New Threads, Wine and Grain

Luke 5:36-39 and 6:1-5 We all like new things...well, not everyone. Jesus made many statements in his brief stay on our planet but here are a few that were understood by the religious crowd and they did not only disagree with them but wanted to eliminate Jesus because of them.

You cannot sew a patch of clothing from new cloth onto an old cloth without problems. You cannot pour new wine into an old wine container without destroying the old container and losing the new wine. What does this mean?

There is new thinking and different ways of doing ministry these days. There is always new thinking and new ways of doing ministry that runs counter to traditional thinking or ministry strategies. You cannot combine new thinking or ways of doing ministry with the traditional thinking or ministry strategies. It does not work. Both are adversely affected. They do not have enough common ground to connect. New thinking requires new ministry models which are not necessarily to be copied. People who like or are familiar with the traditional ways of thinking and doing ministry will disagree with the new. They believe the old wine is better.

Who makes the rules? Some people are going to question what they do not understand or agree with. In some cases, these people made the rules. The religious people questioned Jesus' disciples and Jesus about rules about the Sabbath. Jesus however, is the one who makes the rules. When he speaks about something, it changes everything.
The traditions were being broken...but Jesus is in charge.

What about transitions? It does take time to alter a way of thinking or a way of looking at how ministry should be done. It requires patience on the part of the one with the new way of looking at ministry and teachability on the part of the one receiving the new wine.

Why are you doing that? We need to be ready and able to answer the questions that traditional thinking people ask us. New is not the issue but hearing from Jesus is. We are not slaves to traditional religious rules but rather we are slaves to Jesus.

What are some Sabbath rules in place today? Think about this one as you look at your life now. Following some of these rules may be keeping non-Christians you and I know from seeing the gospel lived out.