Sometimes when we are in the middle of a situation, it is hard to see that there is another way to do things. A cook will prepare a recipe the same way every time, and never think of changing ingredients, even if it makes the food taste better. A commuter will drive the same way to work, varying the route hardly ever, until one day she or he sits for hours in the aftermath of an accident and begins to think, maybe there is another way.

Churches in the middle of renewal and transformation are reluctant to do things differently, even when acting differently is necessary for its well-being, even when the change will help make the message the church has more relevant and accessible. Churches do not resist change because of stubbornness or because they live and die by those two sets of seven last words: “we have always done it that way” or “we have never done it that way”. Change is hard, it means that we cannot do business as usual, and that we must let go of at least some of what has been. It causes us to ask questions of identity and vocation…who are we, and what is God calling us to do? The story of Moses and Jethro and the story of Jesus and John’s disciples center around some questions and as those questions are answered they help us understand that change calls us to new ways of thinking and being.

Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses has come to the camp where Moses and the people are. He has come because he has brought his daughter and his grandsons, the wife and children of Moses to him. Jethro has heard about Moses and the people and their life in the wilderness, including all of the ways that God has blessed them. Imagine Jethro as he tries to get picture in his mind as he hears how, while the people moved in the wilderness, God provided a path through the sea, water from a rock, and manna from heaven. Jethro who is not a Hebrew knows that this God of Moses has surely blessed his son-in-law.

But he also sees Moses sitting all day long, and well into the night, making decisions, hearing disputes, speaking on behalf of the people, teaching the law, and making sure things run smoothly. The problem is that his way of doing things is helping neither him nor the people. Too much time is being spent with too few people, leaving too many standing in long lines all day. The people were frustrated, and no one was happy. Moses cared about the people, and he was working hard, but he needed to do things in a new way.

You know the feeling if you have ever had to wait for someone to do something so that you could get to the next thing. One election day, in November, 2004, I stood in line, along with thousands of others, for two hours waiting to vote. A few days ago, I had to wait to board an airplane that finally took off ninety minutes after it was scheduled to leave the airport. There had to be a better way.

Jethro has a better way for Moses. He sees what Moses is doing and he is concerned. He knows that God has blessed Moses, that the people trust and rely on him, and that Moses wants to serve them, but something is out of balance. Moses is doing too much. He has a question for him.

“Moses, why do you take all this on all by yourself?”

His answer is simple: “because the people come to me, they rely on me, they trust me, and they need me. God has given these folks into my care, and I want to do my best for them.” Moses is their leader, he has kept them together, kept them moving, kept them believing for years that if they would just keep going, they would get to the promised land.

And he was killing himself in the process. There is a bit of Moses in us. Some parents by necessity have taken on the duties of mother and father and like Moses do not complain and like Moses stand at the edge of exhaustion.

And, some of us prefer to do everything ourselves because there are those times when a task is just plain easier if we do it alone. That may be a fine idea if we are reading a book, baking a cake, playing solitaire with a deck of cards or on the computer. It is not such a good idea if we are leading the church. We may have specific responsibilities. We are accountable to each other, and to ourselves, but we are in this church together, and together, all of us will have to play our parts in coming to understand, by the Spirit of God where God wants this church to be. We are partners with one another, and we have partners along the way. Our regional ministers are with us in this process, acting as Jethro, asking us the questions that help us see that because God loves us and because we love the church, we may want to do some things differently if we are to be here years into the future.

Jethro tells him the way he is going is not good for him or the people he is leading. He is wearing himself out. Here is another voice is helpful. It is too difficult for us to be objective about ourselves. We really are too close to ourselves to know when we’re over our heads. Jethro has a solution.

Moses you be the people’s advocate. You represent them before God. You, Moses teach and guide them, you keep the disciplines of faith and the values of the community before them. You be their representative. Delegate the rest. Trust the people around you. Find people who are faithful to God, who are honest and dependable and give them the responsibility for the day to day running of the community, for settling minor disputes. It will show the people that they can rely on other members of the community, and it will mean they do not have to stand in long lines to get their concerns heard.

Moses does what his father-in-law suggests. The result is peace in the community and rest for Moses. And as he entrusts others with some authority, he reminds us what we already know. Ministry, the serving of people to the glory of God is a shared responsibility with every called and appointed leader doing their part.

