12/19/2021 | Sermon Only | Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III

0:27 When you discover what does not belong, I ask, O God, that you would take it away and cast it into the sea of forgetfulness as far as the east is from the west, that it may never return again. we give you thanks on this day for the privilege to be able to hear your word to stand behind this sacred desk I know I am not worthy to preach your word I simply ask oh God that you would send the angel of grace and mercy to stand beside this pulpit we thank you and we love you let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight lord you are my strength without a doubt you are my redeemer holy spirit do thy will do thy will the holy spirit 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 and may say Amen Amen. I want to invite you at this time as we look at our scripture for today.

1:43 We're looking at Luke chapter 1, verses 47 through 45. Luke chapter 1, verses 47 through 55. I'm going to read two translations, one being the message translation. If you have your Bible with you. I would invite you to open it up to Luke chapter 1, whatever translation you have. It's certainly the Word of God, but I want to lift up these two different translations, one from the message and one from the NIV translation, the New International Version. But I'm going to begin with the Luke chapter 1, beginning with verse 47 from the message translation. It reads as follows.

2:57 His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him. He bared his arms and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts. He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud. The starving poor sat down to a banquet. The callous rich were left out in the cold. He embraced his chosen children, Israel. He remembered and also placed them and gave them mercies, placed them on high. It's exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now. And then the New International Version reads this way. And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. And now on generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me.

4:03 Holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arms. He has scattered those who are proud in their innermost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, but he has sent the rich away empty. He helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised. Another translation, 47, reads this way. And my soul magnifies the Lord for all that God has done. And my soul magnifies the Lord for all that God has done.

5:05 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'd like to place a tag here upon the text that we read today on this Advent season as we are just a few days away from the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, known as Christmas, that Christ Day, the birthday celebration. Or just to mention that Christmas is not our birthday, but it's the birthday of Christ that we celebrate Jesus. I want to just meditate on this simple idea of sing a song. Sing a song.

5:59 Sing a song. If you could turn to your neighbor at this time and just look at your neighbor with their mask on properly and say, neighbor, oh neighbor, sometimes you need to sing a song. Sing a song. beloved one of the gifts of being human one of the gifts that god has given humanity is the gift of music coordinated sounds organized by time and rhythm and then registered by the brain. The brain is able to process these coordinated sounds and it comes through in our minds as what we know to be music.

6:58 It is one of the most human things of all actions that we partake in, this idea of listening to music, creating music. As a matter of fact, there is no region in your brain to process music. There is a region in your brain for speech. There is a region in your brain for motor skills. There's a region in your brain around memory. There's a region in your brain that can hear sounds, but there is not a region in your brain specifically around music. And neuroscientists have now found that when music is played, it is the only thing created by human beings that actually activates every single region in your brain. This one neuroscientist said that if there was some aliens trying to figure out and understand something about humanity, they would be completely baffled by the way in which we process music because there is no central location for this idea of music.

8:14 That when it enters through your ear, just the sounds, your brain begins to process it with everything in your brain. As a matter of fact, those who are Alzheimer's patients, they now have new therapy called music therapy, that if you play a song, during the time period the song is playing, Alzheimer's is expelled from the body because they can remember what they couldn't remember when the music is playing. It actually has the ability to retrain your brain. That neuroscientists are now saying that it is music. They are using music in and around addiction to help people break addictions. And music can retrain your brain and help you learn.

9:11 That's why we use music to help children learn. You don't just say your ABCs. You sing your ABCs. because a child will remember their ABCs when the letters are associated with a song. Now for those of you who grew up as small children in the 70s and in the mid-80s, you learned a lot of stuff not just from your teacher, but on Saturday morning in your pajamas with maybe a large bowl of cereal sitting too close to the TV, there was something that would come on in between your favorite cartoons. And it was known as Schoolhouse. You know what I'm talking about.

10:04 And many of us learned grammar and learned about the planets, learned about how the process of civic engagement, better known as a bill, sitting on Capitol Hill. We learned so much because it was placed in a song. And the story of Schoolhouse Rock is that there was a gentleman who was an advertiser who had a son who could not remember multiplication tables. But he could remember every song he heard on TV or on the radio. And said, you know what, maybe we need to put some music to these lessons. And Schoolhouse Rock was born. To this day, those of you who were children still remember those songs.

11:01 Because all I have to do is begin to say, conjunction, junction. See what I'm talking about? You remember, you remember hooking up words, phrases, and clauses. because the music connects to memory because it is connecting to all regions of the brain. Music creates and sustains memory. Music also shapes our theological understanding. It's Howard Thurman who talks about black music from the spirituals to blues, gospel, and jazz, but specifically the spirituals. It is he that says, Howard Thurman, that it was our music during the darkest point in our existence, better known as the enslavement period, that music helped us not only make it through, but also establish a new way of viewing God.

