During this week, I had a conversation with a couple seeking baptism for their children. The wife was keen, but the husband was hesitant. He was concerned, because his own experience of the church was one that was not good. As a child, he had been made to go to Sunday School and that had turned him right off. I took some time to explore this with him and what was his concept of religion. In essence, he had the picture of the church, religion etc being about the enforcing of rules. His vision was of a law book.

I took some time to explain my understanding of the situation. Christianity was not about rules, but about relationship - a relationship between God and Man through the death of Jesus. Essentially this was something that was to be experienced rather than learnt, and our traditional idea of Sunday School was a model that left much to be desired.

Indeed, if we were honest about it, more people were put off the church than drawn into it through this mechanism.

This is what Jesus is talking about in today's Gospel. The Jewish religion had been reduced down to a collection of rules that were manageable and this led to an externalisation of the religion.

This is sadly a human trait. When confronted with anything, we tend to try and systematise it and produce some sort of compliance formula. By this I mean, identifying a standard and then either meeting it or not meeting it, with a clear separation between those who do and those who don't. In 2000 years, we done the same to Christianity that the Pharisees did to the Jews.

Jesus was talking of something new. Wine need new wineskins which would age together the old wineskins had to be thrown out and could not be reused. The old ways could not be reformed, revised or renewed, but rather all must start again with something different.

Look at the verses before. Jesus faced criticism, because he did not obey the rules. Simply put, if you were religious, you fasted. If you did not fast you were not religious.

I have already mentioned the problems I have had over time with the Christians who work in this framework - Unless you do…. Then you cannot be a Christian. And this is how we educate our kids in the faith. It has taken a lot of unlearning to realise that there some Christians who smoke, there are some Christians who drink and so on -you name the prejudice. It is not that I think that these are not high ideals, for I think that it is better not to smoke rather than to smoke, but it is not the smoking that is important, rather the hearts desire to draw near to Jesus.

Perhaps this is a hard thing to get your mind around, but Scripture is clear - Christianity is about confessing with your lips and believing in your heart that Jesus is the Christ. It is at this point that a person is saved and not when the appropriate behaviour modification occurs.

This has huge implications, because it changes the idea of what the church should look like. Rather than being full of finished products the church will have many works in progress. I am sure, that many who have had long Christian Journeys, will know that God is continually at work in us making us to be more like him. Each day, each month, each year, he will find something new to deal with, and when I look at each person here, I see God at work, may be not finished, but making progress (and if I was to be honest about my job, I am responsible for preparing you for God to work).

So if my church was perfect and full of perfect people, I would be worried, because God would have nothing to do. Jesus said, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick - I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.

The new wineskins are about a work in progress - not necessarily ready for heaven, but getting there.

What does this mean to us - to you and I?

First it implies we should be tolerant of the failings of others as these things may be what God will work on next. Often our intolerance, is brought about by our own insecurity in Christ. It is not that we condone certain behaviours, but that we accept them as being part of God's challenge in that individual. Our church should then a mixture of people and we must take care, that we do not develop a judgemental attitude, but see these a challenges in our ability to love another.

Second, we need understand ourselves as a work in progress rather than at the completed stage of sainthood. If we are a work in progress, then I can understand that there is a particular dynamic between God and me. I should be able to recognise and participate in this process. I should know what it is that God is doing to me and with me and what I am being challenged about next. If God is not challenging you - I don't think that you have achieved sainthood, but rather that you have stopped listening.

It means the church is not so much a holy club, but a source of life. As someone put it - the church is not a museum for saints, but a hospital for sinners

Are we a place where anyone can find Jesus? Are we engaging the world for Jesus?

We can, if we want to, put any number of barriers before people or we can choose to open the way. The new wineskins breathe with the wine and allow it to mature and we must be the same. Unless we are flexible and bend with the maturing process, we might find we are unable to achieve these goals (our purpose for being).

Perhaps one last point. Sometimes it is the biggest sinners who have challenged me most about my faith. We need to take care that we allow even those who seem to be less spiritually mature, the opportunity to teach us about the faith.

Will you join me in creating the new wineskin?

AMEN.