Jesus says something fascinating here:  "No one pours new wine into old wineskins...  No, he pours new wine in new wineskins."  What did He mean and what does it mean for us today?  In the church new wine is a fresh way of doing ministry.  It's singing a new hymn or worshipping in a new way.  Wine is the message or the person who receives it;  a wineskin is the way the wine is contained.  New wine belongs in new wineskins.  If you put it into old wineskins, they will burst.

          This analogy isn't well known to us today.  We don't see wineskins on sale at Park Meadows.  Few people realize fermenting wine produces gases that can burst a container.  Even the example of sewing a new piece of cloth is unfamiliar in our world of preshrunk and synthetic materials.  We could say it this way:  "No one cuts up a new shirt to patch old jeans.  You shouldn't put new wine into cracked bottles."

          The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a dynamic force.  It changes people.  The Gospel is changeless, but it changes those who hear it.  St. Paul said:  "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;  the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor. 5:17)   Every day God changes people through the Gospel.  He invites us to get out of our ruts and follow Him into new places.  He wants us to go beyond our safety zones and comfort levels, and let Him lead us into greener pastures.  Not foolishly, but to do His work.

          It's a human thing to want to keep things as they are, and sometimes we should.  Last Friday Brian and I went skiing.  It snowed and blew all day and we hadn't been to Copper Mtn. in several years.  Between the blowing snow and the unfamiliar territory, we stayed on runs we knew.  We didn't try the new runs we otherwise might have.  Sometimes it's best to stay with what you know.

          It's human to like the old wineskins and old wine.  Some church people think, "The older the wine, the better."  But old wine eventually runs out.  A new generation needs new wine given in new wineskins.  Old wine in new wineskins turns sour.  New wine forced into old wineskins breaks them.  New wine needs new wineskins.

          Many who heard and followed Jesus found their lives transformed, but some found His message too radical.  He stirred up controversy when He said people no longer needed to observe the cherished tradition of fasting.  He challenged the rituals they'd faithfully observed for generations.  In effect, He said the Christian community cannot be contained by old rituals and old ways of doing things.  No matter how treasured they may be, if they're not working, they must be reformed.  When Jesus comes into your life, business as usual must be interrupted.

          This did not make Him a popular man.  The disruption of tradition and custom always makes people anxious.  Sometimes a congregation struggles with a new organizational structure, or resists the change of a hymnal.  Visitors may find a mission so new they wonder if it's worth coming back to.  Contemporary worship attracts some and drives others away.  Being ushered out of church is necessary to some while others find it stiff and formal.  A new pastor may challenge the wrong people, and they leave.  Even worshipping in a mortuary chapel, no matter how new or lovely, is too much for some.  They want the safety of a regular church building.

          Change makes people anxious - that's only human.  And our anxiety can drive us to shut out anything new and then sanctify the old, setting it into concrete, no matter how useless it may have become.  But our uneasiness with new wineskins can also help us become creative.  It can excite people and urge them to be led by the Spirit.  New wineskins perhaps can lead us to witness to Jesus and love others as God has loved us.  Best of all, Godly change can help re-shape lives lost in sin and darkness.  Any change that brings people to God is worth a little uneasiness.

          The early church struggled with this.  Could their new church be open enough to include Gentiles?  Could they let Gentiles become Christian without going through Jewish rituals?  Could they admit that some of the old wineskins needed to be tossed so the new wine would find a home?  Those early Christians said "Yes!", and their response sent the Good News of the Messiah pouring into the far corners of the world.  The church grew because new wine was poured into new wineskins.

          Today we dare never think there is only one way to do worship or to be a church.  This is the year 2000 with new challenges, and we live in a society completely different from 40 or 50 years ago.  Yet many churches use only old, familiar wineskins for the new wine.

          The wine of the Gospel may be changeless, but people who hear it change every day.  The new wine of today is growing up knowing nothing of war, polio or LP records.  They know nothing of carrying water from a well, and can't imagine life without computers, cell phones or satellite TV.  On the other hand, some new wine has immigrated to America from nations so poor our garbage would feed their nation.  In such a changing society the church must continually find new ways to pour the wine of God's love into newly emerging wineskins.

          Whatever new wineskin we want to fill, the wine of the Gospel is changeless.  It is the message that God loves us no matter what - no matter what we have done, no matter who we are, no matter where we have come from.  The grace of God is a potent and precious force, more potent than an atomic bomb, more precious than diamonds.  The grace of God changes us.  It gives us eternity.  Every wineskin we use must be tested to be sure it lets the wine of God's love flow freely to thirsty people.

          Yes, we must test new wineskins.  We must make sure they are the right shape or size.  We must know if they will work.  We must always ask, is this new thing motivated by love?  Does it help people become more Christ-like?  Does the new program reach out to serve others, or does it reach in to serve ourselves?

          Jesus kept company with tax collectors and sinners, and it antagonized the church of His day.  They didn't much like His behavior, and I'm not sure we would have either.  He reached out to hurting and dying people.  He embraced those hungry for good news.  Yet the church of His day protected their customs.  It is always easier to stay locked in one's traditions, than to sew a new wineskin.

          Jesus broke the rules of those who wrote the rule books, and He paid the price.  He died because the church of His day would not bend.  And we must take care that we don't do the same.  Our worship must speak to people's needs.  We must welcome all who enter our doors.  We must show the love of Jesus in everything we do.  We must take care not to become set in our ways.  We must welcome people to the Lord's Table.  It's amazing to know there are churches where Christ Himself would not be welcome for Holy Communion, because He is not a Lutheran.

          You may be wondering why I am preaching on this text.  Here's why:  we are a new church and would seem to have all things new.  Yet we must be careful not to set up customs based on out-dated ideas of what a church should be.  We must continually seek new ways of reaching out to people.  New wine cannot go into old wineskins.

          Friends, the world is waiting for a sign from us.  Will we love God's people or just be another self-centered church?  Will we be a light shining on a hill or just another lamp dimmed by its own traditions?  Will we hang onto the safety of old wineskins or will we pass around a new one, filled with the precious wine of God's mercy?

          St. Paul said in 2 Corinthians, "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody."  What will people read in our letter?  What message will we give to the world?  God grant we all will be living letters for Christ, new wine for new wineskins, people who forgive because they know what it is to be forgiven.  Amen

Copyright © 2000 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.