Take your Bibles with me and turn to Luke 5. Luke 5. We are going to read verses 33-39 today.

[!bible] Luke 5:33-39 - KJV 33. And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink? 34. And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? 35. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. 36. And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. 37. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. 38. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. 39. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

Last night, we went to the bounce activity in Champaign with a bunch of kids from the church. I took my car with several of them, and my wife had a car load, and Adam had a car load.

A topic of conversation on the road was where we should eat. The choices were Chick-Fil-A and another chicken restaurant right across the street - "Raising Canes."

Chick-Fil-A is awesome. I love Chick-Fil-A. But also, my daughter works there now, so we eat Chic-fil-a a LOT! So I was kind of hoping we would go to Canes.

Now, if you've ever been to Raising Canes. It's an interesting restaurant. They only have one thing on their menu: Chicken fingers and french fries. That's it. That's what you can get at Raising Canes.

There is nothing fancy or weird about Raising Cane's chicken fingers or fries. If you've had chicken fingers before - they are probably exactly what you are imagining. If you've ever had crinkle fries. That's what they have. They just do a really good job with one menu item.

So I asked my quarry where we should eat and you would have thought I was suggesting we had escargot or sushi. Those kids DID NOT want to try something new. In fact, one off them even said "I've already tried new foods, I didn't like them, so I'm good."

The last verse of our text reminded me of that. Jesus was saying that some people don't want to try new things, because they just assume the old is better. There is a resistance to the new that a lot of people have.

And the whole point of these verses is that following Christ is something new. It is a new experience and it is incompatible with the old religion of the Pharisees.

Even though the new was better in every way - there were going to be people who looked at it and said "Nah, I'll stick with my old."

So remember from last week, that Levi the tax collector has come to Christ. Levi the tax collector - the most despised group of people in Israel - the sinniest of sinners - has become a follower of Jesus.

And Levi has a party at his house to celebrate his conversion and invites all his sinner friends to it.

Now, why do we have parties? We celebrate weddings, we celebrate graduations, we celebrate special birthdays. All of that is appropriate.

And when you are at a wedding party, you do not expect everyone to be glum and solemn - I mean, unless you are a psycho. Weddings are supposed to be joyous. Right.

Now, if we can celebrate at a wedding - and that is appropriate - shouldn't we celebrate when someone goes from death to life? Shouldn't we celebrate when someone comes to Christ?

So Jesus is celebrating with Levi and the publicans. But, not everyone likes this. The Pharisees who are checking Jesus out have a real problem with this.

They probably didn't actually go into Levi's house to see what was going on - that would be beneath them - maybe they watched from an open window or something - but they were big mad about what Jesus was doing.

And so they cornered some of Jesus' disciples and asked them a question "How come you guys don't fast? I mean, John the Baptists disciples fast, we fast - but Jesus looks like He's having a good time - all of you Christians look too happy."

And Jesus heard this question and gave an answer that is very, deep. I believe that what Jesus was saying basically pointed out two things: that following Christ is very different than following religion and that following Christ is incompatible with following religion.

So I want to show you those things from our text this morning.

Let's pray and then we will dig in.

The first thing I think we need to see in these verses is...

1. Following Christ is incompatible with following religion.

In other words, Jesus did not come to give the religion of the day an upgrade. He didn't come make religion better. He was bringing something completely new.

If religion is a horse and buggy. Jesus wasn't making the horse faster or the buggy smoother. Jesus was replacing the horse and buggy with a flying self-driving car.

The religion of the jews basically said what all religions say "God is angry with us, and we have to do XY and Z to make Him happy so He will bless us."

That is the formula for all religions. I mean, if you go into the jungles of Papua New Gunia and find people there who have never had contact with the western world, you would find that they believe in a god or gods, they believe that that god or gods is angry at them, and that they believe they must do certain things to please that god or gods.

This is the formula for all religion. God is angry at me and I must do XY and Z to earn His favor. I must make God happy with my rituals and my sacrifice.

And following Christ isn't like that. It alone breaks the formula. It's a completely new and different thing.

Jesus gives two parabolic examples here to make this point:

The first is mending an old shirt. Let's say I have a shirt that is old that I like, and I notice it has a hole in it. So I go to a new shirt and I cut a piece out of that new shirt, and I sew it onto the old shirt.

In truth, I haven't fixed either. The old shirt now has a patch that doesn't match and the new shirt now has a hole in it. I've made both worse.

And Jesus wanted the disciples to know that He wasn't there to put a patch on Judaism and the religion of the Pharisees - He was bringing something totally new.

The second illustration Jesus made is of wineskins. In Jesus' day, the main drink was wine. Grape juice. They would mix it with water and it would purify the water and flavor it.

