Caught Up in God

Fashion is fickle. I went to STYLE.COM to find out what I should be anxious about this year (unlike the lilies of the field, who neither toil nor spin). I learned that my lips should be scarlet, and that it would be advisable to get a designer bag for my cell phone. What is more, for “instant It-girl status” (whatever an “It-girl” is), all I have to do is wear a 1960s-style baby-doll dress. Next year, of course, this same look will only go to show how outmoded I am.

On the other hand, the Bible does indicate some spiritual clothes that never go out of style. These are symbolized by the white garment which the neophytes, the new Catholics, received during the Easter Triduum.

We read in Galatians 3:27,

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Being clothed with Christ is an amazing thought; and if we carry the image of the garment one step further, it becomes even more astonishing. Psalm 104 tells us that God is “wrapped in light as with a garment,” and it seems that a garment of light is not only fitting garb for the divine, but also for us. In the Eastern rite Catholic churches (and the Orthodox churches), when the newly baptized receive the white garment, these words are sung:

Grant me a Robe of Light,
You who are robed in Light
as with a garment,
O Christ our God, so rich in mercy.

(See Baptism – Saint Elias Church)

Here are some of the results of putting on this robe of light — which is another way of saying that we have put on Christ.

First, all those differences that tend to cause division become unimportant when we are clothed with Christ:

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3: 27-28)

Next, there are some very practical effects, including some rather awesome responsibilities, connected with this apparel.

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 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. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3: 12-14)

And in the long run, we allow our mortal bodies to be clothed with immortality:

For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Cor 15:53)

If this new garment is not just made of white cloth, but is in truth a robe of light, it would seem to be a rather exalted form of dress for us lowly human beings. I imagine all of us, whether new Catholics or seasoned Christians, have already learned to our sorrow that we do not lead perfect lives after baptism.

But — oh, wonder of wonders! — Jesus does not wait until we are perfected to offer the robe. He gives it to us, and then calls us to grow into it.

The process of growing into that garment of light is called sanctification.

Now in a very important sense, we are already holy: each of us is God’s child — one of God’s holy ones. But sanctification means becoming more and more like Christ in our hearts, in our minds, and in our daily lives, more and more one with the compassion, mercy and love of God.

Can we wear the robe of light, taking on the mind and heart of Christ, while we are promoting war, or ignoring the plight of the poor, or saying nasty things about our next-door neighbor? We must choose to live so that to encounter us is to touch the hem of Christ’s garment; so that by grace our presence will be the healing presence of Christ for our fractured world.

“Who are these robed in white?” we ask, like the elder in the book of Revelation, “and where have they come from?” (7:13)

These are God’s people. We have come from here and from all over. We have put on Christ and are growing in holiness — often failing, but always forgiven, always praying to become more and more the presence of Christ for the world, so that to meet us is to meet Christ.

Tags: church, Transformation