DISTRICT CONFERENCE
Southern Ohio District, Church of the Brethren
OCTOBER 9, 1999
MODERATOR’S SERMON

"POURING NEW WINE INTO NEW WINESKINS"
LUKE 5: 36-39

Introduction:

What I am about to share with you will be most meaningful for those born prior to 1945, yet I believe we will all find some reality in it for ourselves no matter our particular generation:

We are survivors! Consider the changes we have witnessed:

We were before television, before penicillin, before polio vaccines, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the PILL.

We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ballpoint pens; before pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes- and before man walked on the moon.

We got married first and then lived together. In our time, closets were for clothes, not for "coming out of." Bunnies were small rabbits and rabbits were not Volkswagens. Designer jeans were scheming girls named Jean or Jeanne, and having a meaningful relationship meant getting along well with our cousins.

We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent, and outer space was the back of the Riviera Theatre.

We were before house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual careers and commuter marriages. We were before day-care centers, group therapy, and nursing homes. We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt, and guys wearing earrings. For us time-sharing meant togetherness- not computers or condominium; a "chip" meant a piece of wood; hardware meant hardware; and software wasn’t even a word!

In 1940 "making out" meant how you did on an exam. Pizza, McDonalds, and instant coffee were unheard of.

We hit the scene when there were 5 and 10-cent stores where you bought things for 5 and 10 cents. Sanders and Wilsons sold ice cream comes for a nickel or a dime. For one nickel you could ride a street car, make a phone call, buy a Pepsi or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. You could buy a new Chevy coupe for $600 but who could afford one? A pity, too, because gas was only 11 cents a gallon!

In our day cigarette smoking was fashionable, grass was mowed. Coke was a cold drink, and pot was something you cooked in. Rock music was Grandma’s lullaby and AIDS were helpers in the principal’s office.... (Internet: Source unknown)

This little bit of nostalgia depicts for us in a humorous way how quickly things change. Times have changed drastically--and there is much, much more change to come. The "church growth guru," George Barna, predicts that in terms of information alone, "we now have only 3% of the information that will be available to us by 2010." (George Barna, The Frog in the Kettle [Ventura, CA.:Regal, 1990], p.49)

I. Let’s be honest and confess that in the church we don’t particularly like change.

In the church we feel safe with what is old, tried and true. You perhaps have heard what I have heard numerous times in the church: with all the change going on around us the church is the one place where I can experience some constancy. That may be fine for those of us who have grown up in the church but what about those who live in our communities today who do not find any relevancy in the church? If you want to know what life was like in America in the 1940s and 1950s then attend a church that has been resistant to change. Listen to this critique from Aubrey Malphurs, Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century: "Unfortunately, unchurched people walk into these churches and experience culture shock. They’re repelled--not by the message of Christ, but by the lack of relevance. They know a dinosaur when they see one! (Malphurs, Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999], p.169)

What about your church? How willing is your congregation to be flexible? We have close to 50 congregations represented at this District Conference. What might happen if all of us took seriously the need to respond in even greater ways to the changing culture around us? In I Corinthians 9:19-23 the Apostle Paul writes about a willingness on the part of the church to be open to change and to adapt its traditions and practices to reach the unchurched. Using himself as an example, Paul talks about how he will relate to Jews in one way and Gentiles in another way. Listen/follow along as I read from I Corinthians 9: 19-23…

Bill Easum is Executive Director and Senior Consultant for 21st Strategies, Inc. (a Texas based nonprofit organization devoted to retooling pastors, churches, and denominational leaders for ministry in a new world. He has been a pastor in the United Methodist church and is the author of several books including, Growing Spiritual Redwoods, Church Growth Handbook, How to Reach Baby Boomers, Dancing With Dinosaurs and Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers. I first encountered Bill Easum at an Church of the Brethren Evangelism Leaders Academy some years ago. I’ve heard Bill Easum speak twice in the past year. He can be abrasive and abrupt, but he has his finger I believe firmly on the pulse of what is going on in the culture and the church today.

Along with others Easum is prophesying that we have seen the end of Christendom and we have entered a Pre-Christian age not unlike the beginning of the church as recorded in the book of Acts. Corporate worship is one aspect of the church that has been receiving a lot of attention the past several years (as well it should to reach beyond the persons already in the church). Music has been (and continues to be an issue for some churches). Unfortunately, because of how the need to change has been handled and the rigidity of some, there have been too many "worship wars." Listen to one prominent American pastor’s critique of the newer music being used in churches:

There are several reasons for opposing it. One, its too new. Two, its often worldly, even blasphemous. The new Christian music is not as pleasant as the more established style because there are so many new songs; you can’t learn them all. It also puts too much emphasis on instrumental music rather than on godly lyrics. This new music creates disturbances, making people act indecently and disorderly. The preceding generation got along without it.

