294. Be More Yeast

[00:00:08] Hi friends, welcome to another episode of Making Disciples. My name is Chris and I am your host. I hope you're doing alright. I hope that life is treating you well as we make our way into October. Nights are getting shorter, aren't they? Well, we're going to continue our discipleship journey and I do a lot of thinking just around discipleship and what it means to be the people of God.

[00:00:31] And I was having a conversation with somebody recently who said, the thing is Chris, the church just needs to be doing more. They just need to be doing more. And I kind of left that and had this question, the church just needs to be doing more. It seems to me like the church is doing a heck of a lot. The church runs a lot.

[00:00:53] You know, we run the largest children's ministries, schools in the UK, youth work outside of anybody else doing youth work. Food banks, food pantries, toddler groups, ESOL classes, homeless outreach ministries, all of this stuff. You know, drugs work, prison ministries, chaplaincy. We do a heck of a lot. Is it that we need to be doing more? And I've just been reflecting on this question.

[00:01:23] And as I've been thinking and reflecting, I've come to the conclusion we need to be more like yeast. And a little while ago, a friend of mine, Mark Tate, great guy, leads a church in West London. Mark was speaking about estates ministry and he said we need to be more like yeast than we do bread. Bread, you know, if we turn upon our estates and say, right, this is what we're doing.

[00:01:51] Here's the bread. We need to eat it. It doesn't last very long. You know, you come, you eat it. Once the bread's gone, the bread is gone. It's like really coming to it. We're going to run an alpha course here. And here's a bread. This is what we're going to do. We're going to run it. It's going to look like this. And then when it's done, it's done. And there's no continuation. There's nothing beyond it. Whereas he would argue that yeast is something that comes and mixes in and it gets involved with and it brings transformation.

[00:02:18] And ultimately, it might become something that looks like bread, you know, an actual project, an actual something. But he said we need to be more like yeast. And that's really got me thinking, do we need to be running more? And my conclusion is, I'm not sure we do need to run more. I think we as disciples are doing a heck of a lot. My challenge to us is this. Can we be more like yeast? So that's what we're going to explore in today's episode. Just following that question from a friend.

[00:02:44] Look, if you're not one of our listeners that is already subscribed, love to encourage you. Whatever you listen to this on whatever app you are using, do subscribe. If you're able to share an episode with friends, then please do. If you're able to give some thumbs up on whatever. I know every device that people listen to podcasts on behaves differently. But if you're able to give a star, a review, a thumbs up, it makes a massive difference because it affects the algorithm of how much it kind of promotes.

[00:03:13] And just this week, I got an email to say that actually Making Disciples is in the top 10 Christian discipleship podcast feed spot. Podcasts do a yearly top 100 podcast in each field. And Making Disciples is number 10 globally in discipleship. So that is super exciting.

[00:03:39] Our overall Apple rating is 4.9 out of 5. We've had 122 Apple reviews. Thank you for doing that. If you wouldn't mind keeping on doing that, it's great. It just keeps the podcast expanding so more people can come along and hear it. Well, friends, let's dive in and let's talk a little bit about what it means to be more like yeast.

[00:04:15] Let's dive in and go straight to the passage. Now, this is Matthew 13, 33. It's just one verse I'm using. And it says this. The kingdom of heaven is like yeast. That a woman took and mixed into about 30 kilograms of flour until it worked all the way through the dough.

[00:04:38] Now, what's interesting is American listeners, 30 kilograms is about a quarter of a cup in American measurements. In other words, it's a really small amount of flour. And she's mixing yeast with very little. So, really, what the image here is that she's not got a great deal.

[00:05:06] But the kingdom of God is like yeast. That actually is going to work through the dough. Which really is not going to be a great deal because there's not much flour. But yet when the yeast mixes with the flour, growth happens. Multiplication happens. And it's through a very small amount. It's not a large amount of flour. It's a very small amount. But yet we know that that is going to become bread.

[00:05:35] And it's going to become more than what it once was because yeast is mixed with it. And it is the kingdom of heaven. The thing that God is about. The place that God is about. This kingdom of God. This place of godly influence. For many of us, you know, we look at the work of the Holy Spirit where God's kingdom rule is at work.

