Anything Can Happen

0:15 All right, keep praising the Lord. Come on, give me some traveling praise up in here. Ah, come on, come on. This is Newburgh. You don't need to be taught how to praise. You already know how to praise the Lord. Come on. Give God a shout in the house of God today.

0:42 Hallelujah. Father in the name of Jesus we thank you one more time that you allow us as the house of prayer and praise God we thank you for what you've already done and we thank you for what you're about to do All things are in your hand Do whatever you need to do to save, heal and deliver And we won't forget to give you the credit, the praise and the honor It's in Jesus name we pray Together we say amen Say amen one more time Lord you may be seated in the presence of the Lord Pastor Jamal Bryant, nephew, hey. Thank you so much for the invitation to come and share a new birth. Carrie, God bless you. We thank you, the preacher and priestess that you are. And to the new birth family, to the deacons and trustees, and all who call this home, I greet you in the precious name of Jesus, who is the Christ.

1:41 We praise God for my family that's watching this morning. All our children, amen. And grandchildren, praise the Lord. And to my sisters in public service. Oh, hi, y'all. and we praise God for the ministry and the service that you provide in this area. Now, there is a word from the Lord, and it comes this morning from the Gospel of Mark chapter 7. The Gospel of Mark chapter 7. I'll begin at verse 24.

2:20 Hear the word of the Lord. Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was Greek, born in Syria, Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. First, let the children eat all they want. He told her, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to dogs. Lord, she replied, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs. Then he told her, for such a reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter. So she went home and found her child lying on the bed and the demon gone. Our theme and thought of meditation in this hour is anything can happen.

3:23 You may be seated. Turn to your neighbor and say anything can happen. I'll try somebody else. Say Anything can happen. Turn around. Somebody's behind you. Anything can happen. Let me say first good Mother's Day morning to the mothers in the room, to those who embraced the adventure of mothering, and to those who struggled with the responsibilities of mothering and did their very best to mother just the same. Good Mother's Day morning to you, To those who are blessed to still have their mothers on this side of glory. And those who are remembering the mothers who have gone to be with the ancestors. And to those for whom Mother's Day is filled with flowers and phone calls and laughter and celebration. And to those who will shed a tear later on today.

4:18 To those who cherish the mother who loved them fiercely. Who moved heaven and earth on their behalf. and who remain even now their confidant, their prayer warrior, and their greatest cheerleaders. Good Mother's Day morning to you. You're supposed to say good morning back. Good Mother's Day morning to you. I just want to make sure you're still here. Good Mother's Day morning. To those wrestling with the longing to become mothers and those who now find themselves parenting the very women who once parented them in the sunset years of life. Good Mother's Day morning, biological mothers, bonus mothers, adoptive mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, aunties, church mothers, foster mothers, bonus mothers, spiritual mothers, round the way mothers, and next door mothers, and the men who support mothers. Come on, brothers.

5:10 And the men who support mothers. And all the women in the house who stepped into the mission of nurturing lives that they did not have to love, but chose to love anyway. In case you haven't realized yet, mothering is hard work. Oh, come on, mothers, you're supposed to say, yes, that's right. There are no sick leaves, no sabbaticals, no vacation days, no time off for good behavior. Thank you. But there may be a textbook on motherhood, but there is no textbook on us. And so it's hard out here being a mother. It's true. You can do everything right and things can still go terribly wrong. Amen.

6:03 And sometimes you can do everything wrong and things will turn out wonderfully right. Amen. And all you can do with your mothering assignment is do the best that you can. Amen. Children grow up as children will do when they make their own choices. And mothers have to release them into the world that none of us can control. And children, eventually, some come to the understanding that they made it either in spite of or because of those who mothered them. So, beloved, wherever you are this morning celebrating or surviving, let me remind all of us that this is still the day that the Lord has made. And we can rejoice and be glad in it. God is still our refuge and strength. God still has plans for us and not to harm us, to give us a future and a hope.

