Influencing Your Life (Luke 13:20-21): My First Sermon

 “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened” (Luke 13:20-21 NASB)

I actually remember being a kid. Back then I promised myself that I would never say the following phrase to my child: “Because a say so,” So far so good. Of course, as a parent it’s easier to get kids to do what you want because you’re bigger than them. And that becomes a lot harder as they grow up. You have to influence them, not just make them. And that’s true of most other people in our lives: spouse, co-worker, neighbor … We cannot really use force to do what we think is the right thing. They may not agree what the right thing is. Or if they do agree, they may not agree on how to do the right thing.

Many of the problems in our country are people fighting over what is the right thing to do and how do we do it. The title of our message today is Influencing Your Life (Luke 13:20-21). This is a wonderful parable. Jesus gives a little germ of an idea here. To really grasp the explosive, world-changing nature of the parable’s meaning here, we must look at two other similar passages. Leaven, often called yeast, was actually old, sour dough which had been stored away and subjected to fermenting juices until it was to be used in new dough as a rising agent. Leaven affects the whole dough. But the word “yeast” still fits what Jesus is saying. He’s using it as a metaphor.

But the metaphor here is a bit surprising at first. The terms “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of heaven” refer to God’s rightful rule and reign on this earth in which people live, love, think, and behave in the ways God intends. Elsewhere leaven has negative connotations. Elsewhere Jesus warns his disciples to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees - two different religious political parties of the time.

Paul uses leaven as a metaphor a couple of times. In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 he uses it to describe the negative influence of undisciplined, unrepentant immorality within the Church. Influence. The key idea is “influence”. In all the passages in the New Testament where leaven is used as a metaphor, the subject of how people are influenced to think and behave is there. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is extremely concerned about how Christians are influencing each other, both positively and negatively. But Paul’s also extremely concerned about how Christians are influencing non-Christians.

In chapter 5, there’s an incident of gross immorality in the church (something that would shock even non-Christians) but the culprit won’t repent and no one in the Corinthian church will do anything about it. Paul’s reaction is “What do you think you’re doing not addressing this?! Remove this person from your midst.” And then he gives our choice phrase: “Don’t you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?” Then he adds, “Clean out the old leaven so you will be a new lump.” Paul’s idea here is clear: the immoral, unrepentant Christian is having a negative influence upon the church. Remove the negative influence and things will be better. Now watch this. This is extremely important. Paul here immediately adds: “Now remember, I didn’t say not to hang out with immoral non-Christians.”

Paul’s doesn’t want the church to misunderstand what he’s saying. So, he adds, “I didn’t say not to hang out with immoral non-Christians.” The very same vices he says Christians should not associate with in other Christians, are the very same vices he says should not prevent Christians associating with in non-Christians.

At this point, I’m sure there was a young man sitting in the first row [will call him Eutychus] who raised one had with a question. If he had raised two hands, Paul would have known the young man was a charismatic. The young man asks, “Paul, if the poor behavior of other Christian can negatively influence us if we’re around them, why then is it okay to be around the negative influences of the world?” A good question.

Paul knows that God had originally called ancient Israel to be his special people so that the whole world would be blessed. As God said through the prophet in Isaiah, “You’re supposed to be the light of the world so the world will be saved (Isaiah 49:6; 58:8). Btu he adds, “Because of your behavior, the world wants nothing to do with me. Because of how you live your lives, the world sees no need to be blessed with salvation and justice.”

God called Israel to be a positive influence in order to make world right again, yet ancient Israel had failed. Jesus picks up on this. In his sermon on the mount, he tells the people you are the light of the world, the salt of the earth. When your behavior is great, when you lead your lives the way God intends, you have a positive influence on people, and they’ll be drawn to God in worship and glory. And this answers Eutychus’ question: “If the behavior of Christian can negatively influence us if we’re around them, why is it okay to be around the negative influences of the world?” What Paul is saying is, “We don’t want sin corrupting the Church, negatively influencing us like leaven spreading through a lump of dough, because we want the Church to be able to positively influence the world.” Basically, the Church should be like leaven leavening the whole world as a positive influence.

Last year Philadelphia Church did a short-term LifeGroup around the book Christians in the Age of Outrage, by Ed Stetzer. Stetzer is a church-starter, missionary, professor, researcher, and author of many books. Stetzer and his team have done extensive research and surveys of Christian and non-Christians in America.  Stetzer’s main takeaway is this: “Fellow Christians, we’ve done the research. How we Christians are currently behaving is having a profoundly negative impact on the non-Christian world. You saw in the video the letter from the child who wonders whether God knows whose bad or good based on what they post on Facebook. Stetzer gives particular focus to how Christians behave on the internet. All of us now have the ability to instantly insult thousands of people anywhere in the world at any time. There are times when someone is saying the most horrible things in a social media gathering, and then you go to his profile … and he lists a bible verse and calls himself, ‘a Christian saved by grace.

