Greetings, Readers!
Clear out the old yeast!
This, my scripture focus for today, is also my starting point in this brief reflection. Don't think of yeast as a necessary ingredient to make bread and other baked goods rise; rather, think of it as an invasive microorganism that, like sin, takes hold, reproduces and causes bloat. It's been many years since I baked yeast-based bread, but I remember how dramatically the resting dough would expand and how vigorously I would have to punch it down, at least once, before it finally made its way to the oven. The dough always felt alive -- and it was! Just like sin. Just like lies, corruption, hatred, injustice, greed and all that drags us down as individuals and as an institution.
Just as we, as individuals, are in need of new beginnings, so the Church needs to move beyond the "leaven" of the past, not by sweeping it away as though it were never there, but by boldly confronting where clericalism, misogyny and unhealthy religious formation have brought us to today. The "leaven" of the past has broken lives, marginalizing some, silencing others, ignoring the spiritually-gifted while treating the priestly state as an exclusive club that bestows privileges without accountability. This "leaven" did not appear overnight but has developed over centuries -- so much so that until the 1990's, to suspect that a member of the clergy was a pedophile or that a bishop would lie to protect him was unthinkable. We, as laity, had blind faith in our clergy-- in fact, when the first victims came forward with their stories of abuse, many faced rage and disbelief even as they struggled to articulate what had happened.
But this is Easter, a new season, an opportunity to jettison the leaven. Now is the time to speak truth, make amends and begin the hard work of re-building the church from
"Ground Zero" -- which is where we are right now. When any disaster strikes, there is need for a four-pronged approach: 1) save what can be salvaged; 2) support the survivors; 3
) clean up the mess;
4) re-build for the future. This is precisely what the present moment asks of us this Easter. Even though we are still dealing with "fall out," even though many of the shell-shocked faithful no longer trust the hierarchy, still we must hope that grace can restore the wasteland, bringing life to dry bones and fertility to the scorched earth. Let us be a risen people, a visionary people, a faith-filled people, ready and willing to spread the fire of God's love across the earth.
A Blessed Easter!
Elizabeth
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SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Brothers and sisters:
Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
1 Cor 5: 6b-8
BACKGROUND
Clear out the old yeast!
For Jews, preparing for Passover involves more than throwing out any packages of yeast or baked goods that contain yeast --that would be relatively simple. All grains that can be "leavened" upon contact with water such as corn, barley, wheat, oats, rye and spelt, must be removed from the home, along with any food items that have been remotely in contact with these grains. Michael Morrison explains how even soda (can contain malt), chocolate milk (can contain corn syrup or malt), and raw vegetables (can have a wax coating made from soy protein) may also have to be banned. (cf.
https://www.infoplease.com/passover-feast-without-yeast )
Then, in observant households, all dishes, cutlery, pots, pans, stoves, cookers, refrigerators and other items used in food production or consumption must be "sterilized" so that no trace of leavening remains on them. Only
matzo
-- unleavened bread-- is permitted during Passover in observance of the first Passover when God instructed the people to clear their homes of all leaven (Ex 12: 14-16) and to carry only unleavened bread with them during their escape from Egypt, the land of slavery.
SYMBOLICALLY SPEAKING
Clear out the old yeast!
Had the Israelites packed leavened bread for the journey, it would, of course, quickly have gone moldy and made them ill; moreover, they left Egypt in haste and so there was no time to bake leavened bread. On a symbolic level, however, there is more going on here. Biblical commentators point out that many references to leaven in both the Hebrew scriptures and the Christian scriptures have to do with sin: just as yeast, a tiny living organism, increases and multiplies when combined with liquid and sugar, so sin can increase and multiply if we give it a foothold in our lives. Casting out all leaven, then, represents committing oneself to "righteous living." In addition, the dependence on
matzo
symbolizes obedience to God and the willingness to live under God's laws as free people instead of slaves.
1 Cor 5: 6b-8
Clear out the old yeast!
When Paul instructs the Christian community in Corinth to get read of the old yeast he is not writing in the abstract; rather, the specific issue he is referring to is the presence of a man in the community who is living with his father's wife. Paul is insistent that this type of immorality should not be tolerated and that anyone causing scandal should be expelled from the community; in the verses following our text, he explains that he is not judging "outsiders" but any Christian who happens to be "immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a robber" (1 Cor 5:11).
Such behavior is "the old yeast" that can contaminate the people of God. The Corinthians must live an "unleavened life" in Christ --in other words, they are to avoid sin at all costs and live under God's law. This is only possible because of Christ's sacrifice.
SPIRITUAL MESSAGE
Clear out the old yeast!
This is the message of Easter. Whatever stands in the way of our spiritual progress is to be jettisoned. Old destructive ways of thinking and acting have no place in the "risen life." If left unchecked, sin (leaven) can take over our lives, affecting everyone around us. The "yeast" must go so that the Risen Christ can become our leavening instead, thereby helping us rise to new heights of spiritual awareness and maturity. The challenge, of course, is for us to be willing to let go of the old negative patterns so that we can surrender to God's invitation to live a resurrected life. As surely as Jesus left behind his linen bindings in the tomb and as surely as the tombstone was rolled away, so we, too, must leave all the trappings of death behind us; only then can we embrace fullness of life.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
- Why is it important for Christians to understand the Jewish background to 1 Cor 5: 6b-8?
- Do you think St. Paul is being unduly harsh when he tells the Corinthians not to associate with immoral people?
- What is the "yeast" in YOUR life that you need to cast out if you are to live a resurrected life in Christ?
- What do you understand by the "unleavened bread of sincerity and truth"?
