We kick off the year at Gateway in South Austin with a desire to experience more of what God has for us. In this message we talk about the importance of creating new wineskin which requires work and sacrifice in order to be ready for the new wine.
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Message Notes:
Have you ever met someone who speaks in hyperbolic language? They use words like: always, never, the best, the worst, all, none, every, nobody, forever, perfect.
Maybe in the new year, you’ve heard people say things like:
This is going to be the best year EVER
This is the year your life will NEVER be the same
We know better than to speak in such ways, NOT because there aren’t things that are absolute or described well by these words, but because if everything is talked about in hyperbolic language, then it can detract from those things that truly stand the test of time…absolutes.
Jesus was one to use absolutes when he taught and led people:
I am the light of the world – John 8:12
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
I am the way the truth and the life – John 14:6
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
But he didn’t do that with everything he taught. He was open about particular things, giving people room to process and make decisions for themselves, and yet, he was clear and poignant with other things. This is where we find ourselves today, a parable that is for us to consider in Mark chapter 2.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” – Mark 2:21-22
There are three ways to approach this parable from Jesus:
- The first approach is for us to fully understand the context of what is happening here
Context is everything. The other day I only heard part of a conversation with our family, I had an opinion, gave it, only to realize I had no idea what they were actually talking about. I missed out on the context, so then my viewpoint had no validity. We listen, read and pick up context clues to help us understand. If we do NOT do this, we walk away with our presumptions about the passage.
- The second is to fully understand what he is trying to convey to those around him
Just a reminder, the Bible was not written to us specifically, but it is for us as part of the body of Christ.
- The third is to fully understand what is conceivable for us
DL Moody (19th century evangelist) was quoted as saying, “The Bible was not given for our information, but for our transformation.”
So let’s dive into the first part.
What is the CONTEXT?
In fact, we’re going to teach this entire passage in the weeks to come, but for today we’ll give a quick overview. Jesus is stirring things up wherever he goes, and he’s doing three things that gets people all riled up.
He’s performing miracles and forgiving people’s sin, he’s using language that people have not heard someone say, and it’s causing some to think he is blasphemous.
Jesus sensed the tensions rising and just called things out both with his words and with his actions. He then proceeds to call a new disciple, Matthew, to follow him. Matthew was a tax-collector, the equivalent of saying you work for the IRS in our context. Jesus then spends time with him, and his friends, and these people are considered by the religious to be sinners and not worthy of religious insight and consideration.
The religious are sitting back and thinking things like,
- “I would never say that”
- “That person would never get my time”
- “Those people are never going to be good enough”
Then you have this new leader, causing a stir and he is doing the very things other people are thinking they would never do.
Then he is approached by some of the disciples of John the Baptist, a relative of Jesus. Remember, we just had Christmas and Mary his mother spent time with her relative Elizabeth as she endured the process of bringing him into the world. This makes Jesus and John the Baptist relatives.
He’s also approached by some religious leaders, and he is questioned about fasting.
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” – Mark 2:18
Q – What is fasting?
A – Abstaining from food or drink for a specified time to deepen one’s relationship with God. (In modern times other things have also been fasted from that keep one’s focus on anything but God)
Q – Why do people fast?
A – To pray/read scripture in order to grow in dependence on God. Usually done in time of needing clarity in a particular season of a person’s life. Cutting out food and other “distractions” allows one to have a mind that is clear and ready to receive.
Q – Should we fast?
A – Yes, it is biblical to fast, BUT with the right heart and mindset.
Jesus says in Matthew 6, “…when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
“Christian fasting, at its root, is the hunger of a homesickness for God. Christian fasting is not only the spontaneous effect of superior satisfaction in God, it is also a chosen weapon against every force in the world that would take that satisfaction away.” – John Piper – “Hunger for God”
So to be clear, the problem was NOT that these people were questioning Jesus on fasting. The problem was that they could NOT see Jesus for who he really was. If they were fasting and praying to hear from God, if they were fasting and praying to deepen their relationship with God, if they were fasting and praying to have more revelation, then they were doing it all wrong. There was no need to fast, if God is standing right in front of them.
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
Mic drop!! He’s letting those who do NOT have ears to hear, that the misfits we call his disciples had no need to fast, because they were in the presence of God. But he doesn’t stop there…he then says, what we read earlier.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
Now we get to the second thing…
What is Jesus trying to CONVEY?