[00:05:58] This yeast that represents all of that will bring about something greater because it's involved. And you don't take much yeast to mix with much dough for something to multiply. So yeast is both hidden and it is transformative. Now if there's too much yeast, you taste it. And you go, this is really yeasty.

[00:06:25] But yeast is both hidden and it is transformative. And the invitation here is that the kingdom of God is like yeast. I want you to expand that and say, well actually we are kingdom people. We are people of the kingdom of God. We are learning to walk in and live in and see the kingdom of God manifest all around us.

[00:06:50] So if yeast is like the kingdom and we are people of the kingdom, I want to make the argument that we are to be like that yeast. We are to be people who get mixed in like the yeast. We're not called to be separate, to be different, to stand on the edge. We are called to be mixed in, to make a difference.

[00:07:14] And for me this is a little bit like the parable of the salt. Not the parable, the teaching that Jesus says. You have to be like salt of the earth. And actually my interpretation of salt of the earth was a particular kind of salt that came from the Dead Sea that was used to be put on filth. So when you go and do a poo outside your property, you didn't want flies landing on it. So you would mix in some of this salt from the earth, which was gritty salt.

[00:07:43] And you would mix it in and it would aid the decomposing. Basically it was an antiseptic against. So small things. The image we have here in scripture is about the kingdom people. People who are being mixed in. They're not separate. They're not keeping themselves away from. But they're actually rubbing in and mixing in amongst and therefore bringing change. And that's the image I want to use today. And I've got some very simple points.

[00:08:12] This is not going to be a profoundly deep episode. But I'm speaking to you here. If you are somebody who sees yourself as working with Jesus in his kingdom work and the kingdom of God is like yeast, the invitation is that you would be a person that behaves like this yeast.

[00:08:36] In the same way the yeast behaves, the call on us is to be similar to it because the kingdom is like this. So kingdom people are going to be like yeast and this is how we should also behave. So the first point is this. Friends, yeast gets mixed in. Yeast is not to sit on a jar in your cupboard.

[00:08:57] Yeast is to be taken out and it's to be mixed into the dough and something is to form and be transformed by that yeast. So we're not called to simply stand alongside the world. But we are to be right into the life of our communities mixed in to the community of our street, our family, our neighbourhoods, our towns, our villages and our cities.

[00:09:26] We are to be mixed in. We are not to be separate. And it slightly concerns me when some of our churches, we're so busy being church that we're not actually mixed into the world. We're not mixed into what is happening around our churches. And in the same way the danger is that we can be so wholly huddle that actually we're not being mixed in to the world around us. And this is why going to the gym. This is why going on the bus.

[00:09:51] This is why being at the school gate is so important because we get to be in places where we get to be mixed in. It's about mixing our lives into everything around us, every life and every situation around us. And it's about every community being engaged and every workplace being engaged by kingdom people who are functioning like yeast.

[00:10:14] We're being mixed in and we're bringing change and we're being the transformation that we want to see because we're living out the kingdom of God. So friends, we've got to get mixed in. We've got to get involved. So the question we have to ask ourselves is, am I living in a holy huddle or am I getting mixed into my community? Now, what I'm not saying is don't go to church. I'm not saying don't be involved with church because you've got to be in the world.

[00:10:44] It's important that we are in the church, that we're a part of God's community and that we're being inspired and equipped and transformed in it. Not that we would stay there, but that we would get sent out. And this is why I am Anglican, as you know. And I love my favorite Anglican prayer is at the end of communion where you've broken the bread and you've received the body broken and you've received his blood poured out.

[00:11:07] So you've received this Eucharist, this breaking and the bread and the wine. And then it says, send us out in the power of your Holy Spirit and live and work your praise and glory. It's the sent outness. We are called to be sent out as body broken and blood poured out. We're not just to receive the bread and wine. We need to become the bread and wine. We need to become people who live out this Eucharist, this communion, this family meal every day being broken and poured out.

