Christ the King Epiphany Church, Wilbraham

The Rev. Martha S. Sipe

October 11, 2026 / Pentecost 20 (Lect. 28A) / Baptism of Noah Reisbig

Matthew 22:1-14

I wore my favorite blazer today.  It’s not new – in fact, it’s one of the oldest I own.  But more than any other sweater or jacket in my closet, when I put it on, I feel like a million bucks.  I understand the old saying that the clothes make the man . . . or the woman.  It’s not just that this jacket makes a good impression on people (or at least I think it does), it also makes me feel different inside when I wear it:  I have more confidence, more poise, more easy-going grace.  Now you and I know that nothing you wear changes who you are.  And you may think I’m shallow, and maybe I am.  But I bet that you have favorite articles of clothing that make you feel good when you wear them.  Our clothes may not change the person underneath, but they can transform both the perceptions of the people around us and our attitudes about ourselves.

Today we are baptizing Noah David Reisbig, and so I want to talk a little bit about baptismal clothing and how it transforms us.  In the earliest days of the church, adults put on simple white togas or albs (like the one I’m wearing) after they were immersed in the waters of baptism.  As infant baptism became more common, babies were often wrapped in white cloths.  In the middle ages, infants were bound in decorative or plain swaddling bands to keep them still and to symbolize their protection and innocence.  By the 18th century when full immersion became less popular, infants were no longer swaddled, but began to wear white silk gowns, which, not surprisingly, during the Victorian era became more and more ornate.  Still, today, you will sometimes see infants baptized in gowns, though less and less.  And our little Noah today is wearing an adorable suit in the traditional white, since after all, all of the baptismal clothes from the earliest days of the church until now have symbolized putting on Christ, as St. Paul put it.

And what does it mean to “put on Christ?”  It means to clothe yourself in the righteousness of Christ.  Now that’s churchy talk, so let me try to make it simpler.  We, by our own efforts to be good people and to do God’s will, will never succeed in being good enough to stand before God.  So Jesus swapped places with us – dying, though there was no justification for putting him to death, so that we might stand in his place before God the Father.  Symbolically, he swapped clothes with us – putting on the filthy rags of our sin, and giving us his royal robe so that we will be properly attired for the feast of heaven.  That is, at least in part, what happens in baptism as we put on Christ.  The baptismal clothes make the believer.  When Noah puts on Christ, it changes how we perceive him – now belonging not just to his biological family, not just to the family of those who love him, but also belonging to this family of faith where we are all beloved of God.  And with our help, baptism will also change how Noah perceives himself.  As he grows, his parents, his godparents, and every member of this congregation will be reminding him that no matter what mistakes he might make, he is offered forgiveness; and throughout all of his life, he will never be alone.  These promises are for all of us who have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ.  It’s what all the beloved in Christ are wearing these days, and it sure does make us feel like a million bucks.

Perhaps the most challenging element of today’s parable, more challenging even than the king’s wiping out an entire city because some of his subjects behaved badly, is the end of the story where one poor guy is punished severely for a dress code violation:  he didn’t have on a proper wedding robe.  In the early centuries of the church, when Christians heard the word robe in this context, they would immediately have thought of one thing:  the baptismal robe.  And they would have understood the wedding banquet as the great feast of heaven.  For baptism isn’t just a ceremony with words and water; it is also a transformative experience.  Putting on Christ is supposed to change us.  Wearing Christ means that we start to think more like Jesus, and live more like Jesus, and love more like Jesus.  Not perfectly.  Not without faults and failures and flip-flopping along the way because, remember:  the clothes don’t change what’s underneath.  Without that robe, we won’t be attending the feast.  But we have the right attire.  It was given to us when we were baptized.  Baptism gives us the assurance of forgiveness for all the ways we fall short.  Baptism offers us the promise of Christ near us, as close as the clothes that we wear.  Baptism reminds us that Noah – and all of us – are invited to an incredible -feast because God loves us beyond our wildest imagination.

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https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2008-10/remade