Exalting God

Matthew 13:33

He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

I love to make bread, particularly yeast bread. It is extremely difficult for me to walk away from a warm yeast roll smothered with butter. Perhaps Jesus had me in mind when He reminded Satan that man cannot live off of bread alone! For the most part, making bread is not very difficult. It only takes some liquid, flour, salt and something to give it life – leaven (or yeast as most of us would call it). Without this vital ingredient the flour and oil and salt remains a lifeless lump of doughy clay. You might be able to add some food coloring and give it to your child, but it will not appease the palate. But once you add the yeast, life is given to the whole lump.

This is a great analogy for the body of Christ existing in a lifeless world, for God has graciously chosen to remove the veils from our hearts and replace the darkness with the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. With this new found life and vitality, we are called to work much like leaven. As we are placed in the world by God we must permeate the culture around us with the truth of Christ – until the whole lump is leavened. In other words, our witness should have a positive affect on those around us. If only that were always the case.

Sadly, however, I fear that all too often we run the risk of deserving Christ’s warning: “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6). Jesus, of course, was not concerned with stale bread, He was warning us about dangerous theology. As I consider my personal ministry I force myself to answer this question: “Would Christ warn those around you to watch and beware?” Would He say the same thing He said to the crowds: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you – but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice” (Matthew 23:2-3).

I pray that my ministry is not compromised by hypocrisy, as I pray that yours is not either, for to live as leaven means that we take seriously the call of Christ upon our lives by displaying meekness in a mean world, by being gracious in spite of persecution, by expressing joy when all seems hopeless, by caring for orphans even though it is not easy, by meeting the physical needs of others just as Jesus did, and by remembering that we were created for God’s glory, not ours (Isaiah 43:7).

The powerful imagery of the leaven reminds us that we were created, called, and equipped to make a life-changing impact on those around us as we actively do the work of an evangelist. So let us be diligent to live in a lifeless world as the living organism God made us to be, constantly striving to permeate the whole lump for the glory of God.