Valley City Times-Record

Faith Matters: Our Little Things

Those who know me know that I love bread. Both for its deliciousness, Christ’s presence in it during communion, and for its great use as a metaphor for the abundant life that God promises us all. Some have heard me speak of that abundant life being made clear to me in hearing the story of friendship bread passed around between some in my parishes, how at my ordination weekend, one of my friends had shared a sourdough starter with me, and how that starter survived not being fed that weekend, the road trip back, and a couple days after that. I put it in the fridge, pretty nervous that it wasn’t going to make it, but I eventually figured out what I was supposed to do. I bought bread flour. I bought a scale so I could make sure I was feeding my starter by weight not volume. And I fed my starter with the hopes that the hot car and neglect didn’t end its life and usefulness. Lo and behold, it started bubbling and growing.

I have now shared that starter with several friends. And it still lives in my fridge, being fed as regularly as I can remember to do so. And even when I get really busy and neglect to feed it when I should, it survives. And the thing that is the most amazing to me about this starter, is that this collection of yeast and flour and water didn’t even come from a yeast packet at the store. Instead, it came from the air. The invisible particles and bacteria floating in the air that got caught on some flour and water and kept multiplying.

And it creates some of the best bread I have ever eaten, which has little to do with me and my skills, and so so much to do with the incredible miracle that is this creation of yeast and air and flour and water. In Matthew we hear, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

The kin-dom of heaven is a collection of invisible to the eye microscopic things that feed and grow and thrive and continue that cycle until more are fed and grow and thrive. And those who are fed and grow and thrive from this bread continue to feed and nurture and help others be fed and grow and thrive. The kin-dom of heaven is incredible in this ordinary way and this ordinary thing. This ordinary invisible thing that makes a huge impact in our lives. The small microscopic thing that transforms the very structure of who we are.

The kin-dom of heaven is here and now. It’s in our ordinary days and our ordinary lives, showing us the incredible, extraordinary truth and presence of God all around us. Not simply in the Bible alone, but also in the Logos of God who is Christ, in the communion we share with one another and Christ. The kin-dom of heaven is “on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.” The kin-dom of heaven is all around us as we are invited to join in.

The kin-dom of heaven is here and now in the things that we take for granted, in the moments we sometimes forget, in the people we fail to notice. The kindom of heaven is evident when “our little things” are shared with those for whom it has a huge impact. The kin-dom of heaven is like the time we smile at a stranger and as we forget almost two moments later, we turn someone’s day around. The kin-dom of heaven is like when we see the Lord in those who are naked, or thirsty, or in prison, or in the guise of a stranger, those in hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or peril. The kin-dom of God is all around us, beloveds. Where do you see it today? How can you share it tomorrow?

Pastor Sharayah

Evangelical

Lutheran

Church in America

Kathryn-Nome-

Fingal

Lutheran Parish

St. Paul’s Lutheran

Church

Kathryn, ND

Waldheim Lutheran

Church

Kathryn, ND

Messiah Lutheran

Church - Fingal, ND

St. Petri Lutheran

Church

Nome, ND

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2021-06-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://times-online.pressreader.com/article/281616718324358

Alberta Newspaper Group