Incongruently New

Incongruently New Incongruently New Michael Morse / General CrossFit / Covenant; Parables; Discipleship; New wine; Wineskin / Luke 5:33-39 Incongruent describes something as incompatible, unsuitable or not agreeing with something else. For those who want to be cross fit you cannot just add cross fit to your life and keep going. More often than not your old lifestyle is/was incongruent with you goal of cross fitness. You need a whole new lifetsyle and that new lifestyle will be incongruent with the old lifestyle. In the same way Jesus in answering a question about His disciples and discipleship reveals that He didnt come to be in addition to the old way but that He was bringing an entirely new way. It would be incongruently new. Introduction 1. Incongruent - comes from two Latin words -> "in" meaning "not" and "congruentem" "suitable or agreeing" a. When two things are incongruent they are unmixable - they cannot exist mixed it would ruin both of them i. I used to work in a restaurant - and since they are still around I wont tell you which one - but we used to do what we called marry the ketchups - yum right? 1. Old ketchups mixed together - worked well and made the bottles look full 2. New ketchup with old ketchup though ruins both - bubbles get created ii. guess what - you open the top and it blows up on you b. For those who desire fitness and health - you cannot just add cross fit to your life and continue on i. More often than not your lifestyle is incongruent with cross fitness or whatever your health goals are 1. University of Texas did a study - a group of people from an extreme sedentary lifestyle with about 40% body fat a. 3 weight training sessions per week and 2 group interval exercises per week i. Without dietary control ii. 12 weeks of high intensity training b. Total fat loss 1% - equates to 1 lb of fat c. Total muscle gained 2 lbs 2. Terrible results - and this is why many get discouraged and quit exercising or seeking cross fitness ii. Why the disappointing results? 1. Incongruent lifestyles iii. In order to achieve your cross fit goals you must adopt an entirely new lifestyle you cannot mix it 2. Luke gospel - as we continue our CrossFit series brings us front and center to a challenge to Jesus and His method of discipleship. a. Jesus answers with parables to explain that He is teaching a new way and this new way is incongruently new to their old ways. b. Lets read together and see how Jesus way is incongruently new to the old way › SLIDE Luke 5:33-34 CSB 33 Then they said to him, "John's disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but yours eat and drink." 34 Jesus said to them, "You can't make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you? › SLIDE Luke 5:35-36 CSB 35 But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them-then they will fast in those days." 36 He also told them a parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Otherwise, not only will he tear the new, but also the piece from the new garment will not match the old. › SLIDE Luke 5:37-39 CSB 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, 'The old is better.' " › SLIDE Difference in Discipleship › SLIDE Luke 5:33 CSB 33 Then they said to him, "John's disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but yours eat and drink." 1. Why arent your disciples like theirs? a. Fasting being discussed here isnt the one single annual fast prescribed in scripture › SLIDE Leviticus 16:29 CSB 29 "This is to be a permanent statute for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month you are to practice self-denial and do no work, both the native and the alien who resides among you. › SLIDE Numbers 29:7 CSB 7 "You are to hold a sacred assembly on the tenth day of this seventh month and practice self-denial; do not do any work. i. After the exile this one fast was increased to 4. The prophets gave no sanction to this added ritual b. The fasting is the fasting of the Pharisees and John and their disciples i. daily prayers and weekly fasts - these were the traditional disciple making methods ii. They had by this time systematized their religious observances 1. Fasting on Mondays and Thursdays 2. Prayer was offered Morning Noon and Evening c. Why didnt Jesus teach His disciples to do this - like everybody else i. This was how disciples were made ii. Why wasnt he doing this - please realize the issue of fasting and praying is the surface - the real issue was deeper 1. They already didnt like the company He was keeping - now they were appalled at how He was disicpling 2. Because Jesus went against the set forms and norms for Judaism on disciple choosing and training. a. The pharisees followed this - as did John the Baptist b. Jesus did not 2. Why arent you discipling them like us? a. The issue becomes much more clear when you look at who is asking this question i. The way Luke writes here it follows right after the feast of Levi and seems to be the same time and the same group of Pharisees talking - Mark and Matthew also record this account and they provide additional details › SLIDE Matthew 9:14 CSB 14 Then John's disciples came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" ii. Why do we and the Pharisees fast often but your disciples do not 1. Why dont they fast as often as we do? 2. They arent asking this for an answer - the language is that they are asking this question to draw a divide between themselves and Jesus disciples a. They wanted to distinguish that because they fasted fore often obviously they were holier › SLIDE - check out what Mark tells us Mark 2:18 CSB 18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. People came and asked him, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?" iii. They were currently fasting!! 1. This explains why they were against the disciples of Jesus feasting - misery loves company and those who live legalistically want everyone to be under that same bondage 2. Orthodox Jews had an idea that people were not being religious unless they were uncomfortable. a. I would add that some do not believe they or others are following God unless they are miserable, joyless and afflicted › SLIDE Jesus way of discipling was and is incongruently new › SLIDE - why because New Occasion › SLIDE Luke 5:34-35 CSB 34 Jesus said to them, "You can't make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you? 35 But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them-then they will fast in those days." 1. The time for fast is over - it is time to celebrate a. Jesus uses an analogy to describe the occasion that they are in with Him here. i. In those days the wedding was the most celebrated time - it would last a whole week and it would be a time of feasting and celebration ii. Weddings demanded that fasts would be ended for all in attendance for the wedding during the celebration b. Jesus refers to himself as the groom and the disciples as the guests i. Jesus does two things outright by making this delcaration 1. He is calling Himself God in the flesh a. Considering God as the groom and His people as the bride was a long standing way that Jewish people viewed God. i. Hosea is dedicated to this analogy ii. Song of Solomon is also › SLIDE Isaiah 54:5-6 CSB 5 Indeed, your husband is your Maker- his name is the LORD of Armies- and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of the whole earth. 