Grace and peace to you through Jesus Christ, who clothes us with the garments of his salvation. Amen.

(Isaiah 61:10) I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

O Jesus, Word of God made flesh, you are indeed our Sin-bearer, our Substitute under divine wrath, our Savior from sin, our Righteousness, our Hope, our Joy, and our Peace. Through your Holy Spirit, keep us in true repentance so that we repeatedly confess our sins and unworthiness, and continually trust the sacrifices you made on the cross to save us and make us clean before your Father’s eyes. Amen.

One of the most widely known and beloved fairytales is the story of Cinderella. One of the favorite parts for many young girls in Disney’s movie version is all the scenes involving Cinderella’s wardrobe. Several times Cinderella exchanges her dirty rags for a beautiful dress: first, the dress that she makes with the help of her animal friends; then, the dress that her fairy godmother magically produces; and finally, the beautiful wedding dress she wears when she marries the handsome prince.

The story of Cinderella is a charming tale with universal appeal because it is a "rags to riches" kind of story. Our story as Christians is the same as that of Cinderella – from "rags to riches." In his vision, Isaiah describes you and me and all believers are the Bride of Christ. It is a story about a wonderful exchange of garments, from "garments of condemnation" to "robes of righteousness." In this story we are urged by God to put on the "garments of salvation" he has given us to wear to the wedding feast in heaven. Unlike the fairytale of Cinderella, however, our story is absolutely true.

"You are what you wear," they say. This morning let’s take a look at the wardrobe the Lord has laid out for us to wear for eternity, so that we may give up the garments of condemnation and be clothed in the robes of righteousness.

The ugly part of our "Cinderella story" is that by nature we are spiritually naked. Before God laid out his garments of salvation for us, we were wearing no garments at all. After Adam and Eve fell into sin by eating the forbidden fruit, it says that "the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." (Genesis 3:7)

When we realize, like Adam and Eve, that we are naked before God, we try to cover ourselves with garments of our own making. These aren’t some fig leaves sewn together. You and I try to cover ourselves with garments of excuses, pity, blameshifting, and self-righteousness.

The garments we try to cover our spiritual nakedness with are filthy garments. Isaiah wrote, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6) What Isaiah really wrote, but our American sensitivities can’t handle, is that our righteous acts are like the clothes a woman wears during her monthly menstrual cycle. Zechariah is just as graphic as he writes about Joshua, the high priest, standing before the Lord as a representative of the nation of Israel. Because of the sinfulness, idolatry and wickedness of the children of Israel, Joshua stands before the Lord "dressed in filthy clothes." (Zechariah 3:3) Again our English sensibilities can’t handle the fact that Joshua appeared before the Lord, literally in clothes "covered with excrement."

Does that offend you? Does this kind of conversation turn you off? Well, it’s nothing compared with how God feels about us when we stand before him wearing the clothing tailored by our own hands. Our Lord hates what he sees when we clothe ourselves with self-centered egos, self-righteous pride; when we clothe ourselves with sinful cravings, the lust of our eyes and obnoxious boastings. It is the clothing we wear to smart off to our spouse, the clothing we put on to cheat our employers or customers, the clothes we mix and match in order to hold a grudge or get revenge, the clothing we put on to disobey God’s will. If our attire is like this, then God considers us the worst dressed people, comparing our spiritual dress to obscenely filthy rags. We need to repent of our daily sins and our sinful condition and give up our garments of condemnation.

Because of God's love, he wants us robed in Christ's purity. But often we prefer vulgar behavior and language rather than garments of salvation. What wretched creatures we are! Give up the obscene and filthy garments of condemnation. Clothe yourself with the robes of righteousness God gives you to wear through the forgiveness earned by Christ.

