26 July 2026, Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 “The Pulse of the Kingdom: God’s Hidden Yeast”

We have two daughters now, but back then, four years into our marriage, we still didn’t have a baby. Our parents back in Korea were quietly waiting for some "good news," and we also wanted a child more than anything. Our church community, especially the senior women's prayer group, had been fervently praying for us. We started to worry if something was wrong with us. Around that time, someone recommended a highly-regarded traditional Chinese medicine doctor to us. I have to admit; I didn't take it seriously at first. I simply didn't trust it. To my eyes, it didn't look scientific at all. Their "medicine" was nothing more than a dark, bitter traditional herbal tea. And frankly, I used to believe that acupuncture, with its tiny needles, could never bring about any real change. If I am sick, I go to a GP or hospital, not an herbal clinic. But many people suggested, we give it a try. So, figuring we had nothing to lose, we made an appointment at a clinic in Chatswood, Sydney. Surprisingly, they were fully booked, and it turned out to be a pretty famous place. Even so, I still had my doubts.

The doctor listened to our story, and then checked Dana's pulse and mine. I remember he just asked a few simple questions, and that was about it. There were no blood tests, no urine tests, not even an ultrasound. They didn’t even have that kind of modern equipment there.

After that, he told us he would prepare herbal medicine for a month, and told us to take it every day. But then, he added something strange. He said, "Don't worry, just take it. Even if you happen to be pregnant right now, this medicine is not going to harm the baby at all."

"Wait, pregnant?" We were completely confused about what he meant. The medicine was ready about a week later. When we went to pick it up, the doctor said the exact same thing again. "This medicine will not harm the baby at all." By then, it almost sounded a bit silly to us. But a few days later, Dana and I were completely shocked. With tears in her eyes, Dana told me she was pregnant. She had felt some changes in her body, so she took a test, and amazingly, it was positive! "Thank you, God."

Still, we had one big question in our minds. How did he know? He just checked the pulse on her wrist. How could he know beforehand? Even Dana and I hadn't felt any physical changes yet! I was so curious that I looked it up later. It turns out, in traditional eastern medicine, when a woman is pregnant, her pulse becomes very soft. They say it feels like tiny marbles rolling smoothly, as soft as silk. The reason is that the mother and the new life inside her are sharing one single pulse. That doctor had already felt that tiny, faint, but very clear 'rhythm of new life' beating inside her small wrist, just by checking her pulse.

I'm still not sure if this can be explained by science. And I don't really know how to fully explain how he figured it out. But in my heart, I came to understand this one simple thing: 'Right, just because you can't see it doesn't mean there is no life.' I realized one thing very clearly. Even when we can't see it, even in those quiet moments when we haven't noticed a thing, life has already begun quietly in the unseen places. A new life had already started inside Dana's body. But neither of us could see it. The mystery of life... I am simply amazed at how detailed, precise, and beautiful God made our bodies. That tiny life was growing, dividing cell by cell. Isn't that amazing?

Looking back at this, it made me realize how differently Western medicine and traditional Eastern medicine look at life and healing. The Western medicine we are used to is very quick and direct. It relies on lots of tests and hard data. Doctors use wonderful machines to look exactly at the problem area. If there’s a problem, they cut it out, stitch it up, or give you pills to fix it right away. It’s fast and exact, and we can easily see the treatment and the results with our own eyes.

But traditional Eastern medicine takes a very different approach. The speed might seem a bit slower. Instead of relying completely on machines and numbers you can see, it looks at the whole body as one connected forest. Instead of cutting out the sick part right away, it looks for connections inside the body and focuses on how different organs work together. The basic idea is this: "If the environment of the whole body becomes healthy, the sick part will naturally find the strength to heal itself." Rather than focusing on a quick fix or changing numbers on a chart, it focuses on healing the deep, invisible connections to build a strong, healthy foundation.

I think this is very similar to the way God works. This is the very principle of the Kingdom of God that Jesus taught us. It may seem as though nothing is happening, but deep within, life is already breathing, growing, and transforming everything from the inside out.

“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into an enormous amount of flour until it worked all through the dough." Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like 'yeast.' He says it is like a 'woman' doing the work. And He says it is mixed into 'a massive amount of flour' to make the whole thing rise.

When we hear this parable, our minds likely turn to a familiar and beautiful image. We might picture a modern bakery, like “Baker’s Delight.” Or maybe we picture a peaceful weekend morning, baking bread at home. We imagine high-quality ingredients, a warm kitchen, and an oven! And today’s main character: “dry yeast!” We can almost smell the rich, sweet, buttery aroma. Add a cup of coffee or tea to that, and it’s just perfect.

With this heartwarming image in mind, we naturally conclude: “Ah, the kingdom of heaven is just like this bread in the oven — a wonderful place that expands beautifully and abundantly!” It grows bigger and bigger! Yes, it makes perfect sense, because Jesus points out that this woman used an extraordinary amount of flour. It was enough to feed more than a hundred people. So, the little bit of yeast she put in was going to make enough bread to feed a hundred people. Just imagining it makes our hearts feel full. It feels like the kingdom of heaven is all about this kind of unstoppable, joyful growth.