[00:11:36] So yeast gets involved, my first point. My second point is this. Yeast works throughout all the flour, throughout all of the dough. What did it say? The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that woman took and she's mixed it into about 30 kilograms of flour until it works through all the dough. We are to be working through all the dough.

[00:12:04] Yeast doesn't become the bread. Yeast changes what is already there. Our role is not create projects for people or for them to consume. But we are there to help mission by becoming a part of the community and being mixed into it. Being someone who is transformative in the place that you are. This is why I just go back to this idea of salt and light.

[00:12:32] I love the idea of salt and light because you see when light is there, darkness flees. And when salt is there, bacteria flees. So there's something about when we get mixed in, we bring transformation. In the same way, as yeast, kingdom yeast, as we get mixed in, we're bringing about kingdom transformation. Where there has been no life, there is now life coming. Because you are involved.

[00:13:01] And I'm going to keep putting it up. Because you are involved. Because you are there. There's now a difference. Oh Chris, but you don't know me. I'm not very strong in my faith. It's not about strength of faith. The kingdom of God is like yeast. And if you want to be a kingdom person, then it's about being like that yeast. To bring about transformation. We all can do this. It doesn't matter how strong our faith is. How long we've been a Christian. The way that you live can bring change. Because you are living differently. You are seeing the last, the least and the lost.

[00:13:30] You're looking to the edge. You're noticing people that others don't notice. You're giving generously to the things that are happening around you. You're living your life not for yourself, but for the world and for others. Because Jesus did the same thing. So yeast works through all of the dough. Now just pause for a minute. Just looking back to the pandemic, there was a phase where every vicar I knew was making sourdough. And I was like, oh my gosh, everybody's becoming hipster with their sourdough. I was fine with me hovis.

[00:14:02] The thing about sourdough is a good sourdough baker doesn't keep all of the starter for themselves. You know, when you have your starter, you can pull a bit off and you can share it with somebody else. So a good baker will pass some of their starter on. And that little bit of living culture goes into another batch and then another batch and another batch and another batch. We did sell sourdough in the coffee shop, a haba that we planted in Bow.

[00:14:31] And when we first started the project, the sourdough was coming from a Russian baker up in Hackney. And he had this bakery in these arches. And the start of the culture that he had was over 150 years old. It had been passed on and passed on and passed on. And it had this history to it. Did it make the bread taste nicer? I'm not sure it made any difference, to be honest. I don't think I'd notice any difference.

[00:14:59] But it's interesting that a piece of that starter was used and used and used and continued to grow, continued to grow and still being used today. And friends, that is what I think discipleship and mission actually looks like. We shouldn't be creating things that require us to keep turning up to making them work. We should be leaving behind something living that other people can carry on.

[00:15:29] I've been really learning about this. We've obviously left East London over the summer. We've had to leave behind our church that we absolutely love. And it's been really difficult. We've had to just distance ourselves a little bit because it's been heartbreaking. I couldn't even look on Instagram to see what they were doing because it was so painful. Because we've really mixed ourselves in there. We've really tried to. And then as I'm looking back, I'm seeing people stepping up in leadership.

[00:15:59] People preaching, teaching. People leading services. People engaged in ministry. And it's just really exciting to see the legacy now of people there who have caught a vision for the way you live for Jesus in your neighbourhood. And they're doing it. We're not there. We've moved on. But yet the East is continuing to work. So discipleship and mission should look like this. It's not about creating something that we have to keep running.

[00:16:27] But it's about leaving behind something living that others can carry on with. And it's such a joy to look back at All Hallows. We're only going to be gone six weeks. But you just see what is still going on. And the lives and the people continuing the mission and the vision because they've caught it. They know like this is it. And it's carrying on. It's living.

[00:16:55] So the yeast works throughout all of the dough until actually something different is happening here. We don't need to be here anymore because the yeast has brought transformation. That's my second point. Third point is this. Yeast makes something bigger. Friends, a tiny amount of yeast transforms a huge amount of the dough. So we should be looking for this kind of growth.

[00:17:21] Where there is kingdom yeast, things will grow and things will multiply. Now, what I'm not going to say is you should have a church that is growing. Because there are some neighborhoods it's really tough for various reasons. But I would raise the question, is there something missing? If the kingdom is like yeast that brings about growth and transformation, is there something missing that means you're not seeing that kingdom transformation? Is there something missing?

