Making the Right Fashion Statement in 2018
OPENING PRAYER
INTRODUCTION:
· Note Taking tips for teens.
—Copy outline (regular font) and listen for Scripture references.
--Children can draw pictures of clothes for different activities.
Segway:
“Fashion is one of the past decade’s rare economic success stories. Over that period, the industry has grown at 5.5 percent annually, according to the McKinsey Global Fashion Index, to now be worth an estimated $2.4 trillion. In fact, not only does it touch everyone, but it would be the world’s seventh-largest economy if ranked alongside individual countries’ GDP.”
· I am clearly unqualified to speak to the latest clothing trends.
· Sometimes it is better to choose a timeless classic. That is what I will recommend this morning.
· A few interesting quotes about fashions.
p1. Clothes make the man.
Naked people have little or no influence on society.
-- Mark Twain, borrowing from and expanding on Erasmus, 28 October 1466[1][2] – 12 July 1536), known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian.
The proverb as it is recorded in Latin by Erasmus (Adagia 3.1.60) is: “vestis virum facit” meaning “clothes make the man.”Erasmus Erasmus published Collectanea Adagiorum(1500), an annotated collection of 800 Greek and Latin proverbs, and years later, an expanded version, Adagiorum Chiliades (1508, 1536), containing 4,251 essays — a proverbial encyclopedia of proverbs.
p 2. “Carelessness in dressing is moral suicide.”
Honoré de Balzac, French Novelist; Born: May 20, 1799 - August 18, 1850 (aged 51)
Bio: Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon. Owing to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature.
p 3. Dressing well is a form of good manners.
Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford, an American fashion designer, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2006, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.
What does Tom Ford mean when he says ‘Dressing well is a form of good manners’?
Well, we think the quote/statement can be translated to mean, if you’ve gone to the effort of dressing your best (or well), it shows a sign of respect to whoever crosses your path or whoever you have planned to meet. Does this mean you have to wear a suit everywhere you go, every day? Ha! if only! (*listens for cash register*). You won’t have to wear a suit everywhere you go because not every occasion calls for a suit. It means dress your best respectively to the occasion.
p 4. Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak.
Rachel Zoe (Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig) better known as Rachel Zoe, is an American fashion designer, businesswoman, and writer. She is best known for working with celebrities, fashion houses, beauty firms, advertising agencies, and magazine editors.
p 5. Clothes are never a frivolity: they always mean something.
--James Laver, (14 March 1899 – 3 June 1975) an English author, critic, art historian, and museum curator who acted as Keeper of Prints, Drawings and Paintings for the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1938 and 1959. He was also an important and pioneering fashion historian described as "the man in England who made the study of costume respectable"
p
&SCRIPTURE READING
· Turn to Colossians three.
· Notice the clothing metaphor in verses 9-10. put off / Put on (clothe yourselves in the niv, net, nlt)
· Read Colossians 3.1-4.1
p Know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly.
Epictetus taught that philosophy is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are beyond our control; we should accept calmly and dispassionately whatever happens. However, individuals are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline.
“He who is born of God is certain to look like his father.”
p I. WHO AM I?
Because of who you are PUT ON
to put on clothes, without implying any particular article of clothing—‘to clothe, to dress, to put on.’
[1]
niv, net, nlt--Clothe yourselves
A. ELECT / CHOSEN
ἐκλεκτός eklektos (by implication a favorite)
“to select out from a number.”
[2]
Election is often discussed in the context of salvation doctrines.
· according to the foreknowledge 1 Peter 1.2
· according to the pleasure of His will Eph. 1.4
Here it is used as a relational encouragement to believers.
ILL-Waiting to be picked for a team.
God’s words to Israel through Moses help us to understand the meaning of salvation by grace:
[3] --Wuest
Deut. 7:7–8
7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
That is, see that your manner of life is fitting, seemly, in accordance with that kind of life the elect of God should live.
[4]
B. HOLY
· physically--pure,
· Morally--blameless or religious,
1 Peter 1.13-16 “Be holy as I am holy.”
· Ceremonially—consecrated, set apart
Exodus 3 “The place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
· Both the moral and ceremonial senses in play here.
