Old & New

 November 17, 2020

“Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”” —Matthew 13:52

It’s interesting to me that we Americans who are usually infatuated with anything new, are now longing to go back to the “old ways.” We hear the phrase, “the new normal,” and cringe. It may be new, but unless you’re among those few who get to decide the rules for everyone else, you prefer the old normal. 

The Bible gives us quite a wide berth when it comes to “new” and “old.” Christians love to quote Christ’s words in the Revelation: “Behold, I make all things new” (21:5), or Paul’s word to the Corinthian Christians, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things are new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Jesus talked of new wineskins and a new covenant, but also said that he didn’t come to destroy the old, but to fulfill it. Paul tells us to contend for the “faith once delivered,” and to be wary of new teaching. There are times when old is good.

I am grateful for that, especially as I fit so snugly into the “old” category myself. I am thankful my wife doesn’t think life would be better with a new husband, and I am absolutely certain my life wouldn’t be better with a new wife. Actually, if I tried, there wouldn’t be any life, better or not. Tonight, we are sitting in our Millstone room, the fire dying in the stove before us, the dog lying on the floor before it. All three of us are old; we feel it in our bones. Nevertheless, our hearts are young. We have the advantage of the householder who in Jesus’ story has stuff tucked away ‘just in case.’ We appreciate new things; we love newborn babies, appreciate a new car when the old one wears out, and soon, our new laundry room will mean these old bones don’t have to navigate the steep cellar stairs on a daily basis. 

Living as long as we have means we not only have an attic full of stuff we don’t know what to do with, but for sentimental reasons don’t want to throw it out; it also means we have a storeroom of experience to draw upon when current circumstances get a bit dicey. We don’t panic over the election, aren’t terrified by COVID, and are content with what we have and who we are, even when it requires work. Yesterday, I spoke of editing these posts, and more than a few people have volunteered to hold my feet to the fire. The good news is, I have lots of material. The bad news is, I have lots of material. But I made a promise, and even worse, I made it public, so this old geezer is on his way, encouraged by the fact that Moses was 80 when God called him to lead Israel out of Egypt. If the pattern holds, I’ve got another forty-nine years to Get ‘R Done!