Rev. Dr. Howard John-Wesley - This Is Your Time (POWERFUL SERMON) - 2016

in prayerfully preparing for a word that would be relevant for these men as they prepare to tackle the world with their morehouse degrees and for those who gather with us i want to read in your hearing the word of god in the old testament in the book of first samuel in the 10th chapter beginning in the 17th verse of the 10th chapter of first samuel you find these words as written in the new king james version of god's holy word then samuel called the people together to the lord at mispa it said to the children of israel thus says the lord god of israel i brought up israel out of egypt and delivered you from the hand of the egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms and from those who oppress you but you have today rejected your god who himself saved you from all your adversities and all of your tribulations and you have said to him no set a king over us now therefore present yourselves before the lord by your tribes and by your clans and when samuel calls all the tribes of israel to come near the tribe of benjamin was chosen and we had caused the tribe of benjamin to come near by their families the family of maatri was chosen and saul the son of kish was chosen but when they sought him he could not be found therefore they inquired of the lord further has the man come here yet and the lord answered there he is hiding behind the baggage as we contemplate meditate and reflect over those verses i want to say to these men today this is your time this is your time it was vince lombardi the hall of fame coach of the green bay packers for whom the super bowl trophy is named who once said while speaking about athletes said that the greatest tragedy in life is not to try and to fail but rather the greatest tragedy in life is to have gift and do nothing with it he suggested my brothers and my sisters that there are few things as sad and sorrowful in life as watching a brother live below and beneath his possibility and potential there are few things that is discouraging as watching a man sit on the sidelines of life rather than stand up and shine in the spotlight of his call the few things more discouraging than to watch a man fail to maximize the moments that come his way but rather meander in mediocrity all the days of his life it is a sad thing brothers of morehouse to hear opportunity knock on the door of your life and let it pass you by because with gift with talent with education with a more house degree there is the expectation that when god creates opportunity and possibility you will be the first to answer the call and walk through the door that god has created to live out the calling that god has given unto you because the truth of the matter is that my god your god our god is always opening doors of possibility our god knows the thoughts he thinks for us and the plans he has to prosper us and give us a future and a hope our god sets before us an open door that no man can close and close as a door that no man can open our god holds us to the kingdom for such a time as this our god has visions that my eyes have not seen and ears have not heard our god always is preparing us for the divine call and assignment on our lives and the expectation of everyone around here who prayed you to this moment the expectation of all those who paved and hallelujah paved the way for you to get that diploma tomorrow the expectation of every professor who lectured and labored that you might stand in this moment is that you will take these years at morehouse and that degree you get tomorrow and use it as a master key to unlock every door of opportunity that god will set before you because you are a more house man brothers you are not graduating from morehouse just to let life happen to you you did not labor these four five six years to fade away into the shadows of anonymity nobody paid your way to get here for you to leave tomorrow go back and sit on your mama's couch or another woman's couch [Applause] they're one of the saddest tragedies for a brother in the class of 2016 is to come to the end of life and look back on your life talking about what you could have would have and should have done if you don't believe that sad you ought to ask a brother by the name of saul saul is the first king of the bible and he is arguably one of the saddest stories and tragic tales in all of scripture for those who don't go to sunday school let me tell you about saul [Applause] to understand soul you've got to go back to the children of israel when they enter the promised land when they enter the promised land they are not a unified nation but rather they are a confederacy of familial tribal units named after the descendants of jacob teach that bible pastor and when they come into the promised land they are ruled by a trifold leadership of judges prophets and priests and as time passes on the children of israel become increasingly dissatisfied with the leadership of judges priests and prophets the reason they become dissatisfied is threefold number one each succeeding generation is more corrupt than their predecessors so eli was a good mother of god but his sons hopny and phineas did not know god secondly they are under the imminent threat of an attack by the philistines who want to come and take back the land that god had given to them and then thirdly and most disturbing israel looked out around them at the midianites and the amalekites and the amorites and the canaanites heck maybe even the shine lights and saw they saw that all of them had a king and the people of god wanted to look like everybody else let me pause parenthetically and give you this one for free there's always trouble up the road when the people of god don't want to be distinguished by their faith but want to blend in with common culture so they go to god and they beg for god to grant them a king and the lord is displeased with their request not because he's against a monarchy in israel but rather he's offended that now they want to trust in the king when they know good and daggone well it was the lord who brought them thus far he says i'm the god that brought you out of egypt i'm the god that