Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 29^th, Year of Our + Lord 2021
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches, Custer and Hill City, SD
Deuteronomy 4:1-9, Ephesians 6:10-20 and Mark 7:14-23
Of Armor and Clothing

   Do this!  Don’t do that!  Keep my rules!  Obey my statutes!  Eat this, but don’t eat that!  Be different!  Put on the whole armor of God, fight the good fight of faith, and stand against the devil.  But don’t be fooled!  Wickedness doesn’t come from outside you.  Evil doesn’t get into you through what you eat.  No, Jesus tells us, evil rises up from the inside, from your own heart. 

   Is this the Gospel of the Lord?  Is being a Christian all about keeping rules, and being a
good person?  Sometimes it seems like it.  We don’t wear armor, but what we wear does seem to matter.  Some clothes are inappropriate for Church.  And there are some clothes are inappropriate for a Christian, no matter where they are.  And at different times we must wear certain things.  We make our confirmands wear a gown, a white garment, over their clothes.  We even dress our church furniture in a certain way, putting paraments, these fancy fabric coverings, over the altar and pulpit, color coordinated to the season and the Sunday.  And of course, there’s the pastor’s clothes.  Why do I wear black underneath, and a shirt with a funny collar, and a white gown or robe over the top, with a stole, and a crucifix to boot?  And that I look a certain way isn’t just important to me.  There are multiple people at both congregations, and you know who you are, who are carefully watching, every Sunday, trying to make sure I’m dressed properly, with the right color stole, and everything hanging straight, everything in its place.  What’s all this about?  

   None of this stuff is the Gospel.  As we learned in Catechism class, the Gospel is what God does for us, in and through Jesus, to save us from our sins, and give us eternal joy.  The things we do, the clothes we wear, the way we behave, none of these things can save us.  Now, just because something isn’t the Gospel doesn’t mean it isn’t important. 

But we need to understand the difference, and not get things mixed up.  The traditions handed down by God are the Word of Christ, and Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, along with gathering together to receive God’s gifts, and going out to serve others and speak about Christ Jesus.  These are essential.  Other traditions need to be considered in light of these traditions we’ve received from the Lord. 

   So why do we do some of the things we do in Church, or as Christians?  Well, that’s too big a question for one sermon.  But let’s just start today with what I wear, and see if we can extract some guiding principles or helpful insights.  

   We could have entirely different traditions concerning clerical clothing.  Pastors could all wear sky-blue jumpsuits and shave their heads.  If, with this alternate clergy appearance tradition, the Word and Sacraments of Jesus were still in the center, and so sinners believed the Gospel and were moved to love and serve their neighbors and speak the Gospel in their daily lives, then great.  But what if I came out next Sunday with a bald head and a blue jumpsuit?  I think that would be distracting.  It would get in the way of you receiving Christ’s gifts, simply because it’s not our tradition. 

   What’s going on with all of this?   

   First, there is value in people of a given calling, a given type of servant, wearing an identifiable uniform.  Uniforms are valuable for the wearer and for those he or she serves.  If you are terribly sick in the hospital and someone in street clothes comes in and starts messing with your I.V., you might panic, and rightly so.  But that same person, dressed in scrubs and a lab coat, with a hospital nametag hanging from their neck, is an image of blessing, a nurse or a doctor trained and called to care for you.  The uniform doesn’t make the particular nurse or doctor competent; but it is helpful for everyone, for maintaining order and calm, especially in an urgent situation. 

   In a similar vein, I try always to go to hospitals and nursing homes in a black clerical
shirt with a crucifix hanging around my neck.  That way, patients and residents know right away, even when their sight grows dim, what I’m there to do.  It’s not that I couldn’t visit and serve in a shirt and tie, or even a Sturgis Rally t-shirt.  But my clerical shirt serves as a symbol, and an invitation to ask for a word of Scripture and prayer.  Which happens a lot.      

   Now, to be clear, black clerical shirts aren’t Biblical.  But there is a history of very specific uniforms in the Bible.  The Aaronic priests in the Old Testament, and in particular the High Priest, had to wear a very specific set of clothes.  The various items in the High Priest’s uniform were jammed packed with symbolism, all relating to God’s care for His people Israel, through the sacrificial worship system that the priests conducted.  Indeed, his uniform pointed forward to and help us understand our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, who offered Himself as the once for all sacrifice, for the sins of the whole world.    

   But the New Testament priests aren’t the pastors.  No, St. Peter tells us that all believers are members of the New Testament priesthood.  So Christian pastors don’t dress up like Aaron and his descendants. 

   The Old Testament has been fulfilled 100% by Jesus.  Now the only sacrifice God’s priests offer is the sacrifice of praise, the task for eternity of all believers, the royal priesthood gathered around the throne of grace.  So maybe you all want to get fitted for a turban, like Aaron wore, and an ephod, whatever that is.  Or maybe you just want to faithfully sing your Savior’s praises. 

