David Bahn – Reflections

Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven being like leaven hidden in three measures of flower. Working its way into the whole batch, the impact is profound. Marie Antoinette is reported to have said, “Let them eat cake” in response to learning that the poor had run out of bread and were starving. Rather than “letting them eat cake,” I urge: “Let us make bread!”

Matthew 13:31-33

³¹[Jesus] put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. ³²It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

³³He 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.”

A friend of ours taught us to make bread while we were at seminary. It is a somewhat arduous task; not compared with making bricks, but compared with taking a loaf out of the bread box, opening it and putting the slices into the toaster! But the results are delightfully delicious: warm bread with melted butter…ahh, but I digress. The point of Jesus’ parable is not whether the bread tastes good, or even whether the work of hiding the leaven in the measures of flower is difficult. The point is that the leaven works its way into the whole batch of dough. And once there the impact is visible: the dough rises.

Our calling as God’s people is to bring the leaven of the Gospel into the warp and woof of everyday life. When we are raising our children, we remember God’s love for us, his children, and seek to instill that love in them. When our neighbor has offended us by all-night parties or driving over our sprinkler head, we remember how God has forgiven us and we forgive in the same manner: before repentance, before change, without being asked! When we are faced with temptation we recall not only Jesus’ victory over Satan, but his words: “Man does not live by bread alone.” Or, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.” When we fail we rejoice in the mercy of God through Jesus, “Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.”

As the yeast of the Gospel is worked into our lives soon our lives will be beautifully leavened, and we will find that we have the privilege of sharing that same leaven with our family and neighbors. The impact of the Gospel grows. That’s how the kingdom of God works: little by little, in ways subtle and sometimes dramatic, the truth of the Gospel takes root in our hearts and the hearts of others. We are changed. God is glorified.