Scripture
These two parables are grouped together in the Gospels (Matthew 9:16-17, Mark 2:21-22, Luke 5:36-38). They remind us of the Newness and Renewal caused by really living Jesus’ teachings.
No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak,
for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is
made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins
burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is
put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.’ (Matthew 9:16-17) You
may want to read the same parable in the other Gospels and perhaps in a
different translation.
Conversation starters
Have you ever taken the time to repair a ripped seam or a
torn shirt? How about putting a patch on a pair of jeans?
Now we get pre-shrunk (and often self-adhesive) patches so
the image in the parable isn’t as vivid. Even fabric from a bolt of material
has been preshrunk and treated for sizing. Rarely do clothes shrink any more. In
Jesus’ time, most cloth was made from wool or cotton, which can shrink if not
handled carefully. Sewing an unwashed, unshrunk piece of new cloth into a hole
would make it worse when the patch shrank.
The same might be said for the wineskin metaphor. Wine is put
in barrels now not in skins. In the ancient world, wine fermented in animal
skins. New skins had to be used for the actively fermenting new wine or the gas
expansion would split the drier skins.
You cannot sew new (unshrunken) cloth onto an old garment,
and you cannot put new wine in old wineskins. Even though you think that would
be a way to fix the clothing or reuse the wineskin, the end result is tearing
and bursting. We cannot keep doing things the same old way when we really
follow Jesus. We must commit to a newness of life, a transforming of our
hearts, and a different way to live.
How is your life like a wineskin—holding new or aged wine?
Think about what in your life is like a new patch on old
clothes or new wine in old wineskins. Do you need a new way of looking at the
opportunities in your life?
The effect of gas expansion can be demonstrated by using a
bottle, a balloon, plus soda and vinegar.
The vinegar and baking soda balloon experiment is a way to
demonstrate the chemical reaction between vinegar and baking soda, which
produces carbon dioxide gas that inflates the balloon.
·
Fill a balloon with baking soda using a funnel
·
Fill a plastic bottle with white vinegar
·
Place the balloon opening around the mouth of
the bottle, but do not let the baking soda fall into the bottle yet
·
Lift the balloon up so the baking soda drops
into the bottle and reacts with the vinegar
Observe how the balloon inflates as the gas is produced
Listen to Hillsong Worship perform New Wine.
NOTE: There will be no posts on June 23 or 30 as I'll be traveling to the Episcopal Church Women Triennial Meeting in conjunction with the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Louisville, KY>
