Tweed Jackets, Sweat Pants and Wet Suits

Sunday, January 12, 1992
| Luke 3:15-17, 21-22


The Holy Spirit was not shy about taking "bodily form" at the event of Jesus'' baptism. Can that same spirit find physical, tangible means of expression in your life, and the life of your congregation?


Luke's phrase describing Jesus' baptism with "the Holy Spirit and fire" may also be translated as "with wind and fire." Such a changeable climate suggests that as Christians we must be prepared to dress according to which way this Spirit blows. Welcoming the Spirit's presence into our lives today means much more than waiting to be enrobed by the wings of a dove, it means dressing our faith in garments that fit the world in which we live. The temperature and temperament that the Spirit wears in my life and your life reflect the choices we have made about our spiritual clothes. Dress is Address.

Typically, much of our spiritual life is spent changing clothes, finding new outfits to reflect the soul's growth. Columbia University Professor Leo Braudy is one of the most celebrated scholars of English literature in the world today. In the 15-22 December 1989 issue of the Times Literary Supplement, he uses a periodization for understanding recent literary theory in American colleges and...



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