[00:17:50] We should be looking for multiplication. We should be looking for growth. We should be looking for equipping others so that mission happens through everything that is around us, not just through us alone. Where the kingdom is, things grow. The kingdom of God is like yeast. It's mixed into the dough until it's worked through all of it. And then when she goes and bakes it, it will multiply. It will grow.

[00:18:19] The bread that comes out is bigger than the yeast and the flour alone. Something has happened. Growth and multiplication has happened. And therefore I want to say to you, if you're a kingdom person, there should be some level of growth happening around you. People asking questions. Friends wanting to know more.

[00:18:49] There should be a natural thing happening where there's just something. It might be small things. But something is happening that's bringing growth and change, equipping, multiplication. So friends, we are not here as disciples of Jesus to run the church's mission projects. The kingdom of God like yeast means that this yeast helps the whole people of God become more missional.

[00:19:18] If you're a listener of the Making Disciples podcast, this is about disciples who make disciples. It's not about the church running more stuff. I want to see culture change in us so that we become like yeast that breathes life into the stuff that's happening around us. And if you want to be a disciple of Jesus, it's not about doing more. It's about the way you choose to live like yeast. Living in such a way that multiplication, growth, change is happening.

[00:19:47] Culture change is happening because you are now involved. Let me just hit pause there on that. So there were three points. Yeast gets in. Yeast works through. Yeast makes something bigger. Now, yeast is needed for brewing beer. Now, I don't drink. I'm teetotal. And I don't drink beer. I don't know much about beer.

[00:20:10] But I do know that when I was doing my A level in chemistry, we learn how to brew beer and wine. And yeast is needed for brewing beer. So let me just think about this for a second. And when Jesus talks about yeast, most of us immediately, we go to bread because of the flour analogy here, isn't there? But yeast does something else rather interesting other than just making bread. It also makes beer.

[00:20:41] So in making beer, you take something that looks pretty ordinary, grain, water and yeast. And then you just wait. Something invisible starts to work because the yeast begins to consume the sugars. The fermentation starts to begin and slowly something entirely different emerges. So when I was doing my A level in chemistry, we were given these big glass jars. And we put in the grain.

[00:21:11] We put in the water. Put in some sugar. Put in the yeast. And we brewed beer. I also brewed banana wine. Now, funny story. And my mother does listen to this podcast now and again. So I'll find out if she hears this because I'm sure she'll text me going, I listened and heard you. Now, years ago, when I was doing my A level in chemistry, I made some banana wine. And it was all about the fermentation process. I took these bananas in and I brewed some banana wine.

[00:21:40] And the fun thing was we sat in the chemistry lab and we had the big glass jars around us. And during the lessons, you'd hear blub, blub, blub as gases being released from the yeast and the fermentation process. So you'd be hearing the beer and the wine fermenting and brewing while we were learning. And it was a really funny thing to be just hearing constantly this fermentation process. Well, we finished the whole thing.

[00:22:07] I bottled up the banana wine and took it home. And my dad had built at the end of the garage a little room that my mum could go and do some ironing in. My mum didn't want to have the ironing board in the house. So she wanted to be in the garage. So they built this little room. And she would go in there and iron. And my dad, mum had gone in to do the ironing. And my dad had noticed that he'd not heard from her in a while. So he went to try and find her.

[00:22:33] And found he couldn't open the side door to the garage because she was slumped against the door. Because the wine that I'd made was pretty potent. So I'm not sure she drank any more again. But yeast takes something ordinary like banana. And you can end up brewing banana wine. You can end up growing beer from grain. So this fermentation begins.

[00:23:01] And slowly something entirely different emerges. I love this image. Now play with me with this image of fermentation around yeast and the people of God. So just think about this in terms of a spiritual brewing. The brewing of the kingdom that's happening in us. And I wonder if this gives us another way of hearing Jesus' words about the kingdom of God.

