A New Thing!
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day didn’t like the fact the Jesus kept breaking the mold of acceptable church life. He stripped grain on days that were unacceptable, healed the sick on the Sabbath, and spent way too much time with “tax gatherers and despicable sinners”. According to the holders of tradition at that time, these activities were obnoxious and disgusting. “How could anyone who claims to be a God-follower act in such a way?” they would wonder.
It is in this context that the Pharisees ask Jesus why his disciples do not fast. After all, the disciples of all other rabbis fast. Why don’t Jesus’ disciples do this? Don’t miss the critical tone in their question. They are trying to put Jesus on the spot. You see, He’s not living up to the acceptable modes of the day. Jesus calmly explains that attendants of the bridegroom do not fast while the bridegroom is still with them. Of course, what Jesus is really saying is that the Pharisees need to let go of their stringent traditions and expectations of how God wants to work. He is now working in a new way, according to Jesus!
Right on the heels of this situation, without even a break in your biblical text, Jesus then tells a simple and almost silly little metaphor about putting new wine into new wineskins. He states, “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough,’” Luke 5:37-39.
Jesus wants them, and us, to understand that God is in the business of doing new things! Not just with Jesus, but all through history God has done new things, unpredictable things, things that require true faith to grasp. Jesus is telling the Pharisees of His day that the old motifs, models, traditions, expectations, rules, and theologies will not suffice for the new things that God is doing. The old “wineskins” will not be able to contain it. New “wineskins” must be available for new wine…the new things that God is doing.
Now—don’t miss the last statement in the above passage. Jesus said, “And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’” This statement is meant to warn us against following our natural human orientation, especially in Kingdom things. As C.S Lewis stated, “We Christians are too easily pleased.” We quickly settle for what we have, what we’ve had, and what we know. If there is something we like, we tend to stick with it because we’re satisfied with it. However, God’s way is much different. He constantly challenges us to new things, different adventures, walking by faith rather than by sight, fresh expressions of praise and adoration, risky initiatives to win more to the Kingdom, and tasting that God is good…even in new flavors! The warning here is clear: Do not settle for what you’ve already had. Do not go back to the old wine when God is constantly producing new wine. Keep it fresh, adventurous, mysterious, and new.
We settle for “old’ things like the church programs we like, the songs we’ve come to love, the expectations we’ve grow accustomed to, the methods we come to appreciate, the expressions of worship we’ve grown comfortable in, the polity by which a church functions. And while clinging to these, we miss the fresh wine! God is constantly calling us to new things so that our journey is always new, with fresh expressions and necessary faith that clings to God through this journey outside of our comfort zones. God doesn’t just want us to leave some things behind – He’s waiting to give us much better things as we become discontented with “the old”. It is NOT good enough.
God has blessed me by placing me in several networks of some of the most amazing, cutting edge, highly respected leaders in the evangelical world today. I’m a peon among them, but blessed to watch and learn from these godly trail-blazers. Here’s what I see more than anything else: God is doing new things in new ways. He is not using the old things to do new things…He’s not even using the old things to do old things. This is a new day! God’s Spirit is moving in a mighty way to bring about a radical movement of new Christians. Biblically sound, culturally relevant, and creatively impressive, these new ministries are breaking the mold by reaching our new world in new ways with a fresh version of the old message. We, too, must leave the past motifs and expectations behind. God was there, but He’s not in the past anymore. God is doing a new thing in this new day.
It’s time for us to get with it. It’s time for us to do a new thing.
