Who Are You Wearing?

Commentary on the Sabbath School Lesson for 4.2.11

It happens every year…Reporters line the Red Carpet outside the Academy Awards Ceremony.  The fashion reporters from all over the country want to know who designed the outfit that each star is wearing…Armani, Dior, Channel…whatever.  Oscar night has become almost as important to designers as it is to people involved in the movie making business.  The designers loan their outfits (mostly gowns) to the stars as a form of advertising.  Although, I’m not sure what the designers get out of the whole thing because I don’t believe even the stars who are wearing the outfits could afford to actually buy the clothes they’re wearing.  And yet, it seems important to someone that we know the names of the designers, so the reporters and camera folk stand outside the auditorium and dutifully ask and photograph each star as he (or she) goes in.

That just seems like a huge waste of time and money, especially when really the only One any of us should be wearing is Jesus – His robe of righteousness.

“Christ is the sinner’s substitute and surety. He has obeyed the law in the sinner’s place, in order that the sinner may believe in him, and grow up into him in all things to the full stature of a man in Christ Jesus, and thus be complete in him. Christ has made reconciliation for sin, and has borne all its ignominy, reproach, and punishment; and yet while bearing sin, he has brought in everlasting righteousness, so that the believer is spotless before God. The time comes when it is asked, ‘Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?’ and the answer is, ‘It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again.’ He who has the spotless robe of righteousness, woven in the loom of heaven, in which isnot a thread that sinful humanity can claim, is at the right hand of God to clothe his believing children in the perfect garment of his righteousness. Those who are saved in the kingdom of God will have nothing of which to boast in themselves; the praise and the glory will all flow back to God, the giver of salvation.”[1] 

“[T]he spotless robe of righteousness, woven in the loom of heaven,…”    I can hear the infomercial now:  “What would you expect to pay for this robe? $100?  $200? Well if you act right now, you’ll pay only $29.99, and if you call and order right now, we’ll include free shipping.  But that’s not all!”  Ok, that’s all wrong, but the truth really is amazing!  Max Lucado describes the concept in his article, “Back Door”.

“I make no claim to being a good golfer, but I love to play golf, watch golf, and on good nights I even dream golf.
“So when I was invited to attend the Masters Golf Tournament, I was thrilled. A pass to the Masters is the golfer's Holy Grail. Mine came via pro golfer Scott Simpson.
“Off we went to Augusta National Country Club in Georgia where golf heritage hangs like moss from the trees. I was a kid in a candy store. It wasn't enough to see the course and walk the grounds; I wanted to see the locker room where the clubs of Ben Hogan and Paul Azinger are displayed.
“But they wouldn't let me in. A guard stopped me at the entrance. I showed him my pass, but he shook his head. I told him I knew Scott, but that didn't matter. ‘Only caddies and players,’ he explained.
“Well, he knew I wasn't a player or a caddie. Caddies are required to wear white coveralls. My clothing was a dead giveaway. So I left, knowing I had made it all the way to the door but was denied entrance.
“God has one requirement for entrance into heaven: that we be clothed in Christ.
“When someone prays, ‘Take away my [sinful] rags and clothe me in your grace,’ Jesus in an act visible only to the eyes of heaven, removes the stained robe and replaces it with his robe of righteousness.
“What did Jesus do for you and me? He put on our coat of sin and wore it to the cross. As he died, his blood flowed over our sins and they were cleansed. Because of this, we have no fear of being turned away at the door of heaven.”[2]

All we have to do is accept the gift.  Sounds easy doesn’t it? For us anyway…but we make it so much more difficult.  We try to become worthy of that robe.  We want to clean ourselves up when all we really need to do is put on the robe that Jesus is waiting to give us.  But we’re more like this advertisement for the Marine Corps:

“One ad for the U.S. Marines pictures a sword, and beneath it the words: ‘Earned, never given.’ If you want to become a Marine, be prepared to earn that name through sacrifice, hardship, and training. If you get it, you deserve it.
But if you want to become a Christian, you must have the exact opposite attitude, for the message of the gospel is: ‘Given, never earned.’
“You cannot save your own soul, and God will not save anyone who tries to earn salvation, but only those who will humbly receive it as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ. If you get it, you absolutely did not deserve it.”[3]

“The Old Testament word for worm is tola'ath. This little worm from the Middle East is something like the cochineal of Mexico. When these creatures are crushed, the blood makes a brilliant crimson dye used in the bright Mexican garments. In Palestine and Syria, the tola'ath similarly makes a beautiful permanent scarlet dye. It is very expensive and worn by the rich and noble. In a sense, the word scarlet means 'the splendor of the worm.'
“Saul is said to have clothed the maidens of Israel in scarlet (2 Samuel 1:24). Belshazzar promised Daniel scarlet clothing as a reward (Daniel 5:16). The scarlet producing worm is even used in a text prophetic of the Messiah. 'I am a worm (tola'ath), and no man' (Psalm 22:6).
“The glorious garments of our salvation have been procured as a result of Christ's death and suffering. He became the tola'ath crushed in death so that we may be robed in glory.”[4]

So, are you wearing Jesus?  Have you accepted His gift?  You need to; do it right now.

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.”  John 3:16 (The Amplified Bible)

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[1] Ellen G. White, The Youth’s Instructor, Dec. 6, 1894.

