A Lenten Reflection
The Old cannot hold the New
As I was listening to an old song/chant of the Church, titled "Bless the Lord, my Soul" (taken after the verse in the Psalms), I was pondering on today's Gospel lesson. (Mark 2:18-22) In the reading of the Scriptures, it tells of a conflict between the Pharisees and Christ; where they chided the Lord for not keeping their additional, man-made fasts. (The Jewish people were encouraged to fast, but the Pharisees had set aside two days a week for fasting, not required within the Law, and then expected everyone else to keep those fasts as well.) Christ rebukes them, and by doing so, negates the authority of their self imposed doctrine.
Self imposed doctrine.
We see that a lot in today's churches, don't we? Who can eat what, who can drink which beverage, listen to certain musics, or wear such apparel. We even argue over what Bible translations, prayer books and hymnals are acceptable...and while we should be on the look out for true heresy....usually it is just nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking.
The more rules we feel we keep, the better a person we are than someone else. The more puffed up we are, the more assured we are of our own importance.
Ahh....self righteousness...the fruit of self imposed, or man-made, doctrine. Evil and rotten to the core. It may look pretty, and holy, and devout from the outside...but it is sour and bitter fruit, not fit for consumption. Because it all springs from pride, also known as vanity...the sin for which the fallen angels were cast from heaven.
For pride, often manifested as self righteousness, says, "I don't need God. I may like having a notion of Him around, but I don't *need* Him. I can do things on my own. I can manage myself and that around me just as well as He can." In the worse cases...it makes one think they are par *with* God.....thus why the angels fell.
The Pharisees of Christ's time, and of ours, excel in saying, "You must worship just as I do," (with the implication that they know God better than you could ever.) "If you don't do things just this way, you're sinning," and they heap law upon you, until you are buried under the weight and cannot breathe.
We all have things we do, if we are truly trying to drawn near to God, to bring us closer to the Lord. It is not wrong to choose to fast (the Bible encourages us to do so) but we don't need to make others miserable during our fast, or drag them along and force them to join us. We may love a certain music that praises God, and it is well and good for us to listen to it then, but not to belittle others who may not choose the same style of hymn to praise with. We may choose to eat or drink only certain foods, but it is no sin of our brothers or sisters if they eat in a different manner.
When we focus more on what divides us in the faith, rather than focusing on the wondrous beauty of Christ and His message, we don't glorify God. When we fight over non-essential matters of faith, and try to make those into laws and burdens, we fall into sin.
For we, my friends, are not bound by the crippling weight of a law we cannot keep. (Romans 6:14) Christ came to save us from ourselves, and our fallen nature....a nature which could not only keep God's perfect law, but certainly could not keep the myriad of laws that men added on...laws of tradition and judgement.
" Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-- " Galatians 3:11-13
When Christ gave Himself up to the Cross, bearing our shame and our sin, paying our penalty, He freed us from a law we could not keep. The gentle Shepherd laid down His life for us, His wayward and stubborn sheep, knowing we could not save ourselves.
So we enter into a new covenant with the Lord, where we live by faith and we are saved by grace alone.
" For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
And it is in that new relationship, that new understanding, that we come to the second part of the Gospel reading for today, "‘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 wine-skins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wine-skins." (Mark 2:21-22)
Christ is telling the Pharisees and the Disciples that you cannot live the new life of the Kingdom in the old manner of a sin bound soul trying to save itself through legalism and rule keeping. Jesus is telling them that, in essence, "here is something new, and the old patches and worn wine-skins cannot hold it."
Living by faith and grace, in trust and love, of Christ Jesus is to admit we cannot save ourselves; only He can save us. It means we forfeit the right to pride and self-righteousness...because we are so sin-scarred that we have NO righteousness of our own...but only that which is imparted to us through Christ. It means that we can lay aside the struggle of a life of laws that we cannot keep, and simply rest in Christ. Don't we all get weary? Don't we all long for a safe harbor to rest in?
St. Chrysostom, writing in the 4th century, says, “The souls of some are like an old garment, an old wine-skin- not as yet renewed by faith. Not yet renovated in the grace of the Spirit, they remain weak and earthly. All their affections are turned toward this life, fluttering after worldly show, loving a glory that is ephemeral.”(ACCS, p.34)
Jesus is saying, in His explanation to His Disciples and in stark contrast to the Pharisees, there is no mixing of the old ways of legalism with the coming of the Kingdom;for salvation by grace through faith is a brand new garment, a new wine-skin that cannot be mixed with a man centered works righteousness. That the old faith of works oriented religion cannot hold, cannot contain, the grace that God is pouring upon us. Grace requires new wine-skins.
From here on out, followers of Christ will be obedient to Christ's words not out of legalism and trying to gain heaven by works, but out of love and thanksgiving to the Lord who saved us. We know our paltry works have no righteousness of their own, they are but a mere love gift to the Savior. And should we err, should we fall and stumble, it is the love and grace of Christ which picks us up again.
Are you trying, my friends, to live a new life constrained by old laws and routines? Is your faith life a struggle because you feel you have to earn your place? Are you trying to appease a self of imposed extra laws that are drowning you in feelings of inadequacy?
The old wine-skins, with their patches, will burst and leave you hollow and drained....trade them in for a new life in Christ Jesus.
