{"id":22878,"date":"2024-12-11T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion-wednesday-11th-december-2024"},"modified":"2024-12-11T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T06:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-wednesday-11th-december-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-wednesday-11th-december-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion Wednesday 11th December 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

St Luke 5: 33 – 39<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then they said to Jesus, \u2018John\u2019s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.\u2019 Jesus said to them, \u2018You cannot make wedding-guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.\u2019 He also told them a parable: \u2018No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, \u201cThe old is good.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time. So speaks Proverbs 17v22 (GNT). John the Baptist, ascetic, abstaining from alcohol and all forms of luxury; Jesus, relaxed and friendly, eating, drinking, enjoying life. If their lifestyles were so different, then we would expect their disciples to lead contrasting lifestyles. So how are we to measure Christian discipleship? There is no lack of guidance in the New Testament, especially in the Epistles of Paul and other writings. Interpreting them has produced a rich seam of advice and warnings over the centuries from all branches of the church, to this very day.<\/p>\n

In Luke\u2019s gospel we find Jesus illustrating discipleship, not with stern warnings, but with vivid images taken from everyday life. A wedding celebration, lasting a week in Jesus\u2019 time, becomes the means of answering his critics. Fasting and praying disciplines are not appropriate for guests when a bridegroom arrives for his wedding. \u2018Where\u2019s the marriage?\u2019, \u2018Who\u2019s the bridegroom?\u2019, Who\u2019s the bride?\u2019 are the teasing questions that naturally arise. Admittedly, fasting becomes more appropriate when the bridegroom leaves, for It signals the end of the celebration. But the bridegroom being \u2018taken away\u2019 is a much darker comment for folk to ponder. The prophet\u2019s imagery of God as Israel\u2019s bridegroom shimmers away in the background.<\/p>\n

Luke follows with Jesus\u2019 two parables illustrating the relationship between the new and the old; the folly of patching new cloth on to old, and the need for new wineskins for new wine. Old wineskins will not contain the fermentation of the new wine, but will burst. These are unsettling images for the recycler. However they teach us that discipleship requires openness, an elasticity of the mind and spirit to follow where the Holy Spirit may lead us. 
 
Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gracious God,
we are comfortable with old
established ways of discipleship,
and reluctant to embrace new ways
of bearing witness to you in our lives.
Open us up to the leading of your Spirit,
so that we become more courageous
and imaginative in following your Son, Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Luke 5: 33 – 39 Then they said to Jesus, \u2018John\u2019s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.\u2019 Jesus said to them, \u2018You cannot make wedding-guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the bridegroom will be … <\/p>\n

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