Avoiding the yeast cake

Introduction

Thank you for welcoming me here this morning. As is customary, I should explain how I came to know your pastor, Kirk. A few years ago as I was transitioning out of a career in the military and aviation, into full time ministry, one of the early roles of service I volunteered for at my church was as a mentor and leader in the youth group. How many of you know that one of the most desperate needs of youth today, is strong Christian men to be involved in their lives.

At the time, Oregon was going through some desperate financial difficulties. Some of you probably remember the 2008-2009 time period. The area I was serving in, was hit hard like many. Our youth group had about 60-80 regularly attending kids of middle and high school ages. About a third of them were either homeless, runaways, or couch surfing. About 20 of them actually attended the church services with their families. So we had a sizeable crowd of “difficult” youth. Some of the parents were getting uncomfortable, and some of them weren’t allowing their children to attend youth services due to the unsavory crowd. I was leading some men’s ministries, and in a prayer group with the senior pastor one day, the senior pastor indicated that he wasn’t sure what to do with the situation. Our female youth pastor needed more bodies, and everyone felt that some men would help. I thought, that it would be easy. I’d stand at the back of the room, enforce rules, and look tough. I could do that. Well these kids, and God, melted my heart, and my simple step of showing up turned into a multi-year leadership role of mentoring a bunch of kids going through some tough times.

I mentioned that I was going to share how I met pastor kirk…well here it is: Kirk was directing a high school camp at Crestview, and I brought a rowdy group of unsaved couch surfing teens to attend church camp. Needless to say, Kirk, being the director, got a fair amount of face time with the counselor of this bunch of rowdy male childs. Not one to back away from a challenge, both Kirk and I decided to do it again the following summer, this time I was the camp pastor for the week, which is a nice word for the dean. I got to deal with the disciplinary troubles of not just my kids, but all the kids. Well, Kirk and I hit it off, and we’ve been friends since.

Some of you may have heard about the non profit that pastor kirk and I founded in Alaska. In 2013 my family and I moved back to Alaska to grow the non profit community outreach organization. Your pastor, Kirk, was one of the original founding board members. Since launch, we’ve fed hundreds of people thousands of pounds of meat. We’ve interceded in crisis and in suicidal threats of life, for thousands of people…mostly military veterans and first responders. We’ve been the voice of and practical presence of support for ministry leaders serving in a state that our denomination prefers to ignore.

I love telling our story, and I could do it all day, but I’m here this morning to continue in your series of stinky Jesus in Luke. Let us pray, and then we’ll jump into the word.

Prayer

Father thank you for the opportunity to be here at Bridge Church today. Thank you for the blessings and mercies you have shown. Reveal to us this morning, your truth, through your word. I ask that YOUR message be heard and applied to each of us, through the Holy Spirit today. May we have the courage to be bold enough to believe your word, recognize your voice, and apply it to our lives. Amen

Scripture

Pastor Kirk asked me to teach on chapter 12, verses 1-12. Every single verse in this section includes or is entirely, Jesus’ words. Some of you are familiar with the the bible study method of red letters? For those that are like me, and need cheat sheets because we’ve been hit in the head too many times…the letters in red, are the words of Jesus. As word for word as the authors experienced and heard it, and the word of God, the bible, is inspired holy text. The Holy Spirit yesterday and today, speaks through and supports this word. But let’s jump in, I want to read through the whole section, and then I’ll go back and unpack the parts of it that God told me to teach on this morning. Follow along with me if you like, I’ll be reading from the NASB 1995, here we go, luke 12 verses 1-12.

Let’s read the word, then I’ll unpack it.

Luke 12:1–12 NASB95

Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. “Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops. “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! “Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. “When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Not an Exegesis

Now listen, my talk this morning isn’t a complete exegetical study of the passage, but I do want to put a few things into context. The first verse starts with some setting, in case you’ve forgotten what was immediately prior to this section. The Pharisees and lawyers, scribes, and religious leaders were probing and pushing Jesus, challenging Him. They were trying to trip Him up, and build a case against Him. They wanted to discredit Him. Jesus left the place where this was happening, (look at verse 53 of the previous chapter), but they followed Him. They were creating a scene…and people were gathering by the thousands to watch and witness what might happen.

Beware!

Have you ever said something loudly, perhaps for others to hear? If you look at verse 1, the text says that Jesus began to address His disciples, even as all of the thousands of people were flocking around the scene and the legalist attackers were following Him. Jesus’ primary focus was His disciples, yes, but Jesus was giving warning to them, in earshot for the multitudes to hear…and the legalists (scribes and pharisees) to take heed. He even calls the Pharisees out by name! He knew that He needed to get this lesson across to His disciples, and this was a good opportunity to use the practical illustration of a real life situation, to illustrate a vital truth. Let’s read it again:

Luke 12:1 NASB95

Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Luke12:1

Jesus is saying, when you get popular, or wealthy, or when you think you are better than others… you risk the chance of getting an inflated opinion of yourself.