In his book, Stetzer spends a lot of time talking about how Christians talk about politics on social media and in public. We’re killing ourselves. We are damaging our witness to God and giving Jesus a bad name. Stetzer has the research to prove. And it doesn’t matter who we vote for or what positions we support – it’s across the political spectrum. And the problem isn’t what Christians believe which might be at odds with the world. The majority of non-Christians understand that we believe certain things and might vote certain ways. Non-Christians may disagree with us, but they understand it. The problem is how we’re behaving with our beliefs and how we’re engaging in politics. Again, its across the political spectrum of the Church. We’re having a negative influence on the world, and so people are closing their ears to the gospel. Paul and the other apostles understood something that we’ve forgotten, though they were dealing with the same issues we are. Here it is: God wants us to behave well, be holy, and live the biblically moral life NOT JUST BECAUSE IT’S THE RIGHT WAY TO LIVE but because it has the power to make the world right again. Let me say that again: God wants us to lead the Christian life and follow the teachings of Jesus not just because it’s the right way to live, but because it has the power to make the world right. But we mostly want to transform the world another, particular way; not the way the way Jesus says it works.

So, what is this way that Jesus says works? Let’s turn to another leaven in the bible, starting in Matthew 15:32. Jesus has just miraculously fed 4000 people with a few loaves of bread. The Pharisees appear and say, “Show us a sign that God is backing you.” Jesus, “No!” He goes back over to his disciples, who are saying, “We’ve got some bread leftover.” Jesus replies, “You’re talking about bread? Well, beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod” (he throws in the name of the country’s top political leader). The disciples respond, “Why did they leave some around? No, Jesus, I don’t think the Pharisees and Herod left any bread around here.” And at this point, Jesus probably said something like, “Abba Father, give me strength!” But Mark understood what Jesus was getting at. You see in verse 8:11 that they were testing Jesus: “You say you’re a prophet. You’re acting like the Christ, the Messiah, the King. Do something that will make us believe that you are who you say you are.” But by that they were saying, “You need to act and behave like a prophet and king are supposed to act and behave. How was a prophet and king supposed to behave? Everyone knew that.  He’s supposed to act like Elijah the greatest of all the prophets. When he called down fire from heaven at Mt. Carmel and killed all the false prophets and unbelievers. He’s supposed to act like David who slew Goliath and killed the foreign enemies by the tens of thousands. Killing was the kind of thing they expected on a resume. That and a master’s degree. But Jesus wasn’t meeting those expectations.

               In Luke 9 Jesus is rejected by the Samaritans for being a Jew. Samaritans and Jews were very much alike but not quite the same. So because they were a lot alike but slightly different they hated each other far more than they hated those who were completely different. Disciples James and John see the Samaritan’s unbelief and rudeness and ask Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them with a lot of heat and burning and blood with all their slightly different ways of doing things.” Basically, Jesus tells them to “Stop it!” and they move on.

               In Matthew 5, in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he teaches “Love your enemies”, “don’t be violent”, “don’t hate”, “help your enemies out even when they’re abusive” … Now if you used the word “enemies” to a crowd of Jews in 1^st century Palestine the first thing that pops in their minds would not have been the neighbors who put up their Christmas decorations on November 1^st. No, the first enemy that would pop into the mind of a 1^st century Palestinian Jew would be … the Romans. The hated foreign occupiers. These pagan, Gentile Romans had swept in, conquered the land, assumed political control of the nation (God’s country!), and Jesus has said to love them rather than kill them. So Jesus is teaching love and non-violence for both nonbelievers and foreign enemies. If he had been in a job interview for either prophet or messiah, it would have been, “Thank you. Don’t call us; we’ll call you.”

But that’s what Jesus is seeing in the tests of the religious and political leaders: both unbelief and opposition to him. Opposed Jesus because they didn’t believe Jesus’ way of being a prophet and king was right. So, when Jesus warns his disciples against the leaven on the Pharisees and Herod (Matthew notes Jesus also mentioned the Sadducees), he’s saying, “Watch out for the influence of unbelief, misconceived expectations, and opposition to me (to Christ).”

Jesus doesn’t leave it there. He travels down to the recently re-named district of Caesarea Philippi. The Gospel writers see what Jesus is doing here and note the place. Caesarea Philippi was named in honor of Augustus Caesar and Herod Philippi – royal names on both the local and global scale. It’s here Jesus questions his disciples: “Who do people say that I am?” They respond, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, another one of the prophets.” Jesus replies, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter replies, “You are the Christ, the Messiah, the King.” Jesus then informs them they’re headed to Jerusalem. Theologian N.T. Wright likens this episode with a politician gathering with his close friends and advisors. “So, what do the polls say? What do the people think?” “Well, some say you might become senator, others governor. Some even say you could become a cabinet member.” “But what do you think?” “I think you could be president.”  “Campaign starts tonight.”

