Who Are You Putting On?
September 4 2011
When the alarm clock wakes me on most mornings I am up and in the shower – then after a devotional time and breakfast I dress for the day and go to Gregg’s Store for the Community Devotional Group – then I’m off to whatever work or meetings I have for the day. What clothes I put on in the morning depends upon what I am doing that particular day – if I am working in the office and visiting folks I might wear dress slacks and a knit shirt – or if the weather is cool a button down collar long sleeve shirt – and maybe a sweater in the winter months. If I have a meeting I might wear a tie – or a coat and tie – and sometimes even a suit.
You might be the same way. When you dress for the day you might pick the right things to put on — matching the types of clothes you wear with what you have to do that day.
Yes, every day we all get dressed – get cleaned up – and put on clothes to match what we are going to be doing that day.
With some of us this process might take longer than with others – and some of us might even have “little secrets” to getting ready to face the day.
I read about a little young girl who walked into the bathroom one morning while her mom was putting on make-up and getting ready for work She watched her mom, then announced:
“I’m going to look just like you mommy!”
“Well, you might, when you grow up,” her mom told her.
“No mommy, I’m going to look just like you tomorrow.” the little girl insisted.
“How that?” the mother inquired – still busily putting on her makeup.
“All I have to do is put on some of that Oil of Old Lady you just used.”
Yep – every morning we go through our morning ritual of getting up – dressed – and ready for the day.
But what you put on depends on the day, doesn’t it?
On Sundays you might dress better than you would on Saturdays – in fact for some going to Church on Sunday means putting on some of your best clothes. When we you dress for work, you might dress for the type of work you are doing. If you do manual labor you might dress more casually – but if you have an office job you might “dress for success”. If you’re going to a nice restaurant for the evening you might dress better than if you were just going to spend the evening at home. Fashion experts say that what you put on has an effect on how you act. I remember when a red tie was referred to as a “power tie” and fashion and leadership experts were advising to wear your “power tie” if you wanted to command attention or respect. While I don’t know about that, I have found that what I put on has an effect on how I feel. I don’t really understand why that is – but it is.
So – when you get up in the morning – what do you put on?
It probably depends on what you will be doing that day.
As we have been moving through a section of the book of Romans the last few months we have been seeing how we can grow as Christians and how we can grow to be better disciples of Christ. In our scripture passage for this morning — Romans 13:8-14 – I think Paul is asking us – not so much what do we put on every day – but he’s asking us who do we put on every day.
Yea – if you want to grow as a disciple of Christ you have to think about – who do you put on every day?
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ Paul writes.
Clothe yourselves – he writes — with the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know – “putting on” is not necessarily a good thing. You probably know people who are one way in one setting and around one group of people or under one set of circumstances — and another way in another setting or around another group of people or under another set of circumstances. You might not feel you can trust such people or predict how they are going to act. You might feel they are constantly “putting you on” — trying to be something they’re not. Some people call it “putting on airs” or “putting on an act.” Whatever you call it, you can usually recognize it in someone fairly quickly – and a lot of times you might try to avoid such people.
Yea — “putting on” is indeed not necessarily a good thing – and those who “put on airs” or who we feel are “putting us on” or “putting on a act” are usually discovered to be the phonies they are.
Did you ever see Mel Brooks’ movie Young Frankenstein?
Gene Wilder stars as a young relative of the famous Dr. Frankenstein. He wants to distance himself from his famous relative – and even demands his name be pronounced differently. But then he himself creates a creature much like his relative had created and wants to show the scientific community that his creature is different from the one his relative created. There is a great scene in the movie where he is introducing his “creature” to he scientific community at a major convention. He and his “creature” – both dressed in tux and tails — begin singing and dancing to “Putting on the Ritz.” Of course, everything goes wrong – the “creature” makes one of the stage lights explode and a fire breaks out – and the “creature” goes wild – proving that even though he could be dressed like a Broadway star, he was still a monster.
The problem was that all Dr. Frankenstein did was dress up the outside of his “creature”. Inside, the “creature” was still the monster. “Putting on airs” – or “putting on an act” – or even “putting on the ritz” – did not really change the “creature”.
If you want to grow as a disciple, Paul says you don’t need to “put on airs” or “put on an act” or even “put on the ritz” – you have to put on Christ.
Clothe yourselves with Christ – Paul writes.
In other words, get dressed in Jesus.
There’s an old story about a little girl who listened intently to her preacher’s sermon about letting Jesus live in your heart. After worship she asked him, “Preacher, I’m such a little girl and Jesus is so big — if Jesus lived in my heart, wouldn’t He be sticking out some place?”
Well, yes He would – and that’s the whole point.
