Clothed in Christ

Sometimes I learn a lot about my faith...from Harry Potter. In the last book of the series, we are introduced to a Wizarding fairy-tale called the Deathly Hallows. The story is about three brothers who, having outsmarted death, are granted a prize by Death "for having been clever enough to evade him". The first two brothers choose prizes out of their thirst for power and authority, prizes that end in their demise. But the last of the brothers chooses an unusual prize: Death's own cloak of invisibility. In the book, it says that the third brother "asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death"; wearing the cloak of invisibility, Death no longer had power over him.

As followers of Christ, we have been granted our own cloak of invisibility with which we can defeat death. But ours does not come in the form of a literal cloak, but is granted to us by the blood of Christ which he shed for us on the cross. In the thirteenth chapter of St. Paul's letter to the Romans, he encourages us to "throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light" and to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh". Only in clothing ourselves with Christ are we able to overcome death. Our only weapon to defeat death is found in our proclamation that Jesus is Lord and Redeemer.

The Gospel of John teaches us that what came to be through Christ was light and his "light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it". Clothed in the light of Christ, we are able to overcome the darkness of sin and the enslavement of death. Clothed in Christ, we can boldly cry out, "Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55)

But in St. Paul's letter to the Romans, he writes that "one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved". Believing and sharing the truth of Christ is not an either/or scenario. To be clothed in Christ and to claim him as Lord requires of us to empty our hearts of our self-love, our empty desires, and to allow him to break the chains of our sin. But it also requires us to proclaim Christ as Lord in the way we live our lives and in our obedience to the Gospel. Faith requires an inward disposition of reliance and an outward expression of compliance.

So today, Lord Jesus, we claim you as Lord. We recognize your authority in all things and humble ourselves before you who offer us victory over death. With humility and abandonment to your will, we clothe ourselves in you and ask that you might grant us the grace to live as people redeemed by your sacrifice. And as we go forth this day, clothed in your love, may your victory resonate through our authentic faith and the sincere witness of our lives.