This past Sunday before service we were discussing the old etiquette rule prohibiting wearing white after Labor Day. I’ve always thought this rule came out of a natural transition from summer to fall, and though that is part of the truth, there’s more to the story.
The rule emerged during the Gilded Age when wealthy New Yorkers would escape the city during the summer and wear cool, light colored clothing. Once the summer ended, around Labor Day, they would put away these clothes as they returned back to the city.
As you can imagine, this change of clothing represented more than a season change, but a class divide, and as it evolved, a status symbol. And though it might seem like a silly rule now, it was impactful enough that we still experience echoes of it today. For over 100 years, and various levels of compliance and meaning, Labor day has marked when we stop wearing white.
Now stay with me here, I recognize the cheesiness of the transition I’m about to make, but as I was researching the reason for this fashion rule last Sunday morning, I couldn't help but think about our standing in Christ.
In Christ, we are clothed in white every day – regardless of the season, regardless of our class, regardless of our status.
Isaiah 1:18 says, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” What was dirty, sinful, and dark has now become clean, holy, and full of marvelous light. In Christ Jesus, we have been taken from the kingdom of darkness and are now in the kingdom of His beloved son (Colossians 1:13).
What joy we possess to have been clothed in white!
The Bible Project has a video about the Gospel of the Kingdom which holds beautiful imagery of how coming under the reign of Christ washes us clean. We are transformed from our scarlet filled sin to become as white as snow and we have the joy of bringing this Gospel to those around us. Labor Day etiquette may still have some say in our clothing choices, but it has no hold over our spiritual standing before the Lord.
On Thursday, September 26th, we will have a Gospel Conversations Training on Evangelism in the Workplace over zoom. Just as we are clothed in white in Christ, so can our coworkers be brought into the kingdom. It is our feet that bring the good news into our places of work!
In Christ,
Rachel Parker
