[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 11th of June, 2017 - Trinity Sunday. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
Today is Trinity Sunday, when we honor the three persons of God. Our heavenly Father, His Son Jesus, and His Holy Spirit form the Holy Trinity. Let me share an example of how the Holy Trinity can work.
At the beginning of the week, I was looking through some scripture of one of the many passages that showed the relationship between God and Jesus along with the influence of the Holy Spirit on man. As I got to the real meat of the passage, the Holy Spirit nudged me back to the beginning of that particular chapter and pointed me to something else entirely.
Last week when we looked at the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we saw that He will act as our guide if we let Him. In this case, He guided me to a passage that shows how Jesus warned us regarding those who would change or ignore the laws of God. God the Father, Jesus His Son, and His Holy Spirit, working together to give me today’s message.
Please listen and follow along to an encounter between Jesus and some Jewish leaders, and later with His disciples, as recorded in the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel account, chapter 16, verses 1 through 12, and I’ll be reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…
At the beginning of the week, I was looking through some scripture of one of the many passages that showed the relationship between God and Jesus along with the influence of the Holy Spirit on man. As I got to the real meat of the passage, the Holy Spirit nudged me back to the beginning of that particular chapter and pointed me to something else entirely.
Last week when we looked at the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we saw that He will act as our guide if we let Him. In this case, He guided me to a passage that shows how Jesus warned us regarding those who would change or ignore the laws of God. God the Father, Jesus His Son, and His Holy Spirit, working together to give me today’s message.
Please listen and follow along to an encounter between Jesus and some Jewish leaders, and later with His disciples, as recorded in the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel account, chapter 16, verses 1 through 12, and I’ll be reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…
1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came and, testing Him, asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and overcast.’ O you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” So He left them and departed.
5 But when His disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”
8 But when Jesus perceived it, He said to them, “O you of little faith, why reason among yourselves, that it is because you have brought no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you collected? 10 Or the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets you collected? 11 How is it that you do not understand that I spoke to you not concerning bread, but that you should beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees?” 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
--Matthew 16:1-12 (MEV)
Let us pray… Father God, Your Son Jesus had so much to teach us, yet the Pharisees and Sadducees refused to listen and even His own disciples were slow to catch on. Speak to us now, Father, through Your Holy Spirit directly into our hearts, that we might hear and understand Your message this morning. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Gertrude, the church gossip and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose in everyone else's business. Many members did not approve of this behavior, but they feared her enough to remain quiet.
Gertrude made a mistake one day, though, when she accused Ralph, a fairly new member, of being an alcoholic. Her proof? She saw his old pick-up truck parked outside the town's only bar one afternoon. Gertrude emphatically told Ralph, and everyone else in earshot, that anyone seeing his truck at that den of iniquity would know exactly what he was up to. Ralph, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment. He didn't try to explain his whereabouts, defend himself, or deny her accusations. He simply turned and walked away.
Later that evening, Ralph quietly parked his old pick-up truck in front of Gertrude's house... and left it there all night.
Sometimes our words can come back to bite us, can’t they? Gossip has no master. It will quickly and easily turn on the one who gave it birth. Just ask Gertrude.
The Pharisees and Sadducees just didn’t get it. As the religious leaders of the children of Israel, they were supposed to be representatives of God on earth, in tune to His laws, His commands, His word. Instead, they perverted His word to their own ends. They bent His commands to fit their agendas. They held firmly to the absolute letter of the Law, without trying to understand its intent.
As our scripture reading begins, they are once again trying to trap Jesus, this time by asking for a direct sign from heaven to prove He is divine. Jesus bluntly tells them they’ve already received all they need – the sign of Jonah the prophet, whose story they should be quite familiar with.
I guess Jesus was still fuming over this little encounter with the religious hypocrites when He and His disciples got together. They were preoccupied with thoughts of the bread they forgot to bring along, and He with how badly the Pharisees and Sadducees missed the mark. So when He mentions the “yeast” of these hypocrites, the disciples think He is chastising them. Eventually they understand that Jesus was not talking about physical yeast or bread, but about the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and how those teachings can lead people astray.
