New Clothes For Easter

Don't you love little girls in their new Easter dresses? As a mother with three, it was fun to take them out for that special new spring dress. (albeit, maybe my memory is fading on the fun part since they are all practically grown up!) My mother used to make sure I always had a purse to match my shoes, thanks to her grandmother's emphasis, and there were a few years a hat came along to the days' festivities.

There came a time when I had more voice in what to wear for this annual shopping excursion. I vividly remember my favorite Easter dress as a young girl. My dad had taken me shopping to a little children's clothing store in the Deerfield Commons. That was a big deal, because it wasn't Sears or JC Penny's. I found a pink dress with short sleeves. There was a white peter pan collar and cuffs, with white daisy buttons down the front. It was the perfect dress for this 8 year old in 1974.

These memories have caused me to wonder what I'm going to wear for Easter this year. I've actually been thinking about it through several sources. I tend to revisit favorite books from time to time, like getting together for coffee with an old friend. Lately, I've reread Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller. He has a chapter where he discusses why being naked is the point in the Garden of Eden. He wrestles with the idea of why this is stated so many times... that Adam and Eve are naked, and the first thing that happens after the Fall is they finally realize this. He then says this: "Man is wired so he gets his glory (his security, his understanding of value, his feeling of purpose, his feeling of rightness with his Maker, his security for eternity) from God, and this relationship is so strong, and God's love is so pure, that Adam and Eve felt no insecurity at all, so much so that they walked around naked and didn't even realize they were naked. But when that relationship was broken, they knew it instantly. All of their glory, the glory that came from God, was gone." (pp. 70-71)

I've been thinking about this a lot; how what we lost in the garden wasn't just our innocence, but our security. I agree with Miller...we finally realized we were naked and ran from God. Yesterday I was reading Mark's account of Christ's passion with The Man About The House, and there it was...more nakedness! At Jesus' arrest a man was following in a garden named Gethsemane. When he was seized as well, he fled naked, leaving behind all his Passover clothes (Mark 14:51,52) I can't figure out if he was more afraid of the soldiers or identifying with Christ through his suffering. Either way, he would rather run around town naked than stay with Christ.

And so I have been asking myself what do I try to put on to cover my own nakedness, not just with God but others as well. Do I really clothe myself with strength and dignity (Is. 52:1, Pro. 31:25), compassion (Col. 3:12), humility (I Pet. 5:5)? Or is it easier to try and put on accomplishments, talents, society, praise from others? Paul talks about how we are clothed with Christ's righteousness if we truly acknowledge and embrace our need to be clothed by God. Just like Adam and Eve, God will clothe us. I like the way Isaiah says it best: "For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness...as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."

In His passion, Christ's clothes were divided in a craps game. He received new clothes for the grave, but he left them behind in the tomb Sunday morning. Today he wears "...a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest." (Rev. 1:13)

I have concluded the most important thing to wear for Easter is not what I feebly attempt to cover up, but what God has clothed me in...Christ's righteousness.