Scripture: Mark 2:18-22
Journal: What is your current spiritual practice? How well does it fit what God is doing in
your soul? Where are you trying to put
new wine in old wineskins?
Reflection:
All too often I find that the new life God is
trying to grow within me simply will not fit into the same old containers I try
to put it in. The life of the Spirit is dynamic, not static, and our
practice should be the same. Oh that is not to say that old practices
aren't useful in the life of the Spirit, because they definitely
are. In fact, some of the best ancient practices have not been
practiced for so long that they have a lot of new life to them.
What Jesus seems to be saying here
is that our practice should always be determined by the life and movement of
the Spirit, not vice versa. The practices of the faith (or the spiritual
disciplines, or means of grace, or whatever you want to call them) are
intended to make space for the Spirit to move, not to constrict or control
it. Therefore, it seems that our spiritual practice must be constantly
adapted to what God is doing in our souls and in our community. Holding
on to old, lifeless, duty-filled, performance-based forms of spiritual
practice (as in Mark 2:18-22) does not give the room that the new, vibrant,
growing, expansive, spacious work of the Spirit requires for the current
season. And when we hold on to ritual, simply for the sake of ritual, it
is like putting new wine in old wineskins. When we are hell-bent on
always having to do the same old things the same old ways, the soul
actually begins to shrivel and die. It becomes more about what we do than
about what He does. Not that these practices and rituals are always bad,
there will probably be a season in the future where they will serve us well
once again--or should I say where they will serve God well as he does his work
within us. Therefore, we must constantly examine our souls and our
practice to try and make the best possible space within us for the Spirit of
God to do his work.
What is the state of your soul these
days? What is God's Spirit doing within you? What is the state of
your current practice? Is it producing good fruit? Is it making
good space for the growth that is going on within you? If not, what will
make good space for the movement of God's Spirit in your heart and life?
And how will you make those things a part of your normal rhythm and practice?
I also wonder if this parable might
not contain a vocational truth as well. I wonder if there are
times when the beautiful things that God is doing and growing within
us (the new wine) do not adequately match the vocation (old wineskins) we
currently find ourselves in. A new season of our soul has arrived, and
God is doing a new and beautiful thing. But this old container is not
sufficient to give room to the expansive work that God desires to do. A
new container is required; one that is big enough to hold, and give room
to, all that God longs to do in and through us. Unfortunately, letting go
of the old and comfortable in favor of the new and unknown takes a whole lot of
faith and even more courage. Fear keeps us trying to pour our new wine
into an old skins, but it simply will not fit.
At the very least this parable calls
us to continual awareness and reflection. Awareness of what the
Spirit of God us up to, both within us and around us. And a
reflection on our current spiritual practice (or vocation) and how
(or if) that practice is giving us the space our soul needs for the growth
and expansive nature of this new wine.
Prayer
Closing
Prayer: Forgive me, O God, when I try to put the new,
full, vibrant life you are growing within me into the same old wineskins. It simply won’t fit.
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