Shedding Grave Clothes: Embracing New Life in Christ

We are choosing each time we get dressed how to present ourselves because clothes tell a story. Think about it for a moment: a tailored suit or a judge's robe signals authority or professionalism. A nurse's scrubs or a firefighter's uniform lets us know someone is dedicated to serving and protecting others. Athletic gear speaks of discipline and strength. Graduation grounds speak about and represent achievement. A military uniform is not just clothing; it's a symbol of duty, discipline, and sacrifice. [00:06:03]

The point is that you and I make choices, and what we wear can potentially help define, identify, or confine us. And this is true even after death. When loved ones come together to begin planning the arrangements of a deceased family member, you know what one of the first things that they discuss? What are we going to bury them in? Some people even pick out their clothes and tell their family before they die. [00:08:42]

Spiritual grave clothes are not garments made of fabric, but they are spiritual stripes of linen made up of fear and shame and grief and guilt and old identities. John's gospel text puts significant emphasis on Jesus' grave clothes. There's important meaning to their presence and Jesus' absence in the tomb. They're present, but he's gone. How did we get here? Well, I'm glad you asked. [00:09:59]

Because of the presence of the grave clothes, they knew that it could not have been robbers that were the cause of the issue. Why, pastor? Because the 100 pounds worth of liquid spices that Joseph and Nicodemus used for Jesus' grave clothes would have quickly hardened, causing what looked like a bit of a cocoon or a chrysalis enclosing Jesus' body. Robbers would not have taken Jesus out of that cocoon in order to steal the body. [00:13:17]

The linen clothes were wrapped or rolled together, but the body was missing. The linen clothes had been there, and they were not unfolded, they were not disturbed, they were not wrinkled up, which means he wasn't cut open. He just passed through. This means that the body was not taken out of the grave clothes. No, the body passed through the grave clothes. He stepped out of his grave clothes. [00:14:29]

This means that the body was not taken. He left. In other words, there was an empty cocoon within the empty tomb. The presence of the grave clothes means Jesus outran, overcame, overpowered, overwhelmed, and outmaneuvered death itself and then left it behind him. This is different than what we see in John 11 when Jesus raises Lazarus from the grave. [00:15:13]

Lazarus had been dead four days, you remember the story, and his body was beginning to smell because it was decomposing. Jesus called light back into Lazarus' body, and Lazarus came hobbling out, but there was a problem. He still had his grave clothes on, and he could not take off his grave clothes. And so Jesus told the people, "Unwrap him, loose him, take off his grave clothes." [00:15:41]

I have come to find out that we all have some grave clothes in our lives, and I want to let you know this morning that if Jesus could just step out of his grave clothes, then that means you can step out of your grave clothes too. Why often? Because God is going to bring you out of your grave clothes before he brings you out of your graveyard. [00:16:22]

All of us have seasons where we reside in dead spaces: dead relationships, dead-end jobs, dead motivation, dead moments. And before God can bring you out of your dead situation, he's got to bring you out of your grave clothes. All of us need to step out of our grave clothes, and some of us this morning are still wearing them. [00:16:39]

Your grave clothes are what they wrap you in when they give up on you. It's the label people give you when they've turned their back on you. Your grave clothes symbolize hopelessness and powerlessness. Your grave clothes mean that there is no more hope for you in this situation. They are just trying to prevent your stench from impeding their progress or getting in the way and becoming an inconvenience to them. [00:17:43]

Our grave clothes in life are the identities, mentalities, emotions, and behavioral patterns that hold us to past dead spaces and restrict us from moving in the identity we have in Christ Jesus. Can I preach this? They are the clothes we wear when we're staying and residing in dead spaces. The grave clothes were placed on Jesus by men with good intentions, but they lacked an understanding of who he was. [00:18:09]

Sometimes people mean well, but they're wrapping you in dead man grave clothes. Sometimes people thought they were helping, but really they were just restricting. Sometimes people thought that they were lending a helping hand, but really they were pressing down on your back, keeping you from rising. You have been dead long enough, and the only thing they expect out of you is to find you dead. [00:18:47]

The clothes are bondage to sin and shame. We are wrapped in feeling guilty, feeling shameful, and less than because of our past, because of bad habits, because of addictions, because of sinful patterns that Jesus has already freed us from. You don't have to keep wearing your past grave outfits. Jesus frees you from it all. [00:19:20]

Some of us are clothed in grief and hopelessness. For some, grief becomes our identity. It's okay to grieve; it's okay to mourn. You need to cry sometimes all night long, but we do not grieve as those who have no hope. The resurrection of Jesus means despite my grief, I still got hope. Yes, I have lost, but I still got hope. [00:20:50]

Some of us are clothed in fear and insecurity, fear that paralyzes us. We were good and prayed up until we watched the news. We were good and prayed up until we listened to NPR. We were good and prayed up until we heard the next craziness coming down from the White House. We were good and prayed up until we got a bad news call, and all of a sudden, fear and anxiety begin to paralyze us. [00:21:37]

All of a sudden, we get impostor syndrome, the persistent inability to believe that your success has been legitimately achieved, and you begin to believe that you can't do it. I can't go on. I can't complete the assignment. I can't complete the mission. But I came by this morning to tell you the devil is a liar. [00:22:12]

It's time for you to step out of your grave clothes because he said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. Look at somebody and tell them, "Step out of your grave clothes." [00:22:35]

Some of us are clothed in condemnation and legalism. Some grave clothes are about religion. They are rules without relationship, rituals without renewal. Jesus didn't rise to give us a heavy burden; he rose to free us, and he said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." [00:23:04]

Some things God calls you to step out of, but other things you got to neatly fold. [00:26:43]