Has anyone ever had perhaps an over-inflated opinion of yourself? Jesus is warning against this to His disciples, but read into this a bit and you’ll find that by calling out the Pharisees by name, He is really warning against shoving your beliefs into other people’s faces. Open your bibles or flip your phones to :

Matthew 6:1 NASB95

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

There was a crowd, and the Pharisees were going to be hostile to Jesus…and call him out…not just to try and trip up Jesus, but to bring attention to themselves!

Read on though....because it gets even better here.

Luke 12:2–3 NASB95

“But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. “Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.

Luke 12:2

Jesus used the word “leaven” back in verse 1. In some churches, some pastors like to use greek and hebrew words to show off their education. I cheat and use an expensive bible software. The greek word that was used in Luke’s account is “DZOO-MAY” (zume). It is found 13 times in the bible, as many of you probably already know, or have guessed, it is a reference to a yeast. Occasionally having the Hebrew text can help, as in this case this zume version of leaven actually refers to a fermented yeast, like a sour dough, or a beer yeast.

Is anyone else here a homebrewer? I like to make my own beer. I haven’t brewed any in a couple of years. We’ve just been too busy. I enjoy brewing hard ciders though. They are a challenge to get just right. I use a champaign yeast in them, red star if anyone is taking notes. It is a dry yeast packet very similar to your quick action dry yeast packets that you use for making bread. A little packet has about 2 and 1/4 teaspoons of very tiny yeast cells, for a 6 gallon batch of cider. I have a packet in my refrigerator at home, it’s been in there for a couple of years now. It may be slow to start, but if I pitch it (that’s the proper term for adding yeast to a beer or cider wort), it will probably work. It will multiply using the vegetative mode of budding (a kind of cell growth which happens during the logarythmic phase), and it will keep happening until all of the oxygen in the wort is eaten. Champagne yeast, like other beer yeasts, consumes sugars and oxygen to produce ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. Actually the oxygen is used during reproduction, and the sugars are used as food. But that’s getting a bit deeper into this than needed.

Many of you have already made the association of sin to yeast. Jesus says that sin in our lives is like yeast. Even tiny little sins, like sleeping in church.....(I just made that up, it isn’t from God, in case anyone is worried), but these tiny little sins eat the oxygen around us, and they reproduce…and they begin to eat the sweet things in our lives turning them into alcohol which numbs and confuses us, where in a carbon dioxide rich environment....we move away from God. We move away from the good things in our life. Did everyone make that journey with me? Jesus says to beware of letting little sins fester, and beware that pride and hypocrisy start as little sins!

I have another verse for you guys this morning…some of you have probably heard this one:

Numbers 32:23 NASB95

“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.

People who are captured by the spirit of legalism or other failings of faith, express their own insecurity about their own sins and shortcomings…by attacking others! Am I right? Don’t we all do this to some degree? I have. I do. I have a 6 year old son, and a 14 year old daughter. Now as many of you can imagine, the age difference means that my daughter has a little life experience, and even a fraction of education…the major difference lately being that my daughter can read, and my son…cannot. This causes problems. My son will pick and poke at my daughter, because she can read…and he cannot. What’s happening here? Jealousy. Right? She has a perceived skill that he doesn’t have. So he parades in front of us with skills that he has, in an attempt to lift himself up in our eyes, over his sister. He puts her down, and lifts himself up. Now we’re not stupid…and we don’t entertain such foolishness. But the rivalry, competition and jealousy rolls nicely into the next two verses. Read with me again:

little life experience, and even a fraction of education…the major difference lately being that my daughter can read, and my son…cannot. This causes problems. My son will pick and poke at my daughter, because she can read…and he cannot. What’s happening here? Jealousy. Right? She has a perceived skill that he doesn’t have. So he parades in front of us with skills that he has, in an attempt to lift himself up in our eyes, over his sister. He puts her down, and lifts himself up. Now we’re not stupid…and we don’t entertain such foolishness. But the rivalry, competition and jealousy rolls nicely into the next two verses. Read with me again:

Luke 12:3

Luke 12:4–5 NASB95

“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!

When boasting and self promoting fail…people with a pharisitical spirit, resort to violence. They resort to attacks. Jealousy over hidden sins, always leads to attack. Now those who know me, know that I’m not afraid of those who kill the body, neither is your Pastor. Neither of us are easily intimidated. Why is that? You might think you know the answer....but the real answer is in verse 5. We have no reason to fear verse 5, because that person, is on our side. How do I know? Because we are continuously protected supernaturally. It’s nearly comical sometimes to watch spears get thrown. Nearly comical…

Does anyone know the story of CS Lewis’ conversion?