12:01 That when we would sing, it was not just to get through rough times. It was also a radical theological claim. that here you are, someone making the claim that I own you, but then you would dare sing a song before I be a slave. I'll be buried in my grave to go home to be with my Lord. In other words, to say that even though you may have claimed that I am three-fifths of a person, I recognize that there is a God that has more authority than you, and I reclaim my affirmation and self-respect as a human being and as a child of God that no matter what you say or do, I hold on to my dignity every time I sing. There's one writer who says that is how Harriet Tubman made it from the south to the north 300 times.

13:04 She had a song to sing and had to teach a song to those she was taking to freedom. That when we sing, we end up not only memorizing or connecting with memory and changing and our theological understanding, but there is power when we sing. Listen to the power of music when we seek to magnify the Lord. There's something powerful that happens when we hear the song. Blessed be. Now join in.

14:25 Sing with us. The rock of my salvation. The power of music. When we sing together, we can magnify the Lord. But music also reminds us also of the great things that our God has done. Come on. Doing great things for me. Something in your memory keeps reminding you of the great things. Doing great things for me.

15:26 He keeps doing great things for me. Doing great things. Now join in with Brian. Now if God's done great things for you, you ought to open up your mouth just for a moment. Everybody sing. He keeps on. I'm doing great things for you. You're not singing it as if God has done great things for you. Now, come on. I know you got a mask on. Yeah, doing great things for me And not only does music remind you to magnify the Lord, but also that God has done great things. But sometimes you don't even need a song. It's just the chords and the sounds that can bless your spirit. You all put the camera over here on.

16:35 Don't put it on me. I'm not playing the piano. Just the chords, just the sounds, It speaks to you in a memory, and you remember the words when it enters into your ear, and the brain begins to process, and then all of a sudden, you are transported at that moment because the music is speaking in a special way. And the scripture that we're looking at today, this is not just Mary saying words. This is Mary is singing a song.

17:31 It's called the Magnificon. She knows that she is about to carry salvation in her belly. And she doesn't write a dissertation. She doesn't send an email. She says, the only thing I can do is I got to sing a song. Because a song is the only way that I can truly express how wonderful my God is. It's not enough to shout. Shouting is good. It's not enough to wave my hands. Waving hands is all right. I've got to write a song to remind not only myself, but anyone around me. This is what is known as personal praise. I didn't say private. I said personal. Because private means you keep it to yourself. Personal means that it means something deeply, deep for me.

18:27 But I'm going to share it with everyone else. And when there is an encounter that Mary had that was private, but yet she is willing to make her praise, her relationship, public. That God has done great things. That God has done something physical in my body. But also God has done something spiritual. That God removes some things in my life. And what I have to do, the only thing I can do is I have to sing a song about the goodness of God. When God does something private, it is personal, but you should not keep it private. Because you ought to let somebody know in some form or fashion that God is moving in your life. And down through the ages, we have been lifting up this particular scripture because Mary was sharing publicly what God had done in her life.

19:36 I never quite understand those who say that they have to keep what God has done to themselves as if they can't share it with anyone. It's amazing to me that we can share everything else, but we do not want to share the goodness of God. I'm reminded years ago when there was some controversy about people in the NFL celebrating in the end zone. There was an interview, an ESPN interviewer with an NFL player, and he was trying to throw some shade at the player, saying, you know, you celebrate too much. When you get into the end zone, you're always, you know, taunting the other team by pointing. First you point up, and then you point at everybody else. And then the NFL player simply said back to the interviewer, he said, obviously, you've never played football.

20:32 You see, when I make it into the end zone, you see, the first person I thank is the one that gave me the ability to be able to play football. So I thank my God who has allowed me and given me the skill to play football. But when you see me pointing, I'm not taunting the other team. I'm thanking those who blocked for me. Because I couldn't make it into the end zone unless somebody took a hit for me, who got bruised for me, who got hurt for me, so I could walk into the end zone and celebrate. Wait, somebody missed what I just said. You see, when you make it into the end zone of an experience, you ought to give God thanks. But here's the thing, you also ought to say to those who blocked for you, those who were hurt for you, those who were bruised for you, so that you can make it into the end zone.

21:30 Yes, thank your mother, thank your father, thank your grandparents, thank whomever. But there is someone else I know who is bruised for us, who is broken for us. And when I think about the goodness of God in my life, the only thing I can do is give God praise. And sometimes I want to sing a song for the beauty and wonder of our God. that when you have a private encounter, it should cause you and call you to make a public proclamation with the God that we serve. And that's what Mary is doing. She's making this public pronouncement about what God has done in her life. But what I love about what Mary is saying, that there is an exuberant, uncontainable, personal joy that is taking place.

