To be read devotionally: Mark 2: 18-22. Supplemental readings include Jeremiah 9: 23-24 and I Corinthians 1: 18-31. There is also a morning Psalm (84) and an evening Psalm (42)

In elementary school I was rough on my trousers. More often than not I’m come home from school with a tear in one knee or the other. My mother would dutifully “patch” the knee by sewing a palm size square on the inside of the trouser leg so that the patch would not be so noticible.

My father used to make homemade wine. He had a huge 500 gallon oak barrel in the basement of our house. I’d often watch him nurse the wine making process.

When Jesus was criticized because His disciples were “acting” in a manner contrary to the expected norms of the day, He responded by talking about sewing on a patch and filling wineskins. What did He mean? Very simply, he was saying that God is doing a “new thing.” The old ways were not going to work anymore. God is always doing a new thing for God is a Creator God. God is not a “one and done” type of Lord.

As we age we tend to become curmudgeons. We become stuck in our ways and talk about how much better things used to be. We long for the former days of greatness. But, truth be told, those days really weren’t so great. Whenever we see things as “fixed” or “settled” we are risking the chance of not seeing what God is doing right now. The readings for today remind us that as followers of Jesus we must maintain an adventurous mind. Christ the Bridegroom is in our midst, so let’s wash away the sad face.

     Lord, help me see the new thing that you are doing. Do not let me be satisfied with what is but to always seek Your better way. Make be a harbinger of Joy, Peace, Love and Hope, literally a bearer of your Good News. Amen.

*A note about “the days of Lent”: There are 40 days in Lent, excluding Sundays. Yesterday was the first Sunday in Lent. Today is the first Monday after the first Sunday which makes it the 5th Day of Lent.