Jesus has a much bigger office than the presidency in mind. As God he is reclaiming his throne as rightful ruler of the world, putting all the Herods, Caesars, and presidents in their rightful but subservient place. But like the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other parties jockeying for control of the nation, Peter has far different expectation of what it means to be Christ than fits the reality. Jesus teaches the disciples that he is to be rejected by the leaders in Jerusalem, suffer many things, be put to death, but be resurrected in three days. In other teachings on his death, Jesus says he is to be selfless servant, that he will love, forgive, turn the other cheek, but be obedient unto death. The result will be victory and the Kingdom of God. Peter will have none of it. “Jesus,” he says, “let me explain things to you. No, you see, you are the Christ, the Messiah, the King. When you go to Jerusalem to become king you will be immediately victorious. You will kill the Roman occupiers and drive them out. You will kill all the unbelievers and sinners.” Jesus immediately rejects that. He sees it as another temptation by Satan.

Peter isn’t the only disciple with a misconception about power and what it means to be king. As they approach Jerusalem, James and John make a request. That went Jesus becomes king they get to be in the privileged positions on his right and left. Jesus replies, “You do not know what you are asking. When I become king, when they put a robe on me, when they place a crown on my head, when people see the notice ‘King of the Jews’ – well, there will already be a person on my right and my left.” Jesus continues: “The rulers of this world (the Herods, the Caesars, the presidents) they bully and exercise great authority and power. They get things done by forcing other people to do so. But it’s not to be this way among you. To be great, you must be a servant. That’s what I’m going to do.” But this kind of power, this kind of influence is outside the disciples’ thinking, it’s outside their expectations and assumptions about how the world works.

So, in John 18 the mob comes to arrest Jesus. All the different factions – the Pharisees, the Sadducees, Herod, the Romans – put aside their differences and mutual hated and say, “We’re going to get this guy Jesus.” Peter takes out his sword, “This is it people! This is what we’ve been waiting for! Here comes the Kingdom of God!” and cuts the ear off the slave of the high priest. Jesus stops the whole thing: “If you live by violence and force, you will die by violence and force” and heals one of the people coming to arrest him. At this point, you can imagine that entire world of the disciples seems to have collapsed. Everything they thought about the Kingdom of God and how the world works was shattered. “He actually meant those things! Those weren’t metaphors.” Peter does finally figure this all out. In his first letter, he tells the Church, “You know how Jesus was peaceful, submissive, suffering, self-less, servant-like, and holy, and that’s how he achieved victory over the world. You and I need to do the same thing for the exact same reason.” Paul will say the same thing in Philippians 2. Yes, Peter eventually figured it out. Few others ever do.

We have Jesus becoming king and achieving victory thru service, selflessness, forgiveness, love, and turn-the-other cheek justice. And Jesus is looking at the misconceived expectations of the rulers and would-be rulers of this world with their bullying, use of force. But of course! That’s how do things right? Farmer Joe McDonald isn’t wrong. The world is run by the aggressive use of force. Why? Because it’s easier to force change than to change hearts and minds. Which is why people choose force.

So, we come back to our main passage, and Jesus is once again using leaven as a metaphor. Paul has used leaven to talk about the power of influence. Jesus has used leaven to talk about the power of influence. Jesus says that he will become king, that he will be exalted, that he will achieve victory over evil, sin, and death by love, forgiveness, mercy, servanthood, submission – all the ways that everyone thinks are wrong, stupid, foolish, insignificant, of course it doesn’t work … “What kind of king is this?” “What kind of kingdom is this?” Jesus says, “Let me tell you what kind of kingdom this is … It is like leaven which a woman hides in three pecks of flour (three pecks is about 50 lbs, enough to feed a hundred people) until all 50lbs are leavened.” The leaven is small, but it has profound effect. It has profound influence. It transforms the dough. It looks insignificant. You often don’t see it working. But it has an enormous effect. It has an enormous influence. It doesn’t come with force, but its just as revolutionary, changing things from within. The Kingdom of God changes hearts and minds. In the preceding parable, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to the small mustard seed that grows into a full tree. Both parables are about the power of the kingdom of God, seemingly starts insignificance, but having an immense impact on the world.

Jesus’ parables are not just ethical teachings to help us get by in life (though they were that as well). They are tools of victory to set the world right. These are tools that Jesus took to the cross. He forgave his enemies, he didn’t use violence, he thought of others (the weeping women, his mother Mary, the thief dying beside him on the cross – he thought of US). He took love to the cross, dying so that we might live – as every Christian knows. And because Jesus has influenced us, we are to take his influence to the whole world. We are to take up our cross daily and follow him and his way daily. Love, forgiveness, service. Think about the ways of Jesus has influenced you. Jesus says his way is the great victory. If you believe God raised Jesus from the dead, then you already have enough evidence to know that the way of Jesus works. That is the same evidence that convinced Peter.

We Christians influence the world, we change the world, we transform hearts and minds through our Christ-like behavior, not our force. This is they way the world actually does work. It doesn’t come thru votes, politics, majority or minority rule, but through us being the light of the world. That’s how we influence, that’s how we change. We’ve forgotten that, but we can learn it again.