NEW WINE

Last nugget, we talked about "exchanging wineskins."  This time, let's talk about the wine.  Here's our text:

Luke 5:37-39

37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.[a] 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’”

What is the "new wine" to which Jesus refers?  I recommend going back a few verses to get the context for yourself; but simply put, the "new wine" challenges our beliefs on how we are to worship God - and boy is that loaded!  Few topics incur more of the wrath of God's people than how we "do" our God stuff.  (And anyone who has ever endured a church split says a sad, "amen.")  New wine represents a new perspective on knowing and being known by God.  The new wine Jesus alluded to was the wine of grace.  The wine of mercy triumphing over judgment.  The wine of gifts over wages.  The wine of truth over law.  The Pharisees engaged in the practice of denial and separation.  They viewed their forms and practices as the vehicles of blessing and favor.  Fasting produced holiness.  "Coming out from among" proved devotion.  Jesus proposed something radically different.  Blessing and favor were to be front-loaded as gifts of a new life, celebrated with new wine.  Jesus traded piety for parties and changed men by drawing them near, rather than chastising them with distance.  It's the wine of receiving over achieving.  Resting and rising over striving and climbing.  What Jesus proposed took man's flesh right out of the mix.  It made no sense.  It was scary and unpredictable and uncontrollable...and just what the Vine-dresser wanted.  You see, effort can't compete with grace.  It isn't a fair fight.  He is so much better at giving than we are at earning.  It's not that the old wine is bad, mind you.  It's beautiful.  We popped its cork at births, toasted to it at weddings, and memorialized friends with it at their funerals.  It's beautiful.  It fermented within us and we grew, like skins, to match its swell.  But there's a new harvest coming.  The old wine can be honored among us, but it can never be reproduced.  All such efforts fail.  

Jesus essentially says, "Hey, I know you guys really love that old vintage.  That's cool.  Enjoy it while it lasts.  Buy a few cases, if you like.  Drink it with your dinner or save it for special occasions.  But, mark My words:  that wine will very soon run dry.  My Father is doing a new thing.  Actually, He is always doing something new.  And if you want to be where He is, doing what He is doing, drinking what He is serving, it will have to be a new grape.  Sure, it will seem a little watery and unrefined at first.  But give it time.  It too will reach its full potency and become the celebratory swig of this supernatural generation.  A harvest you will not want to miss!"  

Oh, Jesus, how I love You!  The older I get, the more I see my pharisee potential.  "Why do we need to change this?" And, "How can that be You?"  But Father, a new harvest comes with a new wine; and I say, with the rest of creation, "I'm thirsty...Bring it on!"  

Forever panning for gold,

Chris Liotta

Lead Pastor
Rivergate Church
Chris@WeAreRivergate.com



© 2016 Chris Liotta