A Little Leaven…

Jesus used leaven (yeast) as a metaphor for things both holy and unholy. Jesus warned His disciples to be wary of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducee’s, which was a reference to their improper teaching and their hypocrisy (Matthew 16:2 and Luke 12:1). The Apostle Paul used leaven to describe immorality among God’s people (1 Corinthians 5).

But Jesus also used leaven as a metaphor for the Kingdom of God:“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” Matthew 13:33

I reflected on this passage as I read about Barack Obama asking Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. My immediate reaction was, “What is Warren thinking? This is an obvious political ploy to try and get conservatives to let down their defenses,” but that was “the flesh” talking. Truth be told, there is no doubt that asking Pastor Warren to pray at the inauguration is a political move on Barack Obama’s part, but that doesn’t mean it was done with ill-intent. It is a wise political move, but that doesn’t mean it was disingenuous. In any case, Barack Obama’s motivations shouldn’t matter to Christians, anyway (Philippians 1:15-18).

What matters is that a Christ-follower is being asked to pray at an event that will be seen and heard by millions, if not billions of people. We need to rejoice and make our requests known to God (Philippians 4:6). The Holy Spirit will be guiding Rick Warren’s words and thoughts and the world will hear one of God’s children speaking to his Heavenly Father. God tells us in Isaiah 55:10-11 that His word, when issued forth, will never return void and will always accomplish the purposes for which it was intended. Success is a given whenever God’s word is spoken.

It is our duty to pray for our President Elect, but also to pray for Pastor Rick Warren. The good news of Jesus Christ is about to sound forth on a scale that may very well be unprecedented. If a little leaven leavens the whole loaf, what might this boat-load of leaven accomplish? God be praised!