Scripture
During the Season of Pentecost, we are looking at the Parables Jesus told.
He told them another parable: ‘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, also Luke 13:20-21)
Conversation starters
Jesus says, The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast which
leavens not just bits of the dough, but all the dough. The yeast Jesus would
have been pointing to was more like sourdough than the neat little packets of
dry yeast we can use today.
Sourdough is a living organism, as anyone who has kept a
starter can tell you. You must feed it and use it regularly or it will die and
become moldy. In the 1970’s and 80’s it was popular to share “Herman bread”
along with a container of the starter so the recipient can make more and share
with others, etc. The tricky part was that unless you had a lot of friends—you
became buried in the starter. It is great fun to make the delicious bread and
share it, though.
Even the dry yeast we use now, unlike baking powder or
baking soda, leavens the mixture slowly. Yeast needs sugar to work optimally
and flour to build nice texture for the air bubbles it creates. This takes
time. The dough needs to rise before you can form it. Then it takes time to
rise again before you can bake it.
Yeast is also used in wine and beer making. That process is
even slower. It can take years for the yeast to turn the sugars in the fruit
and/or malt and wheat into a delicious beverage.
Like yeast, our faith takes time to develop and grow. Sometimes
we need one another as sugar to jump start a new phase. At other times, we are
happily growing and building our own part of the kingdom to nourish others.
Have you ever made yeast bread? What was it like?
How is the slow process of making yeast bread (or wine or
beer) like your spiritual life? Who is the sugar and flour in your life?
Action Item
Make a Herman starter to grow and share.
