This morning is Rally Sunday, the first Sunday of the new fall year, and we’re receiving eleven new members into our church family.  It is a day of new beginnings.  You and I personally, and our whole church family, are being called to new beginnings.  New beginnings mean three things. It means we're being called to community, we're being invited to celebration, and we're being challenged to commitment. The symbol for the invitation to a celebration of these challenging commitments is New Wine.

New wine is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit. Do you want a new spirit? It's been said that we don't really want a new spirit until our old spirit lets us down. It's also been said that we don't want to change until we really have to change. Portia Nelson describes this perfectly in her poem, titled "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters."

I
I walk down the street.
There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in. I am lost. I am helpless. It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
II
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place, but it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there. I still fall in . . . it's a habit.
My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
IV
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
V
I walk down another street.

Some of us are more than ready to try walking down a new street.  Why are you here this morning? Some of you are here because you know how lonely life on the road is without spiritual community. God created us for community, and this church offers us the new wine of the Spirit because it's here that we experience a warm welcome and a gracious acceptance. That's what it means to be One in the Spirit and One in the Lord. Being a part of the First United Methodist Church of Ashland is a wonderful experience; it's a spiritual path we travel together, as the Body of Christ.

Perhaps you're here because you know how rocky the road can be without a sense of joy and celebration. There are all kinds of opportunities for community in Ashland, but the worship and the fellowship of this church offers something unique, because it's grounded in the gracious love of God, the genuine joy of Jesus Christ and the healing shalom of the Holy Spirit. Over and over again I hear that it's the friendliness and the joy of this congregation that attracts people to our church. In his first letter the apostle Peter writes about the "indescribable and glorious joy" of being part of a community of faith. [1 Peter 1:8] It's almost like a heavenly intoxication, the spiritual high that comes from sharing in the New Wine of the Spirit.

In our scripture this morning, Jesus compares genuine Christian community to a wedding feast. A Jewish wedding lasted for seven days, and was a joyful celebration during which the guests were released from such sober traditions as fasting. All the evidence points to the fact that Jesus Christ was a United Methodist. He loved a good potluck!

Most importantly, I deeply believe that on some level, conscious or unconscious, we are all here because we want our life to have purpose, direction and meaning. We're here because of our need to be challenged to spiritual growth and Christian commitment. Simply being involved in social events, no matter how much fun they are, is never going to offer the sense of spiritual satisfaction and fulfillment that you need to feel good about who you are and who you've been called to be. The New Wine of the Spirit is about being a joyful community of commitment and service. The First United Methodist Church of Ashland gains its unique power by being the living embodiment of Christ in this community. The United Methodist Men and Women, the various covenant groups and work committees aren’t just social gatherings or service organizations, they are physical manifestations of the body of Jesus Christ, men and women seeking to live out the high calling of being the healing, comforting, loving presence of Jesus.  When we have a picnic or a potluck or any other kind of gathering, we're living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As members of the Body of Christ you and I find our purpose and reason for being as we continue to express Christ's shalom by reaching out in acts of loving service and healing compassion and gracious, unconditional love.

This is a day of new beginnings. Every new member we receive into our community stretches us and expands our potential. Over the last few years new members have changed every aspect of this church. New members have transformed the way we do Christian education, the way we do outreach, and the way we fellowship together. New members have taken leadership roles in the very transformation of our facilities, and there are many changes yet to come. We are a joyful community of faith. Are we ready for the challenges?  I believe we are!

In Jesus' day wine was kept in goatskins. As grape juice fermented the wine would expand, causing pressure. New wineskins were flexible and would stretch, whereas old skins could no longer expand, so they'd crack and break. Do I need to say more? Obviously, this is a metaphor for our church.  God is stretching us to do a new thing.  We need to be flexible and willing to expand our hearts and our minds in order to do new things in new ways.

This is a day of new beginnings. We are growing and we are being stretched. We gather to celebrate and to give thanks for the gift, and the challenge of New Wine. May the Holy Spirit of Christ fill us with love, with peace and with joy as we work and pray for a new tomorrow as the living Body of Christ.  Amen