Sermon for Sunday, May 7th, 2023 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament reading:
[Gen 3:1-7 ESV] 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
New Testament reading:
[1Ti 2:8-10 ESV] 8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness–with good works.
Gospel reading:
[Luk 17:1-6 ESV] 1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Introduction
[1Ti 2:8-10 ESV] 8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness–with good works.
We come now to “the virtue of Modesty.”
And I wonder how many of us think “Well, here is something I am actually good at.” “I’m not great at patience or some of those other Biblical virtues, but at least I am able to dress myself in a non-scandalous manner.”
So have we found a subject at which We all succeed and only some OTHERS fail?
Unlikely. Modesty is more than just how we dress. It extends also to our behavior and to our speech. Let us be modest in all our ways.
Now, while modesty in a broad sense does apply to behavior and the speech, the focus in our text and the focus historically is indeed on how we present ourselves, especially how we dress. So the majority of the sermon today will be on “modesty in dress.”
And if you already dress modestly – which frankly I believe is all of us – there is still much to learn.
I. Modesty In Dress
Our story starts in the book of Genesis, as it usually does. Genesis explains not only that God is our creator and that man fell into sin, but it also tells us things like why there is pain at childbirth (because of the fall) and why the nations speak different languages (having been dispersed and confused after the building of the tower of Babel).
We go also to the book of Genesis when we begin to think about modesty.
Adam and Eve were, in the beginning, naked in the garden. But upon their fall into sin, having eaten the forbidden fruit, their “eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked.” “And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loinclothes.” Later in the same chapter we find that “God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”
This is the origin of wearing clothing. If you think about it, we are a bit strange. None of the animals wear clothing. From the Ant to the Zebra, animals have only their birthday suits. And these are, no pun intended, suitable to their environment. We, however, need clothing to keep the sun off our backs and to prevent frostbite in our toes.
But the account of Adam and Even doesn’t say that we wear clothing because of nature’s impact upon our skin, but rather we wear clothing to cover our shame, so that others may not see us naked.
Following the Fall into sin, Adam and Eve are ashamed of their sinfulness. They begin to be sensible of their wretchedness. So they sew fig leaves together. Calvin asks: “To what end?” Why do they do this? Why do they make these first clothes? And Calvin answers “That they may keep God at a distance, as by an invincible barrier.” Fig leaves! Even Calvin admits the absurdity of this. And this shows us how absurd it is when we try to cover our sins, when we try to excuse them, when God knows them fully well.
Anyways, soon God makes for them better clothing. It is from the skins of animals, thereby requiring the death of those animals. Because of sin, Adam and Eve deserve death, but now animal sacrifices are made in their place. God provides the animals and therefore provides their clothing. He is saying, as it were, “Your works – your homemade fig leaf clothing — is not good enough to come before me, you must have my grace and provision in the death of another.” You can see the foreshadowing of the Gospel in this: Jesus Christ died for our sins as a substitute for us
Well, clothing is now established for mankind. And the connection here I believe is this: now that man has fallen into sinfulness, he will struggle with improper lust and perversion. Clothing then, for the sake of Adam (and Eve) and their posterity, covers nakedness so as to prevent or at least decrease lust and perverse thoughts.
This is why we wear clothing. And this all comes back to modesty. There is a simple rule now with modesty: cover yourself. [REPEAT: COVER YOURSELF]
Of course, this doesn’t mean “cover yourself head to toe” with a burka or something like that. But rather, Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 12:23 of “unpresentable parts” that are “treated with greater modesty which our more presentable parts do not require.” We don’t need to cover our hands or our heads or our faces, but there are other parts that do need to be covered.
So then … as Christians, the big question that comes to us is “what should we wear?” What kind of clothing is Biblically acceptable?
Now Jesus at first wore swaddling clothes as a baby, and then he wore a tunic (John 19:23), and a cloak (Mark 6:56) over that, and probably a belt (like John the Baptist (Matt 3:4) and Paul (Acts 21:11)) and sandals (Luke 3:16).
Is this how we should dress? Like a 1st century middle easterner? While it would indeed cover our “unpresentable parts,” you’d probably be drawing too much attention dressing in a style of a different time and place.
Similarly, the overalls and dresses of the Amish, in that 18th century fashion, indeed cover a person acceptably. But that style is not necessary. Plenty of other clothing options would fit under the idea Biblical modesty.
The preacher Paul Washer perhaps reaches the best conclusion. He says: “Do not dress like a Puritan. Why? They lived a long time ago. Look like your culture except where your culture contradicts the scriptures.” [REPEAT: Look like your culture except where your culture contradicts the scriptures]
As Christians we have much freedom in our dress, but we should dress modesty. This indeed means that our clothing should adequately cover us.
But this isn’t the only thing to keep in mind. Perhaps a broader rule is that your clothing shouldn’t draw unnecessary attention to you. Clothing is to be respectable.
That is what Paul says in our text: “Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control.”
He mentions women here, and there psychological reasons (that I’m not expert enough to get to) which might explain why historically (and still today) it is that women are spoken of here.