When they harvested the grapes and made this wine, they would put it in these bottles made out of goat skin. As the new wine fermented, it would stretch the goat skin out.

Now, if you took an old goat skin that was already stretched out and you filled it with new wine, then as that new wine expanded it would break the old goatskin and you would lose both the wine and the wineskin.

Again, Jesus is making a point here - what He was bringing wasn't an upgrade. It wasn't going to fit in the old bottle of the Pharisees religion. It was something completely new.

Why is this important? Well, you had people in Jesus' day and during the early church that were trying to figure out how Christianity fit with the old religion and they were trying to mesh the two together. They were trying to keep both.

And that doesn't work. You can't fix the old religion with parts from Christianity. You can't keep your Judaism and just give it some Jesus to make it better. They are incompatible.
A lot of people today are trying to do the same thing. They want Jesus, but they don't want to replace what they have. They are trying to just upgrade their worldview and religion with some Jesus parts.

You can see this on the mission field, where a lot of people want to have it both ways. They want the witch doctor and Christ. They want Bhudism and Christ. They want their Hindu gods and they want to just add Jesus on there. That doesn't work. Jesus doesn't fit with old religion there.

But a lot of American's try to do the same thing. They try to keep their science, keep their modernism, keep the world and just upgrade it a little with some Jesus here and there - and you have to understand that they aren't compatible. It will not work.

So the first lesson in this passage is: Following Christ is incompatible with following religion.

Let's look at the second, which is...

2. Following Christ is very different than following religion.

The reason why following Jesus and following religion are incompatible is because they are totally different things.

Remember how I gave you a formula for religion: "God is angry at me and so I must do XYZ to please Him." That is religion.

But Biblical Christianity is completely different. The gospel could be summed up as:

God was angry at me, but His son Jesus Christ satisfied all of that anger and made a way for me to be right with God. Out of gratitude for that, I want to praise and please Him.

And I think this little story where Jesus was a party with these converted sinners and the Pharisees were outside grumbling and criticizing shows us a little bit about how they are different.

Let me point out three differences and then we will be done: let me show you how they are different in three ways: in subject, in tense, and in mood.

Let's start with this:

The gospel is different than religion in its subject.

In a sentence, the subject is the one who does the action.

If you look at the Pharisee's religion. Who is the hero? Who is the actor?

It is the Pharisee! They are the ones who are righteous. They are the ones who won't eat with sinners. They are the ones who fast twice a week and who tithe on their mint and anise and cumin.

But when you understand the gospel, you cease to be the hero of the story.

You don't get saved because you made it through some religious gauntlet. You get saved because of what Jesus did for you.

Levi wasn't saved here because Levi was awesome. He was saved because of the converting power of Jesus.

This is completely different from religion.

Religion says "you must sacrifice" and the gospel says "Jesus was THE sacrifice, who was slain once for all for us."

We are saved by grace. Not of works, lest any man should boast. We are saved because of Jesus. He is the actor. We are recipient. He is the subject, we are the predicate.

The gospel is different than religion in its subject. It's not about the Pharisees working their way into God's good graces - it's about Jesus.

The gospel is different than religion in its tense.

You understand tense right? In a sentence, the verb has a tense. Eat means something different than ate.

So how is the gospel different than religion in tense?

Religion says "do." The gospel says "done."

Religion is present imperative - you must do. The gospel is past declarative - Christ has done.

The gospel is the good news. News is something to be celebrated because it already happened. The town crier standing in the square saying "here ye, here ye, good news, we have won the war."

Religion is a summons to do. In the gospel we have good news, not a good to do list. We have good news, not a good gauntlet.

Religion is like the Sinai covenant, where God said to Israel "if you don't obey all of this you will die and lose out." But Christianity is like the Abrahamic Covenant, where God put Abraham to sleep and did both parts of the covenant Himself.

Religion says "you must appease God" and the gospel says "God is already pleased by the working of Christ."

Do you see how they are completely different things?

Now, there is one more thing I think we see in this story about how the gospel is so different than religion. And that is...

The gospel is different than religion in its mood.

What was the Pharisees problem with Jesus? He was eating with Publicans and sinners. That was a problem - but not the main one in this text. The main issue they took was that Jesus wasn't fasting, He was eating and partying. Their main problem with Jesus was that Jesus was too happy.

And Jesus said that His being there was like a wedding party. In that culture, there was nothing that matched the joy of a wedding party. It would go for a full week. There would be good food and dancing and merriment. You didn't go into a wedding party and say "Let's fast and pray. Let's be somber and serious." It was a time for joy.

My youngest sister was married this year. She finally found someone who would take her. And she had a big wedding. Hundreds of guests. Family from all over. It wasn't just one of the happiest days of her life, it was a happy day for everyone involved. That's how it is supposed to be. It is a time for celebration.