fed you with manna from on high i'm the god that ray water come out of a rock i'm the god that shielded you from scorpions and serpents i'm the god that led you by a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day i'm the god that brought you to this moment [Applause] brothers that ought to be your testimony today that you know you got to this moment in 2016 not because you were so smart and not because you passed the exams and not because you wrote the papers but because there's a god in heaven that brought you thus far on your way boy y'all make me feel like i gotta preach by now as scholars you know that the highest crime in the academy is plagiarism plagiarism is when you take credit for something you didn't come up with yourself plagiarism is when you act like you got it all by your own you all know the only way to avoid plagiarism is to give a footnote that you make a little note to direct somebody to the source from where that has come from so when you get that degree tomorrow before you put it in the frame i need you to put a little footnote next to your degree and on the back of the page declare if it had not been for the lord on my side lord the lord yeah the valedictorian is graduating magna laude he's graduating summer some of you all are graduating coombe but everybody's graduating thank you lord thank you lord for bringing me through my morehouse years he's he's brought him and they continue to ask for a king so god relents and god says i'm going to give you a king he goes to samuel and tells the prophet samuel tomorrow morning i'm going to bring the king of israel to your door you go home and you read the bible you'll find out that saul the son of kish is looking for some donkeys that have strayed away from his father's flock his servant tells him that there's a prophet down the road named samuel who can tell us where to find the donkeys so saul knocks on samuel's door and the lord speaks to samuel and says that's the one who's going to become king samuel pulls saul to the side and tells him of his destiny he lets him know that you will no longer live average in mediocre but god has an assignment on you for greatness you will be the first king of israel you will lead israel in battle against the philistines you will rise to a level no man has ever risen to in israeli history before he tells the way you're going to know this is that not only will you prophesy but you'll become king fast forward to chapter 10. in chapter 10 samuel has gathered all of israel together at mizpah to elect the king whom god has selected when they get there they begin to cast lots lot falls on the tribe of benjamin falls on the house of matri falls on the house of kish and then they elect saul as their king it's a great day because now it's time for the coronation the banquet and the after party it's a great day the robes have been fitted the invitations have been sent out the dj has been selected the chicken has been fried [Applause] and everybody got in the car and drove down to atlanta to see what god was about to do it was a great day it was the day that saul was to rise to his position of prominence it's the day that potential meets up with possibility and opportunity it's the day for him to become all that god had destined and created and called and favored him to be and the bible says that when they went looking for saul he was nowhere to be found paul stop rewind did you hear that it's a day of greatness when opportunity meets potential when god's call and destiny is birthed in his life and the bible says that he's hiding behind his baggage what what would make a man hide on the day of greatness what would cause a brother not to rise to the position that god has called and created him for what what what what would make a man with a more house degree do nothing but collect dust with it what would cause a man to be hiding when god is calling and saying it's your time well i'm a baptist preacher so i'm gonna give you three alliterated ideas and i'm gonna make my way on out of here [Applause] i'll suggest you number one that saul's problem is that he's intimidated by the possibility he's intimidated by the possibility that god has granted him watch this brothers when samuel tells saul he's going to be king he says to him there are two things that are going to happen you are going to prophesy and you will become a king you will be a prophet and a king now he's never been a prophet and he's never been a king but samuel tells him you're going to prophesy and you'll be a king we keep on reading in chapter 10 showing up one day old saul is going up a hill and a group of prophets are on their way down the bible says that he begins to prophesy with him in around verse 11 of chapter 10 they see him prophesying and they say is this not the son of kish and is saul now among the prophets so he fulfills the destiny to prophesy but when he gets to mispa and he's supposed to be king he's hiding now say with me saints if if if he's never been a prophet and he's never been a king why come [Applause] why would he willingly prophesy but be hesitant to be a king if the calling is to be a prophet and a king why does he accept being a prophet but he doesn't accept being a king here it is i did a bible study the reason he prophesies is because he sees other men prophesying and he has no difficulty believing he can do what he's seen other men do but when it comes time to be a king there's never been a king he's seen there's never been a man who's done what that is called for and so like many of us saul limits what he tries to do based on what he's seen other folk do it's easy to walk in somebody else's footsteps but at some point on the road to greatness god gives you a possibility that has no precedence and says you got to be the first one in your family in your circle in your class to do what god has called you to do in that moment when god says you've got to do what you've never seen a man do you've got to succeed where brother has never succeeded you've got to achieve what no man in your family has ever achieved you've got a walk where no friend has ever walked you got to do what no alum has ever done before when he calls you