[00:23:29] The kingdom of God is like yeast. So what strikes me is how little yeast you actually need. You don't pour half of the yeast into the beer to ferment it. It's the smallest amount that you need. You introduce a really small amount and then you just leave it to work. It does its thing.

[00:23:56] It turns this process alive of fermentation. And I think it's a great picture of mission. We as the people of God are to be mixed in small amounts. Mixed into the world. That causes a missional discipleship fermentation process.

[00:24:24] Something is starting to happen in the world. Because you are causing this kingdom fermentation. I want you to hold that idea. The fermentation of the early church. I just think as I look at the book of Acts. What I actually see here is a group of people fermenting with the Holy Spirit. They receive the Holy Spirit and they become witnesses. In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. They're fermenting the presence of God.

[00:24:52] But they are becoming these holy people that live differently. Selling their properties. Giving to the poor. Eating together. Ministering to the sick. Praying for the sick. Seeing signs and wonders. They're fermenting with such passion and power the work of the Holy Spirit. They're going to get in boats. And they're going to travel to Turkey. Asia Minor and further afield. For this kingdom to transform each place.

[00:25:20] That is essentially pagan. And they, well it is pagan. And they go and they ferment and they launch churches. And the spirit moves. Lives are transformed. I would argue that the early church. I think it's a beautiful theological illustration here. I think the early church were brewing together the kingdom of God. And in this brewing fermentation process.

[00:25:49] Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. All of it is brewing and fermenting. Love is brewing. And generosity is brewing. Joy is brewing in them. And they're different. And people look at them and go, something different about this group of people. Because something is happening in them. There's a fermentation of the kingdom of God happening in them. And I think what an amazing image.

[00:26:18] I think this is a beautiful image. I think it's a fun image. Acts was not only about the launching of something called Christianity. But it is actually a community in which the life of Jesus was beginning to ferment through ordinary people. It was being passed on. It was brewing. It was changing. The early church didn't simply have a mission department.

[00:26:44] The whole community became the environment in which the kingdom fermented. The kingdom fermented. And that's where I just want to kind of challenge you and I about the way that we are living out our faith. Are we fermenting the kingdom of God in our lives in the everyday? Are we fermenting the kingdom of God in our lives everyday? And there's a guy called...

[00:27:15] I'm going to completely butcher this. Now, his first name is John. He's the fourth century preacher. And I'm going to spell his name to you. C-H-R-Y-S-O-S-T-O-M. Cry so, Tom. I think it's something like that. You can Google it. But he said this. And I just think it's brilliant. If 12 men... Now, we would say 12 men and women.

[00:27:41] If 12 men could transform the whole world, imagine how far we have fallen. When, despite there being so many of us, we still struggle to transform those around us. I love that. If 12 individuals could transform the world, how far have we fallen when we can't even transform the communities around us? Why is that?

[00:28:08] I think if we're realistic, it's not that we don't have programs. And it's not that we don't have buildings. Are we not running services? I think there's a fermentation missing of the kingdom in our lives. I think there's something missing in us with the work of the Holy Spirit bringing transformation that means we look appealing. We look interesting. We look joyful, hopeful, caring, compassionate.

[00:28:36] We are fearful of life because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I think that's what's missing. It's not that we don't have enough programs. It's that our programs are not enough. People don't want to just receive our programs. They want to see something different. They want to see the fermentation of the kingdom of God in the lives of the people around them. That's what they're looking for. They're looking for the church to be ministering, revealing and showing and transforming their community

[00:29:04] because of the work of the Holy Spirit, the kingdom of God acting like yeast in every street. So I'm going to leave it there. Be more like yeast. The question for us is, are you somebody who's busy doing stuff? You're running stuff.

[00:29:24] But actually you are not somebody who is being like yeast, rubbed into the dough, bringing change, bringing transformation, bringing hope, bringing resurrection, bringing growth, multiplication. If you're not being yeast, then you're not being the kingdom because that's what Jesus says the kingdom is like. It is like yeast that is mixed in. It gets in. It works through.

[00:29:53] And it means that something grows, gets bigger. Friends, until next time, grace and peace. And I'd love you to reflect on that. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Bless you. See you soon. Bye. Bye.