There are three accounts in three of the four gospels, where this message from Jesus is recorded. We can assume that when most of the gospel writers cover something, it’s not just important (all of Jesus’ teaching is important), it’s vital. What we are dealing with today is of vital importance, in order for Christians to function as we are called to, and for the Church to be all we are called to be.

See Matthew 9 v 16, Mark 2 v 21-22 and Luke 5 v 36 – 39.

We’re taking Luke’s passage; it says slightly more than the other two.

³⁶He told them this parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. ³⁷And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. ³⁸No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. ³⁹And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ “

The context is that Jesus chooses to associate with ‘Tax Collectors and sinners’. Not only that, but he actually visits the home of Levi (later called Matthew), who has called together all his tax collecting and sinning friends. Levi was probably very frowned upon by the Pharisees because, as his name suggests, he must have been of a priestly family – priest turned tax collector was a real indictment.

Anyway Jesus visits his home then even calls him as one of his disciples. The Pharisees couldn’t get hold of this – everything Jesus could do wrong, he was doing! However they were intrigued by Jesus and were trying to understand him. The problem was that their criteria for measuring spirituality, was not God’s and Jesus didn’t fit! He didn’t tick the boxes of fasting, associations, etiquette etc.

Rather than walking away from this, Jesus walked into the storm, to teach us some essential principles. He began to tell these parables – first one about sewing, then one about winemaking. Both are illustrating the same point. We’re taking the winemaking illustration today.

The Wineskins Jesus referred to would most likely have been whole goatskins. The practice was to remove the skin, cutting off the lower leg parts then sewing everything back together, with only the neck remaining open. The skins were tanned and prepared for the wine. So imagine a goat sized bag, with four leg shaped bulges. The pressed grape juice was then poured in and left to ferment. Through the fermentation process, the skin would inflate, due to the carbon dioxide generated by fermentation. After a while the whole thing would be like a big balloon. It relied upon the flexibility of the goatskin to contain this expansion until the fermentation was complete. It must have been that occasionally one of these things would go bang – spraying partially fermented wine all over the place. No one wanted this to happen, because they’d have lost some good wine and there was a terrible mess to clean up afterward. This scenario would have been relevant and pertinent to the audience.

Job quotes the experience in Job 32 v 18 – 19;

“For I am full of words,
and the spirit within me compels me;
inside I am like bottled-up wine,
like new wineskins ready to burst.”

Jesus pointed out that no one in his right mind would try to recycle one of these skins – the process and the presence of alcohol for a prolonged period stiffened the skin and greatly reduced its pliability.

So what was Jesus saying through this parable?

Wine usually refers to the Spirit of God; His plans, His work; His influence and power; His Salvation.

The Wineskin, being the container for the wine, refers to us; what we do, how we reach out; our culture and activities. In short, we can say that the Church is the wineskin.

We can look back through the last 30 years or so and see how the wineskins in this country have changed considerably – in the late ’70s/early 80s we saw the House Church movement arise, redefining established Church models. The 80s were very much about real and engaging worship, reality in applying our faith to everyday lives and allowing the Holy Spirit to bring things alive. The late 80s, early 90s were about strengthening Churches – restoring apostolic ministry, returning principles of authority to new Church structures. The late 90s and early 2000s were about experiencing God and enjoying Him. Now there is a new move which gets our focus out into society, bringing Jesus into the community in ways that ordinary (unchurched) people can understand. God is encouraging us to be those who care about the world and people around us.

There is new wine flowing – how do we respond? How do we take what God is doing and bring it to the people? New strategies of God require new ways of thinking. Young people generally have a more flexible approach – they are more easily given to be new wineskins. Older people like me(!) do well to take notice of how they think. It’s easy to fall into the mould of trying to keep things as they are, to maintain the status quo, rather than to flex and expand to accommodate the new things God is wanting to do. We’re wise to listen to the younger generation. Some ideas and ways of doing things may not be our cup of tea, but we’re wise to take notice. They often have keys we don’t think of, because they have a more open view of the world.

In Luke 5, v 39:

³⁹And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ “

It is true that aged wine often tastes better than newly bottled wine. Often we want the old things – old songs, old experiences relived, old styles, old well proven techniques. These are good things and still to be savoured, but if we don’t bottle new wine, there will be no wine in the future. The reason vintage wines are so costly is because they are rare – they are consumed and become even more rare. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying Handel’s Messiah on occasions (for instance), but it’s not how we will grow. We need new wineskins for new wine – new methods and ways to bring the gospel to people in the 21^st century. Old evangelism methods are often not relevant these days – we need to serve people, get alongside them and share some life with them. We need to be aware of the importance of image and the way things look. We need to be sure to communicate in ways people can understand and relate to.