But the point is for all of us, men and women. A neighbor the other day – a man – was very inappropriately dressed. I don’t think he’d get a citation from the police for it, but he was wearing a shirt that I’d describe as merely half a shirt.
Now dressing modestly is both for the benefit of the person themselves and for others. For the person themselves this guards against any suggestion of sexual immorality. Nobody can claim the modestly-dressed person is trying to seduce anyone else. And for others, the covering of modest dress helps to hold back some (but not all) of their lust.
In Isaiah God was upset with the immodest daughters of Zion, the women of Israel.
[Isa 3:16-17 ESV] 16 The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet, 17 therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.
Now, I’ve already mentioned that this applies also to men. Men also are to dress modestly. But I also want to note the benefit of this for women especially.
An Irish Presbyterian minister says “It is not an attack upon women. It does not reflect any disrespect for women. Quite the opposite, we want to uphold the dignity of Christian women so that they are not cheapened by conformity to the standards of this world.” – David Silversides
So the Bible promotes modesty of dress.
But more broadly modesy is not only of dress, but of behavior and of speaking. In each case, we should dress, behave, and speak so as to guard against the suggestion of sexual immorality. There is immodest dress, but also immodest behavior, and immodest speech.
II. Modestly In Behavior
What is immodest behavior?
If you’ve ever been to a city on a beach you’ll find young men (usually) cruising up and down the strip in their cars, drawing attention to themselves, in what might look like some type of mating ritual. The louder your car, the more attention you get. The more absurd your hair style, the more attention you get.
Immodest behavior is that is which shocking or embarrassing because it is rude or indecent. The person is “unrestrained.”
It is, for example, proudly showing off your wealth.
But when a person is modest, you might have no idea they are wealthy. From time to time you’ll hear of a person passing away and donating millions of dollars to church and charity, and no one knew they even had anything beyond normal savings. They lived modestly.
III. Modesty In Speech
Then there is modesty in speech.
Paul says in 1st Timothy:
[1Ti 4:12 ESV] 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
Modestly of speech to not brag about our job, our knowledge, our wealth, or our abilities.
[Eph 4:29 ESV] 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
You can see that there is much overlap between modesty and that other virtue, humility. We are called to be modest, and we are called to be humble.
And certainly, as sinners saved by a loving God, it is only of God that we can boast.
As an application, I want to look at the effect of modesty, or “what modesty does.”
Application: The effect of modesty. What modesty does.
I. Modesty avoids drawing the wrong sort of attention.
For women this may be clothing, jewelry, hairstyles, or luxurious possessions that draw attention to self.
For men it might look more like tools (which they can brag about) or cars or expensive sunglasses, or any number of others things.
In modesty, we avoid drawing to us the type of person who is draw to those things. Modesty keeps away those who want merely your looks or your money. Modesty will tend to keep away bad suitors and might even draw in good suitors, respectable people themselves.
II. Modesty leads to a peaceful and quiet life.
Then, for ourselves, modestly leads to a peaceful and quiet life.
There is a connection to this point from some verses prior to our sermon text. Back in 1 Timothy 2:1-3. Paul says:
[1Ti 2:1-3 ESV] 1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
A peaceful and quiet life is the goal.
And then, later in the passage comes the phrase “women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel.”
Such adornment will tend towards a more peaceable and quiet life.
III. Modesty protects the weak.
Who are the weak? Just about everyone.
We are called, as Christians, not to drink alcohol around those who might be tempted by it to relapse into alcoholism.
We are called not to be a stumbling block to the weak.
By wearing modest clothing, and speaking modestly (without sexual innuendo), and behaving modestly, we protect the weaker brother, helping to keep him from the sin of lust or the sins that lust leads to.
We read in our Gospel reading today:
[Luk 17:1-2 ESV] 1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
We don’t want to lead others into sin.
But we must be clear here, this subject must never be used as an excuse sin. The person who lusts, sins. They cannot say “so and so caused me to sin because of their dress.” The reality is that because sin is pervasive, the covering of clothing can only diminish sin, but never entirely stop it. Even if a beautiful women were covered head to toe in sackcloth, men would still look and still lust.
Then as Christians, being “stronger” we certainly should seek not to lust after others. But if others do dress immodestly, we are not to judge them. It is a Christian’s duty to be charitable in our judgements. So if a woman is wearing inappropriate clothing, we are not to assume that she is doing so salaciously. It is possible that she doesn’t know better. She has been taught that way.
And if a person has distracting tattoos or expensive accessories, do not trouble them over their appearance. Bear with them and do not mistreat them, but have patience as the Lord has been patient with you.
Conclusion
Finally, as Francis Schaeffer was asked, “How then should we live?”
Our text tells us, we are to put off the immodest and put on good works
9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness–with good works.
Rather than focusing on the rules of dress, let us be guided by the Spirt of Christ. Let us grow in holiness and humility, because where our heart IS, THERE our actions will follows. Our dress, our language, and our behavior will be an expression of our renewed self, renewed in the image of Christ.
[1Pe 3:3-4 ESV] 3 Do not let your adorning be external–the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear– 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.