9/12/2021 | Sermon Only | Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III

for what you're doing but we invite you just to stop right now and let us go to god in prayer with this prayer search us oh god and know our hearts and try us and see if there is any destructive way in us when you discover what does not belong we ask oh god that you would cast it into the sea of forgetfulness as far as the east is from the west that it may never return i thank you for the privilege to stand behind this sacred desk and i ask your god that you would send your angels the one named grace and the other name mercy stand beside this pulpit knowing that i am not worthy to preach your word but it is only through your grace and your mercy that i have this opportunity and privilege let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight o lord you are my strength and without a doubt you are my redeemer holy spirit do thy will do thy will holy spirit and in the mighty magnificent awesome majestic powerful and saving name of jesus who is the christ we pray and the people of god who love god may say amen amen i want to invite you if you have your phones with you or you have a bible with you i want you to to go to isaiah 56. it's real easy actually now every phone has a bible in it or you can find a bible all you need to do is google it so if you don't have the bible app that is on the trinity app trinity has its own app you can go to isaiah 56 if you have your bible with you just open up to isaiah 56 if you're physically able if you're physically able if you are present here or if you are online we would invite you to stand simply as an act of reverence to the word of god only if you are physically able and we move to isaiah 56. i want to read these scriptures for our hearing today that i believe will be a blessing as we continue in this sabbath series in this sabbath series we begin with verse 1. i'm going to read from the new international version i'm going to give a couple of other translations just for clarity for the new revised standard version the message translation uh the new american bible and the om-3 translation beginning with verse 1 it reads this way this is what the lord says maintain justice and do what is right for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed blessed is the man who does this the man who holds it fast who keeps the sabbath without desecrating it blessed is the one another translation who does this the one who holds it fast who keeps the sabbath without desecrating it and keeps his hands from doing any evil verse three i'm gonna give a couple translations verse three let no foreigner who has bound himself to the lord say the lord will surely exclude me from his people another translation is let no immigrant who has bound himself to the lord say the lord has surely excluded me from his people another translation let no undocumented immigrant was bound himself to the lord say the lord will surely exclude me from his people and let not any eunuch complain i am only a dry tree for this is what the lord says to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant to them i will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and the name better than sons and daughters i will give them an everlasting name that will not that they will not be cut off from and foreigners immigrants undocumented who bind themselves to the lord to serve god to love the name of the lord and to worship god all who keep the sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant these i will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations another translation for my house will be called a house of prayer for all people for my house will be called a house of prayer for all people maintain justice do the right thing to the foreigner to the eunuch i want you to know you and the family may the lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of god's holy word you may be seated in the presence of the most high god i would like to place a tag here on this text for it constitutes the context of which we attempt to teach at this moment and we continue with our sabbath series and we want to focus on this idea of all in the family all in the family i want to share with you before we begin there are two versions of this message one version you will hear today there's another version that you will hear next week at 11 o'clock and 6 p.m that will be designed as a sermonic film to place imagery with the scripture and imagery with the words that are preached on this day to speak clearly about what this prophet poet by the name of isaiah is saying so this is i guess you could say 1.0 next week is 2.0 of the version of this message all in the family if you would be so kind for those of you who are present and those of you online if you would just turn to your neighbor with your mask on with your mask on and look at your neighbor don't look at me i'm in a different neighborhood you stand right at me amen there you go amen and say neighbor oh neighbor i want you to know i'm in the family amen now find another neighbor look at your neighbor look at your neighbor hello neighbor and say neighbor oh neighbor we're all in the family amen amen all in the family now for those of you who were not raised in the 70s or 80s have never heard of a person by the name of norman lear norman lear was one of the great television writers still living today born in 1922. he's the con he was the writer the developer of such great hits as sanford and sun the jeffersons good times maude one day at a time and