes his hand just to make us aware we are still growing.
Prayer:
Tailor God,
You don’t do ‘off the peg’ clothes
You design clothes for us to grow into.
Clothes designed uniquely for each of us
You choose the material that fits us best
Your hand holds kindness and patience
Releasing them bit by bit into our lives
Until we grow up into our perfect calling and full potential
Help me grow up well
And may the clothes I choose to wear match
The mood and contours of your material
As I walk the catwalk of life modelling your handiwork.
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