8/29/2021 | Trinity UCC Sermon Only | Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III

0:05 We are grateful. We are thankful as we come to this moment, as we approach the word, this moment, that we would invite you to pray with us collectively, whether you are in this space, whether you are across the digital divide across the globe. Let us go to God at this moment in prayer and open our hearts unto the Lord. Search me, O God, but know my heart. Try me and see if there is any destructive way in me. When you discover what does not belong, may you take it away from me and cast it into the sea of forgetfulness. As far as the east is from the west, that it may never return again. I thank you.

0:59 I thank you for this privilege to stand behind this sacred desk. I recognize that I am not worthy to preach your word, but I simply ask, O God, that you would flank me with grace on one side and mercy on the other. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, may it be acceptable in thy sight. O Lord, you are my strength, and you are certainly my redeemer. Holy Spirit, do thy will, do thy will, Holy Spirit, In the mighty, magnificent, awesome, majestic, powerful, and saving name of Jesus, who is the Christ, we pray. For the people of God, who love God, may say, Amen. Amen. I want to invite you at this moment, if you have your phones with you, just about everybody has a phone. Your phone and your wallet and your keys have become the three most important things of walking around now in this landscape.

2:05 If you have your phone, I want you to turn with me to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20. We're going to begin with verse 8. If you are physically able, we kindly ask that you would stand only if you are able, that we might reverence the word, even those who are in digital spaces. Some of you are drinking your coffee and some of you are still in bed looking at worship on the phone. You know who you are. I'm not going to call you out. I'm not going to call you out. But we would just invite you at this moment. And we look at this from the New Revised New International Version. It reads this way. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or your daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

3:15 For in six days the Lord made heavens, the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them. But God rested on the seventh. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Remember the Sabbath day. You may be seated in the presence of the Most High God. We're beginning a series this day, a Sabbath series of looking how to Sabbath. How to Sabbath. This Sabbath series, looking how to Sabbath. And I want to, for the time that we have on this morning, I want us to focus on this idea of going back to go forward. Going back to go forward.

4:19 Going back to go forward. If you could turn to your neighbor at this time, look at your neighbor. There you go. Look at your neighbor and say, neighbor. Oh, neighbor. Oh, neighbor. We have to go back. to go forward. Amen. Going back to go forward.

4:43 Beloved, the day has finally come. We are in person in God's house. Amen. We are now experiencing a new normal. The last time we gathered, in the space there were no masks, there was nothing, anyone thinking about anything like a vaccine, and we were living under the pain of another administration. Now, 18 months later, the world economy has been halted. The economy was thwarted, Deacon Joe, not by a nation, not by a terrorist group, not by some right-wing fascist, but a virus invisible to the naked eye. All of the military might of America and China combined could not affect or alter what we are experiencing right now.

6:01 Let me say it this way. The wealth of Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett could not stop the spread of this invisible enemy or entity. A virus that forced the entire planet to slow down and halt operations. All of humanity has had to think and rethink our daily rituals over and over again. We have moved from giving dap to the fist bump. Or if you're really, really experienced, you got the elbow hit. And here we are back at church and our behaviors have completely changed. Let me stop here parenthetically and say this.

6:55 You do know that the church never closed. The building closed, but the church never closed. because Christ's power never went on break. The Holy Spirit never stopped anointing. God never stopped moving. Miracles never stopped happening. Wisdom never ceased flowing. And grace never quit covering. The building closed, but ministry kept happening. Whether you were in the Northeast, Sister Hithenbotham, or living in Florida like Charlene Hunter-Gault or working on a film like Dr. Skip or living in Orlando, Mama Brown, or you go through the winter times as a snowbird like Mother Bird, you see that God never stopped moving. Prayer never stopped. Intervention never stopped for those addicted.

7:54 and anointing families and children never stopped for those families in need. Feeding the hungry never stopped and building a mighty village never stopped, even though the entire planet had to slow down. Standing in this moment and in this sanctuary, here we are in this house. Just like Israel entered into the tabernacle and they were excited when they entered into that moment of the tabernacle. And I say this, it is my prayer as a ministry, we will move from the outer court and learn how to move into the holy of holies. We will be overtaken by the Spirit of the living God. I'm here to let you know that God is speaking in this moment.