Out of sheer mercy and grace, through faith in Christ, we can take off these garments of condemnation, for God has clothed us with the robes of Christ’s righteousness. The hymnwriter put it so well for us, "Jesus, your blood and righteousness. My beauty are, my glorious dress; mid flaming worlds, in these arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head." (CW 376)

Jesus took upon himself our garments of condemnation when he went to the cross. There he became the most obscene and filthy sinner of all time. He did this so that he might be able to give us his robes of righteousness. In other words, Jesus took our sin upon himself and gave us his perfection. This exchange takes place through faith created by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel in Word and sacraments. Baptismal imagery makes this especially clear. Recall what Paul wrote to the Galatians: "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Galatians 3:27) At our baptism Christ clothes us with the robe of his righteousness and gives us a new life. He makes it so that our filthy, obscene, sinful nature need not control us any longer. Through water and the Word, God cleanses our garments of sin and clothes us with Christ’s holy wardrobe.

In his vision of heaven, John saw a multitude before the throne of God. They were wearing white robes. John asked one of the elders who these people were. The elder replied, "These are they who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Revelation 7:14) Jesus has purified us from our uncleanness. He has washed out our impurities. He has taken the stains of sin out of our clothing. Our garments of condemnation are made white robes in the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

So rejoice! We are covered with Christ’s clothing, his blood and righteousness. Jesus speaks through Isaiah telling us what it will be like for us to be dressed in his clothing: "I have been anointed to preach good news… to bind up the brokenhearted… to comfort all who mourn… to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." "I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." Isaiah uses this imagery to picture a wedding. Christ is the bridegroom. We, as believers, are the bride. We rejoice because we will be like newlyweds for all eternity. God has sent us his Son to court us, to become engaged to us and to marry us. He does this so that we might be admitted into the wedding feast in heaven. Then, there will be no more tears, no pain, no setbacks, … no more of our dirty laundry.

Clothing says a lot about a person, who that person is or does or what he or she would be like. "You are what you wear," they say. The other day I was shopping with Shelley and the girls at a clothing store in the mall. As we walked by some very short, very tight denim shorts, I turned to the girls and said, "You will never wear something like that," and kept walking. Abbey asked Shelley, "Why can’t we wear shorts?" Whether we wear too-tight shorts, bell-bottoms or a military uniform, our clothing communicates a message.

Clothing communicates a message. At my wedding I saw the most beautiful bride arrayed in white. The white wedding dress says something special about the bride – the promise to give herself to be a faithful wife for the rest of her life. At my daughters’ baptisms I saw the most beautiful creatures in those baptismal gowns. A baby’s baptismal gown demonstrates the promise that God makes at baptism to forgive sins and cover us with the righteousness of Christ. The white alb I wear, symbolizes the white robes of righteousness in John’s Revelation, robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb. God wants us to exchange our garments of condemnation for Christ’s blood-bought robes of righteousness.

Jenny was almost five and she was a cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls. Waiting with her mother in the checkout line, she saw them – a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box. "Oh please, Mommy, can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?" she begged. Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s face. The pearls only cost $2.00, but they would make her daughter so happy. Her mom told her that if she really wanted them she could do some extra chores around the house to earn them. The girl agreed so her mom bought them for her.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere - Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green. Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?" "Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you." "Then give me your pearls," he said. "Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess - the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favorite." "That's okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?" "Daddy, you know I love you," she answered. "Then give me your pearls." "Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper." "That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek. "What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?" he asked. Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy, and when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, Daddy. It's for you." With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her a genuine treasure.

Jenny's father is like our heavenly Father. He also is waiting for us to give up our dime store stuff, so he can fling open the windows of heaven and pour us out such a blessing that we will not have room enough to hold it. Give up your garments of condemnation. Let go of the things that you are trying to cover yourself with to make you look good to others. You don’t want these things any more. They are filthy and obscene, gross and disgusting. Instead, be clothed with the robes of Christ’s righteousness given to you in your baptism and put on you every time you receive Christ’s forgiveness. Put on the garments of salvation. Join with Isaiah in loudly proclaiming: "I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation." Amen.

May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. Amen. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)