Of Sinners and New Wine

Last night I was reading from Mark 2:15-17, 21-22 NIV:
[15] "While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. [16] When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [17] On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

[21] “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. [22] And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

I was thinking about how Jesus really didn't have a problem with upsetting the religious people and traditions. As a representation of the Father, He was showing us how The Father 's heart is for people not rules, not ceremony, not religion. I think it is partly due to our desire for control of our lives that attracts us to ceremonies, rules and religion. With those guidelines we know where we stand, how much effort we need to put in, even what the outcome should be. We like consistency and order, minimal messes, etc. The problem is that we become static, and unmoving, and unwilling to change, even if its for the better.

Jesus shows us that we must be willing to see the people, to get involved, to be willing to step out of our comfort zone and change. New wine causes expansion and stretching. New cloth shrinks or contracts. People have sin in their lives, and when dealing with sin, things can get 'messy'. Yet that is is exactly what we are called to do, to be witnesses of the Father's love to all those around us, especially to the 'sinners'.

Lord, help me to get outside my comfort zone and be willing to be stretched and affected, for the sake of the lost and wandering.