8:56 Yet most of us have missed the message because we have forgotten how to Sabbath. We have forgotten how to worship. Now please know that these two things are different. Sabbath and worship are different because worship functions under the authority of the Sabbath. The Sabbath leads us to worship. Sabbath leads us to worship. Sabbath sets us up for the practice of worship as a lifestyle, and God is still speaking. And we've been forced to stop. For 18 months, the world has been shut down. The world is no longer operating the way that it used to. It is shut down not by a foreign army, but by a deadly plague.

9:53 My brother Jared in Australia, hear this. This deadly plague that cannot be stopped by science, but can severely be mitigated by compassion. If we act with concern for our neighbors, wear a mask, get vaccinated, check in with each other, wash your hands, socially distance, the disease will be mitigated and lives will be saved. God has called us to slow down so that maybe we can get in touch with the compassion that we are to operate with and learn how to Sabbath. You see, I want you to know, I want you to know that I know Pfizer is trying to create a booster shot, but the greatest booster shot we can inject into civic society is compassion plus science, which equals relief for the most vulnerable in our community.

10:56 God is speaking not through pharmaceutical corporations, but through frontline workers who are doing the work of Jesus, caring for people with issues of blood and respiratory ailments. And the scripture says, remember the Sabbath day. By keeping it holy six days, you showed labor. You were working and doing all the work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord, your God. On it, you shall not do any work. And I'm here to let you know that God has given this message that we have to relearn how to Sabbath. Yes, yes, we are to learn. We have to relearn how to worship. because some of us, we know how to praise, but we've yet to learn how to worship. Because we haven't yet learned how to Sabbath.

11:55 The very essence of our survival depends on our ability to Sabbath. Sabbath literally means the day of rest, designed to subvert our addiction to labor without principle and gathering of wealth without work. That was the purpose around the Sabbath. What does this mean? Let me see if I can break it down, if I can use in the words, Jared, of tribe called quest. Can I teach it? Somebody needs to say, yes, you can. Can I teach it? Let me give the background here that this text is rooted in the background of the Exodus. us. Pharaoh was a man who sought to accumulate wealth without work, believing he was God and he controlled and owned creation. The hubris of men is absolutely astonishing. And you want to notice that as Pharaoh thought that he owned everything, all of a sudden creation kept reminding him you don't own nothing. If you think that you own the river, let me turn it blood red and see if you can drink. If you think that you own the fields, let me send some locusts and gnats. If you think that you can control your own body, I will even send a spirit of death that will show up. That creation was pushing against Pharaoh when Pharaoh thought that he owned everything. And the Hebrew community was not seen as humanity, but the Hebrew community was just simply seen as a commodity.

13:35 The Hebrew community not only worked seven days a week, but they were simply seen as objects of production. And they were infected by a virus known as commodification and materialism. In other words, when Pharaoh said, I want you to work with bricks, I want you to make some bricks without straw. There were some Hebrews that were saying, well, maybe if we work hard enough, then Pharaoh will recognize who we are, our full humanity. Then Pharaoh will recognize. We can have some respectability politics. We'll work twice as hard as everybody else. And then all of a sudden, they will recognize how good we actually are. But Pharaoh had no respect for the Hebrews because Pharaoh thought that he was God and everything was owned by him. And this commodification, this materialism was now resting in the spirit of the Hebraic people.

14:33 They thought that if I accumulate enough wealth, then that will be my pathway to liberation. They thought liberation was rooted in material accumulation. if we have Pharaoh's money then we can be liberated if I hit the lottery guess what I'm going to do if I get some money all of a sudden I'll change the entire community we got plenty of people with a whole lot of money but they don't have the principle nor do they have the spirit and we've not seen a change in our community or our nation it has nothing to do with the accumulation of your wealth, but everything to do with your spirit. And the Sabbath was designed specifically to teach you it's not about what's in your pocket, but what's in your heart and what's in your spirit.

