Dress Up
FROM THE RECTOR
Yesterday, our staff dressed up in coordinated costumes, which has become an annual custom for us on the Wednesday before Halloween. This year, we chose Disney villains as our theme, and some of my colleagues devoted considerable creativity and effort to their outfits. I cannot say that every member of our staff looks forward to putting on a ridiculous costume, but I do sense that we enjoy doing something silly together and are glad to be a part of a group that can laugh with one another. Dressing up together has become a way for us to celebrate the best part of teamwork.
Earlier this week, in a conversation unrelated to Halloween, the staff spent some time reflecting on how joyous the Celebration Sunday breakfast had been. We wondered together about the need for additional opportunities for congregational engagement—occasions for pure fellowship that might draw us back together. We noted how good it was to do some of the things that we had not done in a while because of the pandemic—simple things like decorating for a party and practicing small-talk. After a while, I began to imagine how good it might feel to get dressed up for that next special event.
These days, I do not have many reasons to put on a dark suit for a night out on the town. Even more telling, I have not taken my tuxedo out of the closet for years. There were times in my past when I would have given anything for a weekend off—a break from the endless routine of dressing up, hiring a babysitter, and going out for obligatory social engagements. Recently, however, even a trip to Subway feels special, and I can get away with doing that in blue jeans and a t-shirt. Last Sunday reminded me much I miss the way something becomes extraordinary when you go out of your way to dress up for it.
One of the things I love about our church is our commitment to making anyone feel welcome in this place, including and especially individuals who may not dress up when they come to church. Although some of us enjoy putting on a suit and tie, many more show up in chinos and polo shirts. Sometimes, most often at the early service, individuals who have been sleeping around the property will come into church for worship, and they are included in every aspect of the liturgy just like everybody else. It is good for us to be a church where you do not have to dress up to come in and take part, but I wonder whether it might feel nice to get up a little earlier one Sunday to iron and starch a shirt, to press a pair of slacks, and to fix your hair just so before coming to worship.
In the Bible I was given when I was in the third grade, there is an illustration of what the ancient Israelite priests wore when they performed their service in the Jerusalem temple. An artistic interpretation of what is described chiefly in Exodus 28, the colorful depiction of the breastpiece, ephod, robe, turban, and sash—all woven with gold, purple, blue, and crimson yarn—gave me the impression that those who went into the temple or tent of meeting to offer the appointed sacrifices were some of the most splendidly arrayed people in human history. In Sunday school, I had a habit of coloring all the clothes of ordinary Bible characters in various shades of brown, and in my mind that made the outfits of the priests even more spectacular. Why would God ask the priests to wear such ostentatious vestments when they came into the divine presence? Because coming into a holy place where God dwells is always an occasion worth putting on our very best.
These days, I have the opportunity to wear fancy, anachronistic outfits every Sunday, though they hardly compare with the vesture of ancient Israelite priests. In contemporary worship, clergy wear vestments in part because of their historical significance and symbolism, but, counter-intuitively, we also wear them to prevent our ordinary “street clothing” from becoming a distraction. I may be wearing a pair of well-worn trousers from Target under my cassock and surplice, but most of the people in the congregation never see them. As a result, I have not always taken the opportunity to put on my own Sunday best.
In a few days, it will be Sunday again. Every weekend provides another chance to start over and make a big deal about coming to church. Do not let that deter you from showing up just as you are. I trust that, like our congregation, God is happy to see you no matter how you look. But, if it helps you to think of our church as a place where you will encounter God—where you will come into the place where God dwells—pick out something fancy and come on.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan