christ

Purging Religious Yeast

The first book of Corinthians writes in a figurative sense about “yeast” when it says:

Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast – as you really are. For Christ, our passover lamb, has been sacrificed. – 1 Corinthians 5:7

From an old post on the blog “Finding the Motherlode” the author poses a theological discussion on the nature of religion. Religion (religious thoughts, rules, ways and means), the author writes, is selfish. It stems from self and revolves around self. This selfish sense of “religion” is present in all of us and like a speck of yeast, it is very difficult to spot and remove. Some examples of this sense of “religion” that we should be warned of:

  • Religion is when I try to make something happen before God has ordained it.
  • Religion is doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons.
  • Religion is saying Hallelujah before having the faith to say Amen.
  • Religion is saying “Yes” to God without saying “No” to ungodliness.

I think I have a sense from where the author is coming from and I offer up an example from another blog which studies the works of James and the warning “Faith Without Works is Dead.” This selfish notion of religion is in saying and doing things that are biblically advisable but not really making the effort to make it happen. That in itself is a contradiction. It’s in the contradiction that we find the “yeast” in our lives.

But if a brother or sister is naked and may be lacking in daily food and any one of you say to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, but does not give them the things the body needs, what gain [is it]? – James 2:14-15

This is a tough brand of yeast for me to purge from myself as I am faced daily with many homeless and poor individuals on the streets, all of whom are begging for their meager living. I usually pass them up knowing that a smile or a good word is not enough to fulfill their bodily needs, as the Bible demands. Finding ways of fulfilling my obligations to the poor is a lifelong challenge that faces me and possibly many others.

Like I said, once you recognize what yeast is in your life, it’s really, really hard to figure out how to remove it. It takes work and it takes sacrifice. As in the promise of salvation through Christ, we are challenged by Corinthians to prepare and make ourselves “new” (a new batch without yeast) to meet Christ’s sacrifice.

Carrying Your Cross

Why does it seem that some of us are given to carry heavier burdens and sufferings in life compared to others? Blogger Jocelyn Soriano discusses some of the points to ponder on the cross we bear in our lives in her article, Why Carry Your Heavier Cross? In summary, she highlights that while we may look at the stark contrast of the poor and the destitute compared to the “rich and famous”, what inner struggles each is given to face is virtually unknown to us. Her comments reminded me of a fictional poem I had once read many years ago in my high school American Lit class, which was written by Edwin Arlington Robinson titled “Richard Corey“…

WHENEVER Richard Cory went down town,  
  We people on the pavement looked at him:  
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,  
  Clean favored, and imperially slim.  
  
And he was always quietly arrayed,        
  And he was always human when he talked;  
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,  
  “Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.  
  
And he was rich—yes, richer than a king,  
  And admirably schooled in every grace:  
In fine, we thought that he was everything  
  To make us wish that we were in his place.  
  
So on we worked, and waited for the light,  
  And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;  
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
  Went home and put a bullet through his head.

For the many of us who “worked, and waited for the light…”, going without meat and cursing the bread, perhaps we have overlooked the details in a much, much bigger picture. Nobody in the poem knew what this otherwise upright, well-to-do man was really going through in life. All they saw was the outer appearance of wealth and affluence. And so the same applies very aptly to the “Richard Corey’s” of our own life.

Ms. Soriano covers many other good points about our life burdens and ends with something I found very meaningful, it was a quote from Matthew’s gospel:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

The goal is not in being able to carry a cross – that’s just incidental in comparison to the invitation to follow Christ. In following Christ, we realize our purpose and our destiny for which

We must be passionate enough, enamored enough, enthralled, raptured, captivated, powerfully moved in following our life mission, it doesn’t matter whatever difficulties may come along. We know we could overcome anything, for the prize ahead is worth far more than the sacrifices we are to make along the way.

That comment was very powerful for me; it means “keeping your eye on the prize” no matter what life’s traumas may be thrown at you. Our life on this planet is but a brief moment in time compared to the eternity (the prize) that follows.