Old Blue Jeans and New Wine

My favorite pair of work jeans has a hole in the pocket. Being a man, and a frugal man at that, I don't want to throw them away. The comfort of a well-broken-in pair of blue jeans is a treasure, not lightly to be given up. I've sewed the pocket, but the cloth is thin and thread doesn't hold well. I've even stapled the frayed cloth back together to allow me to wear them a little bit longer. But nothing holds long. I don't mind losing a bit of pocket change from the hole, but when I find my keys in the parking lot, even I know it's time.

My inability to patch the pocket got me thinking. I've been puzzled about the parable admonishing us to not use new cloth to patch an old garment for a long time, especially in its context. Levi the tax collector had just left everything to follow Jesus. He then had a party, with Jesus as the guest of honor, and invited all his friends. The Jewish religious leaders were appalled with the mixture of heretics, outcasts, and sinners—all beneath them! When asked about the odd gathering, Jesus responded that the sick needed a doctor, not the well. The leaders went on to ask Jesus why His followers didn't give themselves to fasting when John the Baptist's did. Jesus responded again, saying that it's appropriate to celebrate while the bridegroom (Jesus) is still with them. And then Jesus told seemingly random parables about new cloth being incompatible with old, and new wine breaking old wineskins. He finished by saying old wine was more desirable to those who had tasted it than new. I understand Levi and his party. I understand why the religious leaders hated it. I understand sick people needing a physician. I understand enjoying Jesus' presence while you have opportunity. But how do the parables about the incompatibility of new and old fit into the story?

It had not made sense because I had seen the parables as the cataclysmic clashing of two faiths—one old and worn out and one new and full of life. Unfortunately, these assumptions fit neither the context nor the whole of scripture. God's commands and the history of His faithfulness did not wear out. Following Christ was not, and is not, a new faith. For those of us who believe in Him, it is the only possible way to fulfill an old faith.

So then, if old cloth and new cloth are not faith systems, what are they? What things become so worn out that they are un-fixable, un-redemable? If God and His word are un-changeable, what is changeable? The answer, of course, is our perspectives. In this story, the leaders' perspectives were wrong. God had given His Word through Moses and the prophets. But over time, their interpretations and traditions about those Words became more important than the Words themselves, and in some cases, directly contradicted those Words, and they clothed themselves with their traditions. These tradition-clothes became hard, brittle, and unrepairable. Their pockets also had holes in them. Repairs to those pockets were neither possible nor desired. But they were comfortable in their worn out clothes. The keys--unreserved love for God, justice for the oppressed, and mercy for the penitent—had long since slipped from their torn pockets. And new clothes are expensive and sometimes uncomfortable. The old was preferable. They chose comfort for themselves over usefulness to God.

And now back to my jeans, and my life. My jeans are comfortable, but worn out, dangerous and need to be discarded. Their liabilities are greater than their usefulness. Some of my perspectives and ways of walking out my faith are the same. Levi came to a similar decision point, and found a whole new way to implement his new faith. He gave a Jesus party for his friends. For me, that would have been incredibly uncomfortable. But it may be the best example of how a new believer, or any believer, can impact friends and co-workers. Incredibly useful! But I'd rather read about it than do it. Real change in how we live is not easy.

P,S. I still have my jeans. I will throw them out. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow.

"No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.' " (Luke 5)