7:00 God still works things out for our good, and God still is for us, so who can be against us? What's he trying to say? I'm trying to say, in spite of it all, we're still here. Come on, thank God. We're still standing. We're still believing. We're still becoming. We're still evolving and we're still safely in the arms of Jesus Christ. The Syrophoenician mother in our texts must have spent sleepless nights fighting battles that she could not win. Her child was sick, vexed by a demonic spirit, and she and the family bore public shame. It's hard being a mother faced with a problem that you cannot fix. Amen, Vesta? Problems that are beyond capacity. And the ancient world viewed such an unclean condition as evidence that something had gone terribly wrong within the family matrix. Yes, but, and however, the Syrophoenician woman rises to the occasion, reminding us that some things are worth fighting for. And this ancient woman reminds us that every child created in the image of God deserves to be treated as such. Every child should have access to healing sources without being treated as damaged goods. Every child should have a fair chance at life. And if the structure is not supporting, and if the humanitarian systems consistently fail and the ruling in the court of public opinion is condemnation. I pray that someone, somebody, some mother will speak up and stand up and fight for the children that are worth fighting for.

9:04 Yeah, the whole lot of things that are worth fighting for then and now. To walk through your own front door and feel safe on the other side of it is worth fighting for. To cry when you need to cry without somebody handing you a tissue and telling you to be strong. To sit in a doctor's office and have your pain taken seriously the first time you name it. to vote without a threat or intimidation, and to vote without somebody cheating to steal your vote and silence the voices of black and brown American taxpayers. Worth fighting for, to support your child without first having to prove that they deserve to be supported. And to raise a child in this country and not have to hold your breath every time they walk out of the front door.

10:05 and my sisters to be respected in your own home and to be respected in your workspaces to work hard and be paid accordingly amen The data shows, my sisters, that we are the most credentialed, the most scrutinized, the most resilient, and the most overlooked workers and leaders in the history of the African diaspora. We have outperformed on every metric while being under-resourced in every runway. We have led valiantly through a crisis while being asked to explain why we're here in the first place We have built cultures, moved markets, studied boards, shaped policy, and then somebody else's name goes in the press release Turn to your neighbor and say, come on here.

11:16 Our history is worth fighting for. Our legacy is worth fighting for. Our sanity is worth fighting for. Go back to that neighbor and say, come on here. We are working it. And if the truth be told, we are working ourselves to death. it's not just saying it's called weathering and weathering is what happens to a black woman's body when the weight of living in in an living in an unjust world settles into her cells and starts aging her faster than her years it's not just what I say go read Dr. Arline Geronimus University of Maryland Michigan School of Public Health in her book called weathering the extraordinary stress of ordinary life in an unjust society and with the doctor reports and the data shows that girl we just not just tired, we are weathered in ourselves down to our very bones more than any ethnic group.

12:38 We are aging before our age. Glory, hallelujah, and we still don't look like what we've been through. Come on here. Come on here. Come on here. Did you see Mama 92, Mama 91, Mama 101? Come on, baby, we don't look like what we've been through. The research has finally caught up with what we've known all along, that we're not just tired, we're Fannie Lou Hamer sick and tired and being sick and tired. So as we look across all stages and all times, then and now, ancient and today, many of us in our fighting for what's worth the fight have had to bust a move, a black mother's move, if you will.

13:48 What's a black mother's move? This is where you say, what? I'm happy to tell you. A black mother's move is a term that I use to describe the strategic response to personal tragedy. It's not just any old response. It is a move that transforms what happened in a personal tragedy and it moves into public witness. Are you following me? For the move functions both as a survival mechanism, fighting for the sanity and an act of resistance all at the same time. It is a move that refuses to be silent about personal suffering and exposes the cost of human biases and structural racism on steroids. Are you following me?

14:45 Black mother's move has generational reach and potential to be a catalyst for changing minds, behavior, and even public policy. In other words, it is a move she has to make because all other options are gone. All doors are closed. The system has circled its wagons. Access is denied. Resources have dried up. and she has no choice but to stand like the Syrophoenician woman in the text. After she has done all, all she could do was stand. It is the refusal to allow what happens to go unchallenged. It is a refusal to allow what happens in your life to go unchallenged. So what does a black mama's move look like? It looks like Mamie Till, Mamie Till Mobley, who refused to be silent about her son Emmett Till, who was bludgeoned to death in Mississippi and shipped home to Chicago in a state-sealed coffin. And she insisted on an open casket funeral so the world could see the truth of what happened to her son. And her move ignited a movement.