Those words were voiced in 1723. They were a critique of Isaac Watts, who produced the first hymnbook in the English language, and wrote such traditional favorites as "Jesus Shall Reign" (based on Psalm 72), "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" (based on Psalm 90), and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." [Source: Gary Tangeman, Disciplemaking Church, CLC, 1996, P.164-165] What we are experiencing today in the church isn’t altogether all that new! Change always comes hard.

II. In Luke’s Gospel we find that as Jesus ministered among his contemporaries he stressed the need to be ready for that which is new.

Apparently there were some persons who were attempting to combine the new ways of the kingdom with man-made legalism. Jesus stresses that this cannot happen, the two ways cannot be mixed. Jesus uses with this crowd a familiar image: wine and wineskins.

In the creation of a new wineskin there would be the killing of a goat and it would be disemboweled. The goatskin would then be tanned over a fire. The openings of the skin were sewn shut, except for the neck of the goatskin that would be used for the spout. After the tanning process was complete unfermented grape juice would be poured into the goatskin. Then the neck would be sewn shut and the fermentation process would begin. Only a new wineskin would have the flexibility to stretch through the process of fermentation and not break before the process was finished. If new wine were put into old wineskins, there was the real potential that both the new wine and the old wineskin would be lost. The making of the wine required new wine in new skins for successful change to take place.

What are some ways that we as the church might be attempting to put new wine into old wineskins? First, let me ask, what is our focus? Are we looking inwardly or outwardly? Do we plan the ministry and the program around our needs and desires or are we looking outward and seeking to discern what will capture people for Christ? Secondly, what are our expectations? We can’t and we shouldn’t expect persons who have had little or no church background to act like we do when we perhaps have spent all of our life in the church. In the Pre-Christian age Easum suggests that most people will grow up outside the church, most baptisms will take place after the 18th birthday, and their peers instead of their parents will mentor most people.

III. The church of today is facing a real challenge. It cannot be business as usual.

The church should evaluate everything it does. Nothing should be exempt. There should be no "sacred cows" that are beyond the scrutiny of good evaluation. I confess to you that "new church development projects" finds this almost as challenging as established churches. While new church projects may not have as much "tradition" to have to wade through there is the reality that when the church is made up of people who have been churched we each bring our understanding of how church should be done!

As a student in seminary I learned some helpful tools in exegeting the scriptures. Aubrey Malphurs in Planting Growing Churches believes that the church today needs to spend as much time "exegeting the culture" as it does the scriptures.

So how do we "exegete the culture?" Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Cultivate friendships with people outside the church. We do this to develop relationships with others that will hopefully lead to friendships and the opportunity for us to talk and live our faith.
  2. We need to pay attention to what is going on around us. This may mean going places we normally would not go and being with people in their areas of interest. Have you noticed from scripture how often Jesus went to be with people in places that the "religious" declared to be "off limits?"
  3. Read. Read what others are reading. Read the newspaper and know what is going on in the surrounding community. Ask: is the church, is the preaching, is the teaching, is the ministry, doing anything to address the issues that confront people in their daily lives?
  4. Develop and do a community survey (at Cincinnati we hope to practice what I am preaching here). The best way to exegete the culture is to get out there and ask some questions. Here is a sample survey: 
     a.   Are you currently attending a local church?
     b.   What do you think is the greatest need in this community?
     c.   Why do you think some people don’t attend church?
     d.   If you were looking for a church in the area, what would you look for?
     e.   What advice would you give a new pastor? A church that wants to make a difference?
     f.   Would you be interested in additional information?

Conclusion:

Sisters and brothers, what we speak of here today is hard work. Admittedly it is easier to not "rock the boat," to continue "doing church as we’ve always done church," to remain safe and sheltered from the surrounding culture. But that won’t get it done! The kingdom of God has been ushered in by the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who makes all things new!

This past April, the C.O.B. denominational newsletter, Agenda carried the story of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship (C.O.B.), Lebanon, PA. Cornerstone pastor, Robert Crouse shared these words:

When Cornerstone began its ministry three years ago in Lebanon, PA., we wanted to reach out to people… people who have fallen through the cracks on their way to church. We wanted people to be able to hear the simple message of Christ’s redeeming love without the clutter of an unfamiliar church culture.

The church that has emerged doesn’t look very Brethren on the outside. We meet in a gym. People come in jeans and sweats. Our congregation is very young. We are ethnically diverse. Guitars and drums accompany our music. Our worship service is lively and punctuated with laughter.

One of the statements we make to those who visit us on Sunday morning is: If this is your first time with us, you may be wondering what kind of church we are. We are trying to be a church where:

Our commitment to service makes us want to share God’s love in practical ways. We seek to teach and apply the Bible to everyday life because we hold the scriptures in high regard. Jesus Christ is at the heart of all we say and do because we are committed to "Continuing the work of Jesus. Peacefully. Simply. Together."

Sisters and brothers, we have something to offer. At a time when so many are looking for answers and not finding them in "the religious practices of the church," we have the opportunity to make a difference for them and for the kingdom. Let’s create some new wineskins, what do you say?! Amen.