Easter 4. 2010                                                              Christ Church , York

In a few weeks time, Sally and I will be heading to a wedding for the daughter of a friend. And once again that same question, asked over and over for the past few years, will raise its ugly head yet again – what do I wear! Indeed anytime there is a formal gathering of friends or family this question confronts me, since, as some of you have probably guessed by now, my wardrobe consists primarily of a number of suits, jackets and pants which are all, and I stress all, in that basic color of black. I hasten to add that I do own one other suit but that is a dark charcoal gray and when I wear it I consider it a sort of dress down day for me. But in all of this I am probably not alone. Indeed I would hazard to say that, even in an age of dress down attire, the question of what to wear to various gatherings and functions of family and friends is something that many of us find perplexing.

Thankfully it seems that this will not be an issue which confronts those who make it into the eternal kingdom. For there, as the author of Revelation recounts, there will be a great gathering, so great in fact that he could not number them. This gathering has come together for a wedding of sorts, that great celebration we call the marriage feast of the lamb. And at that celebration this great throng will gather before God’s throne to sing His praises and to offer to Him and to the Lamb their unending worship and adoration. But as wonderful as that image was in my reading of the text this week, it was what they were wearing which struck me most. For, as we are told a number of times in this text, this vast array of people are clothed in white garments or robes, each one seemingly dressed alike whether man, women or child. And it would also seem that there is not a black suit or black dress pants among them!

We don’t know what these robes will look like exactly, whether they will be plain or embroidered, flowing or tailored But we do know that these robes will be white, the classic color and symbol of purity and victory. And we do know that these robes will be special, for they will signify something far greater than just an external covering for the body, for it is these white robes which will be the mark of special favor for those gathered there since they are special, special because these are the ones who have come through the great tribulation – that is they have suffered and in some cases have even died for the sake of the faith, thus making of them martyrs or literally witnesses to the faith through their persecution and death. This great body of men and women, these martyrs, this vast multitude, therefore represents all those who have given everything, even the ultimate sacrifice of their lives, for the sake of this Christ who is the lamb.

It is highly unlikely, especially in this country that we will be asked to give our lives for the sake of the faith. But through the centuries, men, women and children in the thousands have been martyred for our faith and the common hope we have in Christ Jesus Our Lord. Even today Christians are persecuted and many are even killed simply for the fact that they hold to that faith in the one who is the Lamb for real martyrdom is never far from those who stand firm in the faith.

But just because you may not be one who undergoes physical martyrdom, it does not mean you cannot be clothed in robes of white. Indeed even within this community of faith such white robes are the norm for all those who participate in our weekly liturgies or who help lead worship in any form. But these albs, named from the Latin meaning white, are but the symbol of another more important white robe that is used at the beginning of our lives when we come to this font to receive the sacrament of Holy Baptism. For just as those white robes spoken of in the Book of Revelation mark those wearing them as special in the eyes of God, so too do these baptismal robes. For this robe, with which all our children are robed in the baptismal service, also represents purity and victory – purity in being cleansed from all sin and victory in having been admitted to the promises of God which tell us that we have won the victory over death and now will die no more. We begin our lives of faith clothed in a white robe such as this.

But there is a second robe that needs to be spoken of today, a second robe not unlike the first in many ways. It is a lot bigger than this first robe and unlike that earlier robe which is generally given to us when we are very young and at the beginning of our lives, this second robe is given to us at the end of our lives when we are brought one last time before this altar. For it is then the white funeral pall is placed over the closed casket or the urn holding the cremated remains, a white pall serving as a reminder to those who see it that we, who have gone down into the grave, we still have Christ’s promise that the grave will not be the end and that He will raise us up to new life and bring us in time to that place before the throne of God where we too will sing our songs of praise to God. For this second robe also symbolizes purity and victory, purity in that we will now sin no more and victory because in and through our own death in Christ, we too have been granted the victory over death. So it is that, clothed in this white robe, we will know that our place is with Christ in His kingdom and that our place will be to stand with the saints at the throne and sing His praises for all eternity.

But neither these white robes worn by the multitude in heaven nor these robes that are used here to cover the remains of our loved ones at our funeral services were always pure white. In fact some of these robes were stained by the muck of the grime of the lives they cover and some of them were stained by the very blood that was shed through their deaths as martyrs. But the blood of the Lamb has washed not only these garments but also those who wear them, washed them clean of all that has sullied them, washed them so that they are spotless before God through the gift of His pure grace. For these robes are washed pure white in and through our baptisms; washed clean and pure white through the very death of Christ; washed clean and pure white in the very blood of the Lamb.

But the gift of this white garment in baptism does more than simply cloth us; it also calls us into a new way of living – calls us to live out our faith before others; calls us into a way of life which reflects that indeed we are saints of God while at the same time also acknowledging that we are sinners; calls us with the understanding of the promise that the faithful will one day also be called to one day stand before the throne with that great, innumerable host of saints who have gone before us to sing our praises to God forever and ever. “Clothes do not make the man” as the old saying goes, so it is not just the wearing of the garment that counts but rather that the one who wears it seeks to fulfill the meaning of that which they wear by living lives of faithfulness to God in all things. And that is not always easy; indeed living a life of faithfulness to Christ can often be the hardest thing that we will ever do in this life.

But when the ordeal of this life seems to be overwhelming; when you feel that you are in the midst of the terrible tribulations of life; when all seems hopeless and lost; when death itself comes to claim its hold on us or those that we love – then remember the promise that is yours; remember these white robes that are promised to you; remember the promises that were given to you at baptism; remember these robes which will cover you at death; remember and do not loose heart for these are the promises of Christ Himself who has already gone through the great tribulation and emerged victorious from the grave. Remember - for these robes mark the very promise of God Himself - that through the death of His own Son He will also bring us through the great tribulation into that place where we shall be clothed forever in our new white robes to join with that great multitude in praising God forever. So worry if you must about what you will wear at your next social or family gathering. But do not worry what you will wear at the end of days for white will suit you very well and in those robes you will look good for all eternity. Amen