actually a show that that started it all by the show called all in the family all in the family starred an actor by the name of carol o'connor was about a family in the new york area the bunker family and the main character archie bunker who was married to a woman by the name of edith and archie was without a doubt an uneducated bigot who had trouble that another family moved in down the street by the name of the jeffersons it was an interesting show and powerful show but what norman lear was attempting to share is that every family every human family is not perfect but has uh people in the family who are always trying to exclude somebody from the family and norman lear said that if we are to really talk about america we have to deal with the fact that there are so many archie bunkers that we have to deal with if we're truly ever to create what we know or want to be american democracy and i raise this question as i as i thought about what norman lear's project was and i read the poet and prophet by the name of isaiah and these powerful words that isaiah speaks of and what is known as the restoration period of of second isaiah what will we say before god when we stand before god as god's people when we kneel before the throne will god be pleased by how we have lived our lives will god be pleased of how the church functioned and made a claim that we represent god we we serve a god who delivers who is rich in grace and mercy and provides abundant mercy but what will god say and what will we say to god will our mantra be that we loved only some of your children or we claim that your scripture told us that we were to exclude some people as an angel shakes his head and mary moans and is weep that we have twisted the love of god to fit our own doctrines and our prejudices all our doctrines the exclusive theological vocabulary we used to claim god as our god but but we failed to do one simple thing to make god's house a house of prayer for all people it is the poet lord of israel the poet lord of dislocation and redemption named isaiah who has a simple yet complicated word for all of us who've been infected by this empire we call america the people who shall be restored this is uh chapter 56 for when you begin reading in isaiah you hear about a people who have been in exile who have been taken away and and they have been living so long in a foreign country that they begin to take on the value system of the people that they have been living among and it is isaiah who is attempting to share with them that that you have been staring at the people who have you in exile so long that you have picked up some of their habits the poet offers a word of what shall be of what shall happen in the future that the poet says that as god is speaking to god's people that those of you who are foreigners do not say that you are excluded and those of you who are eunuchs do not say that i am only a dry tree the scripture begins simply by saying i want you to maintain justice i need you to do it right now this is one of the preeminent values if you are to serve god that you are to maintain justice and then it goes on to say that everyone all who keep my sabbath now we're not as we have gone through in the series we're not just talking about a day but we're talking about setting a side specific time where you pull away from culture so that you can reinvigorate and be renewed by your relationship with god that all of the sounds on your phone and the demands that come from work and the pressure that happens in this world there has to be a time in the words of howard thurman where you find your centering moment again that is what sabbath means sabbath means that there has to be a day where there's no work where there is no pressure where you are not concerned about the market we're not concerned about how much money you will make you're not concerned about bills but all of a sudden you are focused upon god and you can rest in that i said well you don't understand reverend i've got things i've got to worry about that's what the sabbath is about to be in the moment and stop worrying about tomorrow and focus on the god who gave you life right now to spend time in that sabbath moment so that you can focus all of your energy and you can just sit not do work and on sabbath you were to do something very simple not only uh bring sacrifices but you were to learn how to be grateful you see you just sit and say let me count my blessings one by one the lord woke me up this morning let me count blessing number two the lord woke me up this morning let me count blessing number three the lord woke me up this morning let me count blessing number four the lord woke me up this morning let me count blessing number five the lord woke me up this morning let me count blessing number six the lord woke me up this morning let me count blessing number seven the lord woke me up this morning you'll get it in a moment now let me count blessing number eight the lord woke me up this morning if you start with the fact that you have life and god gave you breath it changes your mentality the sabbath says that i have to slow down enough so that i can give thanks for the simple things that god has given me i'm reminded of of an elder an elder who used to come into church shouting would just walk in the church say praise god and someone would say you know service has not started yet she said oh yes it did she said the moment i opened my eyes i started to worship you see the fact that i got out my bed i started to worship put on my clothes i'm worshiping i made it