It's What's Inside That Counts (or do you put leaven in your bread?)

The lesson shared in the Sunday school classrooms this morning will be the Parable of the Leaven.  In reflecting on many different news stories and media campaigns this week, it seemed the Holy Spirit was choosing for me as I prepared for the presentation to the class this morning, as well as thought about Martin Luther King Day (or in some places Civil Rights Day) tomorrow.

In the parable, the woman mixes leaven into the flour, and the bread rises.  Simple really, yet there is so much "bubbling" under the surface.

In the current political race, we are told repeatedly, by all sides, that we need to look carefully and see the true nature of the candidates, with every individual convinced they are the best one for the job.  We need to look at what is inside.

This past week, the Anglican Communion suspended the Episcopal Church from full privileges and voting rights due to the work of the Episcopal Church to allow same sex unions in church, as well as other decisions.  What is inside all of this?  Are we to continue to love all and accept all as Jesus taught (the opinion of the Episcopal leadership) or love all people, but become more reserved in our open acceptance (as statements from the Anglican leadership suggest).  With the record the Episcopal Church has on many civil rights issues, it seems very unlikely that any steps will go back.  This leads to many questions, including what is inside each of us?  If we say that we are to love one another, how do we respond to this new situation?

Tomorrow, we will recognize Civil Rights Day.  We will think about and honor so many who have tried to make us focus on something that is really simple - it is what is inside that counts.  Not the color of our skin, where we live, how much money we make, what political party we may call our own, or what church we worship in - but what is inside each of us.

So, whether you will mix three measure of flour with leaven or not, you have a chance today to wonder about how God works inside you.  I wonder, what will you find?  I suspect you will like some parts of yourself more than others - as that is the nature of humans.  But if you remember the teachings we share in our church, you will know that God loves and accepts you for you, and asks us to do the same for others.  That can be very difficult when we disagree, but hopefully remembering this will allow us to share in peaceful disagreements, and set an example of demonstrating kindness, even to those who do not ask for it, in all areas of our lives.

It is indeed what is inside that makes all of the difference.

Image of yeast bubbling over