there [Applause] don't let the experiences of others set limitations on you just because they couldn't doesn't mean you can't just because they didn't don't mean you won't just because they failed doesn't mean you won't succeed because i'm a living witness and if god calls you to it if god puts the door in front of you the lord will make a way okay okay okay okay okay okay okay all right i see some of y'all slow on saturday uh let me help you um i was driving with my son the other day we came to a hotel and we were getting ready checking the hotel he jumped out the car while i was getting the baggage and he ran to the door and he tried to push the door but he couldn't open the heavy door up he wasn't strong enough he's pushing but the door won't open he's giving it all he's got but he can't open the door so he comes to me my hands are full he says daddy i need you to open the door i said son don't push on that door go to the revolving door so he walks to the middle at the revolving door and he's looking and i can see on his face he's wondering if i can't open that door what makes you think i can open the revolving door and i said son just keep walking and he got a little closer to the door and to his surprise the door started to move all by itself he looked at me and said daddy how did that happen so i broke it down for him i said there's a sensor above the door that sees you making your way to the door and the sensor says i'll open the door brothers we serve a who sees you making your way and he will open a door that you can't open by yourself i wish i had a witness in this house he is door opening god [Applause] he's intimidated by the possibility can i give you number two [Applause] not only is he intimidated by the possibility but secondly he feels inadequate for the position remember he is coming to be king at a time when the philistines are threatening attack now that would demand that israel's king be a warrior that he have a military background that he know how to stand and fight that he knows how to protect his people from the enemy that's on the way class of 2016. i want you to know what you should already be aware of and that is that we are under imminent attack black blood is spilled in the streets without indictment or justice we are under attack black men are being ushered into billion-dollar prison systems and the federal government can't find a dime to help historically black colleges keep their doors open we are under attack [Applause] the confederate flag may no longer fly on the state capitol of south carolina but it's waived at every donald trump rally that people go to we are under attack [Applause] and we need some men who walk with intelligence and integrity we need some men who will not sit idly by while our children are shot down in the street we need some men who are not just concerned with climbing the corporate ladder but are concerned about their communities they come from we need some men the problem with saul is that israel needed a warrior but there was nothing on his resume that said warrior you read about saul saul ain't never been in a fight saul ain't even throwing a rock at a dog the only thing we know about saul is the bible says he's tall and handsome he's tall dark and good-looking and he knows that being tall and handsome will not deliver israel from the philistines and so like many people saul has limited his ability to other people's perception of his giftedness [Music] and he has trouble believing that he can do something that requires a skill set that nobody has told him he has nobody ever called him warrior nobody ever said he was strong all he's ever heard is you look good and this battling got nothing to do with how you look and so like many people in life because he's afraid of being exposed as inadequate he does not step up to the possibility because he wonders within himself do i really have what it takes do i have the skills do i have the capacity do i have the character do i have the ability do i have what it takes in order to make it now i want to give a word to the class of 2016. and i want everybody else just to eavesdrop but i'mma tell you something your professors did not tell you in your years here that is that your collegiate education was really not about acquiring a set of knowledge it wasn't just about reading thurman and thoreau wasn't just about memorizing principles of thermodynamics it wasn't just about getting through econ and public policy that wasn't what this was about these years at morehouse we're meant to remind you that in you you have exactly what it takes to face any challenge that comes your way any obstacle in your way that you've got the intelligence you've got the dedication you've got the discipline you've got the support you got everything you need in order to make it i came by to tell you that that if you can pass differential equations with dr bozeman if you can if you can get out of physics with adora j and if you can pass johnson's scope and methods then you ought to look yourself in the mirror every day and declare that if god be for me who can stand against me i wish i had a brother who can declare that i can do all things through christ who strengthens me you you you got this [Applause] i gotta leave y'all i gotta preach gotta go back and preach tomorrow uh look he's he's intimidated by the possibility he feels inadequate for the position but watch this third one that messes old saul up he's insecure about his past and the one thing that will hold you back is when you have some insecurities about where you come from bible by bible says that when samuel tells saul he's going to be king saul pulls a verse out of the gospel of beyonce on him he he looks at samuel says you must not know about me [Applause] and and he begins to give excuses as to why he can't be king watch what he says you go home and get home he says i can't be king because i come from the tribe of benjamin which is the smallest tribe i come from the clan of maatri which is the smallest clan and i come from the house of kish which is the poorest house watch what he says don't miss it be a pop quiz in a minute he said the reason i can't be king is i've got benjamin