   Still, uniforms are valuable.  In our Epistle we hear Paul using the uniform and equipment of a soldier symbolically, as a teaching tool to help Christians understand how to live.  Put on the full armor of God.  But the Holy Spirit in the New Testament does not specify a uniform for pastors and bishops.  The identifying mark of a faithful servant of the Word is sticking to the pure Law and Gospel teaching of Christ and working vigorously to make Christ known.  The critical task of the men serving in the Office of Holy Ministry that Christ established is to be His faithful public spokesmen.  Distinctive clothing for called and ordained ministers didn’t come till a few centuries into Christian history. 

   Over time, as the Church developed traditions concerning what clergy wear, both on Sunday and during the week, another advantage of this tradition was simply the visual acknowledgement of history and tradition.  In an ever-changing world, the fact that pastors look a certain way is a visual affirmation of the timeless and unchanging value of the pure Gospel.  Sticking to traditional clothing reminds us that the Church which gathers today is the same Church, with the same Savior, that gathered 1,000 years ago, 1,500 years ago, and at Pentecost.  

   O.k.  Beyond being a recognizable uniform, and portraying a link back to the very beginning of Christianity, what does the clothing our pastors wear intend to communicate?  Why black clothes?  This is a strong, although not universally followed tradition.  Well, I’ve heard it argued that black is a formal color, and reflects well the proper reverence with which we conduct the services of the Lord God Almighty.  O.k., maybe.  But the more valuable symbolism of a pastor wearing black is that it reflects the reality that every pastor is a sinner.  Nothing in or of the man who is placed in the pastoral office makes him worthy to serve, nor holier than other believers.  When you see a pastor dressed as a man in black, don’t imagine you’re seeing a holy man, and don’t think of Johnny Cash.  Rather, think of Adam, and the sin our first forefather passed down to all of us.  The man serving as pastor isn’t special.  The special one is the Savior whom that pastor is called to proclaim.  

   Pastors often dress in black shirts, but not 100% black.  There at the neck, sometimes just a little tab, sometimes a ring all the way around, there is a bit of white.  What’s that about? 

   When you see the white at the top of a pastor’s clerical shirt, think of the voice box that lies just beneath it.  For the pastor is called to speak of the Holy One, Jesus Christ.  When you see a pastor, in a clerical shirt or not, try your best to overlook the limitations of the man, and listen carefully for the pure message of Christ for us, our righteousness and justification, our redemption and sanctification.  Christ our life. 

   On Sundays and other times we gather as God’s people in this place to receive His gifts and sing our thanks and praise, our tradition is to cover up the pastor’s black clothes with a blanket of white.  The white robe, alb or surplice that the pastor wears serves two useful purposes. 

   First of all, have you ever noticed how the differences between our bodies get hidden when we wear a big robe?  A number of pastors all wearing white robes, or the members of a choir all dressed in the same robe tend to blend together. It does not matter one bit whether your pastor is short or tall, thin or hefty, stocky or sleight.  After all, we don’t come to church for their looks.  We gather to hear Jesus and receive His forgiving love, through the pastor’s service. 

  Secondly, like a white Baptismal gown, or the white Confirmation gown, the pastor covers himself in white on Sunday to remind you of Christ’s righteousness, which is yours by Baptismal faith.  The forgiving love of Jesus is what enables any man to serve as a pastor.  Christ’s forgiving love is what makes all of us worthy to stand in the presence of God.  A white overgarment of some sort is the perfect symbol to accompany the preaching of the forgiveness of sins. 

   One more thing.  Most pastors wear a big Cross or a Crucifix on Sunday morning, because we, with St. Paul, preach Christ crucified, foolishness to wise and reasonable Greeks, and offensive to works righteous Jews.  But to those who believe, Greek and Jew alike, Christ is the power and wisdom of God, the very revelation of God’s mysterious love, hanging on a Roman Cross.  Wearing or displaying a visual replica of the moment when God so loved the world is a good thing.  Both a crucifix and an empty cross deliver the same message:  God’s Son loved you by dying in this way, to take away your sins.    

   We could talk about stoles, or the cincture, that rope belt that many pastors wear, or the reverential bowing and making the sign of the cross, and on and on.  But enough for today.  None of these things we wear or do have the power to save.  But they can teach, and remind, and then be a comfort, because of their association with the Truth of Jesus and His saving blood.  Their value lies in their clear connection to the unchanging Word of Christ. 

   Kind of like Paul using the armor of God as a metaphor to encourage us to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly.  All of our good traditions help us hear and understand and believe the promises of God’s Word.  So let’s close by hearing Paul’s encouragement again.    

   Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.  Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of Christ’s righteousness.  As shoes for your feet, put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.  Always carry the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming, accusing darts of the evil one.  Put on the helmet of salvation, it is yours in Christ, and wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Pray at all times in the Spirit, and keep alert with all perseverance, praying to God for all the saints.   And pray also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel, as I ought.  And through us, sinners that we are, Christ will continue to build His Church, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.