MARCH 28, 2005

LEAVEN
by Pastor George Van Alstine

Most of us have no direct experience with leaven, since our bread is almost always “store-bought.” But a few who are on the north side of fifty may remember watching their mothers make bread for the family. They may remember times when mom let them help with the kneading; that stuff felt better than Play Doh. And the smell of the bread baking is one of the most lasting memories in a person’s nostalgia bank.

If you are one of the fortunate few with such memories, you probably received your first leaven-lesson from your mother. As she opened the little package of Fleischman’s Yeast, she explained about how just a little bit could make a whole batch of bread dough rise. It seemed to have a magical influence on that flour mixture, causing a surprising effect for the amount of yeast in that small package.

Our spiritual ancestors who wrote the Bible were also fascinated with the magical power of leaven. Most often, they used it in a negative way, as an illustration of the insidious effect of a little bit of evil to cause a surprising amount of mischief in many lives. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6). This negative way of using the leaven-effect in illustrations probably grew out of the experience of Israel during the Exodus from Egypt and the annual remembrance of that event in the Passover Festival. Unleavened bread became a symbol of purity in God’s chosen people, so leaven became a symbol of evil.

But there is one place in the Bible where leaven and its influence are used to illustrate a positive point about the powerful influence of good, rather than evil, and it is found in the teaching of Jesus himself:
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” (Matthew 13:33)

The “kingdom of heaven” was the subject of Jesus’ gospel announcement. It didn’t seem like much; people couldn’t see any evidence of its power and magnificence; it seemed like a pigmy kingdom next to the great Empire of Rome. But, said Jesus, its power and effectiveness will be way out of proportion to its appearance. Its influence will prove to be surprisingly great.

As Jesus taught, a few committed followers gathered around him, as the leaven was beginning to work. But it was only after his death and resurrection that the bread really began to rise. And the kingdom gospel’s leavening influence has been spreading around the world and down through history ever since.

It’s good for us to remind ourselves that Jesus spoke of his kingdom as leaven. This will help us to understand that:

• God’s power in our lives should never be underestimated. It may seem to be a small package, but no enemy or problem is too big for its leavening influence.
• A small act of faith may have unbelievable results, spreading from person to person, from place to place, from generation to generation.
• The secret, leavening influence of the gospel is much greater and more important than the open and obvious effect of the individual or institution who proclaims it.

We need to remind ourselves of these leaven-truths about Jesus’ kingdom gospel, because there’s so much “store-bought” Christianity in the world around us today.