16:01 A black mother's move is George's Lucy McBath, who buried her son Jordan and ran for the this here U.S. Congress, where she is still fighting today for common sense gun laws. A black mother's move is Sabrina Fulton turning a hoodie into a symbol and the tragic death of her son Trayvon into a foundation to help other mothers. A black mother's move is Letsy Metfagin, who walked back into the streets that took the life of her son. It is Allison Jean choosing the act of forgiveness towards the officer who killed her son. It's Geneva Reed Veal insisting that black women's lives do matter. And Gwen Carr refusing to let I Can't Breathe become just another hashtag.

16:58 That's what a black mother's move is all about. Just like the Syrophoenician woman in our text, they knew that some things were worth fighting for. This woman, known to us only by location and circumstance, is not the only biblical mother who took a stand. Risper, now if I name all these sisters and you ain't never heard none of them, Get thyself the Bible study. I'm trying to help you pastor get thyself the bible study 25 minutes we can't piece the whole thing from genesis to revelation the only one amen in the house we in trouble pastor only one amen in the house there are other biblical women who took a stand well who are they let me tell you Rizba couldn't stop the execution of her son, but she made a move refusing to let her ancient world dishonor their memory after death.

18:05 Bathsheba made a move to navigate palace politics to advocate for her son Solomon so he could succeed the throne after his father David died. The Shunammite woman refused to suffer in silence and made a move to pursue the prophet Elisha until her child was restored. and Jochebed made a move to defy Pharaoh's genocidal decree by hiding the baby Moses as an act of resistance. And Mary, the mother of Jesus, refused to abandon her son, but stood at the foot of the cross at a state-ordered crucifixion. And today, here we are in the panthenon of motherhood, making moves every single day. Every time you, mama, stand in the gap between the children you love and the world that doesn't treat them that way, that's your move. Every time you put your trust in the Lord and rise above your own pain to help somebody out, that's your move. Every time you teach a child how to survive a traffic stop before they learn how to drive, that's a move. Every time you work one, two, three jobs and still manage to be present for important moments in your children's lives, that's a move. We are working on our moves, giving them a Bible before we give them a cell phone, putting $200 in an investment account instead of putting Nikes on their feet, praying with one eye open and one hand ready.

19:31 Come on, you know what I'm talking about. So let's have a praise break and praise God for the mamas who are the first ones called when something goes wrong and the last one to give up, believing that They're going to turn out all right and things will be okay.

19:52 And you are the one, you mama, you mama are the one who never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever gives up on your child. Never, never, never, never, never gives up. Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never. That's a move. This kind of move is called deliberate dissociation. It is a strategic step away from what the world wants us to believe. And what the world wants us to believe is that we're helpless.

20:35 We are not helpless. we are not helpless in fact you got power that you haven't even used yet Jesus didn't die on a cross and rose from the grave so that we could live helpless powerless lives. We are not helpless. Every morning we can pray in Jesus' name and put hell on notice and put hell in its place. You can pray believing and it will be done. From your knees we can seek in the Spirit and you shall find. We can knock in the Spirit and doors will open. You can invite the power of God into every situation and put all your care and woes into the hands of God.

21:44 And that's from your knees. When you get up from your knees, you can put feet to your prayer and be the prayer that you prayed for. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are spiritual to the pulling down of the enemies. When you get up off your knees, You can bind and loose and loose and bind. Bind and loose and loose and bind. For whatever is loose on earth is loosed in heaven. Whatever is bound on earth is bound in heaven. Come on, let's try this together. Let's bind hatred in Jesus' name. Let's bind evil in Jesus' name. Let's bind addiction in Jesus' name. Let's bind bad attitudes in Jesus' name.

22:38 Let's bind bad characters in Jesus' name. Let's bind the devil and all his minions in Jesus' name. Let's bind wickedness in high places. Now we can loose. Let's loose the everlasting love of God. Let's loose the peace of God That surpasses all understanding. Let's lose the grace of God. Let's lose healing. Healing for bodies and healing for mind. Let's lose the ability to create wealth. Let's lose right living. Let's lose right loving. And when you get up off your knees, speak the word. Life and death is in your mouth. Baby, we're not helpless. We just don't use the power we have. But the word still works.

