Just about everyone has an old, familiar, somewhat ragged piece of clothing they can't get rid of. You know - it is just too comfortable, too familiar, too "mine" to throw out. Sometimes the old is a good thing. However it usually doesn't mix well with the new. For example, we probably couldn't get away with wearing that hole ridden, soft comfy t-shirt with a brand new pair of pants. Last week I ran into a well-known text where Jesus illustrated this very thing. "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins." Mark 2: 21,22 (NIV) The life and work of Jesus is the "new". According to Jesus when the old tries to contain the new - things tear, leak and spoil. Perhaps the reason we struggle to discern Jesus in our own life and the life of our church is because we try to contain Him in "old garments and wineskins". Our attitudes and beliefs can be just as inflexible, hardened and adamant as the Jews to whom Jesus was speaking. We can ruin the presence of Jesus in ourselves and for those around us unless we are made new. Jesus is working and living in our church and on our campus. His work is new, fresh, alive, and dynamic. I want Him to work in and through me. Isn't that your prayer too? God who makes all things new has promised to do that for us. --Mike Dunn |