Some people actually put on Christ – and Christ sticks out when they show His love others. Others simply “put us on” or “put on and act” about having put on Christ. They only look like they are trying to follow Christ – but by their words and actions you can tell that they actually are not. They’re “put ons” instead of people who have truly “put on Christ”.
What about you?
Are you like young Dr. Frankenstein’s “creature” – all dressed up and looking really good on the outside – but not really changed on the inside?
Are you trying to act like you are a follower of Christ?
Are you trying to “put on airs” or “put on an act” about your relationship with Christ?
The truth is that God can see through that.
The truth is that others will be able to see through that also.
The truth is that – instead of “putting on airs” or “putting on an act” you need to put on Christ.
Putting on Christ means dressing from the inside out.
If you are going to put on Christ you not only have let Jesus live in your heart, but you have to wrap your heart in his love and presence – and you have to be committed to growing in your relationship with Christ. Then Christ will stick out – in everything you do.
Putting on Christ means truly having Christ in your life.
Putting on Christ does not mean just saying the right words at the right times to try to impress people. It does not even mean doing things when others can see you and praise you for what you are doing. These things are signs of being the type of “put on” that Christ does not need.
Putting on Christ means growing in your relationship with Him through prayer, reading and studying scripture, worshiping Him with other Christians, fellowshipping with other Christians, and serving others in His name.
Putting on Christ means letting Christ make a difference in your life – and letting others see Christ in the way you live.
Yea – when you have Christ in your heart – when you put on Christ and you grow in your faith in Christ – you “put on Christ” and others see Christ though you.
If you want to grow as a disciple, Paul says you don’t need to “put on airs” or “put on an act” or even “put on the ritz” – no — you have to put on Christ.
Clothe yourselves with Christ – Paul writes.
Clothing yourself with Christ – putting on Christ — is not about just “putting on an act” of faith on Sundays. You can’t just put Christ on during worship like a the robes the choir and I put on every Sunday morning and take Christ off before you leave like the choir and I take off our robes before we leave. It’s not about having the outward appearance of a disciple of Christ – it’s about your inner relationship with Christ. You have to put on Christ from the inside out – so that Jesus sticks out all over in every aspect of your life.
God can see through you if you are just “putting on an act” about your relationship with Christ – and before long so can others.
If you have put on Christ you are going to want to pray to God – talk to Him – and get His strength for the life He calls you to live. You are going to want to pray every opportunity you get – asking God to forgive you of your sins and asking God to give you the strength you need to truly be the person He is calling you to be. You are going to want to pray for God to show you how You can serve Him and to show you situations where you can serve Him – whether it be in the community or in the Church.
If you have put on Christ you are going to want to read your Bible daily and try to put what you learn into practice in your life. You are also going to want to gather with us as we study scripture in Sunday School and Bible Study.
If you have put on Christ you are going to want to worship God with us – and praise Him for what He has done in your life.
If you have put on Christ you are going to want to fellowship with us and with other Christians so we can grow in God’s love together.
If you have put on Christ you are going to want to serve God and others in actions of love and compassion – whether it be serving others with us as we reach out to the community and the world with the love of God or by doing things on your own that show Christ’s love to those in need.
Growing as a disciple does not mean you need to “put on airs” or “put on an act” or even “put on the ritz” – no – it means you have to put on Christ.
Don’t make a big show of your life in Christ — just let Christ lead your life. Clothe yourself in a Christ – like life and a Christ - like compassion for others. Let others see that you have indeed put on Christ – and are not just “putting on an act”. Let others see that you have Christ in your heart as Christ sticks out in what you say and what you do.
There are a lot of ways you can grow in your relationship with Christ – and Hopewell offers you opportunities to let Christ grow in your heart so you can put on Christ and others can see Christ in you. I’ve talked about the times of study and worship we offer – as well as the times of fellowship. These are all vital for your growth as a disciple. Times of reaching out to others is also vital to your faith – and vital to whether others will see Christ in you or not. We here at Hopewell have a lot of different opportunities for reaching to others with the love of Christ. From the crochet group that makes blankets for others to the Pairs and Spares Sunday School class donating fans to the Lighthouse Ministries to our donating food to Manna House and school supplies to Wallace Gregg and Thornwell to the men helping in the yards of those who need help to the Men’s Club using the money raise from the Chicken Bog to help those in need in our community to this Tuesday night’s supper at FMU — there are a lot different ways we show the love of God to others – a lot of ways we show that we are trying to put on Christ – have Christ in our hearts – and have Him stick out to others through us. I would urge you to join us in all these times of study, worship, fellowship and service. Together we can put on Christ – and grow into the individuals and the Church God wants us to be. Amen.