22:36 See, because of the encounter that she has with God, this private encounter that is a personal encounter that she makes public, she then begins to share, let me magnify the Lord for what the Lord has done. The message translation that what God has done for this teenage child, this poor woman, this little girl, and my life will never be the same. She's singing a song about the joy of what God has done in her life. You see, an encounter with God should leave a mark on you. That mark should be something that you are able to reference no matter what may be happening in your life. One person explains the difference between happiness and joy.

23:32 I heard one theologian say it this way, that happiness is only an inch deep, but joy is a mile deep. That happiness is that which happens around you. You are happy for a moment, and then you're not happy for a moment. But joy is something that is continual, that has more depth than what is going on externally in your life. Mary is joyous. Why? Because she is carrying salvation. She is carrying the word that becomes flesh. She will be the mother of salvation. But wait a minute, she comes from a poor family. She was a teenage girl when she got the news, when an angel shows up in her life, and God says, no, I want to use you.

24:25 I'm not going to use someone from a palace. I'm going to use someone who is ordinary, someone no one else expects. I want to use this young black girl to have the child that will literally change all of humanity. And when you have an encounter with God, an encounter that marks you forever, no matter what may be going on in your life now, you should be able to reference that moment. There should be an exuberant moment and feeling of joy that comes through your spirit. So there is this public praise. There is this personal joy. But also, Mary doesn't stop there because her song continues to say that I want you to know that the God that we serve feeds of the poor. They sit down at a banquet, and the rich, they go away empty.

25:29 That literally, the song goes on to say that God brings down the rulers and lifts up those who are hungry. That there is an impact publicly that happens that Mary is singing about. Not just the fact that God is doing this, but God is also doing this through God's people. She's saying that if you will put your hand on a girl like me, if you will use a child of poverty like me, then I know that you are a God who sits high and looks low. I know that you are a God who is concerned about the issues of the poor, that you are not one like the Roman God who only touches and deals with the wealthy. This is not a God of material prosperity who says that if you are wealthy that you have God's hand upon you.

26:29 This is a God who is saying in this text that you are one, if you are broken, if you are marginalized, that I hold you in my arms. But there is an impact that happens. And this is a different type of theology. Because in America, we venerate the billionaire. We venerate those who are wealthy. and we see them as we want to be like this person and that's why we want to wear all of these designer brands because we think that the name will make us a different individual. But Mary is saying that the name ain't going to make you. There's only one name that's going to change you. There's only one name that is going to bless you.

27:23 There is only one name that is going to lift you And you have to know not only the name, but that you are a person of worth. No matter what you wear on the outside, it is what God has deposited inside your soul. Ah, this is speaking of public impact, personal joy, and public praise. Ah, but here is the thing that I love and I must leave you, is that Mary is simply saying this is a peculiar kind of salvation. Why is it peculiar? Because this thing never ceases to amaze me, Monica, that God puts on human flesh and says that I'm going to spend some time with humanity, that I'm going to experience what you experience.

28:25 I'm going to be birthed from the womb of a poor young girl, and I will, for the next 33 years, spend time on earth. I will hurt like you hurt. I will bleed like you bleed. But I'm God. But I'm still going to experience everything that you've experienced. You have to understand this. It blows me away. That God could choose to come down from the cross, but doesn't. That God could heal all of the wounds on his back, but doesn't. God says I'm going to bleed, I'm going to hurt, I'm even going to have people betray me just like people betray you every day. I'm going to experience everything you experience.

29:21 Let me see if I can bring it closer to home. When my children were younger, when Elijah was small, there was a game we used to play known as knee football. and play it in his room. He said, come on in, Daddy, to have a ball. And knee football was simply this. Elijah would get down on his knees, and I would have to get down on my knees to play with Elijah. Because I was taller, because I was bigger, because I was his father, in order for me to experience and to play with him, I had to get on his level. But it didn't stop there. Even though I was on my knees, I still had more power than him. And so I had to hold back my strength in order to play with him. So my son, you know, he was scoring touchdown after touchdown because we were playing knee football.

30:19 But here is the thing. At the end of the game, my son would always want me to use my power to lift him higher than he could be lifted. So I had to hold him while I was down, but I had to pick him up. And the beautiful thing is when I would pick him up, he could see things that he could not see from the position that he was in before. Some of you missed what I said. I'm here to say that we serve a God that roved God's self in human flesh and said, I will experience what you will experience. I will hold back my power even though I have the power. But when the game is over, for those of you who reach out your arms to me, I will lift you up so that you will see things you never saw before.