· In Grk used to describe God’s Spirit and NT believers
· We are not our own; we belong completely to Him (1 Cor. 6:19–20).
[5] --Wiersbe
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
The elect are those set apart for God. The word speaks of their standing in grace as separated ones, to live a separated life. The same adjective is translated “saints” in 1:2.
[6]
We have been set aside in a special group, for a special purpose, to live in a unique way.
C. BELOVED / LOVED
· Verb tense shows a continuing action
· And God’s love does not require us to be “worthy” to receive it;
· His love is truly benevolent and gracious:
· “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (
Romans 5:8).
Can you explain how much God loves you?
Eph. 3.16-19 Paul’s prayer to understand God’s love.
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
John 3:16 GOSPEL
p II. WHAT DO I WEAR?
A. COMPASSION
lit. intestines of compassion/mercy/pity
kjv-- bowels of mercy
“bowels”, a feeling down in your stomach
“Bowels” is
splagchnon (σπλαγχνον). Thayer says that “in the Greek poets the bowels were regarded as the seat of the more violent passions, such as anger and love: but by the Hebrews as the seat of the tenderer affections, especially kindness, benevolence, compassion, hence, our heart, tender mercies, affections.”
[7]
· Prompted by need, ready to help
(sometimes regarded as a weakness)
Mercies - οἰκτιρμός
oiktirmos primarily denotes the
expression of emotion, the lament, the rarer οἰκτιρμός is used for the emotion of sympathy itself.
4 οἰκτίρειν thus means “
to be sympathetic” in the sense of grief or sorrow,
5 but also in that of the sympathy which is
ready to help.
[8]
The Gospels speak of him being moved with compassion.
& Matthew 9:36
But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
Hebrews 4:15-16 Jesus is our example of compassion.
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
B. KINDNESS χρηστότης chrēstotēs
· To provide something beneficial for someone
· An act of kindness
· Not a random act, but continuous and widespread.
One of the most beautiful pictures of kindness in the Bible is King David’s treatment of the crippled prince, Mephibosheth (see 2 Samuel 9). David’s desire was to show “the kindness of God” to King Saul’s family because of his own love for Saul’s son, Jonathan.
[9]
& 2 Samuel 9.1-3
1 Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
2 And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
He said, “At your service!”
3 Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?”
And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.”
“
Be ye kind one to another” (Eph. 4:32) is God’s command.
[10]
C. HUMILITY rsv-- lowliness
ταπεινοφροσύνη - G5012 - tapeinophrosynē: the having a humble opinion of oneself; a deep sense of one's (moral) littleness; modesty,
From tä-pā-no's: lit. not rising far from the ground and rā'n: lit. the midriff or diaphragm
A sense of one’s littleness –Wuest
& Job 31:13-15 (NKJV)
13 “If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant
When they complained against me,
14 What then shall I do when God rises up?
When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?
15 Did not He who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?
Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
When we think more of God, we think less of ourselves.
D. MEEK / GENTLENESS
· vrs. rudeness, harshness, arrogance
· It the word has taken on a meaning described in Vocab.com – “someone's habit of acting shy or submissive. Your own meekness might keep you from asking your boss for a raise.”
· Meekness is not weakness; it is power under control.
[11]
· The newer versions have tended to translate the word “gentleness” to avoid the connotation of just being a milquetoast.
& Mark 10:42-45
42 But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them,
“You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
E. LONGSUFFERING / PATIENCE
μακροθύμως -
G3116 - makrothymōs: a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune and without complaint or irritation—‘patience.’ μιμηταὶ[12]
· Hard to be provoked
· Hard to be discouraged
· A long fuse.
& Matthew 18:21 “How many times shall my brother sin against me.”
Numbers 14:18a
‘The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression...
James 2.19-20
This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
p Clothes Mean nothing until someone lives in them.
— Marc Jacobs, an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, as well as Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, with over 200 retail stores in 80 countries. Wikipedia
p Note the move from nouns to verbs.
III. WHAT DO I DO?
A. BEAR WITH / FOREBEAR lit. to hold up under
ἀλληλων
allēlōn: “holding yourselves back from one another.”