23:32 Heaven and earth shall pass away. But God's word is eternal. Our worship still works. And wherever two or more are gathered, there are more than two of y'all here. Jesus is in the room. And when Jesus is in the room, anything can happen. Anything can happen. testifying works. They overcame him by the blood and the word of their testimony. The blood still works. The blood still works. It's old school, but it works. Plead the blood over your house, over your finances, over your children. Plead the blood over where you work and the heathens in your life.

24:30 Plead the blood for it reaches the highest mountain. It's an interesting way. It's a good one, it's a good one. It's a good one, and I'm not your first. I'm not so good. I'm not gaiting y'all.

24:50 It gives me strength from day to day. It'll never lose its power. It works. It works. It works. Oh, yeah, it works.

25:14 Woo. And this ancient woman in our text, whom Mark calls Syrophoenician and Matthew calls Canaanite woman, both of whom sum up her position on the social, economic, and ethnic totem pole of life. She is a mother on the outside looking in and has the nerve, the unmitigated God to believe that Jesus can do something about her daughter.

26:13 Has the nerve, the unmitigated God, to believe that her daughter was worth fighting for. Can I exegete the text? You're supposed to say yes. Can I exegete the text? Yes. Say that one more time. Yes. One more time. Yes. You're supposed to say it while I'm dreaming. Well, one more time. Yes. Remember, Mark's gospel introduces us to a woman who understands that life doesn't always go as planned. She is carrying the emotional burden of a sick child in an unsympathetic environment. She chooses not to suffer silence in God, suffer in silence, good for her.

27:09 and she chooses not to let the predicament go unchallenged. Good for her. She steps outside the ethnic, religious, and cultural guardrails to fight for her daughter's healing. And so as the text reads, Jesus entered Tyree and enters into a house wanting to keep his presence a secret. It was an unusual place for a Jewish rabbi to be. He is in Gentile territory. That means he's in a place among people that his people viewed as outside of the covenant and certainly not worthy of God's love or access to God's mercy and grace. And it seems that Mark intentionally places this story right after an issue, you notice that I didn't say issue, an issue Jesus had. Some of y'all got it, that's all right.

28:07 An issue Jesus had with the religious status quo. They were having an argument or discussion about purity. Jesus had just declared that defilement is not about something that enters the body, but something that is in the body that comes out. And so it's your heart that determines what comes out. So evil comes out of a evil heart. Yeah, you with me? Come on, let's ride. Greed comes out of a greedy heart. Malice comes out of a... Arrogance comes out of a... and deceit comes out of a and now here comes our mother of the year asking Jesus to drive the demon the impure spirit out of her daughter it is an impossible mission in an impossible place after all she and Jesus are religious polar opposites she was raised among idols and foreign gods. And Jesus stands as the visible revelation of the living God, the one who says, I am the Father of one. She's a Syrophoenician, a Gentile, an outsider, while Jesus is a Jewish rabbi rooted in the covenant promises made to Israel. She is a woman in a world that largely confines her to the private spaces of the kitchen and the bedroom. And she's expected to be quiet and submissive, while Jesus occupies public religious spaces surrounded by men, disciples, and authority.

29:55 Yes, but, and however, she steps outside of her socially assigned role. Without invitation, without permission, she breaks all the protocols to speak boldly to Jesus, and Jesus allows her to enter into a conversation with him. He listens and then he responds. Well, I have not come for you. I have come to the household. So let the children eat, meaning the people of the covenant, that's the Israelites. Let them eat all they want. In other words, they have access and you don't. they have a right to it and you don't for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to dogs dogs meaning her a cultural term for her ethnic group but girlfriend is quick on her feet hallelujah it pays some time to be quick on your hallelujah she's quick on her feet and she said she's not going to be outdone by this metaphor and she said lord even the dogs get the crumbs under the master's table. That's our text. So what shall we say to these things?

