Leaven

But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Numbers 14:21

 Awhile back, a long while back, I took my Grandmother a quarter cup of fast acting yeast. I was getting into bread baking. I wanted bread like she made. She said she hadn't made bread in a long time and was afraid she had forgotten. I encouraged her. "You've got a bread recipe around here somewhere." 

We talked a little about how she remembered her mother making bread. Grandma told me her mother would make her own leaven for their bread. Well, I thought I knew what leaven was. To me, leaven was just her old fashioned word for yeast. It was in the Bible about a woman who took leaven and hid it in three measures of meal until it leavened the whole lump (Matthew 13:33). In my mind that was a tablespoon of yeast in three cups of flour. But Grandma said they made their own yeast. They took the leaven and spread it out on pans in the sun and let it dry. It was then broken in pieces to be used to leaven the bread. I asked for the recipe for making my own. She didn't remember if she had ever known. She helped as a child.

After I left, Grandma tried to use the yeast I'd brought. Her bread was hard and inedible. She had used it all in one loaf. It was not the leaven she knew how to use. 

Grandma has been gone for twenty years. I've learned to bake bread in different ways. I've learned to make sourdough bread from a starter that can be refrigerated, frozen, and DRIED! If you stir about a cup and a quarter into three cups of flour, add a little water and it will begin to spread and rise. I don't have to knead it. Every hour I simply fold it over four times and let it rest again for another hour. I do this four times and let it rest a complete seven hours from the beginning. This longer rise time allows the WILD yeast to consume many of the carbs that regular bread contains, thereby giving me healthier bread. 

When Jesus told the story of hiding leaven in three measures of meal there was no fast acting yeast. These are modern inventions supposedly to make bread faster, but the kneading is a real workout for the baker and the bread. I think Jesus was talking about sourdough. The baker takes the growing sourdough and mixes it into the flour. Finally after seven hours, it's ready to be baked. 

The gospel can't be like a package of yeast that is worked into flour and worked and worked and worked. After the shorter rise, it is shoved into the oven. The gospel needs to be well delivered, revisited, and gently turned, never punching it down, but lovingly turned and allowed to incorporate on its on by the Holy Spirit into a person's heart for the complete work. Remember the seven hours — seven — a number of completeness.

Scripture says when the fullness of time has come the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. That's what the Lord is waiting on (II Peter 3:9) He's not in a hurry. He wants us to fully understand and our hearts permeated with the gospel so we don't turn away when things aren't perfect, when suffering comes. He wants us fully matured, filled with the gospel, being a witness through thick and thin until the whole earth is filled with the glory of the Lord. 

Maybe your family or your Sunday School group would like to experience a more Biblical bread, a healthier bread, a bread of purpose, and remembrance. Enjoy the taste of good bread as we taste and see that the Lord is good as He fulfills His purpose through us filling the whole earth with the glory of the Lord. 

Blessings, 

Gail

Pentecost - What does it mean for us?

It (the kingdom of God) is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Luke 13:21

Today is Pentecost 2020. Pentecost means fifty days. It is counted from Passover and is usually late May or early June, the beginning of spring harvest. In Leviticus 23 Moses gives the festivals the children of Israel were to observe each year. After the first Passover in Egypt, Pentecost would have been celebrated at the foot of Mt. Sinai with the giving of the Law but the people turned to idols while Moses was on the mountain. Had Moses not pleaded for the people God would have destroyed them. Instead, about 3000 died. 

Stirred up and Rising

And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Luke 13: 20,21

Have you ever wondered what the bread was like in Jesus' day? What was their leaven? I venture to say it wasn't a package of yeast or a spoonful of baking powder. It was probably sourdough because sourdough is easily made from nothing more than flour and water. But why would the Lord say the kingdom of God is like a woman who hid leaven in three measures of meal? What does leaven do?

The Gate

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18

What's behind the gate? Do you ever walk past a fence along the sidewalk and wonder, "What's behind that gate?" Is that gate there to keep you out or something/someone in? Maybe both. A gate is a defense against any and all. 

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus gave us a picture of a gate defending hell and it's future inhabitants. Maybe in our modern minds, a better picture is a gate that keeps the lost locked in while we amble by on my merry ways.

Who's behind the gate? The addicted, the gang members, the prostitutes, the too rich who intimidate us, the too poor who disgust us, the profane, the bully, you fill in the blank. We see them. We whisper about them. We pass them by never attempting to unlatch the gate, much less break the gates down. Isn't our usual excuse, "Oh well, they made that bad choice. They can straighten up, or come to church, or _______ if they want to." Not true. 

Who is the leaven in the flour? Matthew 13:33 tells us it is our job to spread the gospel. We have to be the leaven in the flour, the world. It is our job to assault the gates that lock in the lost. Not by beating our tambourines against our Bibles and singing "Bringing in the Sheaves" as the temperance movement is pictured in the old westerns. Rather meeting and greeting the lost in a sincere and caring manner.

Who do I meet? Does your child play sports with families that may be lost? Do you have business acquaintances? Do you see community members at the local store? What about your neighbors? My brother once wrote a letter to a corporate owner who lived in our city. He invited this owner to a Franklin Graham crusade. To my brother's surprise, the owner had his secretary contact my brother and set up a time that he would pick up the owner and take him to the crusade!

What do people want? Sadly we usually just pass by the people who aren't in our circle of friends. We fail to unlock the gates and invite people to escape. When the crowds in Matthew 19: 29-34 tried to shush two dirty, loud, blind men begging by the roadside, Jesus stopped and asked what they wanted, what they needed. They asked for sight. Jesus gave them both physical and spiritual sight. Funny, or rather odd, though they were lost, they already knew they needed Jesus.

What are ways we can consciously show love to those we meet along our path so we unlatch the gates of hell?

Hey Kids:
Is there someone in your class or neighborhood who is being passed by?
What kind and friendly words can you offer them to let them know you care?
A few friendly words can open doors to invite others to church and to share the gospel.

Write down a name(s) you plan to show kindness to this week.
Pray for them and your friendship greeting.
Be aware Satan will try to make you chicken out.
He is not in control of the latch on the gates of hell.
That gate is waiting for you and me to open it so the Light of Jesus will light their way out.

Blessings,

Gail