GOSPEL MESSAGE & RECORDING
Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor. 5: 6-8) This is a passage that is very real to the Malankara Orthodox Christian, because the Qurbana bread is made from wheat flour and leaven. The leaven makes the bread rise. This bread is used for the Qurbana -- the Holy Mysteries.
St. Paul speaks with a sense of reality, because within the Jewish custom leaven was purged out from every Jewish home and new leaven was made using the new dough. In the book of Exodus, the Lord commanded the Israelites to hold an annual feast called “The Feast of Unleavened Bread” for seven days after the Passover. This was a religious celebration, but it was probably also a health provision. Because of the fermentation process, which week after week over the course of a year increased the dangers of infection, the Israelites were commanded once a year to purge their homes of all leaven for an entire week (Exodus 12:14-20). During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they would bake only unleavened bread, from which dough they would then start up the [fermenting] process again after the Feast.
St. Paul also speaks using figurative language, in that the leaven was seen spiritually as something that can pervade the community and destroy its harmony and sanctity. In a more individual sense, we can see it as sin that can pervade our life and destroy our relationship with Christ. Let us examine the leaven and how it can affect our community and our lives, respectively.
Community: It only takes a misunderstanding of some sort or our anger going unchecked to hurt the growth of a strong community. No community has immunity to this. As I said last week, we need to embody the virtues of love, kindness, respect and understanding.
Love: see everyone as Christ would see them. Be truthful but with love.
Kindness: Be gentle and humble in everything that we do. Never let pride enter into our ministries or our endeavors.
Respect: Respect everyone, regardless of their status or background. Some people might not be as refined or sophisticated as others, but we are all growing in a relationship with Christ.
Understanding: Forgive. Give people room for mistakes. Show grace. In the end that will pay off rather than us trying to get it right and perfect.
Individual: Sin can destroy our relationship with Christ. It only takes a little bit of spoiled leaven to ruin a lump of dough. Likewise, sin, no matter how small it is, can ruin our lives and the lives of those in our family. We need to be cognizant of what we struggle with so that we are always vigilant to go to confession, seek help and attend Qurbana to receive the Holy Mysteries.
Try: Always try not to sin, or to fall into our weaknesses. We should not make excuses for ourselves. But then again, if we make mistakes, get up and try again. There is never a time or place that we can’t try again. It should always be in the forefront of our thinking -- to TRY.
Never Give Up: Never give up trying to be the best for God, spiritually speaking. Never give up on trying to be holy. Every day is new and God’s mercies are new every day.