Taste and See

³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good’” (Luke 5:37-39, ESV). 

Just before this Jesus healed the paralyzed man and called Levi, the tax collector, to come and follow him.  Leaving everything behind he went home and had a feast for Jesus.  Also the Pharisees and scribes were here with their typical response of grumbling about the company Jesus keeps.  When they ask Jesus why he eats and drinks with the tax collectors and sinners, he responds with the answer, “Those who are well have no need of physician but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” 

It’s interesting how they repeatedly refuse to understand their own need to repent.  And so they get right off the subject and ask Jesus a question about why his disciples aren’t fasting.  And as Jesus does often again he responds with a parable, this one about wine skins.  For most of us today, the process of making wine is not a common idea we would know much about, however for them it would have been. 

Making wine was a process.  The juice from the grapes would be mixed with yeast and sugar then placed in a new wine skin for the fermentation process.  During the fermentation the mixture would rest at just the right temperature for a certain amount of time until it turned into wine.  And since yeast has a way of expanding, if the wine was placed into an old wine skin that was already stretched out, the new wine would burst the skin at some point during the fermentation period. 

In the beginning of the school year the kids got new sneakers.  For my daughter it’s the same type of sneaker just new.  Because of course you can’t start a new school with last years sneakers, right?  Anyway, yesterday after school she put on her old sneakers.  It was followed with a wow as she was telling me how her new sneakers fit better and tighter and the old ones were more stretched out and loose.  I guess after a year including Cross Country, track, and other daily use it was time for a new pair.  Funny how she didn’t realize they were stretched out until she wore the new ones. 

And that is exactly what Jesus was getting at with the Pharisees.  They were stuck in old, the old rules, traditions and old covenant from God.  But Jesus came bringing a new covenant.    

³¹ “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. ³³ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Jeremiah 31:31-33, ESV). 

The Pharisees had neglected to receive the new covenant, rejected Jesus’ coming, and refused to repent.  Without Jesus and the promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit there was nothing new inside them.  They were still drinking the old wine and thinking it was good. 

⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!  (Psalm 34:8, ESV) 

They hadn’t tasted yet and unfortunately for them they didn’t know any better, because if they had the old would no longer be good and the new would be ready to burst out. And that is what Jesus does.  He has come to make things new.  When he comes and dwells inside our hearts eventually what he has made new will burst out. 

Lord, your word says taste and see you are good.  Some of us are at different stages today.  I pray for those who may not have yet tasted that you would come in and begin that work in their lives and they would see you are good.  And for some we may be in the fermenting stage.  Fermenting takes time and temperature to bring change.  It may be a stage of trials and tribulations, of continuous cycles of sin patterns, or doubts about our faith and identity.  Give us the strength as you grow and shape us during this time.  Perhaps some of us are ready to break through after the season of fermenting and are now ready to burst out of the old, would you break any old skins that has contained them, so that they would not be held back anymore.  And for some we have some break through and are now spilling into the lives of others around us because of what you have already done in us.  No matter where we are, would you come now Lord, come and do your work in each of us.  In Jesus Name I pray, Amen. 

Detox, detox, detox…

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV).

I have wrestled with God about this detox^, detox, detox for some time now.  And last night I was paging through an old notebook. There was no rhyme or reason to it, just a bunch of different stuff; sermon preps and stories, Apologetic homework, blog thoughts, youth group lessons and ideas, etc.  Towards the end of the notebook I came across a page with no date but two days before it was dated 5/18/14.   And so I decided to share it exactly as written:

Come Lord Jesus Come:

-Detox, detox, detox…

Spiritual detox – empty all the toxicosis thoughts that hinder you.

Empty the lies that you don’t have the energy to do it and fill it with the truth that Jesus came and has conquered.  The power of the Holy Spirit rests in me and has enabled me to do all I need to accomplish for His will in my life.

Physically detox – empty my body of toxicosis food that slow me down.  Fast, water.

Emotionally detox – detox – empty all the damaging emotional thoughts that hinder. 

Do not repeat past failures or hurts in my mind but replace with the truth I am more than a conqueror through Christ.  Greater is he that lives in me than he who is in the world. 

Lord, we live in a world that is filled with toxicity and not just physical toxins. And you are greater than all that is in this world.  Thank you we can conqueror those things that hinder us through Jesus Christ. 

Small, but Powerful

⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell (James 3:5-6, ESV).

In the neighborhood I grew up in, years prior it was mostly a summer community.  There in the center starting from left to right, was lake, a huge in ground concrete pool (no liner), a community building that had a snack bar, a few arcade games and pin ball machines for the kids, a large wall for hand ball or racquet ball, and a big field. When we moved in the area, most of the houses were starting to sell and become year round residences.  The summer community was fading out.  I vaguely remember the community center in operation it was really run down and shortly after cleared out to an empty building.

It was great, as a young kid I do remember swimming in the pool and during winter months after most of the water was drained, it was the perfect spot to ice skate.  Or we’d have ice hockey games (without skates) with the other kids in the neighborhood.  Because the water was shallow it always froze over faster than the lake and the walls contained the hockey puck from getting lost.  And then it was eventually filled in, probably when I was about 14 or so.  However we continued to hang out there, at the lake and the field.  Most of the kids were older than me, more my brother’s age, I guess I was the tag alone.  By about middle school another girl my age moved into the area. 