There was something about Jesus and his disciples that really bothered the Pharisees and it was that they were celebrating - they were enjoying themselves.

Now, why?

Well, I think the Pharisees thought "I have to be good, I have to make God like me, and the best I can do is just hope. I can hope I did enough. Just to make sure, I'm going to fast. Just to make sure, I'm going to spend ample time in prayer. But I'll never know." The best religion can give you is hopeful anticipation.

But followers of Jesus can celebrate because we aren't hoping in something that might happen, we are rejoicing in something that has happened.

Jesus went to the cross and took our sins on Himself and rose again the third day, showing His power over death and sin. So we can rejoice.

That's not to say there is no place for fasting and prayer. We see fasting and prayer in other parts of the New Testament. But the general mood of our faith should be rejoicing.

Listen, if my faith depends on me. If I have to be good enough. I'm hosed. I'm not going to make it.

But my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I'm not standing on the shaky ground of my good works, but on the solid ground of Christ.

And because of that - we can rejoice.

Application

1. Celebrate Salvation and Grace

• Just as Jesus celebrated with Levi and his friends, we should be joyful when someone comes to Christ. Plan intentional times of celebration in your church or small group when someone experiences salvation or takes a step of faith.
• Personally, reflect on your own salvation. Are you living with the joy of someone who has gone from death to life? If not, pray for a renewed sense of gratitude and joy in your faith.

author: Ryan Hayden

2. Embrace the Newness of Following Christ

• Don’t try to fit Jesus into your old ways of thinking, living, or believing. Following Him means transformation, not modification. Ask yourself: "What old habits or beliefs am I clinging to that Jesus is calling me to let go of?"
• If you find yourself trying to "earn" God's favor through religious activity, meditate on the truth that Jesus has already done the work on your behalf.

author: Ryan Hayden

3. Rejoice in the Gospel’s Simplicity

• The Pharisees complicated faith with rituals and self-righteousness, but the gospel is simple: Christ has done it all. Avoid complicating your faith with unnecessary rules or expectations and instead focus on living out gratitude and love for Jesus.
• Challenge yourself to share the gospel with someone this week in its simplest form: what Jesus has done for you and for them.

author: Ryan Hayden

4. Resist Combining Christ with Other Worldviews

• In the mission field or in your personal life, be wary of combining Christianity with cultural or personal beliefs that conflict with the gospel. For example, trusting Jesus as your Savior means rejecting the belief that good works save you.
• Take time to evaluate your life. Are there ways you are trying to "mix" your faith with worldly philosophies, science, or cultural traditions that contradict God’s Word?

author: Ryan Hayden

5. Live with Joy, Not Burden

• Let your life reflect the joy of being in Christ. If people observe your faith, do they see celebration and hope, or do they see heaviness and legalism? Choose to live in a way that invites others to ask about the hope and joy within you.
• When challenges arise, remind yourself of the gospel’s "tense": it’s done! The battle is already won, and we live in the security of Christ’s finished work.

author: Ryan Hayden

6. Recognize the Incompatibility of Religion and Grace

• Religion often leads to striving and uncertainty, while grace leads to peace and rest. Consider areas of your life where you might still be striving to “earn” something from God. Surrender those areas to His grace.
• If you encounter people trapped in a religious mindset, lovingly share the freedom that comes through Christ. Explain that the gospel isn’t about “do” but about “done.”

author: Ryan Hayden

7. Be Open to Change

• Like the kids in the story who resisted trying Raising Cane’s, many of us resist change—even when it’s for the better. Consider what areas of your life God might be asking you to surrender so that He can do something new.
• Pray for a willingness to trust God’s new work in your life, even if it feels unfamiliar or challenging.

author: Ryan Hayden

8. Make Worship Joyful

• Worship shouldn’t feel like a somber obligation; it’s a celebration of Christ’s victory. Incorporate joy into your worship, whether through music, prayer, or testimonies of God’s goodness.
• Encourage your church to celebrate with joy, especially during baptisms, conversions, or other spiritual milestones.

author: Ryan Hayden

9. Stay Focused on Christ

• It’s easy to let traditions or preferences distract from the simplicity of following Jesus. Make sure your focus is on Him, not on outward religious practices or appearances.
• Spend time in prayer asking God to help you keep Jesus at the center of your life and not get caught up in the trappings of "religion."

author: Ryan Hayden

10. Share the Feast

• Just as Jesus welcomed sinners to celebrate with Him, extend invitations to those outside the faith. Who in your life needs to hear the good news? Think of someone this week you can invite to church, share a meal with, or have a conversation about Jesus.