Focus

Breathe in clear thoughts of peace and reflection as you prepare to hear God speak to you through the scripture and the writer. Put aside all the things the world says you have to accomplish today and use this time to rest in God’s presence.

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Read

1 Corinthians 5:6b-8 (NRSV)

Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

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Reflect

The ratio of flour to yeast in a basic bread recipe is 144:1. A single teaspoon of yeast can make 144 teaspoons of flour (3 cups) rise.

Without that teaspoon of yeast, your flour, water, and salt mixture will never be bread. Play dough? Paste? Crackers?—maybe: but never bread. A little bit of yeast has the power to transform—to influence, to change—a whole lot of flour.

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul warns that turning a blind eye to dishonest and immoral behavior is a toxic choice for the church. The witness and ministry of the entire church can be impacted by one person whose life is shaped more by evil than good; whose words are malicious instead of sincere; who clings to lies and refuses to embrace the truth.

Our Confession of Faith includes a section called “Rules of Discipline.” All the other parts of my copy are heavily marked with highlighting and notes, but that section is pristine. Why? Because I don’t use it. Why don’t I use it? Because I am afraid of mis-using it.

We are called to be people of sincerity and truth—not just when we are surrounded by sincere and truthful people, but all the time. May God help us to find ways to live that call, so that a little malice doesn’t corrupt a whole lot of good.

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Pray

Great and gracious God, forgive me, for I am a sinner:

in the evil I do and in the good I fail to do;
when I speak dishonestly and when I refuse to speak the truth.

Help me, Lord,

to discern truth from lies—in my life and in my community;
to see evil for what it is, and to embrace goodness instead.

Grant me, Lord,

courage to speak the truth with love;
grace to deal mercifully with sin;
a pure heart and pure motives; and
faith to walk humbly with you and with others.

Amen.

Go with God.