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Another short parable this week, but one which I think ought to challenge us:

‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.’ (Matthew 13:33)

What does leaven do?

Leaven is not quite yeast, but for the sake of this study we may as well treat it as such. Leaven is something which, although small, affects the whole of the substance in which it is hid. As Paul said, ‘a little leaven leavens the whole lump’ (1 Corinthians 5:6, Galatians 5:9). So the message intended by Jesus here is that the Kingdom is something which is perhaps unseen, yet which deeply impacts everything it touches. I once gave a talk on being salt and light, and we did a practical experiment. I gave everyone 30 seconds, and everyone had to shake hands with as many others as possible. After the 30 seconds I asked everyone to smell their hands, and everyone’s hands smelt lovely – why? I had secretly asked a small number of people to spray perfume on their hands before and the handshaking meant that the scent was quickly distributed among the whole congregation. I think that Jesus’ image here is the same.

What does that mean though?

So here’s the picture: (1) the Kingdom exists in the world as he leaven exists in the flour – indeed it does; the global church is the Kingdom. (2) The Kingdom is different from the world as leaven is different to flour – again, the global church is recognised by many around the world as standing out somewhat – we’ll come back to this. (3) The Kingdom is hidden from the world as the leaven is hidden in the flour – this is also true; we’ll look at this too.

Leaven is different

The Kingdom must be different from the world in some important ways. If the world is to be ‘leavened’ then what must we be doing differently? Any of these points could be drawn out into a larger argument but for this week I’ll just mention them, and hope that some of them hit home. We must be different in: (1) forgiveness of all, particularly enemies, (2) grace to those around us, (3) care for the poor, (4) a love of diversity, (5) intolerance of injustice, (6) radicalism toward repentance. If we do these things and, for example, speak out loudly and clearly against the murder of the unborn yet at the same time wholeheartedly and unconditionally forgiving those who have committed the murder, we will stand out as different.

Leaven is hidden

The Kingdom must also be hidden, but what does this mean? Well, the global church is not an institution, it is a family. Think this through – you may meet one of my brothers and never know that they are related to me. It is not that they are ashamed of me, but simply that I never came up in conversation (and why should I?)! In the same way, we ought not to be so different that we are seen as the ‘odd ones out’ by those around us. Possibly the biggest problem with Christians is that we love Jesus so much that we just want to hang around with Christians all the time! We spend our evenings in prayer meetings and Bible studies, and our lunch breaks catching up on our Bible reading.

We ought to be deeply hidden in (1) friendship groups in our secular work places, (2) other social circles such as clubs, and (3) general interests. Develop strong friendships with non-Christians in every area you can, and be Christ to them! Pour out grace. Put in more effort than any other friend. Preach the gospel. Don’t be irrelevant, but help to draw your unbelieving friends towards Jesus by showing them how the gospel is relevant to them.

The result

To make sure we’re doing this for the right reasons, see how the parable finishes: the flour is all leavened. Every part of the lump is affected by the leaven, and the world should feel the same. The ultimate aim is that the Kingdom grows and grows, which means seeing more and more people saved and adopted into God’s family. Here are the questions for this week, hopefully to inspire action:

1. How many non-Christians are you in strong relationships with?
2. Do your non-Christian friends know you are a Christian?
3. Are you a good witness of the Christian life to them?
4. How close are your non-Christian friends to becoming Christians?

I would just throw out this idea: if you have developed strong relationships with non-Christians, if they do know that you are a Christian, and if you have been a good witness for a significant amount of time, but they are not close to becoming a Christian, then is our relationship with them worth it? Surely if they matter to you the most important thing should be to see them saved by God, so start to preach the gospel! Invite them to church! Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, and pray.

"Today's Little Lift" from Jim Bullington

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