Clothes - Pt 8

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God. On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God. Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. (Nehemiah 9:1-5 ESV). Clothes do make a difference. Some of the clothes we wear communicate specific things about us. For instance, wearing a sports jersey communicates that you’re a fan of a particular team. Putting on a wedding dress says this is a very special day for you. Uniforms of various kinds indicate what our function may be or what our career might be. Ancient Israelites occasionally communicated by clothing we no longer wear: sackcloth. Sackcloth was made of coarse material like hemp. In Nehemiah’s day, sackcloth was worn during times of confession and repentance. More than anything, sackcloth communicated a desperate plea for mercy. It symbolized that, for the wearer, things were not alright, not right at all. Sometimes we have a tendency to dress one way when we’re feeling another. Our name brand clothes say “I’m fine,” or “I belong,” even if inside we feel upset or left out. Sackcloth would show others how we truly feel. Fortunately, we don’t have to hide our feelings from God. Even without donning sackcloth, we can bow our heads and confess our sins. We can voice our desperate pleas for mercy at any time, no matter what we are wearing. And God is faithful to answer. The promise of God is that when we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (cf. 1 John 1:9). This promise can be made because of the work of Christ on our behalf. We can be “clothed” with the righteousness of Christ through our faith in His work of grace. There are a few favorite clothing stores I frequent. The clothes there seem to be fairly priced and fit well. In our spiritual life there is only one store to shop at… the Jesus store. Only Christ will do when we stand before God in judgment.