I think to get another angle on what Jesus was trying to impart, we need to look at what the Apostle Paul wrote in his 1st letter to the Corinthians, in chapter 5, verses 6 through 8…
It only takes a small amount of yeast to leaven a whole batch of dough. A little bit goes a long way. The erroneous teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees worked through the entire Jewish peoples like yeast in a lump of dough. The lies and mistruths spread just like those I mentioned to the kids earlier. They kneaded the dough that was the Jewish people with the old yeast of wickedness and malice, spoiling the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
One small lie can spread through a nation. One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. One final straw can break the camel’s back. The Pharisees and Sadducees kept piling the straws on higher and higher. They were the little spoonful of yeast leavening the whole lump with malice and wickedness. They were the bad apples, spoiling the chosen of God.
Once the lump of dough has been leavened, you can’t take yeast back out if it’s bad. But you can save the good apples by removing the bad ones. The same goes for grapes in a bunch. In chapter 65 verse 8 of his book of prophecy, Isaiah spoke for God when He promised to spare Israel…
You don’t have to throw away the entire bunch of grapes just because a few have started to rot. There are still good grapes there, grapes that can be saved. Even though the Pharisees and Sadducees clung to the cluster like rotting grapes, God chose not to destroy all of Israel because there were still good servants among its people.
And there are still good servants today. Sure, there are bad apples here and there. There are grapes in the bunch that are starting to rot. And as Jesus warned at other times in scripture, there are branches of the vine that will be pruned. This is done not to punish the bad grapes, but to save the good so that they might survive and flourish.
The bad apples, the rotting grapes work against Jesus and God’s plan just as did the Pharisees and Sadducees. They leaven God’s dough with malice and wicked intent. They plant seeds of negativism and dissent whenever they can. They make unfounded accusations and spread falsehoods and mistruths.
They may even think they are doing good, following what God would have them do. But Jesus would call them hypocrites, because they are working against God. They are forgetting first and foremost to love one another, as they strive to achieve their own agendas rather than God’s will.
There is one aspect, though, where a little yeast leavening a whole lump can be a good thing. Just like a little bad can turn a lot of good bad, a little good has the chance to turn a bunch of bad to the good. Showing the love of Jesus and sharing His Gospel with others can turn non-believers onto the path of righteousness, the way of goodness.
Be that kind of yeast. Don’t be a bad apple. Don’t be a rotting grape. Don’t leaven God’s great lump of dough with the yeast of malice and wickedness. Don’t be a hypocrite. Because a little goes a long way.
In the holy name of God our Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and His most Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, You gave us Your law for our good, but we perverted it to our own advantage. Often we don’t even realize when we are working against Your will, when we are leavening the dough with the yeast of malice and wickedness, when we are having a negative influence on others as they try to be righteous in Your eyes. Forgive us, Father, when we allow a few bad apples, a few rotting grapes, to spoil the whole bunch. Forgive us especially when we are a bad apple, a rotting grape. Help us to be good leaven, spreading Your love, doing Your will, bringing others back to You.
Please hear us now, Father, as we silently speak to You from our hearts, repenting of our sin and seeking Your forgiveness, once again giving ourselves to Your Son Jesus…
Lord Jesus, the religious leaders of Your day simply didn’t see the truth. They refused to listen, even when You reminded them of the words of their own revered prophets, the words of Your Father God. Sadly, Lord, too many of us follow their example even today. Too many of us leaven our Father’s children with malice and evilness. Too many work against You and the Holy Spirit’s influence over our lives. Help us, Lord, to love as You loved. Help us see others as You see them. Help us to do God’s will and to promote righteousness.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith. Amen.
Gertrude, the church gossip and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose in everyone else's business. Many members did not approve of this behavior, but they feared her enough to remain quiet.
Gertrude made a mistake one day, though, when she accused Ralph, a fairly new member, of being an alcoholic. Her proof? She saw his old pick-up truck parked outside the town's only bar one afternoon. Gertrude emphatically told Ralph, and everyone else in earshot, that anyone seeing his truck at that den of iniquity would know exactly what he was up to. Ralph, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment. He didn't try to explain his whereabouts, defend himself, or deny her accusations. He simply turned and walked away.
Later that evening, Ralph quietly parked his old pick-up truck in front of Gertrude's house... and left it there all night.
Sometimes our words can come back to bite us, can’t they? Gossip has no master. It will quickly and easily turn on the one who gave it birth. Just ask Gertrude.
