Words of Welcome

  Colossians 3:1-14 Mark Twain famously said that “Clothes make the man.” Even in this more casual era, clothes still stand for something. There are times when we need to purchase a new set of clothes. It could be that our old clothes no longer fit, or we’re attending a big event that requires a clothing upgrade. After all, we don’t want to be underdressed! In his Colossian letter, Paul speaks of stripping off the old self and clothing ourselves with the new self. He directs this word to people who exchanged their old pagan ways for a new life in Christ through baptism. At least as early as the second century, baptisms took place after a lengthy period of instruction. Then on the day baptisms took place, the candidates would strip off their old clothes before entering the baptismal. When they came out the other side, they received a new set of clothes to symbolize their new life in Christ. This exchange of old clothes for a new set represents the change of lifestyle that ac...

  Colossians 3:1-14 Mark Twain famously said that “Clothes make the man.” With that in mind, there’s a nonprofit called “Dress for Success” that provides appropriate clothing for job seekers. So, even in this much more casual era, clothes still stand for something. The Colossian letter speaks of life in terms of  “before and after.” Once upon a time, the majority of Colossian believers were pagan Gentiles. Then, when they received the Gospel of Jesus, they in essence put on new clothes to represent their new status as children of God. Although they once lived in darkness marked by sinful idolatry, now that they have clothed themselves with Christ, they live in the light. These new clothes represent the new, transformed self (Col. 3:9-10).  In our reading this morning, we see Paul contrasting the difference between the old and new clothes by providing the reader with a list of vices and a list of virtues. The list of vices represents their old life, their old clothes...

Proverbs 8:22-31 “In the beginning was the Word, . . . All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being” ( John 1:1, 3 ).  And Holy Wisdom declares:  “The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts long ago . . . then I was beside him, like a master worker” ( Proverbs 8:22, 30 ).  Both Word and Wisdom are expressions of God’s nature and are partners with God in the work of creation.    Some in our society believe that one cannot be both a Creationist and an evolutionist. They say that we have to choose – God or science. For the past ten years I have been involved in an effort to counter that belief. For ten years I have invited the congregations I served to observe  Evolution Sunday  on a weekend near the birthday of Charles Darwin. While we didn’t get a birthday cake for Charles, we are joining hundreds of faith communities across the country and beyond by worshiping with Charles ...

Colossians 3:1-11 Mark Twain famously said that “Clothes make the man,” and we’re often told to dress for success. In fact there is much truth to this adage, which is why there is a nonprofit called “Dress for Success” that provides appropriate clothing for job seekers. Even in this much more casual era, we seem to understand that clothes stand for something, and by changing our clothes we can change our identity. Although it’s probably not polite to talk about movies that feature a prostitute as the main character, I couldn’t come up with a better example of the way clothes can transform a person’s identity than the Julia Roberts film Pretty Woman. I even searched the internet to see if I could find a “better” example, but nothing spoke so clearly to this issue of the way clothes can change one’s identity than this movie, except perhaps the story of Cinderella. In this film a rich man played by Richard Gere hires a prostitute named Vivian to be there for him, to be his “companion” ...