As we do, we will be better served. The structure is already in place. You have a pastor and a board. We have here spiritual officers in the elders and deacons who not only serve at the Lord’s Table, but who serve the Lord’s people as they visit and pray and counsel, and help lead this congregation.

We have ministry teams that care for education, communication, nurture, outreach and worship. There is a stewardship team that educates us about financial giving and a management team that cares for this building and the house on Madison. We have a pastoral relations team that hears our pastoral joys and concerns. We are in this church together, and together, we are doing ministry by the grace of God.

So we can learn to do things differently together. Not everyone will understand. But the reality of our make-up – this multi-racial multi-generational congregation that is a safe and welcoming place is not the place for everyone. However, it is the place for us and our task is to keep the church alive, and that means change.

Change does not mean that what came before was bad or wrong. It does mean that some things need adjusting, a few things need to be worked on in order to get the result we want. Change means stretching a bit, it means listening to the voice from outside because we are sometimes too close to a thing. It means applying the logic and reason we use in other areas of our lives to our life of faith.

That is what Jesus did that day. The old way was that decent folks had nothing to do with tax collectors and sinners, those who were outside the community, or those who had violated its values. Yet Jesus had called Levi, the tax collector to be one of his followers. Then he eats dinner at his house. The company Jesus keeps raises a question for the Pharisees: why does he eat with those people? Jesus says, because they need what I have. Well people do not need a doctor, the people I spend time with need spiritual healing. It is not the righteous who need me to include them, they are already part of the realm of God, I have come to the ones who need redemption (Mark 2.16-17).

In other words, it is me and you, it’s each of us who find ourselves in need of Christ’s healing, in need of his comfort, in his intercession, in need of hope, peace, and the sense that while we are not perfect, we are nevertheless loved and redeemed.

There is one more question. John’s disciples and the Pharisees are fasting. We don’t know if it is a special day that required it, we are only told that they are not eating. Going without food for a day or two in order to cleanse the body and sharpen the mind for prayer is a good thing. Like some of you, I have had to fast for medical reasons and I found the experience to be spiritually cleansing as well. If I wasn’t thinking about the next meal, I could contemplate other things.

The question for Jesus is: “why don’t your disciples fast?” Jesus answers their questions with three images.

First, he says, “wedding guests do not fast during the wedding (vv.19-20). Fasting is a solitary and somber activity, and it is not appropriate for a festive and communal occasion. Wedding guests do not fast while the bridegroom is present, but once he has departed. Jesus, of course, is the bridegroom. It is early in Mark’s gospel, but already Jesus is alluding to the crucifixion.

“Fasting is a spiritual discipline that we do not use much today. While it is not possible for everyone, we would do well to revive the discipline from time to time.

Second, Jesus says, “you cannot use a new patch on an old garment” (v.21). The new, unshrunken, patch will shrink and tear the old garment. The concern here is for the preservation for the old garment. Jesus represents a new way, but it is deeply rooted in the old history of his people.

Third, he says, “you cannot put new wine into old wineskins (v.22). The old skins will be stretched and inflexible because of their prior use. The new wine will ferment, it will agitate and bubble. It will produce gases, and require room to expand. The old skins cannot expand further, and will break. The concern is for the preservation of the new wine as well as the old skins” (www.lectionary.org/Mark).

God is calling us to do a new thing here. Over the next few weeks as we worship and study together, we will be able to imagine and do some new things. We will keep some of the old wine and old wineskins. We will keep the relationships we have established, our love for this church and each other we will maintain our core values and our mission. And we will put some new wine in new wineskins as we discover new ways of being the church here. The work will be hard, that is why we must all share in the joys and the burdens of our ministry. I am praying for more of what we have seen in recent weeks, that our quest for renewal, we can be more fully the faithful people of God, using every gift, building on every accomplishment thanking and praising God for every blessing.

We can sing a song with new wine – not because we are intoxicated, but because God’s spirit in Jesus Christ has so filled us that we can do nothing less. God wants to renew this church, and we can by the life giving presence of the living Christ be made new.

God has called us to be here together, each doing our part, preserving the best in us, and making room for new life in us to expand and grow in every way. The one who makes all things new has promised and in the promise of Jesus Christ is the hope that will see us through.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Dr. LaTaunya M. Bynum
Senior Pastor