[2] Max Lucado, "Back Door," Christian Reader (May/June 2000), p. 96

[3] Craig Brian Larson, editor, Preaching Today.com

[4] International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

BFF

What’s the definition of a friend? Will your definition match mine? Is a worldly friend different than a Christian friend? Are there good friends and bad friends, or are there only friends and enemies? Are Facebook friends and IRL (in-real-life) friends equally important?

Oswald Chambers offers offers an amazingly clear and concise description of what a friend is in Volume 1 of Men of Integrity:

“A friend is one who makes me do my best.”¹

That's a great definition, but I don't believe it's the one most of us apply most often. Many of us might feel more inclined to apply this definition of friend, found on plaques and t-shirts everywhere: “A good friend will com and bail you out of jail...a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, '[man], that was fun!'” Which, of course, implies the exact opposite of Chambers' quote. So, which is it – someone who brings out the best in you or someone who gets in trouble with you?

The Bible tells us about some amazing friendships. Probably one of the best known is the story of Jonathan and David. Jonathan and David first met on the day that David killed Goliath. It seems like Jonathan was a good bit older than David, but David's belief that God was stronger than any old giant really made an imprint on Jonathan. Maybe it was because he felt the same way, I don't know. Maybe he had wanted to go out there and face Goliath, but wasn't allowed to because he was the Crown Prince. Who knows, but from that day on, Jonathan and David were BFFs.

“After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.” I Samuel 18:1-4

Even when Jonathan realized that David was going to take his thrown away from him, he was completely okay with it. Have you ever had a friend like that? Most of us would have a really hard time being friends with someone who was going to take something as important as a kingdom away from us. Can you see yourself in Jonathan's situation?

USA Today writer, Sharon Raboin relates the storie of Esther Kim and Kay Poe, both Olympic hopefuls and best

friends:

“For tae kwon do star Esther Kim, age 20, going to the Olympics has been a long-time dream. She came very close to embracing that dream at the Olympic trials, where she was scheduled to fight her best friend, Kay Poe, who was ranked number one in the world.

“But Poe had injured her knee in the semi-finals match and could barely stand up. Obviously Kim could have easily defeated Poe. But she believed such a match-up would hardly be fair. In an instant, she decided to forfeit, automatically sending Poe to the Olympics.

“The moment she made her decision, Kim knew it was right. 'I thought, It's not like I'm going to be throwing my dream away. I'm just going to be handing it over to Kay.'

“Kim's magnanimity was affirmed when she was given the Citizenship Through Sports Award, which recognizes exemplary citizenship, sportsmanship, ethical conduct, and community service. In addition, the International Olympic Committee agreed to pay for her and her father (coach of Kim and Poe) to go to the Sydney Olympics.

“Though some people were critical of her decision, Kim knows she made the right decision. She says, 'Even though I didn't have the gold medal around me, for the first time in my life, I felt like a real champion.'”²

Wow, that's a pretty amazing friendship, isn't it? I'd really have to struggle with something like that. What about you? Especially to do that and then to stay friends afterward. I mean some of us might step aside because we knew it was the right thing to do, but then we'd probably become resentful and ultimately end the friendship. But apparently Kim and Poe have a friendship like Jonathan and David.

Jonathan had the added complication of his father, Saul. Saul might have been what we call today, bi-polar. A few years ago, we called it manic-depression. Whatever it was called, though, it made Saul unpredictable and dangerous. His moods swung wildly between wanting David in the thrown room with him, playing and soothing with his music, and hunting him through the wilderness trying to kill him. In the middle of that chaos stood Jonathan, walking the tight rope of honoring his father, the king, and keeping him from murdering David, the next king.

Do you think you could be a friend like Jonathan? Do you have a friend like Jonathan? Jesus is a friend like Jonathan … even more than Jonathan, really. Jonathan would have, at some point, let David down, but Jesus will never disappoint you and me. Even though we may let Him down, He will never love us any less.

According to christian speaker, Tony Campolo,

“God carries your picture in his wallet.”³

Max Lucado describes Christ's unreasonable friendship with us like this:

“He saw you cast into a river of life you didn't request. He saw you betrayed by those you love. He saw you with a body that gets sick and a heart that grows weak. He saw you in your own garden of gnarled trees and sleeping friends. He saw you staring into the pit of your own failures and the mouth of your own grave. He saw you in your own garden of Gethsemane and he didn't want you to be alone ... He would rather go to hell for you than to heaven without you.”⁴

E.G. White describes what He did for us like this:

“Today He [Christ] is making an atonement for us before the Father. 'If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' Pointing to the palms of His hands, pierced by the fury and prejudice of wicked men, He says of us, 'I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands' [Isaiah49:16]. The Father bows in recognition of the price paid for humanity,and the angels approach the cross of Calvary with reverence. What a sacrifice is this! Who can fathom it! It will take the whole of eternity for man to understand the plan of redemption. It will open to him line upon line, here a little and there a little.”⁵

How can we turn away from that kind of love? Jesus is sending you a friend request … will you click 'confirm' or 'ignore'?

1 Oswald Chambers, Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1.

2 Sharon Raboin, "Forfeiting Dream Made Kim 'Feel Like Champion,'" USA Today (6-27-00), p.11C

3 Tony Campolo, Christian speaker. Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1

4 Max Lucado, “Max Ludado quotes”, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com

5 E.G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, page 481