Leavened or Unleavened?

~~~ 1 Cor 5: 1-8 ~~~ Psalm 5 ~~~ Luke 6: 6-11 ~~~

 

"...Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?
Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough,
inasmuch as you are unleavened."

 

If we understand the difference between leavened

and unleavened bread we can then better grasp what Paul means here.

 

The ancient people accidentally discovered the full effects of yeast

after leaving some left over bread dough out too long.

Instead of throwing out the remaining dough

they mixed it into the new dough.

The result was a better tasting bread with more volume.

 

In early times it was not known that yeast,

a naturally occurring air borne fungus,

was the cause of these changes in the bread dough.

Of course then the people did know that.

Soon they began to purposely set aside a portion of dough,

keeping it for the next day's batch of dough.

If they kept the 'starter dough' too long it became sour.

This is how sour dough bread was first made.

 

The effects of yeast are not easily detected.

It takes time for them to heat up grow and raise the dough.

Making leavened bread required more work, took more time.

 

Saving a ball of the dough from day to day made the whole process

of making bread faster and more reliable.

However, since the people were often on the move

they could not always make use of this precess.

Unleavened bread was a much faster process.

There was no need to wait for it to rise.

They could just mix it up and bake it right away.

 

So today Paul is making a reference

to leavened and unleavened bread.

He is using bread baking as an example because it was

familiar to his audience.

He is reminding them that only a small amount of yeast

leavens the whole batch of bread.

Implying that small does not mean powerless.

At the same time he is saying all the old ways

of doing things need to be cleared out.

As is true; you must purge in order to have room for the new.

 

Paul is telling the people of Corinth

that they are indeed the leaven for a new batch of bread.

They, having cleared out the old, would be able to embrace the new.

Jesus came to create a new batch of bread.

He did not carry the things of old, the beliefs of yesterday.

 

He was the one who brought new life.

He was the one who walked away from the old ways.

 

If we hold in our hearts the things of the past

we too can become like sour dough bread.

 

The sacrament of Reconciliation is a time for us

to get rid of the old batch of dough.

It is an opportunity to begin a new batch...a fresh batch of dough.

 

We do not want to become like a batch of sourdough bread.

Sourdough bread keeps the yeast fungus growing for too long.

While you might enjoy the taste of this bread

you do not want your heart to become

 sour with fungus from the past.

 

 

Saint Ignatius left us some thoughts about this very concept of leaven.

Lay aside, therefore, the evil, the old, the sour leaven,

and be ye changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ.

-St. Ignatius, Magnesians 10

 

If we are to become unleavened bread;

no starter is needed, nothing from the past is carried forward.

Jesus came to us as unleavened bread.

He brought nothing from the past.

He is the new.

He is the bread of life.

The words of Jesus spread about life yeast.

 

Jesus is trying to get the synogoue officials

to realize that  their old beliefs are turning 'sour' persons.

Then Jesus said to them,
"I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?"

 

Every day we must make the effort to purge ourselves

of those things that chain us to our past sinfulness.

The synagogue officials were intent on their old way of thinking.

 

We can be like leaven and quietly spread the word of God.

How we treat others we meet along the way is a good start.

Believe that in your small way; you are helping to spread

the goodness of the Lord.

Remember that it only takes a small handful of dough

to leaven the whole batch.

Every time you eat a piece of bread remember the whole batch

contains a tiny bit of yeast.

 

Every time you receive Eucharist remember that Jesus

becomes the leaven with which you can increase.

 

So the question you may ask yourself is this...

'Do I want to be a part of the sourdough bread

or part of the new batch of dough?'