But there is a twist. In Jesus’ time, for the people who heard this, this was a deeply confusing and radical declaration. Because in the Bible and within the Jewish community, “yeast” was almost always used in a negative context. It symbolized sin, impurity, and hypocrisy that could easily spread. Furthermore, Jesus uses the image of a woman to describe the Kingdom of God. Not a king or a powerful ruler? And that’s not all. It was exactly the same with the mustard seed. Farmers hated mustard seeds. To them, it was just a stubborn weed that interfered with their crops. It certainly wasn’t a beautiful plant that you would carefully grow in your garden. So, when Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast...," they must have been horrified. They would have thought, “The glorious Kingdom of God? Compared to a lump of sour, mouldy dough?”

But there was a reason He shocked them like this. He wanted to make one thing clear: The Kingdom they were waiting for... is not the way God works. His message was incredibly powerful and profoundly radical.  Back then, the Jewish people longed for the Messiah far more desperately than we do today. Life was painful, and their longing was urgent. They expected God’s Kingdom to come like a sharp scalpel, cutting away the Roman Empire in one decisive moment. They wanted a powerful hero and a quick, visible solution. But the Kingdom Jesus proclaimed was completely different. Like yeast, it works quietly and slowly, hidden within the dough, transforming everything from the inside out.

But there is something even more surprising here. The Kingdom of God begins not with the powerful, but with a marginalized woman quietly mixing yeast into the dough. Not by kings.Not by warriors. Not by the powerful. This is the Kingdom Jesus reveals: a Kingdom where everyone has a place and everyone has a part to play, men and women, the healthy and the broken, those on the margins and those at the centre. It doesn’t need to be loud and dramatic surgery that flips the world upside down. Even if we can't see it right away, it works quietly. Secretly. But it is unstoppable. It keeps moving until it transforms all that dry flour into rich, life-giving bread.

I believe God’s Kingdom does not arrive like a conquering army with loud trumpets. Instead, it quietly enters into our lives, often unnoticed. To the eyes of the world, it may look small, humble, and insignificant. That is how yeast works. It does not shout or demand attention. It quietly disappears into the dough, working from within.

And yet, right where it disappears, real transformation begins. The dry flour comes alive. The dough rises. And what was ordinary becomes bread that brings life and joy to many. This is the true picture of the Kingdom of God that Jesus reveals today.

Brothers and sisters, I have a question for you. Do we want our church to become a massive congregation? A mega-church? Do we want to be at the centre of multiple campuses? Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I genuinely pray that new people will knock on our doors every Sunday. I deeply hope to see young people finding a spiritual home here. I long to hear this room filled with our voices as we worship together. And I would love it if one day we hit 100 people so I could treat everyone to pizza! I would absolutely love it if we ran out of chairs. But becoming a big church is not our final goal. Because the Kingdom of God is not measured by numbers or size. Think about it. If I preached only to make this church bigger, if we designed worship only to increase attendance, if we created programs only to achieve growth—something would be lost. Because the Kingdom of God is not about numbers first.

The Kingdom of God is about one person. One changed life. One healed heart. One small act of love.

And then, quietly... almost without anyone noticing... just like yeast, life begins to spread. One life touched by grace touches another, and then another. And one day, far more people than we could ever imagine will taste the goodness of God's Kingdom... all because somewhere, quietly, someone chose to become yeast. That is how the Kingdom grows.

God chose yeast. God chose the hands of an ordinary woman. God chose what seems small, weak, and almost invisible. Because that quiet way is God's way. So, we don't need to be loud. We don't need instant success. If we quietly become a living, breathing church in this community—loving one another, praying together, loving God, standing with the hurting, and walking together for justice... Even if we aren't famous, and even if few people notice us, God is already using us, and our church, as the yeast that brings life to the world.

Remember that faint pulse from the clinic: just because you can't see it, doesn't mean there is no life. The Kingdom of God may be hidden, but it is already at work. Just like a heartbeat tells us that life is present long before our eyes can see it, God's Kingdom is already beating and breathing among us.

And do you know through whom God chooses to spread it? Through ordinary people like us. And to tell you the truth, as your minister, one of our church family, my heart is filled with so much gratitude today. Because as I look at our community, I already see so many of us living as this quiet, beautiful yeast in our daily lives and making the kingdom of heaven here in this place.  Quietly, yet powerfully, you are already transforming the world around you. I can see it. Can't you see it? Perhaps you don't. And that is exactly how yeast works. Because it is meant to disappear. But make no mistake... the change is undeniably real. So God wants us to keep being that yeast.

He wants us to be the yeast mixed into our homes. To be the yeast mixed into our workplaces. To be the yeast mixed into our neighbourhoods. To be the yeast mixed into this church. And then... we trust God to make it rise.

Can you almost smell the fresh bread coming out of the oven? The Kingdom is already alive. The Kingdom is already spreading. The Kingdom is already rising. So let us live this Kingdom together. Not by chasing greatness, but by becoming faithful. Not by trying to be impressive, but by allowing God’s life to flow through us. Because the Kingdom grows this way. We don’t have to be impressive.

We just need to be God’s yeast.  Amen.