JANUARY 16, 2022 SUNDAY MESSAGE
JOIN US AT 10 AM TODAY!
Transcription Below:
First, let me start by bringing our attention to the commemoration and observation of THE Reverend…Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend!
His life is an example to so many and the legacy of his ministry is something that
impacts us today,
challenges many today
in fact, I urge you to stop and observe this holiday in some way tomorrow:
go to a celebration,
a commemoration,
watch one online if COVID is preventing you and
make sure your children are present because the baton is ours for the taking…to advance his work today and to pass it on generationally.
In the last few years, we have preached about the life of MLK and in the likeness of his ministry and this year is no different. But, what I noticed that is distinct this year is that our series and focus this year to becoming “NEW” has a lot of alignment with the ministry of Dr. King.
MLK’s words were like new wine to an environment that was made of old wineskins unwilling and unfit to receive it.
He was a “New Wine” Prophet and I have borrowed elements from one of his sermons entitled “New Wine in New Bottles.”
So, there are a few ways that today’s teaching could apply - and I want to surface them - but in light of what we are trying to do at CGNE we will land back in the original space that Dr. King did when he spoke because his words still resound as powerfully as they did the day MLK preached them!
It has been my experience that, as hard as I try not to do it, I come to God with an agenda. I’m getting better at just surrendering to Him but this is what I mean:
I read the scriptures from a posture that seeks affirmation for the things I already think or want to believe.
RIGHT? There is this constant struggle in my Spiritual walk that likes to position myself at the CENTER, as the “good guy,” who is on the BETTER side of Jesus’ teaching.
I will read and receive the teachings of Jesus in contexts that best benefit me and my situation
or bend Jesus’ teachings to agree with my already- constructed-beliefs about life, morality, relationships, money, behaviors, values, & priorities.
So, instead of adjusting MY SELF to life that God has in store for me and the way of life that God has prescribed as thriving, I want to take my assumptions about life and MY dreams for my future and find a way to adjust the Bible to accommodate it…maybe you’ve caught yourself doing this!
We can subtly find ourselves trying to hold onto as much of the life we’ve built for ourselves and just round it off with a little bit of Jesus instead of letting the spirit of God saturate us, form us, and change us from the inside out, we try to make Jesus work for us!
AND it’s not just about the correction of our wayward tendencies, it’s about trusting that God has better in store for us than we have in store for ourselves. Pastor Mike Kelsey says it like this…
“You can’t experience what Jesus wants you to experience by just adding him to the life that you’ve already decided to live.”
I want to invite you to open your Bibles to Matthew 9:14 because we are going to read about someone who comes to Jesus with an agenda, with an attempt to get JESUS to adjust to their own life.
Matthew 9:14-17
Then John’s disciples (referencing John the Baptist) came and asked him, “How is it that WE and THE PHARISEES fast OFTEN, but your disciples do not fast?”
15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?
I can tell that, by your response today, you just missed the moment because that’s funny ya’ll!
I don’t know if it’s just me: but it seems like Jesus is always good for clapback when someone comes at him with a pointed question?
Let me read it again with a little more attitude on it:
Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that WE and THE PHARISEES fast OFTEN, but YOUR disciples do not fast?”
15 Jesus answered, “OHHH - HOW CAN…the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?
Before we move on, let’s look at what’s going on here..
a DISCIPLE of JOHN the Baptist who is a teacher that has publicly submitted to Jesus (John even said, “I’m not worthy to tie this rabbi’s sandals”)
This student has come to Jesus with an agenda and the audacity to challenge Jesus' religious commitment because he isn’t practicing an OPTIONAL religious duty that they and the Pharisees have committed to practice.
You see, Jesus is NOT against FASTING. Fasting was ONLY prescribed in the Old Testament for the Day of Atonement once a year and it was often a sign of repentance or mourning
So, certain religious groups added occasions for voluntary fasting (in this case twice a week!) but, by doing so, they are also putting themselves on a pedestal and Jesus levels them out a bit…
Jesus’ comes back at him with a little lesson, “son, listen, if you knew who I was, you would understand that this is NOT an occasion for mourning but celebration and he uses a WEDDING analogy to explain.”
Weddings are celebratory moments but I didn’t even get this until I went to New Orleans…
I’ve been doing weddings all wrong and maybe realized I didn’t KNOW HOW to celebrate.
I usually sit in a corner
There are dances that culturally they do:
Bounce music
electric slide
Second Line
Once I got out of my comfort zone, I realized this is fun
Weddings are celebrations and when it happens you are supposed to celebrate and I NEEDED TO ADJUST!!
HERE IS JESUS’ POINT, what you are asking is so out of place, it’s ridiculous - RIDICULOUS - in the context of the season because you don’t go up to a groom the week before their wedding and say “shouldn’t you be fasting and mourning?”