For us to understand the parable, we need to understand this concept of new and old, and how they work and do NOT work together. For example, if you’ve been remarried, that is a new relationship, it is NOT your old relationship. You cannot project on to your partner the sins and hurts of a past partner.
If you’re in a new semester at school, you have to let the old semester be what it was, and start over. You cannot bring your past mistake, your failed test, even your perfect 100 into the new semester. It is a new semester, but it doesn’t take away the past one.
What Jesus is telling them is that he is bringing a new way, the way, to the earth. And if those around him try to take the new and fit it into the old, all of it will be lost. Jesus did not come to destroy, or do away with the old. In fact, Matthew 5 quotes Jesus as saying, “I have not come to abolish them (the law) but to fulfill them (the law).”
He was holding the tension of reverence for the old, while maintaining his focus on his purpose of the new.
So if we focus on the new wineskin metaphor, we learn so much more about what he is saying. This picture you see of a prototypical wineskin. These are usually made of goat or sheep skin, and in researching I found a place called, Jesus Blasco Botas de Vino (wineskins), in the province of Guadalajara, Spain. They’ve been making these since the 1800s.
Whoa! We see the word wineskin, and we assume it’s something that is just usury. Something we just go and buy, like we’re at the grocery story buying a bottle of wine. NO!! A wineskin takes time, it takes effort, it takes precision and mastery, it takes a life of an animal, it is about shaping and forming…why? So that the wine isn’t lost!
So if Jesus is bringing a new wine, a new way of being, then it is important for those hearing him to prepare to do the work of housing that wine. It is important to know that the old wineskin, the old way, cannot house the new wine. He uses this absolute language that they would understand in their context. Notice he says:
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.
No one pours new wine into old wineskins
He’s making it plain to them, “you know this!” And if you know this, then it is not responsible to even try to put the new with the old.
Why? New wine ferments, and as it ferments, it releases new gases, and the old wineskin has already reached its elastic limit with the old wine, so the new gases released will cause the rigid old wineskin to burst.
New wine means new wineskins! New wineskins take work, and effort and are not bought off of the shelf.
Which brings us to our last interpretation of the passage…
What is CONCEIVABLE for us?
In this new year many of us will make strides to make a change, start something new, stop something old, but have we considered the real cost of the change?
I’m encouraging you to slow down, take a real inventory of your spiritual life, and say yes to making the new wineskin, before you even ask for new wine. Sometimes that means doing the very thing that we said we would never do.
So let me be very real with you today. I hate fasting! I’ve done it, I’ve done 21 day fasts, Daniel’s fast, fasting from some of my favorite things, and I hate it. I’ve even convinced myself that it is completely unnecessary. But last week I was talking with Libby, my wife, and I uttered the words I never thought I would say. I think God is asking me to fast in the new year. For 28 years I’ve had bosses/pastors who have encouraged me, sometimes made me fast. But now I’m the boss, there is no one to mandate a fast. Except the one who is shaping me, forming me, I am still a disciple, and he is asking me to give up things I love for things I love even more.
Holding on to our “nevers” just might be keeping us from God’s “forever”!
Are we more sold out to what we said we would never do, instead of considering how we might be wrong and need to commit to things beyond our control?
Maybe you’ve said you would never forgive someone, and that lack of forgiveness is holding you as a prisoner.
Maybe you’ve said you would never follow Jesus, but here you are, exploring faith and staying open minded, maybe your never needs to change.
Maybe you’ve followed Jesus but there are things on our checklist of things you will never do as a Christian (fast, give of your money, join a group, etc…) and it may be the very thing that is keeping you from the life in Christ you desire.
As we close out our time together by making another absolute…this church, our church, will be a place of prayer. We will take time to slow down, and allow God to have his way in us, you can choose to fight that, or you can choose to surrender to whatever he is asking of you.
As you walked in you were given one of these (pray first card). We’ve carved out time in today’s service for all of us to participate in this new wineskin exercise. Every time we do this we see more and more people lean into whatever is taking place in their life. Each person on the card is prayed for multiple times during this pray first time, I personally pray over every card that comes into our church.
We hope you will take it as seriously as we do. Listen to this song and join in with this faith community as we head into this new year.
