Next week, the message will be from Luke 5:33-39 about new wine and old and new wineskins so I thought it would be good to give a short communion on that to reflect on this week.
How long have you been a Christian? I’ve been a Christian since I was 11 years old, so you could say I’m an old wineskin holding old wine. Now old wine can be of very good quality and expensive or it could have gone off and taste like vinegar! That all depends on how it was looked after, the temperature (not too hot or cold) and conditions it was stored under (not too much light or humidity).
New wine must be cared for; it is best stored in a wine cellar at exactly the right temperature. As a rule of thumb, wine should be stored around 11-14˚c. Wine storage temperatures should never go over 24˚c as otherwise, wines begin to oxidise, which negatively affects the wine.
A bottle of wine floating in the sea, exposed to the elements, is not going to stay preserved for very long. Many people today are listening to mainstream and social media and getting tossed around in a sea of conflicting thoughts.
Jesus taught us to abide in him. Listen to him. Commune with him.
Jesus offers us new wine. New wine represents the new covenant of grace. Jesus was referring to himself when he spoke of new wine and referring to the Jewish extra religious traditions when he spoke of old wineskins. New wine also represents the Holy Spirit. If new wine can only be poured into new wineskins, no wonder we need to be born again!
In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul explains the fruit we see when a person is led by the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18-21
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.
What goes in is what comes out. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit then notice in these verses what comes out - songs, singing, melody, gratitude, humility, community.
Wine is not meant to be stored forever; it is meant to be drunk at special occasions. Before the next special occasion, someone better have poured some new wine into a new wineskin to begin the process again otherwise there won’t be any at that next occasion!
During the week we commune with Jesus individually, but Communion is a special time at PCC when we can commune together with him each week. We don’t recite the same liturgy of Communion each week as some churches do. That’s not to say that people shouldn’t have a favourite wine that they always drink. But at PCC someone brings a new wine each week - we have variety.
Is the Lord calling you to receive new wine this week, so be a ready wineskin!
Yet there comes a time when the old wine runs out and is replaced by the new wine. Unlike the world, in God’s Kingdom, the old wine is never discarded or wasted. Every generation of new Christians can look back and learn from the saints of old, that is why the Communion of the Saints is part of the Apostle’s Creed. At the same time, the old wine cannot be held on to forever, it is poured out and remembered in celebration. The mistake the Pharisees made was to hold on to their traditions and try to block the new wine that Jesus brought. Let’s share in the Communion together and remember the Saints of Old today because their legacy is also a part of the Communion we share.
No comments :
Post a Comment