NO - you’re reading the moment ALL wrong.
….because there is a GROOM present and a wedding is about to take place.
THAT’S why Jesus says:
“How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? Jesus gives him the next part too: “The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
So there is a season appropriate to you question on its way but, as for my disciples, while I am with them, we are not fasting.
Then, in verse 16 Jesus gives them 2 analogies to suggest that THEY need to adjust to this REALITY! Jesus says:
16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Let’s break this down just a little bit because the context is really important and we need to understand the MEANING of the METAPHOR and the APPLY it to ourselves today!
METAPHOR of the CLOTH: is pretty straightforward in that the new, untreated and unwashed patch shrinks when it is washed. When it does, it will tear away from the threads, and ruins both the garment and the cloth.
MEANING of CLOTH: Jesus has not come to patch up the traditional acts of righteousness within religious sects of Judaism like the young student suggests;
instead he offers something new - real growth in true righteousness through discipleship in the kingdom of heaven.
METAPHOR of WINE: gives us the image of wineskins which are made of animal hide treated with a waxy substance so it’s waterproof and has a good bit of elasticity–
and during the fermentation process gasses are released stretching out the skin.
Since old wineskins have already been stretched to their capacity, if new wine is placed in these skins, the gases produced cause them to tear, rip, or with enough pressure EXPLODE!
BUT NEW WINESKINS have not been stretched so they simply expand to accommodate the pressure and do not burst.”
MEANING of WINE: is that, Jesus has not come to fill the old Jewish system of traditions with new life. They had a season but they are inadequate to support the new life of the kingdom.
Instead, new forms are needed for his kingdom, and new practices must accommodate the new life of discipleship to Jesus.
It’s important that we recognize.. The “New” does not supersede or abolish the Old Testament as if it was useless or bad, Jesus has come to fulfill the law.
I love the way the JNT puts it, noting the careful word choice: ““Neos” means “new” in respect to time, implying immaturity or lack of development…” so it’s Jesus and the Kingdom that He ushers in that is the perfection of the old!
If Jesus were alive today, he might say it like this: CELL PHONE!
This is one of the first CELL PHONES: The Mobira Talkman, NMT450 portable phone, c.1984
I saw one of these in REAL LIFE at a mall in OR. My cousin had it in his BACKPACK and when it was time to leave…
The Talkman could only do one thing - < 5% of an iphone!
NOW, if I tried to take everything THIS <Cell Phone> has to offer with:
5G Internet
Global Maps & GPS navigation
Video Games
Spotify and endless music
Netflix, HULU, Disney+
App for everything!! THAT used to be individual dedicated electronic devices
If I tried to take ALL THESE THINGS and download it into the old phone
It would beg for mercy!!
You’d here it sizzle, smoke come through the vents and then it would burst into flames!!
SO JESUS, by saying these things to the young student, He is
PUSHING back on their agenda saying:
You are operating from an old season disciple of John
You are operating from the old framework PHARISEES and…
TEACHING them to make room for something NEW and Jesus is saying “PUT THAT OLD PHONE AWAY!”
Because, not only have you read the season wrong, son…this thing is SO NEW, so mature, & so UPGRADED and advanced that the old system is unfit to contain it!
It’s not compatible with the NEW THING - the Kingdom of Heaven -that I am downloading into my disciples
So don’t try to get them to fit into your tiny little “old phone” agenda!
But ALSO, “look I’m not mad you, if you are WILLING to ADJUST, I will upgrade YOU because there is room for”
Because the Kingdom can handle
the legalist and the least of these
The tax collector and teacher of the old ways
You have to hear that and believe it: in the NEW THING, there is always an upgrade available if you are willing to ADJUST!!
So we come to TWO conclusions: Some objects, some things, some systems, some habits, and ways of life are not compatible with ways of the Kingdom of God
and while it was the strict religious systems of first Century Judaism coming to the realization of Jesus’ NEW WINE in THIS moment,
it could be any number of things in our day and God is calling YOU to “step out of the old and into the new.”
Stop trying to adjust God and BE ADJUSTED!
Today I want to ask you to examine your heart, your intentions, and your agendas and weigh them against the Kingdom of God.
ASK YOURSELF: are there still things that YOU hold onto that are unfit for, or are incompatible with, the Kingdom of God that you need to release to embrace the New Thing that He is doing in YOUR life?
If it’s a religious adherence that looks less like Jesus and more like a
A denominational agenda
A Political ideology: conservitive or Progressive!
A Nationalistic ideology
Modern day evangelicalism
Cultural identity that you’ve prioritized over your identity in Christ!
…SHED that old clothes and put on Christ!!
If it’s a sin or addiction you’re holding, embrace the grace that has been given you and step out of the dark and into the day.
