Thoughts for the Day

Then the disciples of John came to Jesus, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. 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.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

I began my first job as a Deaconess in 1984 in a small Gloucestershire village but in my second year was working with a brand new ecumenical church on a huge new estate largely populated by young professional couples and their children. My two boys were also young, so the first thing I did was to start 'Kids' Praise', a time of worship and activity for babies, toddlers, and parents (largely Mums). But what to do next? Well after listening to a talk by the World Wide President of the Mothers' Union to Diocesan clergy I took her words to heart. She said "Ask the members of the Mothers' Union to make cakes and they will produce an amazing spread; ask them to do mission work and they will teach and evangelise the next generation of Christians!"

Within a month three of us were enrolled in the MU, and our first meeting was at my house. We were allowed latitude from half the rules and loosely attached to another established MU branch. I remember one memorable day when a young man turned up to talk about the Samaritans. He was faced with thirty Mums, babies and toddlers and an awful lot of noise. He looked petrified! We couldn't even have a cup of tea - too many children around! But what we did have was worship and fellowship. Unfortunately, the first mature member of the MU who turned up left as quickly as she arrived, unable to take the chaos. I needed her knowledge and experience but it was all too much change for her, and she went to join the village branch.

In today's reading Jesus uses three tiny parables to explain why his disciples are not obeying the Law of Moses, and why he is working with outsiders and those who are unclean. Jesus knows that it is time for change. The old ways will no longer work. He uses the parable of the guests at the wedding feast; the patch on the cloak; and wine in the new wineskin; to remind those who listened (and us today) that meeting Jesus is a thing of joy and that new ways and ideas can be good. G.K. Chesterton once said that Christianity is not dead, it is untried and thus found wanting. Today each one of us is called to find new ways to tell old truths!

Lord Jesus Christ,
we pray for all seeking to tell old truths in new ways;
for those with a desire to spread the Gospel
in innovative and exciting ways;
for all working on the edges of society;
for those using new technology to reach new people;
for Christian artists, dramatists, and play leaders;
for new clergy and ministers hoping to bring in fresh ideas;
and for all seeking to shake up the faithful!
and reinvigorate their zeal for mission once more.
Amen.