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NEW BEGINNINGS 

EXCITING LIVING WINESKINS

  Please consider a new application of the parable in Luke 5:37-39 (NRSV) “No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine but says, ‘The old is good.’”

  Let’s use this parable to learn something new about the aging process. Jesus told this parable to Pharisees who were so inflexible in their religious beliefs that they refused to accept the “new wine” of the Gospel of freedom and salvation.

  We are aware of having two separate but sequential parts of life.  We spend the first years of our lives struggling up the ladder of success to become the most successful and productive person possible.  We look forward to the retirement years when we can enjoy the fruits of our hard work.

  Problems begin when we use the first part of our life building a container that we hope will hold everything we need for the downward journey in the other side. We may deceive ourselves into thinking that the container is an end in itself. How disappointing to discover that we have created and maintained a static container without knowing that we need a living container that will remain elastic and able to receive a perpetual supply of new energy that demands flexibility. It is tragic when humans refuse to grow and change as we mature. The poet said, “Grow old along with me. The best is yet to be.”

  We need not destroy the wineskin of the journey–however our living wineskin requires continual exercise to remain healthy.

 Indications of hardening wineskins may be expressed with comments like: “This has worked in the past so I will force the “new wine” into the “old” wineskin; “If it ain’t broke-don’t fix it.”

They don’t know that the wineskin is leaking.

  Jesus warned his audience against becoming dry and brittle in their orthodoxy. They considered their brittle wineskin to be sacred and therefore could not receive the new wine from heaven.

  We are wise to gladly receive new inspiration to grow mentally, spiritually and socially in the second half of life. How sad if we should discover that our wineskin cannot expand to accept anything “new” and “different.” Is it possible that many people “never grow up” in their old age because they refuse to replace their youthful toys and pleasures with “grown up” vehicles, attitudes and actions?

  The parable speaks encouraging words to everyone who has progressed well into the second phase of life. “And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine but says, ‘The old is good.’”

  When Jesus spoke these words he was talking to religious leaders who had been drinking “old” established wine. It was good enough for them and therefore they rejected Jesus. Their prejudiced minds closed their hearts to the new revelations of Christ.

  We are using this metaphor to illustrate that as we grow older we can accept new situations and turn them into true blessings. We have grown in wisdom and are able to become guides for those who still struggle to find their way in life.

  We can apply our maturity to solve problems to create new ways that will benefit others and ourselves.  Soon we will find that we are receiving “new wine” that will creatively change into maturely aged wine that becomes “The good wine.”