here i'm worshiping i haven't even gotten to my seat i'm worshiping you see this is a transaction that is happening between my soul and my savior it has nothing to do with you and i am going to worship my god because of all that god has provided for me so let me stop here parenthetically and raise the question for everybody who is in this house is there anyone in here that when you stepped into god's house you were thankful that you woke up this morning you stepped into god's house you are thankful that god gave you life you stepped into this house you are looking forward to worship unto god because you know we serve a mighty mighty good god the sabbath is about slowing down enough so that you can be grateful for the simple things that god has done can you get your mind around the simplicity of thanks without worrying about well you know i've i've got to pay this bill tomorrow you know i've got to do this and this and you just our minds race about worry about things that haven't happened yet god is saying just stop it take a sabbath and have enough sense to be able to focus on what i'm doing right now so the scripture is saying that that those who keep the sabbath those who are willing to slow down enough those who are willing to say that our god is good those who are willing to offer sacrifices to give of themselves unto god do not allow them to say that they are excluded now look at what the scripture says i want to break this down those of you may want to take notes on this look at this it is saying specifically that i don't want the foreigner the immigrant the undocumented to say that i am excluded the foreigner the immigrant the undocumented do not allow someone of a different ethnicity do not allow someone of a different language to make the claim that they are excluded and the reason for this is if you've read the torah that is the first five books of the bible there is a continual phrase that goes on throughout the first five books by saying to the people of israel do not mistreat the foreigner because you were once foreigners in somebody else's land in other words it's saying to the people of god that if anybody should know what it's like to be mistreated you should know what it's like to be mistreated if if anyone should know what it's like to be excluded because of the way you look or the way you sound or the language that you use it should be you because if you were a foreigner uh during this ancient period if you were a foreigner and a slave in egypt people looked at you and made a designation about you and said i want your labor but you cannot have citizenship or rights i want to use your hands i want to use your feet and your muscles and your strength but i don't want you to vote i don't want you to be a part of this democracy i want you to pick cotton and tobacco i want you to pick some grapes and tomatoes i want you to to work and do the landscaping but i don't want to pay you in a way in which is fair in this world do not allow the foreigner to it keeps the sabbath to say that i'm excluded and what scripture is saying is language nor ethnicity is a barrier to god's love if anybody should know what it's like to be mistreated in a country that does not see you as fully human it should be people of african descent and nothing burns me up i have to say here personally then when i hear people of african descent trying to put down somebody else who's having the same experience that we have had in this country that is why i'm so intrigued by the brilliance of a person by the name of fred hampton and before fred hampton was assassinated fred hampton was going into every community in chicago he said that this revolution about being fully human is not a black revolution only it's not a chicano revolution only it's not a white revolution only it is a revolution that must build coalition with people who have also been marginalized in this community and it was fred hampton who went to the chicano community to the latino community to those who were poor and white and said you know you have to understand that there is a system that keeps us apart and the moment that we recognize that it's a system and it is not us that are the enemy but a system that is an enemy if we build a coalition we can maintain justice in this community and i'm here to let you know we've got to put down some of our artsy bunker type of thinking about other people and realize that we have to build a coalition with others if we are to change our situation we cannot do it just by ourselves but let not the foreigners say that i have been excluded so the scripture says to to every foreigner those who speak differently those who are undocumented that you are in the family but here's the thing that is going to challenge some people because we have been filled with doctrines that are not centered on the love of god the second portion of it says to the eunuch uh do not say that you are a dry tree i want you to know you who have been keeping the sabbath now that you also are included uh in the family now now now you all just missed it because you're still confused so so let me break it down this says that a eunuch now in deuteronomy it already stated that if you're eunuch uh we we don't want you working in the sanctuary because in the ancient period there was a view that if you were a eunuch you we didn't see you as male and we didn't see you as female because you had been made a eunuch or born a eunuch you were taken from your community and then you were castrated because foreign powers were afraid of you they wanted to keep