THE WINESKIN PROJECT

Wine comes in bottles or boxes. Yes, but that was not always true. In fact, in Spain, Italy, Croatia, Georgia, and more remote and traditional areas wineskins are still in use. Made from tanned skins, primarily goat, lined with tar to prevent leaks they eventually wear out. Most of us were first introduced to wineskins in Sunday School. The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke each contain Jesus giving this warning,

Similarly, no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins and will spill out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine but says, ‘The old is good.’
(Luke 5:37-39 NRSV)

The obvious lesson is that the brittleness wineskins acquire over time makes them risky containers for new wine which expands as it ferments. Jesus’ message challenges that of the religious establishment and requires a new experience of faith.

I never heard verse 37 addressed in Sunday School or even in my seminary classes. Is Jesus undercutting the message we all read in verses 37-38? I don’t think so.

New wine is the latest vintage which has the same fundamental characteristics as previous and even future vintages. A vintage is a yearly production of a varietal grape which passes on these fundamental characteristics to each vintage. The vintage is a response to the context in which it is grown.

Throughout his ministry Jesus was adamant that his gospel was consistent with the will of the Father. In biblical faith the varietal was established when Yahweh revealed Himself to the Israelite slave through Moses. This varietal was safeguarded by the prophets during the period of the monarchy. And now Jesus is the fullest and clearest expression of the varietal.

“The old is good” but requires new wineskins for succeeding vintages. This simple statement addresses a persistent roadblock to making new disciples, un-examined wineskins. The varietal is consistent. Micah gives the most succinct expression of it in the Old Testament.

He has told you, O mortal, what is good,
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:8 NRSV)

Jesus restates this in his summation of the Law.

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
(Matt. 26:36-40 NRSV)

The Wineskin Project is a challenge to utilize the varietal faith as expressed by both Micah and Jesus to examine current practices and messages of all of us who claim to represent Jesus; to legitimize a model for assessing change in Kingdom activities. Our vintage and wineskin must promote the Yahweh given varietal to each generation.