The Right Clothes

I went to an all girls college.
Needless to say, there was no football team.
My husband went to Georgia Tech for his undergraduate degree.
There was most definitely a football team.

There was a Georgia Tech song, which my husband sang to our children.
It was not a lullaby by any means.
It was the victory song whenever Georgia Tech scored a touchdown in a televised game.
He would sing the song after every touchdown as he lifted the children in the air.

I experienced the football enthusiasm vicariously through the Yellow Jackets.
I even went to a few games when we were in college.
I remember one such game vividly.
I remember the sheer embarrassment of what transpired.

Football was not something I got too excited about.
I was just eager to see the man that I was dating and all of his friends.
Of course, when you visit the person you are dating, you want to look nice.
I picked an outfit that I thought would be appropriate and stylish.

I chose black jeans and a red sweater.
Ask any woman and she will tell you that there are certain outfits that just work.
There are certain outfits that make her feel very good about herself.
This was one such outfit.

I never asked how people dressed at college football games.
I was not a Georgia Tech student so I did not have any clothes with the logo on it.
It was not expected.
Just being there cheering for the team was enough.

Until I walked into the stadium.
I walked along the path that led to our section.
I began to climb the stairs.
People were looking at me as I walked.

It was not a very pleasant look.
I thought perhaps they somehow knew I was a northerner.
I wanted to ask why I was getting stared at but I pretended not to notice.
Finally, we got to our seat; the looks of disdain were obvious.

I finally asked what was wrong.
It might be the colors you are wearing, he said.
The colors? I asked him, very confused.
Well, red and black are Georgia colors, he explained.

Guess what team Georgia Tech was playing that day?
They were playing the University of Georgia.
There was a bitter rivalry between the two schools.
I was sitting on the Georgia Tech side of the stadium wearing Georgia colors.

I was sitting with people who knew me.
Others around us did not know anything about me, however.
My future husband stood up in the bleachers and turned to the crowd around us.
She doesn’t go here; she didn’t know, he said with his hands up in the air.

All was forgiven.
I am sure that some people initially thought I was trying to cause a stir.
I am sure that some people chalked my faux pas up to the fact that I was from up north.
I was given a jacket to wear over my red sweater, which made me blend in with the others.

I have never purchased football attire for myself.
It just never seemed to matter after I made the biggest mistake you could possibly make.
I never thought about it until this past weekend when we were away with friends.
We went to a Georgia Tech football game and I wore pink.

Almost everyone had some sort of white and gold.
Almost everyone had something with the logo prominently displayed.
My husband has offered to buy me some Georgia Tech gear, but I have always refused.
It did not seem to be a problem like it was back in our college days.

He could easily find me, the woman in pink, as we walked around town with our friends.
I am the odd one in all of the pictures.
I am the one that went to an all girls college and knows nothing about football.
I am the one who actually asked my husband if they will still play football if it rains.

As we sat at breakfast the morning after the game, my husband got out his phone.
He went on the Georgia Tech website and scrolled through to find me gear to wear.
Then you will have it for the next time, he said.
We put a Georgia Tech infinity scarf in the shopping cart since I love scarves.

We put a clear plastic purse with the Georgia Tech logo, so I can carry it into the stadium.
He wanted me to find a shirt or a jacket or something I would like to wear.
How do you tell you husband that you don’t like T-shirts?
How do you tell your husband that you don’t wear yellow or gold?

I saw a navy zip-up jacket with a GT on the front.
I stopped at that item.
My husband noticed.
Is that the one? He asked.

My mind was racing, thinking of different colored shirts I could wear underneath.
I envisioned the zip-up jacket with the scarf.
I saw the ensemble completed with the plastic purse with the logo on it.
Yes, that’s the one, I said as he completed the purchase then and there.

Only another woman would understand.
Only another woman who was not a huge fan of football would empathize.
My husband seems very glad that my Georgia Tech attire will arrive next week.
He’s already thinking ahead to the next football game; I will be dressed appropriately.

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, “Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and fatted cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.” But they paid no attention and went off – one to his field, another to his business. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.” So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. “Friend,” he asked, “how did you get in here without wedding clothes?” The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:1-14)

We need to have appropriate clothes in order to enter heaven.
We need to be dressed in Jesus’ righteousness.
Our sin-stained garments will never suffice.
We need to be dressed in the clothes of One who never sinned.

We need to be dressed in clothes of the One who died for us in our place.
Like the person who gave me a Georgia Tech jacket to wear that day, we need new clothes.
We need the sinless Lamb of God to clothe us in clothes we could never obtain on our own.
Jesus takes our sin stained garments upon Himself and clothes us in acceptable garments.

We could never purchase His garments on our own.
The price is too exorbitant.
The price for those garments of righteousness was Jesus’ life.
By faith, we must come to Jesus in order to be dressed appropriately for our eternal home.