Captain Underpants
I was about 7 years-old and in the basement wearing only my underwear. My mother called down, “Your friends are here to see you.” Panic seized me. There was no way to get to my clothes in my bedroom without passing them in the front hall. I ran up the stairs and zipped by without even greeting them, mortified and humiliated to be seen in my briefs. The incident still stands out all these years later.
Naked and Unashamed
The man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. – Genesis 2:25
Adam and Eve lived with God in paradise, naked and unashamed. They would not have known what shame was, much less felt it. After their act of disobedience God calls out, “Where are you?” Adam answered, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and hid myself.” (Gen 3:10)
Where did our shared shame come from? Adam and Eve, created in the image and likeness of God, were given the mantle of God’s righteousness and glory. They threw off this covering when they ate the forbidden fruit. Sin has consequences. They were cast out of Eden, and lost full (but not all) communion with God. The earth was cursed, humans would be required to till the ground, among the thorns and thistles, by the sweat of their brow, and the stain of that original sin was passed on to each of us.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast…. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment…. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness.’ (Matthew 22:2-3, 11, 13)
Whoa! That’s some consequence for being under-dressed. It’s not as if the man was naked. Or is that the point of this parable? In the culture of the time, the father of the bridegroom was said to have provided even the wedding garments of the guests, so the fact that this man wasn’t wearing one suggests he dismissively or defiantly refused to do so.
An Echo of Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve also disdained the covering provided them. Their (our) outer darkness was not without consolation, however. In a foreshadowing of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, they reluctantly appeared before their King in an improvised apron of fig leaves. Out of love and compassion their Creator comforts them, providing a more practical (but still temporary) covering of a leather garment. It did not come without cost however, its price being the life of a fellow creature.
Homespun, Off-The-Rack, or Tailor-Made?
When it comes to our spiritual garments, at times in our supposed self-sufficiency we try to make their own clothes, like the fig-leaf apron. Or perhaps we’ll be content with the generic clothing of the secular world. Ideally though, we’ll ultimately don the coverings specially made never to wear out. While the metaphor might admittedly be a bit of a stretch, clothing is a recurring theme in Scripture.
The Robe of Righteousness
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exalt in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). This sounds a lot like the mantle of righteousness and glory that Adam and Eve were given at creation. What are these garments?
Put on the Imperishable
This perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53). So the garments are an image of eternal life. How can I be clothed in immortality?
Clothed in Christ
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires (Romans 13:14). Jesus, whose name literally means “God Saves,” is the perfect metaphor for the garments of salvation. But what does this mean practically? How do I “put on the Lord Jesus Christ?”
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). Baptism is the key. In Baptism, we die and are buried with Christ in our mortal bodies, and are raised in Glory into newness of life (see Romans 6:3-11, Colossians 2:12). But how do we live out this Baptism? Is it a one and done?
Taking Up Our Cross in Faith
Then Jesus said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:23-26). Being a Christian requires overcoming shame and taking up your cross daily. Jesus warns us that as believers, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). How do we protect ourselves from these daily tribulations?
Take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 13-17). God provides the belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness. Faith is our response to God’s provision, which we must take up on His behalf.
What Does it Look Like?
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience…. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12, 14). These attitudes and actions, along with the “Fruits of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23) are the proofs that you are “standing firm” in your Tailor-made “garments of salvation.”
Naked, and Once More Unashamed
In the fullness of time Jesus willingly set aside the robe of righteousness to put on our human flesh. He sweat blood in the Garden of Gethsemane and took on our shame as a crown of thorns and thistles. He was buried in and thus re-consecrated the earth, taking away its curse when He rose in his glorious raiment on the third day. We are naked before God at birth, and naked before God at death. If it has been a while since your last confession, that’s okay. Tell the priest and he’ll gently guide you through. No matter what you’re presently wearing, God wants you to approach him in humility, and to allow him to dress you for true success.
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