It was the neighborhood hang out.  Often the local police department would send an officer to come and check on us.  The officer and some of the high school kids were on a first name basis.  Yep it was that kind of group.  I remember one year it was fall we hanging out in the field.  The tall grass was now brown and blown over.  My friend and I decided it was fun to light a few pieces of dry grass on fire and then put it out.  Some of the older kids started to yell at us saying how stupid and dangerous it was and how we could start a fire.  Needless to say, my friend decided one more time and lite a few pieces of grass.  In perfect timing came a wind and bam.  It felt like instantly we were looking at about 5 feet in circumference of fire.  The guys jumped up starting from outside in, stomping in out with their boots and slapping it down with their jean jackets.  After my initial shock I began to help.  Although I didn’t remember having my jean jacket that day, I always wore my Nike high tops (boys of course, because they didn’t come in girls back then), which I used to assist in some stomping!  As you could only imagine we heard an earful after the fire was out and it was well deserved.  Everyone sweating on this crisp cool fall day, I remember thinking how thankful I was for the group.  The group many may have considered as outcasts, losers.  Back then they were called head bangers. 

With just one little spark of fire we could have set the whole field (and possibly more) ablaze had they not been there to put it out.  As it the case with most fires, it starts with some small spark and then it consumes everything in its path only leaving behind a trail of destruction. 

That’s what James is getting at here with the power of words.  Primarily he is talking to those in position who teach and cautioning them how words can direct course of life for others. Hence the fact, he is cautioning teachers (leaders) and the influence they have in the lives of others.  But honestly its not limited to teachers.  We all have a circle of influence.  For most of us it begins right at home with our families, our children, and extends to others around us. 

Nevertheless he is stressing the importance the impact words can have on the lives of others. I have seen the lives and reputations of people destroyed from gossip, lies, and rumors.  The harmful effects from negative, hurtful, or belittling words towards another and the wreckage it has done to that person.  Words set on fire by hell staining the body and setting ablaze total destruction for that person’s course of life. 

Worse yet there are those whose words lead others away from God.  After all isn’t that what the serpent did in the Garden of Eden?  His one little lie to Eve set the course of life for all mankind, straight to eternal death.  Talk about a small spark setting ablaze an uncontrollable forest fire.  Thankfully God did not leave us on that course of life.  He sent Jesus to give us a new course.  Jesus came to put out the fire of unrighteousness because he covers us with his righteousness, he counteracts Satan’s lies with truth because he is the Truth, he cleanses us from the stains of sin by washing us with his blood on the cross, and he redirects our course of life from eternal death to eternal life because he is the Life. 

Heavenly Father, we see the destruction words can cause, but we thank you the reverse is also true.  We can use words that bless and not curse, words that love and encourage, words that breath life and health into the lives of others.  Thank you Lord, you can put out the fires of unrighteousness that have been set ablaze in our lives; You have given us Truth to shatter the lies of the enemy; You have redeemed us from the course that leads to eternal death through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  The Word who became flesh, came to reverse the words set on fire by hell (words by Satan himself).  Thank you Lord through Jesus we are directed on the course that leads to life, abundant life, and eternal life. In his we pray Amen. 

Spoken For

And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” (Mark 5:30, ESV). 

In Mark 5, we see Jesus on his way to Jairus’ house to heal his daughter.  Along the way there is this unnamed woman who has been suffering from bleeding for twelve years.  According to Leviticus law, due to her illness she would have been considered unclean (Leviticus 15:25).  And unclean people were to be separated from the others.  Basically she would have been quarantined and if she did go anywhere she would have to announce, she is unclean.  Chances are not many would go near her for fear of becoming unclean themselves.

I can’t even imagine having that announcement, that introduction. You know when you have a cold and warn everyone in advance don’t touch me I’m sick, I have a cold!  Or parents when they know someone has some highly contagious disease and they pull their kids away from that person for fear of contamination.  Twelve years that was her life.  Not only suffering physically, also emotionally it had to be depleting.  Realistically she probably felt unworthy and unlovable living a life of shame and rejection.  Until one day she had heard about Jesus and figured if she could just touch his garments she could be made well.  And so that is exactly what she did.  In the midst of a crowd she comes up to Jesus and touches his clothing and instantly is healed. 

Internally the excitement must have begun to well up in her and then Jesus calls her out, who touched my garments? Trembling in fear she fell before him and told him the truth.  Initially she had to be thinking the worst.  The fear of God and probably wondering would he take back the healing.  Fear of the crowd, obviously if she was able to sneak up and touch Jesus’ garment, she didn’t come announcing unclean as she was suppose to.  In that split second excitement must have turned to gloom.  Why, why is he calling me out? 

For starters, he called her out because he’s not impersonal.  He called her daughter.  Jesus would not let her leave without her knowing her identity, it was personal and he cared.  Also he would clarify any doubt or superstition.  Healing comes through faith.  Her healing did not come by touching his garments but by her faith she was made well.  Lastly he would send her off letting everyone else know she was healed.  Jesus has spoken for her. 

Many of us could probably relate to this woman and her suffering in some way or another.  And maybe God is calling you out of the crowd because he has spoken for you!

Recently I was reminded of the first time I heard the song, Spoken for by Mercy Me.  It was a wow moment as I listened to the words,

Take this world from me

I don’t need it anymore

I am finally free

My heart is spoken for

Oh and I praise you

Oh and I worship you

Covered by a Love Divine

Child of the Risen Lord

To hear you say, “this one’s mine”

My heart is spoken for…

Heavenly Father the only response is praise and worship.  You have covered us with a Love Divine. You have called us daughter and son, child of the Risen Lord.  May we hear you say, this one’s mine, my heart is spoken for!  In Jesus Name, Amen.