Vested in Christ
Colossians 3:12-16
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
As we stand in this holy space and offer our prayers and hymns of thanksgiving to God, we proclaim, enact, and participate in the very reality that has established the universe.
God has given us this creation, this cosmos, in which to live, to grow, and to prosper. And it is through the matter of this world—through our voices, crossing ourselves, bowing, venerating icons, lighting candles, the liturgical vestments, and the offerings of bread and wine, that we are given the opportunity to respond to the uncreated grace of the uncreated God, and behold the beauty of his Kingdom. Through this divine liturgy, we become who we are.
It is God’s divine call and our humble response. It is God’s “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness” and our “Amen.”
It would be accurate for us to say that the whole of our lives, indeed the whole of existence, is a cosmic liturgy, a great offering of ourselves, one another, and the whole of our creation to God in thanksgiving. It is the divine call and the creation’s response. It is God’s act, his power, his energy, and movement, and our cooperation with him.
In order that we may celebrate this cosmic liturgy, Christ has vested us, his beloved bride, as his priests of the creation. As an illustration, I would like to share with you the prayers of vesting (from the Ieratikon According to the Simonapetra Tradition Vol I):
The prayer of the sticharion:
My soul will rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with the garment of salvation and has covered me with the robe of gladness; he has set a crown on me like a bridegroom and has adorned me in beauty like a bride.
The prayer of the epitrachilion (stole):
Blessed is God, who pours out his grace upon his priests, as myrrh upon the head, which runs down the beard, the beard of Aaron, which runs down even to the hem of his garment.
The prayer of the belt:
Blessed is God, who girds me with strength and has made my way blameless.
The prayer of the right cuff:
Your right Hand, O Lord, is glorified in strength. Your Right Hand, O Lord, has crushed enemies and in the magnitude of your Glory you have shattered the adversaries.
The prayer of the left cuff:
Your Hands have made me and have fashioned me. Give me understanding and I will learn your commandments.
The prayer of the epigonation:
Gird your sword upon your thigh, O Mighty One, in your adornment and in your beauty; and draw and prosper and reign on account of truth and gentleness and righteousness, and your Right Hand will guide you wondrously.
The prayer of the phelonion:
Your priests, O Lord, will be clothed with righteousness and your saints will rejoice with gladness.
We are clothed in Christ, not only the ordained priest in the serving of the eucharistic liturgy, but as baptized Christians. And we speak of clothing here because of the words of the Apostle Paul to the Colossians this morning. He tells his children in Christ to clothe themselves in mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, and in later verses, in love. As the priest wears the priesthood of Christ, so the Colossians are guided to be clothed in Christ, for that is the meaning of the Greek word, ἐνδύω, “to clothe oneself in.” Paul tells the Galatian community the same when he tells them: For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
In our baptism, in our death to this world and the resurrection to the life in Christ, we are clothed in Christ. He who clothed himself in our flesh, in our weakness, selfishness, and folly, now clothes us in his glory. In the Matins of the first Wednesday of Lent, we hear:
See now, see, that I am God, who saved the people of Israel in the waves, and satisfied their hunger in the wilderness; I made the waters flow from the rock for mortal men; I clothed Myself in him who fell into corruption of old, that through ineffable mercy I might draw him to Myself.
Beloved, when Christ tells us in the Gospel of Matthew: Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, wondering what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear, it is because he himself clothes us. He himself is our food and our drink. He himself is our life.
Going back to Paul’s words to the Colossians, the chosen ones are those who have put on Christ in baptism and chrismation. We are clothed in divinity. We are clothed in acts of love, in acts of charity, in acts of mercies in acts of compassions; so that in this clothing, in these vestments of divine life, we bear one another’s burdens. We forgive one another, we offer ourselves and each other, and all our life to Christ our God. We attend in peace and offer the holy oblation to God. We pray for those who love us and those who hate us. We forgive and intercede for the wicked and evil as well as the righteous.
Clothed in the humility of Christ we call out to our merciful Father for mercy. We offer thanksgiving, asking for the peace of God and salvation. We forgive those who have wronged us and make peace with those with whom we are at enmity and offer our supplications to God. We ask that God open our minds and hearts to the understanding of his Gospel teachings, as we learn the language of the scriptures. We sing and encourage one another with prayers, songs, and spiritual songs filled with the divine energy of God that we may receive him bodily in his heavenly kingdom and that this grace and love may pour out of us upon all people.
We are clothed in Christ. He has given us the means and the power to do mercies and compassions, and to bear with one-another. He has given us garments of divine love and humility so that when we go into the world and encounter those who are hurting and in need, and indeed even those who are rich and powerful, they may see only Christ.
Let us, brothers and sisters, keep our garments clean, cooperating with the energies of God as we interact with those whom God has given us. And if we should fall, and soil our garments, let us repent so that we may once again stand radiantly vested in the cosmic liturgy, which is not only accomplished here, but in every day of our lives.
May he who clothed himself in us that he might clothe us in himself, be blessed and glorified with his unoriginate Father and his all-holy Spirit now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.