Easter Clothes

Easter Clothes

Easter clothes—Our Sunday best. What a great tradition to keep.
St. Paul says in Galatians “all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Easter clothes, or our Sunday best—are signs to the people around us that we are either on our way or we just came from church.
Easter clothes are signs and symbols of the resurrection.

We hear in today’s gospel story about Jesus’ Easter clothes. His Easter clothes were his burial clothes.
The Resurrection story tells us that there are two kinds of burial clothes for Jesus. One was for the body and the other for the head. Now, this cloth over his head was much more the size of, well, a napkin. John’s gospel to go to great length to tell us that this burial napkin over Jesus face and head was treated differently than the linens over his body. The linens, it seems were just thrown aside at the point of resurrection. But, for some reason great care was given to this napkin. Why? What’s the significance that John seems to be taking great care to tell us about this burial napkin?

Some would say that this is a sign from Jesus that the body was not stolen, that Jesus body is not in the tomb simply because of grave robbers. But, this seems a bit off the mark since there were guards at the tomb, and it would have made quite a disturbance for grave robbers to move that enormous stone in front.

Another possibility was offered to me by way of an email from one of you. And even though it too is a bit of a stretch, it is at least plausible. It goes like this.

It has to do with understanding some of the subtleties of ancient Hebrew customs. In Jesus day, a folded napkin was a form of unspoken communication between the master of a house and the servant. When the servant set the table for his master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table until the master was finished. Now if the master was finished, he would wipe his fingers and mouth with the napkin and then toss it down in a heap. The napkin in disarray was a sign to the servant that the master is finished and it is time to clean up. But if the master left the table, but left behind the folded napkin neatly at his place, then the servant knew that the Master was coming back. The folded napkin was a sign to the servant that the Master wasn’t finished yet!

This, my friends is the message of Easter. The disciples came to that tomb after that dreadful Friday and they were convinced that all hope was lost. After watching their leader, their teacher, and their beloved friend die a gruesome, humiliating death, they were convinced that their hope was lost. But, what they came to believe by the resurrection was that God wasn’t finished yet.

Jesus’ Easter clothes were a sign and symbol of the resurrection.

There are some other Easter clothes I’d like to talk about.
Easter is about new life—and for me and Amy there is a new life awaiting us in Ethiopia today---[Quilt from Elijah’s room.]

Quilts are wonderful, because of the way they are made.
1. Unwanted pieces are sewn together with love and hope to form something beautiful, and warm.
2. The backside of the quilt is often a mess, like our lives, but meanwhile the other side of life is what the quilter sees, and it is beautiful and perfect.
Quilts are a beautiful metaphor of the love, the warmth, the grace and the promise of resurrection hope given to us in our baptisms.

This is why I like the way we give out a quilt, or at least a garment of some type in a baptism. [show a baptismal garment] These quilts or baptismal garments are essentially Easter clothes.

This robe I wear is meant to be a sign of my baptism. I am clothed in Christ when I wear this.

This is why there is yet another piece of our Easter wardrobe that I’d like to draw your attention to. [Display the pall] When someone dies we clothe them with Christ. We literally cover them with a garment of baptism. This, too, is a piece of clothing for our Easter wardrobe.

These Easter clothes, the baptismal garments of resurrected promise are also meant to be a way of living. Like a quilt, we are called to wrap each other up with the warmth and promise of Christ. By doing so, we become living signs and symbols of the resurrection to a world that desperately needs it.

So, when it seems that hope is lost, or that life has come to a dead ending, remember that you are baptized, “you have been clothed with Christ”. So, put on your Easter clothes, put on Christ, and know that with Christ, even death is just a point in time when God isn’t yet finished.

Oh, and BTW-this Easter clothing can be worn everyday. We don’t have to wait until next Easter to put on faith, hope and love---We can wear this everyday.

Amen