On towards the Cross,
-Beth Haynes Butler
The Old cannot hold the New
As I was listening to an old song/chant of the Church, titled "Bless the Lord, my Soul" (taken after the verse in the Psalms), I was pondering on today's Gospel lesson. (Mark 2:18-22) In the reading of the Scriptures, it tells of a conflict between the Pharisees and Christ; where they chided the Lord for not keeping their additional, man-made fasts. (The Jewish people were encouraged to fast, but the Pharisees had set aside two days a week for fasting, not required within the Law, and then expected everyone else to keep those fasts as well.) Christ rebukes them, and by doing so, negates the authority of their self imposed doctrine.
Self imposed doctrine.
We see that a lot in today's churches, don't we? Who can eat what, who can drink which beverage, listen to certain musics, or wear such apparel. We even argue over what Bible translations, prayer books and hymnals are acceptable...and while we should be on the look out for true heresy....usually it is just nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking.
The more rules we feel we keep, the better a person we are than someone else. The more puffed up we are, the more assured we are of our own importance.
Ahh....self righteousness...the fruit of self imposed, or man-made, doctrine. Evil and rotten to the core. It may look pretty, and holy, and devout from the outside...but it is sour and bitter fruit, not fit for consumption. Because it all springs from pride, also known as vanity...the sin for which the fallen angels were cast from heaven.
For pride, often manifested as self righteousness, says, "I don't need God. I may like having a notion of Him around, but I don't *need* Him. I can do things on my own. I can manage myself and that around me just as well as He can." In the worse cases...it makes one think they are par *with* God.....thus why the angels fell.
The Pharisees of Christ's time, and of ours, excel in saying, "You must worship just as I do," (with the implication that they know God better than you could ever.) "If you don't do things just this way, you're sinning," and they heap law upon you, until you are buried under the weight and cannot breathe.
We all have things we do, if we are truly trying to drawn near to God, to bring us closer to the Lord. It is not wrong to choose to fast (the Bible encourages us to do so) but we don't need to make others miserable during our fast, or drag them along and force them to join us. We may love a certain music that praises God, and it is well and good for us to listen to it then, but not to belittle others who may not choose the same style of hymn to praise with. We may choose to eat or drink only certain foods, but it is no sin of our brothers or sisters if they eat in a different manner.
When we focus more on what divides us in the faith, rather than focusing on the wondrous beauty of Christ and His message, we don't glorify God. When we fight over non-essential matters of faith, and try to make those into laws and burdens, we fall into sin.
For we, my friends, are not bound by the crippling weight of a law we cannot keep. (Romans 6:14) Christ came to save us from ourselves, and our fallen nature....a nature which could not only keep God's perfect law, but certainly could not keep the myriad of laws that men added on...laws of tradition and judgement.
" Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-- " Galatians 3:11-13
When Christ gave Himself up to the Cross, bearing our shame and our sin, paying our penalty, He freed us from a law we could not keep. The gentle Shepherd laid down His life for us, His wayward and stubborn sheep, knowing we could not save ourselves.
So we enter into a new covenant with the Lord, where we live by faith and we are saved by grace alone.
" For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
And it is in that new relationship, that new understanding, that we come to the second part of the Gospel reading for today, "‘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 wine-skins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wine-skins." (Mark 2:21-22)
Christ is telling the Pharisees and the Disciples that you cannot live the new life of the Kingdom in the old manner of a sin bound soul trying to save itself through legalism and rule keeping. Jesus is telling them that, in essence, "here is something new, and the old patches and worn wine-skins cannot hold it."
Living by faith and grace, in trust and love, of Christ Jesus is to admit we cannot save ourselves; only He can save us. It means we forfeit the right to pride and self-righteousness...because we are so sin-scarred that we have NO righteousness of our own...but only that which is imparted to us through Christ. It means that we can lay aside the struggle of a life of laws that we cannot keep, and simply rest in Christ. Don't we all get weary? Don't we all long for a safe harbor to rest in?
St. Chrysostom, writing in the 4th century, says, “The souls of some are like an old garment, an old wine-skin- not as yet renewed by faith. Not yet renovated in the grace of the Spirit, they remain weak and earthly. All their affections are turned toward this life, fluttering after worldly show, loving a glory that is ephemeral.”(ACCS, p.34)
Jesus is saying, in His explanation to His Disciples and in stark contrast to the Pharisees, there is no mixing of the old ways of legalism with the coming of the Kingdom;for salvation by grace through faith is a brand new garment, a new wine-skin that cannot be mixed with a man centered works righteousness. That the old faith of works oriented religion cannot hold, cannot contain, the grace that God is pouring upon us. Grace requires new wine-skins.
From here on out, followers of Christ will be obedient to Christ's words not out of legalism and trying to gain heaven by works, but out of love and thanksgiving to the Lord who saved us. We know our paltry works have no righteousness of their own, they are but a mere love gift to the Savior. And should we err, should we fall and stumble, it is the love and grace of Christ which picks us up again.
Are you trying, my friends, to live a new life constrained by old laws and routines? Is your faith life a struggle because you feel you have to earn your place? Are you trying to appease a self of imposed extra laws that are drowning you in feelings of inadequacy?
The old wine-skins, with their patches, will burst and leave you hollow and drained....trade them in for a new life in Christ Jesus.
On towards the Cross,
-Beth Haynes Butler
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