All God's children have robes that fit

Steve was one of our graduates when I worked at Course of Study. He was a big man, easily 6'5" and 300-350 pounds. BB was doing the fittings for the graduation robes and Steve couldn't find one that fit. B came and told me and I told her to tell him we would get one "storage" and not to worry. A couple of minutes later R called my cell and said Steve had just called and said he wasn't going to participate in the graduation service. She said he seemed very upset and very embarrassed and to be very gentle with him.

So I went and found him. He was sitting on a bench outside the chapel (where we all were for rehearsal). he was on the phone with his wife telling her to please come and just pick him up. I sat down next to him and waited for him to get off the phone. When he did, he said, "Did you get my message?" I said, "Yes, but I wish I didn't." I followed up with the question, "If I can get you a robe, would you come to graduation?" He protested a little saying I didn't have to do that work, that it wasn't my fault. I said it wasn't his fault either. He tried to object and I stopped him and reiterated that it wasn't his fault. I asked again if he would come to graduation if I got him a robe. He said if I went to all that work he guessed he would.

He asked what I wanted him to do about rehearsal and I said I wanted him to come and practice with everyone else. He asked for a minute to call his wife and tell her not to come and then came in and joined us.

BB went and talked with JB at Cokesbury to see what he might find. After rehearsal, I checked with JB and he said that what the area Cokesbury stores had wouldn't be big enough. All along I said if I had to, I would make him a robe myself. Fortunately, I had a better idea than making a robe from scratch--to instead make an extender. So I went to the Fabric store and got black taffeta and some snaps and thread and after dinner I went home and got to work. Only 1 major problem--my sewing machine was busted. I talked with my mom and my aunt and neither of them could figure it out, so I just did it by hand. Then during "Big Break" on Thursday I met with M, Steve's wife, and she thought it should be bigger. So I took off the snaps and started over. When he finally tried it on right before graduation, it fit smoothly, but only if he didn't move. And as that clearly wasn't going to happen, his wife tried to do some fixing, but in the end they ended up just leaving the last few snaps undone. It was a bit mickey mouse but he was pleased and glad to be walking at graduation. Both M and Steve thanked me and both told me that Steve had written about the experience in one of his classes.

The next day he came and gave me a copy of his journal entry and it was very sweet and the phrase he used was "All God's children have robes that fit." It reminded me of the Mahalia Jackson song, "All God's children have shoes." Two sermon themes come to mind:

1) God is not size-ist like we are and all God's children have robes that fit. We all get robes where we feel comfortable, affirmed, and respectable.

2) All God's children have...
a robe that fits
have shoes to wear
have food
have fun and can play
have freedom
have health care