The Pharisees and Sadducees just didn’t get it. As the religious leaders of the children of Israel, they were supposed to be representatives of God on earth, in tune to His laws, His commands, His word. Instead, they perverted His word to their own ends. They bent His commands to fit their agendas. They held firmly to the absolute letter of the Law, without trying to understand its intent.
As our scripture reading begins, they are once again trying to trap Jesus, this time by asking for a direct sign from heaven to prove He is divine. Jesus bluntly tells them they’ve already received all they need – the sign of Jonah the prophet, whose story they should be quite familiar with.
I guess Jesus was still fuming over this little encounter with the religious hypocrites when He and His disciples got together. They were preoccupied with thoughts of the bread they forgot to bring along, and He with how badly the Pharisees and Sadducees missed the mark. So when He mentions the “yeast” of these hypocrites, the disciples think He is chastising them. Eventually they understand that Jesus was not talking about physical yeast or bread, but about the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and how those teachings can lead people astray.
I think to get another angle on what Jesus was trying to impart, we need to look at what the Apostle Paul wrote in his 1st letter to the Corinthians, in chapter 5, verses 6 through 8…
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch? 7 Therefore purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new batch, since you are unleavened. For even Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, nor with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
--1 Corinthians 5:6-8 (MEV)
One small lie can spread through a nation. One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. One final straw can break the camel’s back. The Pharisees and Sadducees kept piling the straws on higher and higher. They were the little spoonful of yeast leavening the whole lump with malice and wickedness. They were the bad apples, spoiling the chosen of God.
Once the lump of dough has been leavened, you can’t take yeast back out if it’s bad. But you can save the good apples by removing the bad ones. The same goes for grapes in a bunch. In chapter 65 verse 8 of his book of prophecy, Isaiah spoke for God when He promised to spare Israel…
8 “But I will not destroy them all,”
says the Lord.
“For just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones
(and someone will say, ‘Don’t throw them all away — some of those grapes are good!’),
so I will not destroy all Israel.
For I still have true servants there.”
--Isaiah 65:8 (NLT)
And there are still good servants today. Sure, there are bad apples here and there. There are grapes in the bunch that are starting to rot. And as Jesus warned at other times in scripture, there are branches of the vine that will be pruned. This is done not to punish the bad grapes, but to save the good so that they might survive and flourish.
The bad apples, the rotting grapes work against Jesus and God’s plan just as did the Pharisees and Sadducees. They leaven God’s dough with malice and wicked intent. They plant seeds of negativism and dissent whenever they can. They make unfounded accusations and spread falsehoods and mistruths.
They may even think they are doing good, following what God would have them do. But Jesus would call them hypocrites, because they are working against God. They are forgetting first and foremost to love one another, as they strive to achieve their own agendas rather than God’s will.
There is one aspect, though, where a little yeast leavening a whole lump can be a good thing. Just like a little bad can turn a lot of good bad, a little good has the chance to turn a bunch of bad to the good. Showing the love of Jesus and sharing His Gospel with others can turn non-believers onto the path of righteousness, the way of goodness.
Be that kind of yeast. Don’t be a bad apple. Don’t be a rotting grape. Don’t leaven God’s great lump of dough with the yeast of malice and wickedness. Don’t be a hypocrite. Because a little goes a long way.
In the holy name of God our Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and His most Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, You gave us Your law for our good, but we perverted it to our own advantage. Often we don’t even realize when we are working against Your will, when we are leavening the dough with the yeast of malice and wickedness, when we are having a negative influence on others as they try to be righteous in Your eyes. Forgive us, Father, when we allow a few bad apples, a few rotting grapes, to spoil the whole bunch. Forgive us especially when we are a bad apple, a rotting grape. Help us to be good leaven, spreading Your love, doing Your will, bringing others back to You.
Please hear us now, Father, as we silently speak to You from our hearts, repenting of our sin and seeking Your forgiveness, once again giving ourselves to Your Son Jesus…
Lord Jesus, the religious leaders of Your day simply didn’t see the truth. They refused to listen, even when You reminded them of the words of their own revered prophets, the words of Your Father God. Sadly, Lord, too many of us follow their example even today. Too many of us leaven our Father’s children with malice and evilness. Too many work against You and the Holy Spirit’s influence over our lives. Help us, Lord, to love as You loved. Help us see others as You see them. Help us to do God’s will and to promote righteousness.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith. Amen.
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