It’s a challenge, but well worth asking yourself some serious questions about whether you’ve got ‘stuck in the mud’, or whether you are able to flex and change as God moves in new ways.

⁷ Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favours what you do. ⁸ Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. ⁹ Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun- all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labour under the sun. ¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going; there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Live life to the full.

Ephesians 6: 5-8

Serve wholeheartedly – not as slaves who have to and get no reward, but as people who honour and love God in all they do.

So much depends on our attitude to life and its challenges … whether we serve “because we have to” or “as unto God”  makes a big difference!

(Luke 19 – Parable of the talents)

God does not ask us to be perfect in what we do, but to have an excellent spirit about us… doing things the very best we can!

Having the attitude that says… I can make something of my life… I can grow and develop in it!

Pictures of Bananas. One lot look really fresh and good

The other bunch – are not quite so appealing or attractive!

What is inside – may be just as good and delicious… but we are not particularly drawn to the bad bananas! In the same way, how we live and work, how we run church, our attitudes to people, the boss, our lot in life… can be as attractive, or as unattractive as the bananas!

What we do… in any sphere of our lives needs to be done well, needs to be done with the best of our ability. If we want people to treat Church seriously, we need to work to make it look good. Those of us in Church won’t notice much difference

Let our words not be, “I can’t be bothered”, but rather the willing heart that says “I’ll give it my best”

In a negative world – it is very refreshing to find people who will do whatever they do “with all their might”

Consider your life and how your attitude and “work ethos” is in the various areas of your life. Is it a “get by” mentality, “oh it’ll do” mentality or is it a passionate, ” I’ll lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me!” attitude.

Ask God to help you change the way you think about things, that He would be honoured in our lives and we would attract people to Jesus because of our excellent spirit.

Job 1

We see Job as a righteous man … upright before God. He was very wealthy, Godly, and cared about the right things.

v.6:  God has a conversation with Satan and is confident that Job is undergirded with the principles that make a Man of God … it’s not “stuff” or blessings alone. Satan is given leave to test him.

Total disaster befalls Job… he loses everything… all of his livelihood, his workers and his children, but he blesses the name of the Lord and doesn’t blame God.

Job 2

He loses his health … yet despite his wife’s encouragement to curse God and die, he refuses to blame Him.

So how did Job respond to these very negative situations?

1.       He held to his integrity… he didn’t float about as he was well anchored in the things of God. When times are hard, we need to hold fast to God

2.       He reached despair… “I wish I’d never been born!”, but he faced the reality and acknowledged the situation. He wasn’t in denial, he was honest, about his situation – hard, but necessary!

3.       He confronted his fears! We do well to face our “Worst case scenario”. When we face the worst defeat the far of that, it no longer has a hold over us. See Job 2 v 5:  He faced his worst scenario and allowed God to be in it… What can God do for me in this … He looked to his Maker!

4.       He looked at God’s greatness and recognised the power, the mercy and grace of God even in this hardship. See Job 9 v 2.

5.       He realised his humanity in the face of GOD… recognised his distance from God and that he needed a saviour.

6.       He did not allow the “stuff” that was oppressing him to squash him or make him feel inferior, bitter or resentful. See Job 12.

7.       He recognised that God is full of Wisdom, Counsel and Understanding and that in God, he had everything he needed! See Job 12 v 13

Then we see Elihu, a young man who rose up passionately and roused! N.B. Sometimes our “young men” have a passionate wisdom about them that we need to listen to!

8.       God comes and simply asks, “Who are you and what can you do?” See Job 38 v 41

Job answers, v 3 – 6, I know you can do anything… and he responds by recognising that before he had just heard of God and His ways, but now, he had met Him!

Job’s breakthrough was when he surrendered to God. After that God was able to rebuild Job and his life. We need to daily surrender our lives to God and live out of His rebuilding work in our lives… quite a challenge “give up and let God!”

Whatever you’re facing, the most importand key to surrender it to the Lord. That’s the central message of the book of Job. Yet if you’re anything like me, it’s not the first thing you think of doing – panic; action; worry, etc. but how about crying out to God with the statement that “I’m lost without You”? He cares and be assured He has a plan to restore your life. In Job’s case, the letter part of his life was twice and successful as the first – once he totally surrendered the the Lord.

It’s so easy to over-complicate things. It’s so easy to make the Christian Faith so complicated… by putting conditions, ways, rules on church, issues, things that we don’t fully understand – we wrap up in complicated discussions and arguments . We try to justify our “point of view” or our “opinion” and life gets full of head issues!Jesus kept things simple, e.g.:

Follow Me
Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you
Abide in me and I in you and you will bear much good fruit
Do to others as you would have them do to you
I am with you always – to the end of the age.

