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

0:05 I don't know 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, O 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, O 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, O God, that you would send your angels, the one named Grace and the other named 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.

1:12 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 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.

2:05 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, And 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. And 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, the New American Bible, and the OM3 Translation. But beginning with verse 1, it reads this way.

3:03 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.

4:00 Verse 3. I'm going to give a couple translations of verse 3. 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 who has 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.

4:55 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 a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name. that will not, that they will not be cut off from,

5:40 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.

6:53 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 is another version that you will hear next week at 11 o'clock and 6 p.m.

7:56 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, and 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 who are 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.

8:46 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. 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 writer, the developer of such great hits as Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maud, One Day at a Time, and actually a show that started it all, a show called All in the Family.

9:57 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, 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 people in the family who are always trying to exclude somebody from the family.

10:59 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 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 in what is known as the restoration period 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?

12:05 Will God be pleased of how the church functioned and made a claim that we represent God? 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 will we claim that your scripture told us that we were to exclude some people? As an angel shakes his head and Mary moans and Jesus 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 use to claim God as our God, But we fail to do one simple thing, to make God's house a house of prayer for all people.

13:22 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 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 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 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. Scripture begins simply by saying, I want you to maintain justice.

14:48 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 are not, as we have gone through in this series, we are not just talking about a day, but we're talking about setting aside 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, where you'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.

15:59 He 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 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.

16:54 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.

17:30 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 an elder, an elder who used to come in a church shouting. We're just walking to church and said, 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. I 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 were thankful that God gave you life.

18:48 You stepped into this house. You are looking forward to worship unto God because you know we serve a mighty, mighty, good God. 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 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.

19:50 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 under 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.

21:18 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 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 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 work and do the landscaping, but I don't want to pay you in a way in which it's fair in this world. Do not allow the foreigner who keeps the Sabbath to say that I'm excluded.

22:37 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 than 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.

23:40 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 are 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 Archie 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.

24:42 But let not the foreigner say that I have been excluded. So the scripture says 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, do not say that you are a dry tree. I want you to know, you who have been keeping the Sabbath, that you also are included in the family. Now, you all just missed it because you are still confused, so let me break it down. This says that a eunuch. Now, in Deuteronomy, it already stated that if you're a eunuch, we don't want you working in the sanctuary.

25:48 Because in the ancient period, there was a view that if you were a eunuch, 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 would not develop and grow in a particular way. So according 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. They had problems with the eunuch because the eunuch was different and was, let me put it this way, the eunuch was queer to everybody.

26:51 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, 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 the scripture is saying that difference cannot deny your divine destiny in God's economy. That God is saying that you, the eunuch, you are included.

27:48 even though the criteria for your inclusion is love of God. The criteria is the fact that God's grace and mercy is so powerful. This is the criteria. The foreigner, you're included. That if you've got a different language, a different ethnicity, 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 sisters. 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.

28:42 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, a 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 and sat over on the right side. Another child was a liberal Christian, sat over on the left side. One child was one who was an agnostic, didn't even quite believe in God, sat on another side of the table. Then there was another child who was gay who sat on another side of the table.

29:41 And all of the children started arguing about 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 love the most and who God loves. 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 you can't prove. You don't belong at mama's table and then mama shut everybody up. 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.

30:37 First of all, I made the greens and I made the mac and cheese 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 going to pray? Wait a minute, none of y'all going to 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.

31:32 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're all in the family. Let not the foreigner 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 left these foreigners in, people will start speaking other languages. Don't you know Hebrew is the only language they need to speak?

32:32 God is saying, you don't understand. I speak all languages. I translate into all languages. What about the eunuchs? The eunuchs shouldn't fit into 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.

33:48 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 so glad because it is the the acting holy people who bring the most holy hell Thank you. God is saying to us, we got to 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 God thinks about you. And the first thing, if we may quote from 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.

35:36 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.

36:31 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.

37:25 But we won't let you come through the door of I deserve it because that door is locked. The only one who can open that door and walk through that door Or it's 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 who've been told that you can't preach because you're a woman. Now, it's fascinating to me. I was just on a program, and someone was arguing that a woman could not preach. And I was so grateful that I was there with 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.

38:24 She 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, 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.

39:17 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 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.

40:35 And we would let you know that at Sunday night, 730, 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. And 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.