One of our mentors from Wilmore, Sam Meadows, makes the most delicious homemade bread. In fact, every week at our house fellowship we would be greeted by the smell of freshly baked bread, and after I came home from the hospital with Emmie she brought us dinner and a warm loaf of bread. To this day I still say it was the best thing I have ever eaten in my entire life. Now, when I want to particularly bless or serve someone, I make them a loaf of homemade bread. I don’t have a bread machine or a stand mixer, so it is a labor of love. It brings to life the parable of yeast that Jesus talked about in Matthew 13.
Since God first brought the idea of church planting to our mind, we felt convicted that we were supposed to build this ministry organically. For us this means letting God lead, investing in relationships, not promoting, but following the blow of the Spirit. This is a very different way of doing things, and while we know it is God’s way for us, we sometimes become tempted to measure our success and to perform in the ways of the world.
Earlier this month Anthony felt like he was supposed to focus on the parable of the yeast in Matthew 13. In fact, he was reminded of this parable multiple times through conversations with mentors, podcasts, resources, etc. God obviously had something for us to focus on! We thought a post by Dr. Sandra Richter put it into words beautifully:
” We launched small group last night. Talked about the parables of the Kingdom in Matthew 13. The problem? The disciples have figured out that their Rabbi is likely the promised Messiah, but they’re looking around at a bevvy of not-so-upwardly-mobile first century Jews and wondering, “where is the Kingdom?” Jesus’ answer comes in parables. Ah, so irritating. And what Jesus has to say is that for those who have ears to hear, it is already here. But not yet in its fullness. Hmmm … what does that mean? Well, he says, the kingdom of God is like a little bit of yeast mixed into a great deal of flour. Do you know that it takes a single cup of yeast to leaven 60 lbs of flour? Do you know that yeast completely disappears when you add it to flour? Yeast doesn’t stand out, it isn’t even recognizable once it is mixed into the flour. Definitely not special. But do you know what happens when 60 lbs of flour have been touched by a cup of yeast … and that flour gets a little wet and a little warm? The world turns upside down. This is how the kingdom can be already, but not yet, here. It might not look all that influential, or strong or special, but its citizens are like the yeast in the flour, the leaven in the lump. And before we are done with this story … the world turned upside down.”
God continues to remind us that the kingdom of Heaven does not come in with a bang, but starts small, almost unrecognizable, unless you have the eyes to see it. It is small changes in someone’s heart, in a serving community, in a step of healing. It is our job to keep our eyes on Jesus and continue in obedience until God brings it into its fullness. The amazing thing is, through almost a year of these small but continuous steps of ministry in St. Louis, we are beginning to see with our eyes what Jesus was talking about in this parable. We see how God is bringing the right people into our ministry. How his healing work in people is transforming them into leaders. And how our “random” conversations and connections are part of his bigger picture.
Kylie and Anthony are Inspire Missioners church planting in St Louis, Missouri. You can connect with them HERE.