6 For the LORD has called you, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one's youth when she is rejected," says your God. 2. He is saying that since He the groom has come there is a reason to celebrate and end the fasts. a. If ever there was a reason to celebrate it is because God has come b. Fasting was observed in times of mourning grief or loss i. Israel fasted often and were mourning the absence of a king - of the promised king - the messiah ii. Jesus is saying I - the King of Kings am here and the time for fasting is over - lets feast instead - it is a joyous occasion 2. There will be a time of fasting again a. Jesus ever knowing about the path He walked to the cross and His impending death i. Told them the time is coming for the fasting - in sorrow and grief with expectation b. He would rise again the third day though › SLIDE New Covering › SLIDE Luke 5:36 CSB 36 He also told them a parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Otherwise, not only will he tear the new, but also the piece from the new garment will not match the old. 1. No one patches old garments with the new garments a. Jesus uses a parable of clothing to illustrate and explain why His disciples and methods were different and incongruently new i. A stark contrast is struck between the old and new garment 1. No one tries to patch the old from the new - this would be crazy to buy something new to tear a piece to fix the old ii. It wouldnt work and wouldnt match 1. It wouldnt look the same 2. It wouldnt have the same strength 3. Mark tells us the clothing is unshrunk - and would destroy the old garments more 4. Luke brings us to understand that both garments would be trash b. Now of course we know that Jesus is not talking about garments - because he is telling a parable i. The garments represent coverings - old and new 1. The Old Covering is the righteousness of the law 2. The New Covering is righteousness of grace › SLIDE The new covering of grace is incongruently new with the old covering of the law ii. Grace did what the law was powerless to do › SLIDE Romans 8:3-4 CSB 3 What the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, 4 in order that the law's requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 1. Any attempt to mix grace and law ruins both of them 2. Cast off the old garments and wear the new garments a. In scripture garments are sometimes used to picture character and conduct › SLIDE - Put off and Put On - change garments Colossians 3:8-10 NKJV 8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, › SLIDE Isaiah 61:10 CSB 10 I rejoice greatly in the LORD, I exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a groom wears a turban and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. › SLIDE - Wiersbe Many people have a "patchwork" religion of their own making, instead of trusting Christ for the garments of salvation that He gives by grace › SLIDE Jesus provides an incongruently new covering › SLIDE New 'Skins' › SLIDE Luke 5:37-38 CSB 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins. 1. No one would combine new wine with old wineskins a. The damage done by adding new wine to old wineskins again would ruin both things i. The wine would be spilt and the old wineskin burst open b. Wineskins were literally skins to hold wine i. A small animal would be skinned and the neck part would be the top and the legs would be tied off or sewn off ii. Wine would be added before tying off the top - as wine aged it would ferment the sugar turning to alcohol and this process would let off gas and the gas would bloat the skin 1. The skin however if it was new - had elasticity and could withstand the forces being exerted upon it 2. Old wineskins has been stretched out and lost their elasticity and were brittle - no longer able to contain new wine 2. New wine needs fresh wineskins a. The unfermented wine requires new wine skins i. Now again Jesus is using a parable to communicate a kingdom truth ii. The skins are the structures that contains the wine 1. Judaism is incapable of holding the new wine that Jesus was bringing › SLIDE The legalistic system, brittle and inflexible, was incapable of accepting Jesus b. A new covenant was coming - a new skin to hold the new wine that Jesus was bringing › SLIDE - He makes us new Ezekiel 36:26 CSB 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! › SLIDE - born again - fresh skins in to the body of christ Jesus instituted the church as His incongruently new skin to hold the new wine › SLIDE New Wine › SLIDE Luke 5:39 CSB 39 And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, 'The old is better.' " Luke alone includes this last illustration Getting back to the question at hand from John's disciples and others - Jesus is saying that those who have drunk of the old prefer the old - because of habit, comfort and tradition Have you drunk the old wine? Performance, standards, laws - practices, disciplines - earning, meriting, working Jesus came to bring joy and celebration - not bondage and suffering - He brings a new covering for you found in the sacrifice he made to give you forgiveness in grace through faith in Him I think we as Christians have a caution here as well - to not get locked into traditions and comforts Men fight to bring in the new because we die to traditions and comforts Galileo - marked heretic for daring to say that the sun didnt revolve around the earth Churches die at the mention - "Thats the way we have always done it" Jesus bring freshness and newness and we need to be reminded of that or we face the same temptation as the Pharisees and John's disciples • They started out good and godly • They got locked into tradition and forgot why they were they way they were Works of God begins with a man - becomes a movement - then a machine - and finally a monument Old isnt always good and New isnt always bad › SLIDE Jesus way is incongruently new and makes all things new Page . Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:48 PM November 9, 2019.