New Wineskins leader declares: ‘Now is the time!’
By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman Online, June 16, 2005
EDINA, Minn. – “Now is the time,” declared Rev. Dean Weaver, vice moderator of the New Wineskins Initiative. “We are bursting at the seams!” Weaver catapulted his theme off a message from Jesus in Matthew 9:14-17, that the new wine of Jesus Christ is bubbling up among his people, and it cannot be contained by old wineskins.
Jesus spoke those words in the context of conflict, said Weaver. There was conflict between himself and church leaders over his power to forgive sin, over his association with “the wrong kind of people,” over the rules of Sabbath observance, over those who hang onto old traditions. “It was a struggle between keepers of the institution and the very presence of Jesus Christ,” he said.
Not a time of fasting
The question before us is one of timing, said Weaver. Now is not the time for fasting for inadequate traditions that may have served us in the past. There was a time when those traditions may have been important. “But the point is that his presence changes everything. He is the one who said, ‘Behold, I make all things new!’ Old things may not have been necessarily bad, but in the light of Jesus’ presence, they are no longer appropriate.”
Referring to Ecclesiastes 3, Weaver reminded his audience that there are times to break down and times to build, to weep and laugh, to tear and mend.
Not a time for tinkering
Weaver highlighted Jesus’ reference to sewing new cloth patches on old garments. That’s tinkering, he said, and now is not the time for that. “Jesus used the word ‘pleroma,’ which means fullness, being fulfilled. He was saying that the fullness of this time [his powerful presence] would pull away from the existing structure. God is calling the church to be a missional church, and no small tinkering will do. No patch will work. It is time for a radical reinvention of this denomination.”
“There are those who would love to tinker with the denomination,” said Weaver. Referring to General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick’s announced proposals for solving the denominational dysfunction, Weaver said, “There are those who would rearrange the Book of Order, add a new confession, add this amendment or that overture … but these are partial patches that will not work. They will damage both the old garment and the new patch. Now is not the time for such tinkering. What does the old order have to do with the new?”
Now is the time
“I have witnessed God pouring a new wine in Africa, South America, and here in Christ Church. This is his new wine. The bridegroom is here and he is pouring the good stuff. He is turning water into wine. God is doing a new thing, and now is the time.”
“Now is the time for the church to proclaim Jesus Christ as its only Lord and savior, without apology and without need for political correctness… It is time for the church to take the gospel into all the world… It is time for a church with theological integrity, missiological faithfulness and structural efficiency… It is time for a church that speaks prophetically to culture, not one that adapts its message to culture through accommodation … It is time for a church that drives out demons, heals the sick, and that doesn’t think those are mere metaphors… It is time for new wineskins, no patching, no tinkering. It is time for dancing. Behold, God is doing a new thing.”
A lover’s conviction
Weaver said that this conviction dawned on him after attending a Presbyterian Coalition meeting in 2001. At that meeting, renewal leaders were building their forces to repel another liberal offensive against the denomination’s Biblical ordination standards. He said he and an elder from his church drove away from that meeting feeling weary and burdened. We realized that we didn’t want to keep on doing this, he said.
Weaver recalled the many times he had tried faithfully to serve the denomination through membership on committees and task forces at every level. He has also been involved in the ministries of renewal organizations. “As my elder and I traveled from that Coalition meeting,” he said, “I realized that I had been spending my time and energies trying to patch the old garment.”
“I love the church and even this denomination,” he said. “But sometimes, when you love someone dearly and she is dying, the most gracious thing you can do is let her go. I believe that now is the time.”
Weaver’s message received a standing ovation.