Wine, Whine, Whine...

So I am in the process of reading the Bible in a year.  Reading through Luke I noticed something that I have somehow missed every other time I’ve read it. 

Luke 5:36-39 - And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 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. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”

Verse 39 is the one that seemed to suddenly appear.  I’ve memorized 36-38 before, even preached on Matthew’s version of this passage, but somehow missed verse 39.

If you are used to the old wine you won’t want the new wine. 

There are leadership implications here, to be sure. Trying to bring change is going to be hard, if Jesus himself says that everyone who has tasted the old wine is going to be satisfied… Every book on change worth it's cover will tell you that "good enough is the biggest threat to excellent that exists". Well-meaning people become like the Pharisees, obstacles to change, because they like what they first tasted…

But what about the personal implications for someone who wants to constantly be moving and re-thinking?  How do I prevent becoming addicted to a certain kind of wine, and whining about the rest?

I remember being a teenager in the 90's, and thinking that my parents were weird for not liking the new music that was coming out.  Now I’m 31 and my favorite type of music is 90’s rock (now called “adult contemporary”).  I’m pretty much annoyed with most of what comes out today, unless it is heavily influenced by 90’s rock.  I’ve settled into a certain wine skin.  When it comes to music, I say, “The old is better!”

But just because I understand the “old is better” attitude doesn’t mean I can defend it.  That attitude is the one that had Jewish believers upset when Gentiles started coming to Christ.  That attitude is the one that pushed Paul to say (about those who were demanding that Gentiles become circumcised if they wanted to pursue relationship with Jesus) “As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!”  It is the attitude that caused the first big church counsel in Jerusalem (one that ended in compromise rather than in leadership, and whose decisions were eventually reversed), and the one that caused Paul to oppose Peter to his face in front of the Galatian church.

On the contrary, I have an obligation to do what Paul did, and become “all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some”.  I follow the example of someone who “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped”, but emptied himself, and became like me.  He gave up all the comforts of heaven to suffer through being like me, not because there was anything in it for Him, but because He loved me. 

If singing along with some music I don’t like will help someone else know God’s love, count me in.  If seeing things at church done differently than the way I’ve always done them will help more people come to know Christ in 1 year than in the 5 previous years combined, count me in.  If I have to volunteer in some ways that feel a little awkward, instead of the old comfortable ways, so that I can carry out the great commission, count me in.  

And keep me accountable to my attitude, because I have a tendency to do the right thing through gritted teeth because I know I have to, instead of with genuine love and compassion, and if I do that, then I’m not going to bless anyone.  And I am tempted to only serve with honest love if I get to do it my way, but if I do that I'm just forcing new wine into old wineskins. 

So if I can't serve new wine with a smile, put a cork in me and put me on a shelf in the basement.  The mission of the church is not to keep me content and tithing, but to go and make disciples.  If I get in the way of the mission, then call me Jonah and toss me overboard.  There are plenty of life boats out there that are happy to pick up the picky and serve them their favorite kind of wine.  Maybe I'll even get swallowed by a big fish, get my act together and go do the right thing...

I try to avoid becoming a wine whiner, by remembering that the wine skins that helped last year's crop become a great vintage, might not work well for this year’s harvest; thus the need to constantly move and re-think.   

I am not a change agent, because I want things to be the way I like them.   

I don’t want you to move and rethink your ideas, so that they will be more like mine. 

I want to move and rethink so that I can follow Paul’s example as he followed the example of Christ, so that I will always have new wine-skins ready for new wine, even while I privately prefer and older vintage.

After all, what is old wine to me was once new wine, and someone cared enough to move and re-think their favorite vintage and to create one I could fall in love with.

I Am So Selfish

Have you ever noticed how whatever uncomfortable thing you are going through seems to be the biggest problem in the world?  We can easily convince ourselves that no one has been through anything quite like what we are going through now. 

We recognize this in our kids.  Each bump or bruise, each time they don't get what they want, they react like the world is coming to an end.  They make the problem a million times bigger that what it really is. 

Let me give you an example.  My 2 year old fell and bruised his knee.  At first he cried loudly and told me that he was going to die.  Then he was convinced for 2 days that we needed to go to the doctor and get crutches for him.  In reality the bruise was smaller than a dime, and he can run, jump and play like he always has.

But don't we do the same thing?  Our perspective may be a bit bigger, so we focus on different issues.  But if the problem is on the higher end of what we have experienced, then we act like my 2 year old.  (or maybe this is just me)

Case and point.  My wife has been gone for 3 weeks.  Many people tell me I am crazy for letting her go, and know I am crazy when I tell them it was my idea that she go.  In the midst of this 3 week experience I've been overwhelmed with the playing the role of both dad and mom, and moving to a new home without her.  Even after all of the amazing help she gave by getting our move ready and arranging the schedule of baby sitters, I have been amazed at the difficulty of life without my spouse. Friends and family come up to me with concerned looks, ask me how I'm doing, cook meals for me like someone is in the hospital, men shake their heads and tell me they are terrified to have their wife gone for 3 hours, let alone 3 weeks...

Don't get me wrong I really appreciate the support.  More than words can say. My purpose is not to criticize anyone but myself.  This has been on the difficult fringe of my spectrum of experience.  But how does it compare to the experiences of others all around me.  When a member of the military deploys for months at a time, do I respond with the same amount of love and support people have shown  me?  My spouse is on a glorified vacation for almost a month, theirs will be at war for months at a time.  I have a new level of appreciation for our men and women in uniform, and a much deeper respect for those they leave behind.

But even as I think of them, there is another type of person who deserves more love and support from me.  When I think of the military spouse, I feel foolish for making my recent experience seem so harrowing. As much as I cannot imagine being a military spouse, it is even more impossible for me to imagine being a single parent.  I know my wife is coming back.  The military spouse has fear of the worst, but also has hope of the return of their loved one.  The single parent is alone. No one organizing the boxes, or the sitters before they leave, no one to e-mail or chat with once in a while.  No relief. 

I cannot even imagine. 

No wonder God tells us that true religion is to look after orphans and widows in their distress. 

So today, as I am just two and a half days from having my spouse back, I realize that I have been so selfish.  My eyes have been on what I don't have, rather than on all that God has given me. 

Lord, I pray that you will use this experience to open  my eyes to a knew level of loving the people around me.  That I will be able to get my eyes off myself and my problems, and focus on showing love to others who need love and support, who need someone to be Jesus to them.