From Pastor Kerry -
Good morning. Welcome to Monday, May 22nd.
"Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved." Matthew 9:17
We've all seen that episode of "I Love Lucy" where she's in a huge vat stomping grapes with her bare feet. When I was a little boy I remember taking a sip of wine from some adult's glass. I thought it was awful stuff. For years after that I assumed it was because the people who crushed the grapes hadn't washed their feet.
Actually the juice used for fine wines and good champagne is extracted from the grapes very gently. Almost by gravity. When that juice is removed the grapes are then pressed. The juice extracted by that method is used for grape juice. Finally the grapes are crushed. The juice extracted in this stage is used for vinegar.
I think the whole process of making wine is a parable about the Christian life: Those who give freely and generously of who they are and what they have are life's fine wine. Those who have to be pressed to give of themselves are life's grape juice, and those who hold on tight to what life has given them end up as bitter and sour as vinegar.
Did you hear about the young woman who was proposing marriage to her boyfriend? She said to him:
"I know I'm not as good looking as Nancy, and I admit I'm not as rich as Nancy. And I don't have a yacht like Nancy, or a house in Hawaii like Nancy, and I don't have a private plane like Nancy. But darling I love you."
The young fellow said to her: "I love you too, but tell me some more about Nancy."
In our day you get someone's attention by telling them what's in it for them. Even the church is being urged to appeal to people's self-interest to give people what they want whether or not its what they need. We have become the ultimate consumer generation. Evaluating every person and organization on the basis of what they can do for me.
But like wine, the truly fine people in life give freely and generously of themselves; their time, energy, love, talents, and compassion. On the other hand, like vinegar, the miser hangs onto what they have until it is pried out of their cold, dead fingers. They sour life for themselves and those they touch because their only concern is what they can get out of life rather than what they can give.
Prayer: Gracious Lord, guide us to the path of generous living. Give us compassionate hearts, listening ears and open minds. Teach us to give as selflessly as you gave your life on the cross. In Jesus' name. Amen."
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