you in a particular position so that your body uh would not develop and grow in a particular way so according uh to the hebraic tradition the eunuch was not considered male or female they didn't know what to do with the eunuch because the eunuch didn't look like everybody else the eunuch didn't produce children like everybody else was supposed to uh they had problems with the eunuch because the eunuch was different and was tr well let me put it this way the eunuch was queer to everybody and the eunuch was a challenge because the eunuch didn't operate like everybody else operated but right here in scripture it says i want to let you know for those who've been told that you're not in the family of god i'm here to let you know right now you who keep the sabbath ah you are not producing children but do not say that you are a dry tree you will have a memorial inside of the holy of holies that is greater than any memorial that has ever been written for anybody else you the eunuch are in the family and this is a challenging thing but uh the scripture is saying that difference cannot deny your divine destiny in god's economy and the god is saying that you the eunuch you are included uh even though uh the criteria for your inclusion is love of god the criteria is the fact that god's grace and mercy is so powerful ah this is the criteria the foreigner you're included that if you've got a different language a different ethnicity from a different from a different demographic you are included you the eunuch where people have talked about you because they say that you're not quite male and you're not quite female we don't know where to put you you don't act like the other brothers you don't act like the other sister something is wrong with you god is saying i'm saying that you are included you can look at me funny if you want to but scripture says that there are those that we don't want in the house god said i'm putting them in the house i'm putting them in the house because they're my children let me see if i can break it down so you understand you see no matter what anyone says you are in the family don't let archie bunker doctrine keep you out of the church don't let archie bunker thinking keep you away from the glory of god there is a story that has been told the story of a woman an elder woman who was having her children for thanksgiving dinner she cooked the dinner she prepared the dinner and invited all her children over for the dinner one child was a conservative christian sat over on the right side another child was was a liberal christian sat over on the left side ah a child uh was one uh who was an agnostic didn't even quite believe and god sat on another side of the uh of the table then there was another child ah who was who was gay who sat on another side of the table and all of the children started arguing about uh who god loved and who mom loved the most and as they were arguing mama heard them in the kitchen and came on out and said hold up i heard that you were arguing about who i loved the most and uh who god loves uh and each child was trying to put another child out saying you don't belong in mama's table because you have not kept the commandments and you don't belong in mama's table you're not liberal enough you don't belong in mama's table because all of you all believe in something that that you can't prove you don't belong at mama's table and then mama shut everybody up his mama said well y'all need to know this first of all it's my table and i want you to know i decide who sits at my table you don't get the right to say who's at the table first of all i made the greens and i made the mac and cheese and and i cooked this turkey i cooked it so that all of you could be fed and full so let's get ready to eat who's gonna pray wait a minute none of y'all gonna pray it's my house i'm praying and so mama begins to pray and reminds everyone it's my house it's not your house it's a house for everybody it's a house for god's people it's a house of prayer for everyone and everybody is welcome in god's family and i'm here to let you know whether you are an addict or you are agnostic whether queer or quaker whether asian or anglican whether lutheran or latino ame or ucc whether you're indigenous or immigrant we serve a god that says you have a seat at the table i've got to get out of here but we're all welcome in the family is there anybody here do you know that we serve a god who's rich in grace and mercy a god who loves us holds us lifts us because we are all in the family we all in the family let not the foreigners say i am excluded let not the eunuch say i am excluded it is the prophet and poet isaiah who gives this word to the people who have been so busy after they came out of exile trying to quote purify their worship experience they were worried that if we let these foreigners in people will start speaking other languages don't you know hebrew is the only language they need to speak god is saying you don't understand i speak all languages i translate into all languages well what about the the eunuchs the eunuchs shouldn't fit into uh your your love because they're different no you've got to understand they're my children you don't have the right to exclude any of my children this is a house of prayer for all people and so often the church has been used to injure so often the church has been used to harm the church has been a tool of exclusion but the church is also a tool of liberation exclusion and liberation and the difference between the exclusion and liberation is solely rooted whether