The Invisible Necessary Ingredient

My excursions into the kitchen have not always ended well.  The first time I tried to make corn bread, I used baking powder instead of cornmeal.  What I intended to be a surprise was more than any of my expectations!  So, when I say I know little about yeast, it is certainly believable.  I have seen yeast and seen what it can do, but when I read the parable of the yeast in Matthew 13:33, there is very little practical experience to guide me toward understanding. 

 

What I do understand about yeast is that it makes a tremendous difference when it is mixed with the dough that makes bread.  What I also understand is that in the rising of the dough, the difference can be seen, but only the difference, not the yeast.  The yeast is the invisible ingredient.  Once it is cast into the mixing bowl, it is never seen again.  All that can be seen is the effect it has on the substance into which it has disappeared.  And, so we hear Jesus saying, "The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast..."

 

The Kingdom of heaven is ever present, but not always seen with the human eye.  Jesus talked about the Kingdom being in our midst and also something still to come.  It is not always something visible to us with eyes that can see only the physical things around us.  The Kingdom is like another universe that exists alongside of the one in which we live.  Invisible but present.  Unseen but seen.  Sometimes understood but always a mystery.  It is the necessary invisible ingredient in the realm in which we live and we see and experience it most clearly as we see the effect it is having on the people and the world around us.