Isaiah 61:10-62:3 My soul rejoices in my God who has clothed me with salvation!

Clothes help us identify who someone is and what they do. When you see someone with a crown, they are royalty. When you see someone with an orange safety vest and hardhat, they work in construction.

Since clothes help us identity someone, we can change our identity by how we dress. As kids, we may pretend to be royalty with a plastic crown or tiara. As we grow up, we may pretend to be a fan of a team or band to fit in by wearing a t-shirt with their name, picture or logo. As an adult, we may invest in certain brands or styles of clothing and accessories to appear more affluent. Clothes help us identify someone, but if the clothes are not real then the identity is not reality.

If we were to match the situation Judah would face with the appropriate clothing, it would not be flattering. The prophet Isaiah shared God’s message that the Babylonians would conquer Judah in the near future. In the verses before our reading from Isaiah 61, these words are used to describe Judah in their Babylonian captivity, “poor, brokenhearted, captives, darkness, prisoners, mourn, grieve, ashes, mourning, despair, ruins, devastated, shame and disgrace.” The appropriate clothing for people who have undergone the destruction of their nation and exile to a foreign land would be tattered rags that hang off the body offering little to no cover from the elements. The identity of Judah would hang by a thread as their land, homes, place of worship, freedom, security, culture and future all seemed lost. Spiritually, the people appeared beyond salvation.

Our spiritual situation if matched with clothing is as unflattering as Judah’s was. When we gather for and toward the beginning of worship, we join in a confession of our sins. It is not a full list of all we have done, but a public acknowledgement that we have all done what is evil and failed to do what is good. Those words are true, but we do not want them to be our identity. Instead, we work hard for our identity, our reputation and appearance, so we do not look wicked and selfish, but warm and kind. We may clothe ourselves with church attendance, community service, charitable donations, awards and promotions, but these garments must be maintained or they will wear out. I am sure you have all made or at least seen New Year’s resolutions all over social media or posted on sticky notes. We can weave together nice clothes that give us a good appearance to hide our sins, but eventually our sins will be seen. We confess our sins not because they are our identity or something we can identify, make a plan for and replace with better habits. We confess our sins because if left to save ourselves we would be clothed tattered rags of sin that hang off our bodies offering no protection from eternal exile away from God in hell.

New clothes have been given to us by God. We confess our sins to God because he has saved us from them. And, though it is good to identify, make a plan for and replace with better habits our sins, God must be the one working through us to leave sin behind or the work we do will rip, tear and fall to the ground. In our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 61, we hear the work God has done to cover over our sins, 10 … For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness. God fashioned these new clothes for us through Jesus as we hear in our Gospel reading from John 1, 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The law, especially the Ten Commandments, are a mirror for all people to see God’s standard of perfect love. His standard is good and if we all met it, the world would be a paradise, but our sins have stained the world and our lives. The law shows us our sins filling us with fear of God and his just punishment, but God did not leave us standing bare and embarrassed by our sins. Jesus clothed himself with humanity becoming fully human to look into the mirror of God’s law and see a perfect life. God’s grace saved us through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sins and he is the shining beacon of truth we look to for salvation. Jesus is the fabric that clothes us so we can stand before God vindicated and free from the guilt and shame of our sin as we read in Isaiah 62, 1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. God has clothed us with fashion that shouts praise, endless joy and heavenly hope.

With these clothes we also have a new name as the bride God delights in. Along with the new clothes, God gives us a new name solidifying our new identity in him as we read in Isaiah 62, 2 … you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a bride gets a new name on her wedding day, we have been given a new name by the Lord. When we have hidden behind masks to try and conceal being the black sheep stained with sin that does not fit in, these verses remind us that when we are not happy with who we are, we are not happy with God. God has given us a new identity in Christ, and a detailed description of who God has made you to be is found in our New Testament reading from Ephesians 1. It is well worth your time to mark this in your Bible and read this chapter often, and use it as the starting ground for your New Year’s resolutions and all your goals and plans so that you remember God has already given you all you need and whatever we plan to do is done out of love, thanksgiving and praise to him. These are some of the key phrases in Ephesians 1 that describe who you are by God who 3 … blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. You are all of this and more by the grace, mercy, love and power of God. When we feel insignificant, without purpose and not sure where to turn, the answer is Jesus and the wonderful clothing he made for you. Your self-worth is not self-made; it has been Savior made. When your identity is in question, stop looking in the mirror and look to your Maker.

Clothes help us identify who someone is and what they do. When you see someone with a crown, they are royalty. When you see someone with an orange safety vest and hardhat, they work in construction. God gave us new clothes to identify us as his people. He has clothed us with salvation by taking away our sin and with righteousness making us perfect through Jesus. These clothes shine with bright blazing purity by the power of God. With these clothes we also have a new name as the bride God delights in. With these new clothes, new name and new identity, we join with Isaiah and all who were held captive by sin to say, my soul rejoices in my God who has clothed me with salvation. Amen.

        

Gunnar Ledermann, Pastor Divine Peace Church