Mark 2:13-22

Jesus went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in Levi's house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, 'Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?' When Jesus heard this, he said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.'

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, 'Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?' Jesus said to them, 'The wedding-guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

'No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.' (NRSV)

The Pharisees are at it again, criticizing Jesus for every move they consider apart from their teaching. Jesus eating with "tax collectors" and other "sinners" seem to have set them off this time. They are quick to point out the social faux paux to Jesus. Jesus takes the opportunity to clarify that his mission is to help those that society thinks are lost. 

Evidently, the eating arrangement gets even more convoluted when they point out that John's disciples are fasting. This is possibly a religious fasting period for them. People of the time linked fasting to mourning. Jesus uses the opportunity again to teach that they are not mourning because he is there with them. The time for mourning will be when he is gone.

Jesus is here to do something completely new. He is the "new wine." The Pharisees are critical of Jesus because they try to look at what he is doing through the lens of the old regulations and expectations (aka "wineskins"). If you put new wine in old wineskins, the seams would break because the skins would have already stretched out. Because we don't put wine in skins, this metaphor seems foreign to us but understandable. 

Today I'm thinking of being Church. Of how church is and how church evaluates itself. We refer to the church as the 'body of Christ.' We often look at church through the lens of old regulations and expectations, "old wineskins," when quite clearly God is up to something entirely new. How can we be fresh receivers, "new wineskins," of what God is doing through Jesus Movement in this world? God is redeeming the world through Jesus. Jesus doesn't fit the old expectations. We shouldn't expect things to be the same as they've always been. How can we look at what God is doing in this world through fresh eyes?

First Sunday in Lent 2021

Mark 2:18-22 (NRSV)

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and people came and said to him, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. ‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’

On Sundays, the daily lectionary takes a detour from the passages in John that we were looking at this past week. For some reason, this passage makes me think of the song Auld Lang Syne. Maybe the Scottish song that we sing at the beginning of the new year begging us to remember the old times has merit. I'm not sure. This passage has people coming to Jesus and chastising him about not keeping the ritual practice of fasting observed by John's disciples and the Pharisees. Jesus sets them straight by explaining that a new way of understanding is coming.

Jesus compares the practice to a wedding feast, where the bridegroom is present, and the party continues. He also compares it to sewing a new piece of cloth (unshrunk) on an old garment and new wine into old wineskins. Some say this simply means, "out with the old and in with the new." But I feel it's more complicated than that.

To understand Jesus' new teaching with authority, one must receive it with fresh ears. Some old preconceived notions of the messiah's coming needed to be abandoned to embrace Jesus as Lord. Jesus was different than anything they expected. He lived out the law's intent and taught and healed and set right some of the things that the people were misunderstanding. 

Fasting is a well know practice. Even today, people fast for many reasons; some religious. However, fasting is appropriate for some and not others. If one has an eating disorder or another issue such as diabetes or hypoglycemia, one probably shouldn't fast, even for religious reasons. Fasting helps us in our connection with God and each other. When we abstain from eating specific foods or even all food, our hunger pangs may remind us of how God provides for us and how privileged we are in having enough to each in a world where not everyone does. 

Lent is a fasting period for the church. The faithful are encouraged to give up something to help us draw closer to God. This may not be appropriate for some. In some cases, taking on a discipline is more encouraged. This discipline may include journaling, reflecting on scripture, or other practices that help us grow closer to God. 

Looking for new ways of engagement is always important. Sometimes the older methods don't work. Sometimes we need something more or something else. If we catch ourselves "putting new wine in old wineskins," we may make a mess. 

This Lent, I am encouraged to look for new ways to engage some of the old practices. The pandemic has definitely pushed us in that direction. Nothing is what was expected. It is all becoming different. However, we must remember that God is still God, and God continues to guide and strengthen us in ways that we may not realize.