Maybe you have been trying to do it alone and you need to expose more light on it and be held accountable to a group of people.
Maybe you built a temporary system around you to get through a difficult season or experience and I think God is telling you, it is just scaffolding. It is helpful in the season but it was never meant to be permanent and it may be time to put it away and step onto a new foundation…
Maybe there’s a burden, hurt, or a trauma weighing you down and it may be time to let it go and allow God to pick it up on your behalf.
If it’s bitterness or a point of contention…embrace forgiveness
If it’s guilt, be renewed
If it’s hardness of heart be softened
Whatever it is that you are trying to make work in the New Framework of God’s Kingdom, release it and pray:
“ADJUST ME GOD.”
Blow up my rotten old wineskin and do something NEW in me today.
Download the Kingdom into my heart, into my soul, and into my strength today.
And pray along with Ephesians 4 with says:
22 You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to CLOTHE yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
HERE IS THE SECOND THING…if there are things that YOU are holding onto that are unfit for, or are incompatible with, the Kingdom of God that is BEING released - and the NEW THING - God is doing in our church today, that needs to be examine as well.
I don’t think it’s a stretch (that was a wineskin joke btw!) that a church that is moving towards a multiracial, multicultural expression in the context of America in our day and age is NEW WINE.
We will have to adjust to each other but listen, the ONUS of that adjustment
is on those who have been here - there is a home court advantage that needs to be recalibrated to center everyone.
It’s on the Majority Community
SPECIFIC, it’s on the white community for this season to operate in the ministry of HOSPITALITY and decenter the white cultural norms so that there is room for new expressions of preaching, worship, leadership, DEVOTION, COMMUNITY, and MISSION to co-exist as the NEW WINE is being fermented.
It’s on US to become new wine skins…
As we observe the importance of the Preacher and Pastor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, I want us to recognize a Prophet who spoke about a dream - his words were NEW WINE poured into the wineskins of a social climate that was not yet fit to receive or contain it and the wine inside of him was spilled out the day he was killed.
Today, we carry that same message, that same dream, that same wine and though we are not where we were when Dr. King spoke, we have yet to realize the fullness of the dream God gave him. It remains an Elusive Dream in our churches and throughout our country.
There is still a sacrifice to be made and a price to be paid for this work today and POC will end up paying for it no matter what. If people in the white community don’t willingly step into that, put some skin in the game, and bare that cross our brothers and sisters bare it alone.
If you try to come into this new thing with your old garment or your rotten stretched out wineskin, we too may lose the wineskin and the wine will pour out all over the ground…
So, HERE IS OUR COLLECTIVE CALL as a church today:
“God, search our hearts oh Lord, see if there is any grievous way within us” and
ADJUST US wherever we need to ADJUSTED, because…
We believe your POINT B, your destination on this journey is an UPGRADE to the way we have been doing church - Dr. King saw it and had the boldness to PROCLAIM IT - may we have the boldness to LIVE IT OUT.
ADJUST US, because,
when you created this family of God the intention was EVERY tribe tongue and nation AND
when you bring it to its completion, it’s EVERY tribe tongue and nation
and we want that Kingdom INSTEAD of our old wineskins! GOD, MAKE US NEW WINESKINS!!
We are here, we are ready, we are open, we want the vision that you have set before us
While it has remained ELUSIVE in our churches and nation, it is not impossible because you are a miracle working God and we believe you are able to do impossible things!!
COMMUNION:
(1 COR. 11:23B-26)
“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
PRAYER REQUESTS:
We are hosting prayer team meetings for both the congregation at large and individuals to sign up for individual prayer.
SUGGESTIONS FOR WORSHIP:
“Praise & Worship” Spotify playlist and “Praise & Worship” YouTube playlist (slightly different from each other), both of diverse music that are being constantly updated!
Bethel Music :
Bethel Music’s hours of live music YouTube Playlist, also being constantly updated
Bethel provides chords to most (if not all) of their songs here (just have to register email, but free!)
Live worship moments from the Upper Room YouTube Playlist
Journal writing! (I’m a writer too, so sometimes creative writing and writing my thoughts to God is my form of worship.)
Declare and worship with truth by singing and praying scriptures.
WORSHIP NIGHT! Dedicate a night to worship with friends and family, your house church or neighbors, those who need prayer, love worship, or just enjoy music through a video chat platform like Zoom. You can have one person leading at a time (switching off to whoever else wants to lead) while others sing along, pray, or prophesy, etc.
Serving your community, both online, in person, or both, is a great way to worship God, from spreading encouragement and God’s Word online to physically serving food to others. If you are able to go out and serve, click here for opportunities.
COMMISSIONING:
As Jesus said in John 20:21,
"Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
Go, be the Church!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.