Rev. David Holwick ZN
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 30, 2001
Matthew 9:14-17
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I. What gets their interest?
A. Maybe not what you think...
Rev. Claunch recently heard of a survey that asked teenage girls
what interested them most.
"I sat smugly and said, 'I know that. It's boys,'" he recalled.
He found out he was decidedly wrong.
The majority of teenage girls answered that witchcraft
interested them most.
The fastest growing religion among teenagers is Wicca (the
religion of witchcraft).
One pro-witchcraft website said one reason interest has risen
was television shows like, "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,"
"Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," and "Charmed."
Though none of them portray witchcraft as it truly is, the
website said they at least created interest.
The recent Harry Potter phenomenon is another example of this
trend.
The occult is shown as fun, powerful and interesting.
#22050
Harry Potter reflects a wider movement known as the New Age.
After Christianity Today ran an article which criticized the
New Age movement, Dr. John Chrisci wrote a letter to them.
He said the New Age religion is what Christianity should be all
about, but isn't.
The New Age movement is forward-looking, positive and
uplifting.
Christians, on the other hand, tend to focus on negatives,
grovel in sin and guilt, and look back to the past.
Dr. Chrisci concluded:
The put-down has gone far enough. People are hungry for
Christ's more abundant life. We have brought the New Age
movement on ourselves.
#22049
II. Negative religion.
A. Religion always struggles with balancing positive and negative.
1) Negative usually wins.
2) Our passage in Matthew begins with disciples of John the
Baptist approaching Jesus.
a) John was a great example for Baptists - no drinking,
no smoking, grasshoppers for lunch. No nonsense.
b) He looked a lot like Bin Laden.
c) His followers wanted to know why Jesus wasn't like
Bin Laden.
B. A matter of fasting.
1) Specifically, John's disciples wanted to know why all the
religious people fasted, but Jesus and his group didn't.
2) Jesus answered that fasting is for sad people, and his
followers should be happy because he is with them.
C. Followers of Jesus should be positive.
1) Sadly, often we are not.
a) Jerry Falwell got a "down arrow" from Newsweek this
week.
b) Even Christian publications are noting how the current
generation is turning from church.
c) 8 percent of Protestants have dropped out altogether
in past decade.
2) Maybe we are not understanding Jesus correctly.
III. Jesus rocks.
A. While everyone else fasts, he parties.
1) Two short parables press the point home.
B. The New is incompatible with old.
1) New patches on old garments.
a) The cotton shrank and pulled away from old material.
b) New belongs on new, old on old.
2) Jesus can't be patched on old religious systems.
a) This is why true Christianity doesn't mix well.
b) It is grace faith, not legalistic faith.
c) It shouldn't be bound by old traditions.
1> Only by bound by Word of God, which isn't as rigid
as many think.
C. The New is explosive.
1) New wine in old wineskins.
Jews in those days did not use bottles like we do.
They were too expensive.
So they used wineskins instead which were usually made
from a sheep's stomach.
A friend of mine bought one on a trip to Africa.
It was a genuine Moroccan wineskin.
He put water in it and found the bag sweat, when kept
the contents cool.
But the water tasted terrible, like it had been
regurgitated.
The biggest problem with wineskins is if you don't
use them, they dry out and crack.
Then you put new wine in; new wine hasn't fully
fermented yet.
Gas-filled liquid in a brittle container can have
interesting effects...
Like this Pepsi bottle I am shaking...
[adapted from old sermon]
2) The old can't contain the new without bursting.
a) Jesus-faith should be filled with excitement.
b) It cannot fit in old worn-out structures.
3) New Wine needs new wineskins.
a) New wineskins are flexible and strong.
b) They can handle the fizz.
IV. If Jesus talked about wineskins today...
A. He would tell Christians to be filled with excitement.
1) There is joy in knowing Jesus.
2) Christian faith is positive and life-affirming.
3) If it seems boring, find someone who is excited and learn
their secret.
B. He would tell us to discard what is brittle.
1) If something is not working, dump it.
a) Our Sunday School classes have changed study materials
even after using them for a decade.
If it doesn't work, discard it.
b) Find out what does work.
1> Personal devotions, etc.
2) Break old relationships, anything that drags you down.
C. He would tell the Church to be flexible.
1) His audience knew he was talking about Jewish faith.
a) He could just as well be talking about the church today.
2) Churches need to distinguish between God's commands and
our own traditions.
a) Traditions can change. They must change.
b) Example: Christmas Eve service.
Very traditional.
I even have a chart that checks off the carols.
Some said later we should liven it up...
Dramatic readings.
Perhaps a skit.
Maybe some praise music.
c) National Public Radio and spot on new worship music.
1> Praise music is sweeping the country.
2> Interviewed some who insist on old hymns.
3> But spiritual content is more important than style.
d) C. K. Chesterton on innovation:
"Conservatism is based upon the idea that if you
leave things alone, you leave them as they are.
But you do not.
If you leave a thing alone, you leave it to a torrent
of changes.
If you leave a white (fence) post alone, it will soon
be a black post.
If you particularly want it to be white, you must be
always painting it again.
Briefly, if you want the old white post, you must have
a new white post."
#22025
V. Are you open to change in the new year?
A. It requires a new attitude.
B. It requires a decision.
C. It requires effort.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#22025 "Chesterton On Conservatism And Change," by C. K. Chesterton,
Leadership Journal; http://www.christianitytoday.com/bcl/~
features/ pastors/articles/le-9l2-9l2022.html; Spring 1999.
#22049 Christianity Today, modified from old sermon by Rev. David
Holwick.
#22050 "What Happens When Almighty God Calls Your House?" by Doy Cave,
http:www.baptistpress.com.
These and 20,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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HOLWICK'S COLLECTION Number: 5208
SOURCE: http://www.gospelcom.net/mw/flexbl.htm
TITLE: Discipleship Character Qualities - Flexibility
AUTHOR: Dr. David Schroeder
DATE: 27-Jan-2000
ILLUSTRATION:
This lesson uses the imagery of wineskins and wine. Because wine speaks
of life, vitality, transformation, it is often a symbol of the Holy
Spirit in Scripture. What is Jesus saying here? Simply this - what you
are receiving when you receive the kingdom is so new and dynamic that
none of your old receptacles, none of your old structure and forms, are
able to contain it.
Wineskins, of course, are made of leather, and new leather is very
pliable. Old leather is rigid and cracks easily. Jesus was saying that
the kingdom is always in fermentation. In grape juice or other organic
material, fermentation is a chemical reaction that causes expansion,
which is why the cork on a wine bottle pops when first opened. If
unfermented or "new" wine is poured into an old, rigid, inflexible
wineskin and then ferments, there will be an explosion. Fermentation
demands flexibility or "soft skins."
Jesus was teaching here that people who want the new wine of the kingdom
of God must be flexible. Kingdom life is too dynamic to be contained by
rigid skins that it cannot shape. God's kingdom will not settle into
the shape of any earthly mold. The absolutely essential quality we need
for this new life-changing gift is flexibility. Because church
structures and dogmas can be quite rigid, it is often difficult for
religious people to change. But Jesus said that if you are going to be
a kingdom person, you must not expect to be able to use the "old
wineskins" of your former life.
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