I have rarely been without clothes. When Jesus tells the people in Matthew 25, “I was naked and you clothed Me,” I have a hard time conceptualizing that personally.
But I can understand not having the right clothes. I remember moving to the United States from a tropical country and needing a winter coat. There was just no way we could have purchased that item before we arrived, so soon after, we shopped at Goodwill and found some. I can also understand not having the clothes that I really wanted. Around that same time, I was finding out that certain fashion brands meant something to the people around me – and I wanted that brand. My parents however, saw how much the brand cost and balked. (We had a good conversation afterwards about the difference between buying a brand for its actual value and buying a brand for its name.) I also know that people who are on the lower end of the economic scale tend to be reinforced in those positions by their lack of ability to purchase the right clothes. A suit can help. The right pair of shoes might not get you a job, but the wrong ones might keep you from it.
So when we apply Jesus’ words about clothing the naked, maybe we need to think about what “naked” means for us in our culture. Maybe naked doesn’t mean nude – but maybe it means not having what you need for a certain season, maybe it means having something that you don’t have to continually replace, maybe it means something that will keep you from losing that opportunity. It’s THOSE kind of clothes people need, and as Christians, those are the kinds of clothes we should be trying to provide for people. My Concordia Nebraska tshirt is pretty sweet, but it isn’t solving anyone’s problems.
We have a Red Letter Challenge this week to clothe the naked, but let’s do a little bit more than donate old tshirts. Just think of it as part of an exchange. Donate something meaningful now, because at the end of your life, Jesus is going to give you a garment of everlasting life to wear for an eternity.