Shutterstock
Wineskins
The common people Jesus cared about didn’t have money for new wineskins, so they needed to regularly refresh their wineskins. Whether wine was old or new, the skins needed to stay flexible. Refreshing an old skin involved soaking it in water and then applying an oil to restore its supple and soft texture. Old skins were made fresh again to hold both old and new wine! (Shutterstock Image)
Special to United Methodist Insight | August 26, 2024
"Jesus said this to the followers of John the Baptist: “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,” (Matthew 9:17, NRSV)
The common people Jesus cared about didn’t have money for new wineskins, so they needed to regularly refresh their wineskins. Whether wine was old or new, the skins needed to stay flexible. Refreshing an old skin involved soaking it in water and then applying an oil to restore its supple and soft texture. Old skins were made fresh again to hold both old and new wine!
Which brings me to fresh wineskins and old politics. The labels “conservative” and “liberal” politics to be exact. The mindset of each label can be quite brittle, often unbending – not unlike a rigid wineskin.
It can also be validly argued that each skin may contain both conservative and liberal wine at the same time. We can represent each label given different daily or even political circumstances. I do. I suspect you do also.
(Hey, I didn’t say this is a perfect metaphor! But please stay with me.)
“Conservative” comes from an ancient French word for “to keep, preserve, keep intact.” The fundamental question: What are you trying to conserve, to keep intact? Too often, the answer focuses on power, money, position, intimidation, etc.
But what if you considered a broader description of “conservative”?
What if being a healthy conservative means to save/preserve all that is good, all that will benefit others and self? I think that description brings a social compassion to being conservative that isn’t found in a rigid form of conservativism.
So, if there is a healthy sense of being “conservative” – I quickly claimed this as mine – can there also be a healthy sense of being “liberal”? Of course there is! I claim that as well. “Liberal” is from an ancient Latin word that describes “gracious, generous,” but also “befitting a free person.”
So what do healthy “liberals” seek to be free from, or to free others to do/be? The list is almost endless. So is a list healthy “conservatives” would make to save/preserve things and people they cared about. At their centers, both labels just might want to save all that is good, to free persons to be fully human.
The conservative and liberal "wines" may be more alike in their essence than we usually consider. So perhaps how the wineskins are renewed makes a real difference.
What’s in the oil that makes the leather more supple and forgiving? What’s in the oil that merely postpones the brittleness that will eventually burst the old skin?
Brittleness happens to conservative or liberal wineskins alike. It happens if the oil applied contains ingredients like exaggerated arrogance, fear, hate, selective freedom, “other”-disrespect, cynicism, distrust, victimization, revenge, hyper-competiveness, life-histories that trap people emotionally and spiritually.
The supple and forgiving wineskin uses an oil of basic essentials. It contains ingredients like love, hope, a big dose of humility, self-respect, “other”-respect, a desire for other persons’ just treatment, inclusive freedom, trusting of – and cooperation with – others, more-than-survivor mentality, courage, common-sense good.
I know “conservatives” and “liberals” whose wineskins are supple and forgiving. I try to live in that skin. I also know “conservatives” and “liberals” whose wineskins are brittle or soon-to-be-brittle. I suspect you also are – and know – people who embody both labels in both kinds of wineskins.
Jesus’ parable of the wine and wineskins isn’t outwardly religious or spiritual. But it is true-to-life. Let’s drink to that!
The Rev. Paul R. Graves
The Rev. Paul R. Graves is a retired and "re-focused" United Methodist pastor and a longtime resident of Sandpoint, Idaho, where he formerly served on city council and as mayor. His second career is in geriatric social work, and since 2005 he’s been the Lead Geezer-in-Training of Elder Advocates, a consulting and teaching ministry on aging issues. Since 1992, Graves has been a volunteer chaplain for Bonner Community Hospice.