we will give ourselves fully to the holy spirit give ourselves fully to christ a god who loves us and says we are all equal under the cross we don't have a right to say you are not worthy of god's love that's why i'm so glad when jesus was on the cross he said that i'm dying just for some of y'all last time i checked it said whosoever which is an all-inclusive statement he didn't say i'm just dying for the church folk and the holy people you see i'm i'm so glad because it is the the acting holy people who bring the most holy hell god is saying to us we gotta check ourselves running around saying who is included and who is excluded that's not the nature of god we're running around saying i know what what god thinks about you [Music] and the first thing if we may quote from ah what what paul states that there is no jew no greek there is no male nor female there is no there is no there is no we are all one in christ so all of the divisions fall away at pentecost people who spoke different languages when they were given to the holy spirit they understood each other that whether you were from a different country you were raised in a different way the spirit doesn't check off a list and say you know what we don't touch people who are north of the border or south of the border spirit doesn't do that because we make the borders god is always tearing them down we create the walls god is always tearing them down so when we begin to learn how to sabbath to commit ourselves unto god we stop focusing on who should be let in and who should be at the table here's the thing you should just be grateful you at the table stop worrying about who else is at the table because if we were to really go through our own resume come on be honest be honest you go through your own resume you're like you know i'm just glad i made it to the table because with all the stuff i've done god has a whole list of things to say uh-uh i'm not feeding you you don't get to come to the table instead of focusing our energy on who is getting a meal just be grateful for the meal in front of you and here is the thing we should be thankful there are other people at the table because when we get in relationship with other people and start talking we find out we have more in common than we have in terms of those things that are not in common because everyone at the table is under the authority of grace and mercy it's by grace i tried to submit a resume to god and god said it ain't good enough but if you want to come through the door called grace and mercy we'll let you come through that door but we won't let you come to the door of i deserve it because it that that door is locked the only one who can open that door and walk through that door is somebody named jesus because that's the only one i know who is at a level of perfection everybody else i know is broken and it's because of god's grace and mercy i'm glad god allows me to be at the table and i'm grateful that there are other people at the table people who've been excluded people have been told that you can't preach because you're a woman now it's fascinating to me i was just on a on a program and someone was arguing that a woman could not preach and i was so grateful that i was there with some some professors from howard university and one of the statements was simply made and i also reiterated this idea that it's fascinating you say that a sister can't preach said because scripture says then why would god trust mary with the word for nine months before a man could preach the word mary had to carry the word nurture the word um and make sure the word developed before a man could preach the word we are always framing things of who can't be at the table stop worrying about who's sitting next to you and be thankful that you're at the table and then begin to build a relationship with the person next to you and you'll find out guess what we have so much in common we both came through the same door grace and mercy and we serve a god filled with grace and mercy keep the sabbath keep your focus on god rest and renew in your relationship with god let god speak in a powerful way to you well i pray that the word blessed your spirit that it was a word an on-time word that rested a heavy on your heart if you'd like to become a part of trinity united church of christ we welcome you right now information is right on the screen where you can email or call and we welcome you into this village we believe in the power of jesus christ that christ is our savior the holy spirit is our counselor the father is the creator and so we welcome you right now to be a part of this family i want to say thank you to everyone who joined us here at trinity united church of christ on this day and remind you that we have one service hybrid as we call it where you can register and be a part of this worship experience we have limited seating because we want to keep you safe and we would let you know that at sunday night 7 30 the email goes out make sure you register and only register if you're going to come to worship so thank you for being with us and i offer this prayer that we do every week may the road rise to meet you may the wind always be at your back may the sunlight of jesus christ always grace your cheek and may rain gently fall upon your field may god keep you in the hollow of god's hand until we meet again go in peace god bless i'll see you next week in worship peace [Music] you

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Length: 42min 10sec (2530 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021