15:27 When I refuse to release myself from the spirit of what I do is who I am. I release myself from the thinking that I am what I do when I'm no longer addicted in this day and age to how many likes I have, how big the numbers are in the budgets and the finances, and am I an influencer, and let me check my phone to see if somebody has posted on what I've posted and if somebody has commented on what I've commented. We live in a commodified world where we're always looking for external approval to feed a hunger that is internal that can only be filled by an eternal connection with God. When I'm okay with myself is the moment that you really learn how to Sabbath. When you're okay without your titles, without your positions, when you go back to the source And you have to rest in the arms of God.

16:39 Here is a simple principle. If you don't remember anything else, that you've got to learn how to allow certain things to rest in your soul. We cannot worship until we learn how to rest. we must be released from the anxiety that is created by a society that is always saying that it's something external that makes you who you are we live in a world that knows nothing about the outer court the inner court and has never visited the holy of holies and if you want to visit the Holy of Holies. You've got to release yourself from some things and learn how to Sabbath. And I have to be honest here today, if I may be completely transparent, I have so much anxiety about today and the opening of church. I was freaking out for weeks on end. Monica was like, aren't you excited? I'm like, no. I'm freaking out, anxiety ridden. I couldn't come up with a sermon.

17:57 I was praying and it was like a block in my spirit, in my head. I had anxiety day and night. I kept raising the question about, okay, well, if we go back, will somebody get sick? If we go back, will people watch? If we go back, will it affect the numbers of people online? Because I thought that we expanded during the time period, that we have been out of the church. There are more people watching, but what will happen when we come back? Will things work right? Will the technology work right? Will the sound go down? Will everything mess up? I was freaking out, and I could not, I could not in any way, shape, or form. I didn't have a word for anybody. I'm straight up. I didn't have a word. And God said, you ain't supposed to have a word. I have the word. All this anxiety that was happening in my spirit because I was focused so much on the external, I was missing the internal because I hadn't learned yet how to Sabbath.

19:04 Because if you want to hear from God, you've got to learn how to Sabbath sometimes. And you've got to quiet your spirit. If you want to hear from God, you've got to turn out some noise from around you in order to let God whisper in your soul. You've got to learn how to Sabbath.

19:27 I was struggling. I was struggling. All kind of anxiety. I don't know what to preach. What happens if the offering goes down? I'm freaking out left and right. What if the stream buffers and people turn it off and all of that? Those of you who know what I'm talking about. And they start calling it. I was freaking out. And then this is what God said. I finally heard what God said. He said, I'm supposed to tell you all this. God simply just said this, rest. If you learn how to rest, you can hear me whisper. If you remove the titles, you leave the anxiety, stop comparing yourself and getting caught up in commodification. Godification, because see, this isn't about a contract I have with you. This is about a covenant I have with you. A covenant is a relationship. A contract is a transaction.

20:22 But because I have a covenant with you, that means that I knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb. And I'm going to tell you what God, what our God said late last night as I struggled to exercise demons of doubt. God said, get some rest and learn how to Sabbath, and I will teach you how to worship. God said, I've already accepted you. Now accept yourself and get some rest. God is waiting for us to accept ourselves so we can witness God's work. It's time to get some rest. God is doing a great work, but we cannot receive it until we get some rest. Let your heart not be troubled, yea, believe in God. Get some rest. Whoever dwells in the shadow of the Most High will what? Rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

21:18 So get some rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. I am gentle and humble in heart. Find some rest for your soul. Get some rest. When we rest, there will be new power in our worship. God is doing a new thing. Can you see that it springs up? Do you not perceive it? Get some rest. God is spirit, and God's worshipers must worship God in spirit and in truth. When you rest, you can see the truth, and the truth will set you free. If you want to witness God's work and wonder, you've got to get some rest. Give the things unto the Lord, for the Lord is good, and God's love endures forever. Get some rest. How great you are. There is no one like you.