Why is it that we read in to things, motives behind what others say, or do?
God gave simple instructions in Micah 6: 8
“He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?”

Simple – do this and live!!
Look at them in reverse:

1.    Walk humbly with your God –what does it mean to walk humbly?
Not being proud or arrogant – but accepting God’s opinion of us!
Simply put it means believing, saying, doing what God says… what He says about you – you are loved – I believe it, You are worth dying for – I believe it,
Called, precious, able, strong, filled with His power….
As we live out of what God says about us we simply become those shining lights that shine in a dark world… just live out of His Word.

2.    Love mercy – well that’s easy – we all love mercy we need it so much – for God to be merciful with us – full of loving kindness and kind in His dealings with us – wonderful …”chessed” (Hebrew).

His mercy drew us to Him, gave us His grace and helped us come through… and does when we fall. Full of mercy – so kind. But what about us – do we love to be merciful to others….or are we quick to get our penny’s worth of revenge? When they said the wrong thing, didn’t do or live out of our expectation of them… are we merciful to them, or do we slate them (maybe not always to their face) for forgetting, doing it again, not considering you, critical of them? Do you judge them on their appearance their fumbled words, have we presumed?

What about people who seem to have it all together? They also need mercy! Sometimes we overlook the needs of people we presume are ok. We are quick to criticise and presume, without looking below the surface. We miss out on the blessing of being merciful, because of assumptions. John 13: when the world sees the love we have for one another, they are drawn to Jesus.

God wants us to LOVE mercy – the giving of mercy as well as wanting to be on the receiving end all the time. Consider it!

3.    Do justly… do the right thing … and like mercy we so want to be justified ourselves. We want to have justice when wronged, make sure people know we were in the right, we didn’t say, do etc… But what about the giving of justice. Do we want to we do what Jesus would do – love, forgive, bear with one another, be kindly gracious with one another, forgive one another? Or do we always want to be putting them right, interfering with the mercy and grace. Yes there is a place and time for correction from others… but consider this – why do we make it hard for one another to find the grace of God and the mercy of God in each other’s lives by criticism, judgement,  presumption?

So; why not de-clutter your faith, according to Micah 6 v 8? You’ll find your life, relationships and walk with God go a whole lot better!

——————————————–
A story used to illustrate mercy:

He was kind of scary. He sat there on the grass with his cardboard sign, his dog (actually his dog was adorable) and tattoos running up and down both arms and even on his neck. His sign proclaimed him to be “stuck and hungry” and to please help.

I’m a sucker for anyone needing help. My husband both hates and loves this quality in me.

I pulled the van over and in my rear-view mirror, contemplated this man, tattoos and all. He was youngish, maybe forty. And he wore one of those bandannas tied over his head, biker/pirate style. Anyone could see he was dirty and had a scraggly beard. But if you looked closer, you could see that he had neatly tucked in the black T-shirt, and his things were in a small, tidy bundle. Nobody was stopping for him. I could see the other drivers take one look and immediately focus on something else – anything else.

It was so hot out. I could see in the man’s very blue eyes how dejected and tired and worn-out he felt. The sweat was trickling down his face. As I sat with the air-conditioning blowing, the scripture suddenly popped into my head. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, so ye have done it unto me.” I reached down into my purse and extracted a ten pound note. My twelve year old son, Nick, knew right away what I was doing.
“Can I take it to him, Mum?”

“Be careful, honey,” I warned and handed him the money. I watched in the mirror as he rushed over to the man, and with a shy smile, handed it to him. I saw the man, startled, stand and take the money, putting it into his back pocket. “Good,” I thought to myself, “now he will at least have a hot meal tonight.” I felt satisfied, proud of myself. I had made a sacrifice and now I could go on with my errands.

When Nick got back into the car, he looked at me with sad, pleading eyes.

“Mum, his dog looks hot and the man is really nice.” I knew I had to do more. “Go back and tell him to stay there, that we will be back in fifteen minutes,” I told Nick. He bounded out of the car and ran to tell the tattooed stranger. We then ran to the nearest shop and bought our gifts carefully. “It can’t be too heavy,” I explained to the children. “He has to be able to carry it around with him.” We finally settled on our purchases. A bag of dog food, a flavoured chew toy shaped like a bone; a water dish, bacon flavoured snacks (for the dog); two bottles of water (one for the dog, one for Mr. Tattoos); and some snacks for the man.