on my background i've got my tree in my dna and i've got kish on my resume don't you miss this i can't be king because i've got some stuff in my past that i'm not proud of i can't be king because i've messed up in ways that i got to keep quiet i can't be king because i have stumbled along the way and i haven't done everything god has called me to do i'm not who you think i am and here is the good news of god that the very thing you think disqualifies you is the very thing the lord says makes you exactly who he's looking for can i preach the bible and going home don't miss it he says i can't be king because i got benjamin my tree and kish and the bible says when they get to mispa and they cast lots the lot falls on benjamin the lot falls on mache and the lot falls on kish you missed it he says i can't do it because of benjamin my tree and kiss but when the lord says what he's looking for he says i need a brother that's got some benjamin background i need a brother that's lived through some mockery i need a brother that knows how to handle some kish because the very thing you think disqualifies you is what makes you what god is looking for more house i got to go um let me see if i can close i uh i like i like to cook that that that's that's my hobby i i like to cook and i learned a long time ago whatever i like to eat i know how to cook so i make some mean greens i can fry some catfish like nobody's business my macaroni and cheese will make you slap your grandmama [Applause] and if i give you some of my peach cobbler please forgive the toenail cause i put my foot all up in it i like to cook dale i want to learn how to fry chicken because i really like fried chicken so i called my dad who was the best fried chicken fry i ever knew now you got to be careful who you asked to teach you how to find chicken see i go to church let me tell you something everybody don't know how to fry chicken when they send fried chicken in my office i asked who made it [Applause] so i called my dad i said dad how do you fried chicken he said something to do go down to the store and get you some fried chicken pieces get you some legs and some thighs and some wings and don't get that breastless uh and the skinless stuck and that that'll go fry right get you some legs some thighs and some wings so go home and soak that chicken in water and clean it cause chickens are nasty animals some folk don't clean they chicken so he said now if you clean the chicken get you some tweezers and some scissors because you got to pluck some of the other feathers out because ain't nothing worse than fried chicken with a side of fried feathers [Applause] is it after you clean the chicken and pluck the feathers he says season the chicken you don't need much a little salt little pepper little iris said now put you some flour in the bag and put some seasoning in the flour because if you fall off the chicken you'll catch it i'm trying to help y'all i'm trying to help you [Applause] is that then get you a skillet and pour your oil in it now i said you can use all that healthy canola olive if you want but if you want to fry it right you gotta get some of that old lard that you scoop out he said now let your oil get hot put your chicken in turn the heat down a little bit because you don't want it to brown too fast because it'll be brown on the outside and red on the inside he said and let it cook and when it begins to float you know it's done so you didn't know that you you didn't know when chicken floats it's done on the inside i told you i'm trying to help you today he said turn the heat back up and let it brown and then your chicken to be done i followed my dad's directions i bought the chicken i cleaned the chicken i plucked the chicken i seasoned the chicken i seasoned the flour i used the lard but the chicken just didn't come out right so he said son next time you come home let's fry chicken together so i went home to see my dad and we went to the stove we bought us some legs some thighs and some wings we went home we soaked the chicken we washed the chicken took the chicken out with some tweezers and scissors and we plucked the chicken we seasoned the chicken a little salt little pepper little lowries we put some flowers in the flour because if you fall off the chicken you catch it in the flower my dad went to get the lard and he said son you go get the skillet so i looked underneath the sink and i found mama's brand new teflon coated shiny skillet miss wilson ain't got a scratch on it it's beautiful you can almost see your face in it i set that skillet down and my dad brought the lard back and he looked at me he said son what is that i said that's the cutest skillet i could find he said son you uk fried chicken right in that skillet that skillet is too cute that skillet is too pretty that skillet ain't never been scratched that skillet ain't never been burned that's still ain't never been through nothing you can't use that skillet you got to find that black cast iron handed down been through the fire been scratched and scored because that's what i can use goodbye 2016 but that's what the lord is looking for some brothers have been through it some brothers have got experience some brothers have been scratched and scorned and it's your time thank you [Applause] oh yes let everybody in here say amen before the glee club comes on i just want to say something say something as the president of morehouse i'm sure i can get a witness and that is the best baccalaureate sermon i have ever heard in my life and as a matter of fact that's the best sermon i've ever heard in my life go ahead glee club

Channel: Social Justice Gospel

Views: 58,626

Keywords: alfred street baptist church, howard john wesley, howard john wesley alfred street, can i push it howard john wesley, jamal bryant, otis moss III, frederick haynes III, td jakes, serita jakes, potters house dallas, morehouse college, terry k anderson, lily grove baptist church, maranda curtis, tasha cobbs, motivation, daily inspiration, william murphy, powerful preaching, james cone, jasper williams, frank e ray

Id: _sNiOiktxXU

Length: 36min 43sec (2203 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 10 2020