[13]
This involves
1. self-control --Eerdman
2. an element of leniency --EF Harrison
IF - Third class condition (ἐαν [ean] and present active subjunctive of ἐχω [echō])
[14] Traditionally known as the '
More Probable Future Condition'
COMPLAINT / GRIEVANCE
Old word from μεμφομαι [memphomai], to blame. Only here in N. T.
[15]
Proverbs 14.29
He who is slow to wrath has great understanding,
But he who is impulsive exalts folly.
Proverbs 19:11
The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger,
And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
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Overlooking an offense is best under these three conditions:
1. After two or three days pass, the offense should not have created a wall between you and the other person or caused you to feel differently about them.
2. The offense should not be causing serious harm to God’s reputation, to others, or to the offenders.
--Tim Pollard, Resolving Everyday Conflict
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B. FORGIVE
Two words for "forgive" in the NT
1. aphesis – emph. on removing guilt
2. “Forgiving” is charizomai (χαριζομαι), “to show one’s self-gracious, kind, benevolent, to grant forgiveness.”
Phl 2:9
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
The Greek word “grace” is charis (χαρις), and has the same form as this word.
[16]Luke 7.41-47 who loved the most?
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Forgiveness: treating someone as though they never hurt me.
Forgiveness does not mean…
· ... we don’t remember something.
· ... there are no consequences.
Promises of forgiveness:
I will not harbor bitterness about this incident.
I will not bring this up to use it against you.
I will not gossip and murmur about this to others.
- --Adapted from Tim Pollard, Resolving Everyday Conflict
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C. FOLLOW CHRIST’S EXAMPLE
as the Lord has forgiven you
· In the manner that the Lord has forgiven you.
· How [Why] is the holy God able to forgive us, guilty sinners? Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. God has forgiven us “for Christ’s sake” (Eph. 4:32), and not for our own sake.
[17]
· “Even as” is kathōs (καθως), “according as, just as, in proportion as,
in the degree that.” We are to forgive others because God forgave us, and in the degree that He forgave, that is, a full forgiveness.
[18]
· Gospel forgiveness looks to the cross for its motivation and example.
· Matthew 18.21 ff The fellow servant owed (As I convert it to our economy.) $6-7K. It was a "manageable debt, but it was significant. But it was also insignificant compared to what he had been forgiven.
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“You like the servant are a guilty sinner. You have an incalculable debt of sin that you could never repay if you had a thousand chances to do it. You go before the king. You deserve judgment, punishment, condemnation. You ask for mercy because that is all you can ask for, and you receive mercy and grace. By the blood of Jesus Christ God gives you the best He has to pay the penalty of your sin at the cross and by faith instead of being a guilty sinner on your way to Hell, you are a born again child of God on your way to Heaven.
Do you mean to tell me you believe all of that and you got a list of people that you ain't talkin' to? What? How does that work? How every day are you going to thank God for mercy and grace and be mad at people at the same time!?” —HB Charles Jr
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D. LOVE These are not complete until they are wrapped in love.
“All that virtue which distinguishes true Christians from others is summed up in Christian or Divine love.”
----Jonathan Edwards in Charity and Its Fruits.
Love is the binding that holds all the Christian virtues together.
(If we can’t love our enemies, can we at least be nice to our friends?)
p Give a girl the right pair of shoes
and she'll conquer the world.
--Marilyn Monroe
(Are you dressed like your Father?)
p
Are you dressed to
change the world
or
be like the world?
Pair up and pray 3:12-14 for each other.
BENEDICTION: 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 (NKJV)
…May the Lord make you
increase and abound in love
to one another and to all…
so that He may establish your hearts
blameless in holiness
before our God and Father
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
with all His saints.
Amen.
4 Pind. Pyth., I, 85 (opp. φθόνος); P. Masp., 7, 19.
5 Hom. Il., 11, 814: 16, 5; Aesch. Prom., 352; Ag., 1241; Soph. Ai., 652; Xen. An., I, 4, 7; Oec., 2, 4 and 7; 7, 40.
[8] Rudolf Bultmann, “Οἰκτίρω, Οἰκτιρμος, Οἰκτίρμων,” ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 159.
