Of yeast and faith

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.”

You can’t see leaven, yeast, in flour once it’s kneaded in. Yet its effect is readily apparent once the yeast starts to ferment, producing carbon dioxide which causes the batter to expand, or rise. And there are many things whose growth and development is undetectable by the naked eye.

Spiritual growth and maturity is largely unmeasurable. Seed is sown, watered but the Lord grants the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6-9). It is a fool’s errand to gauge growth by human-visible development. And it is a marvelous truth that though nothing is seen, the Kingdom and its effects grow in individuals and nations.

Doubt goes both ways – one can doubt in God’s existence and involvement with the world AND one can doubt that doubt. It is simply true that the Holy Spirit moves upon hearts in ways we cannot see.

I am invited to give up both rose-colored and despairing perspectives. It is simply true that I do not know how God is moving and can only operate in faith that the Kingdom IS growing like yeast in rising dough.

Often it requires pure and persistent faith to do this:

𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝟲:𝟵 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗽 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗽.

And I do well to find that faith and let it reign this day.

Shepherds and Harvest Workers

𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘄 𝟵:𝟯𝟲-𝟯𝟴 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱𝘀, 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀, “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝘄; 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁.”

Religion had become a harassing bother to the people the Jesus saw, healed and spoke with. They had no power and were at the mercy of self-promoting shepherds. The picture of God’s people as sheep was not a new idea, and Matthew’s account described a recurring predicament for people in need of godly counsel and direction. Shepherdless sheep are aimless and at the mercy of the elements.

But the people DID have shepherds – teachers of the Law who were to instruct and guide them in righteousness. They were not doing that but instead heaping yet more onto already overburdened lives. In their theology God was unpleasable and so were they.

Since the analogy shifted immediately to the harvest field, these same sheep were those who would be “harvested” through salvation, hearing and believing in the Good News. Their sheer number would require more workers, which inspired the prayer.

Sheep, in Christian terms, come to new life in Christ. This is the harvest. They are born again (see John 3:3), and then made into disciples. Unlike the seemingly easy one-time conversion process, the discipleship of believers takes much more time and patience. The workers, then, are not hit-and-run migrant farmers, though there is surely in the evangelist’s role an aspect of death-to-life, blindness-to-sight transformation.

When a believer prays for such laborers, it is for those who can shepherd God’s people. If one is an answer to those prayers, that person is a shepherd. S/he will almost certainly harvest but Jesus followers are not nurtured with a sickle. That makes them harassed and helpless.

May I know my calling, pray and be an answer to prayer. In Jesus’ name.

Speaking truth to power

Scripture:

John 7:51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”

Observation:

Jesus had a popular message and persona that threatened the ruling class and its system in Jerusalem. He was being named the Jewish Messiah – or Christ. As is common when the privileged are threatened, they cited things to disqualify the threat. They brought up Jesus’ origin – Galilee – as proof that he could not be the Christ. Galilee was a place of low esteem, on the far end of the despised nation of half-breeds, Samaria. The Messiah was to hail from Bethlehem, descended from King David – both criteria fulfilled in Jesus. And they described his followers as an uneducated rabble, deceived in their beliefs. Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier, then brought up a principle of the Law of Moses. He was convinced that Jesus was who he claimed to be – and wanted his peers to at least hear what Jesus had to say for themselves. The tone of his question was hardly incendiary – it was only a gentle reminder. But they would have none of it, accusing Nicodemus of being a Galilean himself (an insult). There was to be no honest inquiry, no legal process. In the tyranny of the ruling class, every system meant to establish justice was twisted to serve the powerful.

Application:

Things haven’t changed. People don’t want to hear who Jesus is. And his followers are accused and maligned. As Jesus said – “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (John 15:18). But this is no call to stop working for the truth, no resignation to defeat by the “powerful”.

For God’s Word would triumph, people would – and still do – hear and learn from Jesus. Let me not – as Nicodemus did not – resign myself to defeat because powerful people and tribes write me off. They write everyone off who doesn’t exalt them or contribute to their gaining an holding power. Yet they don’t even understand true power. Jerusalem fell 70 years later. These rulers and their descendants were either killed or dispersed forever – their system of rule would never be re-established (even (or especially) in modern-day Israel). That’s not to celebrate their demise, but unlike them, Jesus said that his words would last forever and so they have.

Let me not ignore the general application of fighting for justice. There’s a sense that Nicodemus cared for Jesus as he cared for anyone in Israel. May I find those unjustly excluded from even being heard and advocate for them, even – of especially – if they are tribally maligned and opposed by the privileged. For imagined threats can actually uphold true government, but only if they are heard and understood.

Prayer:

Lord, let me be as unassuming as Nicodemus but as unafraid to speak truth to power. And let me be patient and never give up hope for justice and redemption. In Jesus’ name, amen.

At just the right time?

Scripture:

Romans 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

Observation:

What does it mean: “at just the right time”? There are two time lines in mind here – God’s and that of the individual. And this phrase cuts across both of them. The most obvious answer to the riddle is “when we were still powerless” – a point in time that makes God’s provision of grace absolutely outside of anything we could achieve or even conceive. But, of course, that time is from the perspective of the individual person. In that sense, when would that person ever be powerful?? It’s clear humans never become powerful enough to save themselves, or good enough have a savior die sacrificially for them. It’s also clear from the verses that follow that it was scandalous for Jesus to die for people who were still in their sin. Scandalously loving. From God’s perspective, “just the right time” is a sovereign, eternal view of our lives. God knows exactly what circumstance and historical events lead up to the reception of the gospel by faith. So in that view, right when a person needs to know about salvation through faith in the sacrificial death of Christ, the truth is revealed in such a way and such power that there is faith to believe. And keep believing. That is timeliness.

Application:

I can say emphatically that I cannot, have never been able and will never be able to save myself from my sins. The death of Christ for all the evil I commit during this life found me helplessly enslaved by temptations that continually overcame me. I was the picture of powerlessness. So how can I ever consider myself able to achieve righteousness apart from Him? And if I am blessed to experience a good life in Christ – how can I ever point to my own strength in sinless performance? I cannot. The time line of my life has gone on – and so has God’s salvation (which is not static but dynamic and progressive). So I must lean into God’s provision and not my own sentiments or stalwart resolve. For I have failed and will fail every time, if not in deed then in compromised motives. Likewise, how must I look on the lives of others? I truly can only expect them to behave like those who are “on the way”, awaiting for “just the right time” in their own lives. I cannot control it, and I cannot help it arrive. I also cannot engineer its parameters – the situation that will bring salvation about. If I am to be used to explain the death of Christ – as a blessed witness – it is only a flawed effort to document the marvelous work of sovereign God. There is, then, no spiritual six-shooter on which to record my “kills”. Evangelists do a fine work for Christ, but really Christ does a fine work through them (let us all know this)– for they also cannot instrument “the right time”. It is the ungodly Christ died for; I should never look for any qualification other than one being completely disqualified to receive salvation. For that’s what I was when He found me.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for working in my life. Let me receive all You have for me “at just the right time” and let me be Your child, declaring the awesome works of my Father. In Jesus’ name, amen.