Genesis 37:3-28, Psalm 105, Matthew 21:33-46
Clothes often contain a lot more meaning then just “something we wear”.
Think about a bride choosing her wedding gown or a CEO choosing just the right power tie for the big meeting. In our parish a group of ladies get together and knit shawls to be used as gifts to the home bound. Each stitch represents a prayer sent forth from our Church to those who can no longer join our community in person. You can’t buy that at Wal-Mart.
Who can read the epic story of Joseph and his brothers without picturing Joseph’s Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat? But Joseph wasn’t just wearing a coat; he wasn’t robed in any old garb. He was wearing the symbol of his Father’s great affection and his brothers hated him for it.
Too cowardly to kill Joseph and too greedy to let him go to waste; the brothers plotted Joseph’s fate because they refused to share their father’s love. The image is driven home as we hear, “They stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore”. This figure foreshadows another beloved Son who would also be stripped of his garments and led to slaughter.
What is the proper response to such violence, to such an inability to share? In the Gospel the Pharisees are quick to answer; “retaliation”, “destroy the destroyers”. Sounds like the solution we hear all too frequently on the evening news. Jesus reveals that the way of the Father is different. God takes that which has been destroyed and turns it into something beautiful once again.
Joseph will not be lost. In the end it is Joseph who, through many an amazing turn of events, ends up saving his entire family. And that other Son, stripped bare and hung on a cross. His life and death would be for the salvation of us all.
We will face violence in the world, of that there is no doubt. How will we respond? Will we fight fire with fire or will we choose to be dressed in a garment of peace, knowing that we are but stewards in the vineyard of the Lord.
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Col 3:12-14
What clothes will you put on today?
Make an effort to weave peace.
