May 20, 2025 Who Are You Wearing?
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Who are You Wearing?
“God’s kingdom,” [Jesus] said, “is like a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests.”
*****
“When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn’t properly dressed. He said to him, ‘Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!’ The man was speechless.
Then the king told his servants, ‘Get him out of here—fast.
Tie him up and ship him to hell.
And make sure he doesn’t get back in.’”
Matthew 22:1-2, 11-13 Message
As I rummaged through my closet trying to decide what to wear to a lunch engagement, a different question came to mind.
“Who are you wearing?”
That was the question comedienne and host Joan Rivers greeted the rich and famous as they arrived on the red carpet of the 1994 Golden Globes awards. She was asking who designed their ball gowns and tuxedos. Whose creativity and sense of style graced their bodies and expressed their personalities?
Jesus implied this question in his parable of the wedding guest. Invited to a “Golden Globes”-like banquet, a guest arrived in his stained T-shirt and cut-offs he wore while mowing his lawn. Totally inappropriate for the abundant life banquet to which God called him.
When we accept God’s invitation to follow Christ, He tosses our stained, broken, and torn tacky garments of sin and self-determination. He purchased for us to wear instead the gala attire of His unconditional love, righteousness, justice, and mercy that Christ purchased for us through his sacrifice on the cross.
While getting dressed for the day, the pressing question is less about what we wear and more about who we will wear. Whose creativity and sense of style will we reflect in our emotions, demeanor, attitude, and words? As we attend whatever the day brings, who will we wear?
Reflect: Who will you wear today as you go about your day? Who designed and will drape your words, attitudes, and actions?
Pray: Father God, I come before You with a humble heart, seeking Your grace. Help me to put aside my old garments of sin and self-reliance and to be clothed in the righteousness and grace that come from Christ alone. May I adorn all that I think, say, and do with Christ-like compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, reflect Your love for others, and bring glory to Your holy name. Amen.
By His Grace,
Gloria Ashby
Lay Leader