I was listening to a sermon a while back where the pastor couldn’t remember where he had heard this story. I’ve been unable to verify its authenticity, so take it as you will…possibly more illustrative folklore than fact. That’s ok. The story is that CS Lewis was quite the athiest. Tolkien was actually credited, along with a few other local authors, as having been very influential in removing the barriers to belief from his life. It took several years, and much consideration. Lewis didn’t make the conversion quickly. The pastor however recounted a story he had heard of where Lewis was walking along a beach and came across an ant colony. It was the time of year where tides didn’t come very high up the beach. For whatever reason, Lewis felt that the ant colony should be moved, as when the winter came, tides would increase and the colony would drown. He began by roughly moving a couple of ants to higher ground, thinking that they would relay the message. That didn’t work, so he dug a path, and spread ants all along the path. Then he dug a trench which allowed a little water to get close and threaten the hive. Nest? That didn’t work either. Every time the ants would go back, and no one moved. He tried several other things, putting his education to work. He tried logical things and threatening things. But nothing worked. He finally came to the conclusion that he could not save them in any of these ways, and short of becoming an ant himself, there would be no way to lead them out of the guaranteed destruction to come. Suddenly everything clicked, and he finally caught a glimpse of the heart of God.

Listen to Jesus’ logic here though: Let’s read on:

Let’s read on:

-God is to be feared because He has the power to affect an eternal conclusion for us.

-God is omniscient, He knows when the least little thing happens.

-He is very much aware of you in even the smallest details.

-When we fear God we don’t need to fear anything else.

Let’s read on:

Luke 12:6–9 NASB95

“Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

Luke 12:6–10 NASB95

“Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.

Luke 12:

Luke 12:6-10

The Logic of Jesus goes like this:

-God is to be feared because He has the power to affect an eternal conclusion for us.

-God is omniscient, He knows when the least little thing happens. He knows everything, everywhere.

-He is very much aware of you in even the smallest details. The number of hairs on your head, or for me…your chin.

-When we fear God we don’t need to fear anything else. You can substitute the word “fear”, for “honor”. When we honor God and respect His logic, we need not fear.

We need not fear ANYONE.

I read an article in one of my magazines a while back by Mark Galli. He talked about Martin Luther, and a problem of his day in regard to indulgences. For those who don’t know, indulgences are practices within some religions (notice how I use the word “religions”), in which people can purchase absolution. The practice, though thought by many to be dead because of Martin Luther’s efforts against it, is still alive today, even being addressed in a 1994 document created by Pope Paul the 6th titled, “The doctrine of Indulgences”. I’m not here to bash a religion....because the point that Mark Galli makes is that Martin Luther’s call to continual repentance is still needed today. He points out that we are addicted to justifying our own actions rather than repenting. Getting rid of the tiny sins in our lives, ensures that they don’t remove our oxygen and grow into larger sins…which we know, will find their way to the surface and change the very chemical composition of our lives.

If you are paying attention there has been good news woven in between this entire message, but let’s read the last part and bring this all home.

Remember, we’re reading red letters here. These are the words of Jesus. He says to us, claim Him as our justification…and no one can bring blame to us. We are valuable!

Luke 12:10–12 NASB95

“And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. “When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Pastor Kirk is going to continue, over the weeks to come, and you’re going to learn about the Holy Spirit, whom lives among us and helps us.Let’s read in Joel about the Holy Spirit real quick: Joel 2:28-32

Joel 2:28–32 NASB95

“It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. “Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. “The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the Lord has said, Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.

The Holy Spirit is for every man, woman, and child, regardless of race or social status. He is sent for the rich and the poor, the oppressed and…the oppressors. Jesus says that when Hypocritical leaders test and persecute us…this helper will give us in the moment the very words needed for our defense. We need to be sober enough to hear them. A sobriety that comes from a heart and conscience free of sin.

God is patient. But don’t wait. If you are here today and you want to remove some sin from your life, I believe the words that have explained that it is important that we confess our sins to fellow trusted believers and to God in prayer. Kirk would you come up here, I’m going to start us in prayer and hand off to your Pastor to lead you through a time of internal reflection. Even as I’ve been speaking I believe that some are feeling a tug on their heart of some things that you need to deal with, to stop the choke-hold it has on your life. The worship team is going to come up and get ready to lead us in some corporate singing at the end of prayer. I would encourage you to seek out someone to talk through what is tugging on you today.

Pray with me:

Father thank you for speaking to our hearts. Thank you for caring enough about us to become one of us…that you made sure that your example and sacrifice would transcend the ages. Help us to root out the things in and about our lives that would grow to choke us and keep us from focusing on what you have for us. Thank you that you have already covered these things, and all we need do is but acknowledge that through you is the only way to be recognized by the one who makes the eternal decision. Help us to be a people who wear your love inside as well as outside, void of hidden sins which make a mockery of Christ followers. Help us to be your love in every where that we go, transparent in our brokenness and humanity. Keep us from being a hindrance of others, keep us from being legalistic pharisees that turn people away from you.

Pastor Kirk