We rushed back to the spot where we had left him, and there he was, still waiting. And still nobody else was stopping for him. With hands shaking, I grabbed our bags and climbed out of the car, all four of my children following me, each carrying gifts. As we walked up to him, I had a fleeting moment of fear, hoping he wasn’t a serial killer.

I looked into his eyes and saw something that startled me and made me ashamed of my judgment. I saw tears. He was fighting like a little boy to hold back his tears. How long had it been since someone showed this man kindness? I told him I hoped it wasn’t too heavy for him to carry and showed him what we had brought. He stood there, like a child at Christmas, and I felt like my small contributions were so inadequate. When I took out the water dish, he snatched it out of my hands as if it were solid gold and told me he had no way to give his dog water. He gingerly set it down, filled it with the bottled water we brought, and stood up to look directly into my eyes. His were so blue, so intense an my own filled with tears as he said, I don’t know what to say.” He then put both hands on his bandanna-clad head and just started to cry. This man, this “scary” man, was so gentle, so sweet, so humble.

I smiled through my tears and said, “Don’t say anything.” Then I noticed the tattoo on his neck. It said “Mama tried.”
As we all piled into the van and drove away, he was on his knees, arms around his dog, kissing his nose and smiling. I waved cheerfully and then fully broke down in tears.

I have so much. My worries seem so trivial and petty now. I have a home, a loving husband, and four beautiful children. I have a bed. I wondered where he would sleep tonight.

My step-daughter turned to me and said in the sweetest little-girl voice, “I feel so good.”

Although it seemed as if we had helped him, the man with the tattoos gave us a gift that I will never forget. He taught that no matter what the outside looks like, inside each of us is a human being deserving of kindness, of compassion, of acceptance. He opened my heart

Tonight and every night I will pray for the gentle man with the tattoos and his dog. And I will hope that God will send more people like him into my life to remind me what’s really important.

A work in progress

1 Corinthians 1:7-9 (The Message)

“Just think—you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.”
I was reading Corinthians in The Message over the weekend, just for a change, and was so struck by this short passage. I have been going over it again and again and just letting it settle in my spirit… God is going to keep me steady and on track!!! Wow! that is such a comfort to know and that He will never give up on me! I love it! All His master plans and designs for my life – He will bring to completion … Paul says it again to the Philippians in Phil.1 v 6 “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.”
It makes me really want to allow God more access to my life to see His handiwork in me – that I might bring Him honour!

Have a “muse” on it yourself … it is a wonderfully encouraging Scripture … a work in progress – a masterpiece at that!

Click on the picture above to see more…

]]> http://www.markandhelen.org.uk/2009/01/31/72/feed/ 1 http://www.markandhelen.org.uk/2009/01/30/62/ http://www.markandhelen.org.uk/2009/01/30/62/#comments Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:42:55 +0000 helen http://www.markandhelen.org.uk/?p=62 Luke 12 : 22 – 34 (Message Bible)

22-24 “Don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more.

25-28 “Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can’t even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don’t fuss with their appearance—but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

29-32 “What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.

33-34 “Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

Trusting God for the daily stuff of life!

So easy to say and talk about, but the practical outworking of it all takes steps of faith … little steps and bigger ones too – but steps nevertheless!

Just remember He loves you so much … He cares so much that you don’t fret or worry over the things that have the potential to wreck you… finances, relationships, direction.etc. He has placed in His Word the promises of His Peace, His provision, His Wisdom, His Grace and mercy… so why do we fret and worry? Possibly because we feel we need to “sort it all out”?!

Possibly!

Could we possibly… “Cast the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” (1Peter 5:7) What amazing Care He has for us!

Can I encourage you today to try for yourself… and see…He is faithful!

Let go and let God!

Be blessed as you learn to trust and rest in Him!

xx Helen

This is a new venture for me – blogging, but it could be good

My place for sharing some God thoughts for life, family and friends!

As Mark has said in his spot, we are all keyed up for our oldest daughter’s wedding next week!…something I, as Mum, have prayed about for a long (long!) time…. and here it is, almost upon us!

Such a joy to be able to know God has led her, and built her into the lovely woman she is today , ready to be a wife to a great guy, of whom we are very proud too!

Psaln 37 has wonderful thoughts on Trusting God – with ALL your heart, Commiting your way to Him, Delighting in Him:

3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.

5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.

In times of pressure (even good pressure!!) as I have applied these instructions to my life and for my family…….then he does give me my hearts desires, and peace, and wisdom, and instruction in how to go about life.

Good eh?

Let me commend  God’s way to you… in whatever you are living in just now …….His ways are simply – THE BEST!!

Helen.