31:15 This is what we shall say. Jesus demonstrates the sovereignty of God all over this text. In other words, sovereignty means that no circumstance has the final word over the life of the child of God except God. He is demonstrating the sovereignty of God that says God still reigns and God still rules and God has the power and authority over every circumstance. Now understand Matthew will tell you that the disciples were upset because girlfriend kept crying after them and told Jesus, just send her away. But Jesus exercised his sovereignty and gave her her request. So that means then if mess happens and it will, you can trust God to be steadfast.

32:14 When we stumble and we will, the Lord remains steadfast for he is the same yesterday and today and forevermore. When we struggle, and we will, God will remain steadfast. Children will wonder. Parents will waver. Doors will close. Yet, but, and however, God still sits high. And he, God still moves in places where human beings have given up. And God will still speak life into dead situations. That's a hallelujah right there. That's why this woman's story is so powerful. This woman who worshipped outside the covenant, who stood alone with no one to vouch for her, nothing to offer, no credentials, no religious authority, no social media impact, but a mother who had love for her child and a desperate need.

33:20 She was born in the wrong place, lived on the wrong side of the border, had the wrong race, the wrong religion, the wrong gender, did wrong things. Girl was just plain wrong. And some of us know. and

33:50 I just want to make sure you're going to ride with me. Come on. And some of us know what it looks like and feels like to live on the wrong side of everything, the wrong side of history, the wrong side of town, being the wrong job, live in the wrong relationship, start out at the wrong time, or as our mama would say, you just wrong-headed, just plain wrong. But here is your good news today. Jesus made the decision that day to cross every barrier, every boundary that blocks access to the grace, to the power, and to the love of God. Here is where you thank God for the sovereignty of God, for your future is not controlled by what's happening in your life now. Your life is not limited by where you start out. Your child is not beyond the reach of grace. Your house is not beyond the reach of God's power. So lift up your heads, oh ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is?

35:26 Whoooo! And finally, not just the sovereignty of God is all over this text, but the strategy of God is all over this text. this ancient woman understood that a crumb from the master's table carries the full authority of the table it came from. She understood that crumbs from Jesus still carry kingdom power. So when something comes from the master's table, it may look small to you, but it's packed full of power.

36:40 Come on here. Come on here. This woman's response exposes the pointlessness of exclusion, the wastefulness of exceptionalism, the small-mindedness of biases, the blindness of prejudice, and the spiritual bankruptcy of denigrating the humanity of others. Jesus, died and rose from the grave for all of us and not just some of us. He got up with all power in his hand and no country, no community, no governor, no president, no mayor, no priest, no potentate, no preacher, no denomination controls the result of the resurrection.

37:42 You don't get to choose who sits at the table. who has access to the table or to the crumbs that fall from the table. Don't miss it. Don't miss it. Because it intimates to us that the table is bigger than you think.

38:17 And the table holds more than you can imagine. and what falls from the table is as powerful as what's on the table, that means then that if there is enough grace spilling from the table to reach the floor, then maybe, just maybe, the table largeness means there will always be enough bread, always enough grace, always enough healing, always enough power, always enough love. So there's no need to hoard the mercies, the grace, the love, and power of God. And there's no need to block the access to the grace, the mercy, the love, and power of God. For the Bible clearly shows us God's strategy. God will take whatever you have and make much of it. He took a boy's slingshot and brought down a giant. He took a rod to part the Red Sea. He took a widow's mite to fill up the offering plate. A handful of meal in a barrel to sustain. A cake baked on coals for a prophet who was depleted and manna that arrived every single morning just enough for a day. Good Mother's Day morning. Good Mother's Day morning to you. To the mothers who know the value of a crumb and every crumb carries God's power in it. And when God's hand is on it, God's power is in it and every crumb has possibility. If all you got this morning is a crumb, anything can happen because this woman teaches us that one encounter with the Lord can change everything,

40:23 can shift an entire household. One word from the Lord can change the atmosphere. One crumb touched by grace can turn your sorrow into testimony. If virtue can flow from the hem of his comment, then power can be got from a crumb of the Lord's table. if you got a crumb, a crumb, just a tiny crumb, a crumb of an opportunity, a crumb of an idea, a crumb of finance, a crumb of a resume, a crumb of a job, there's power in the crumb. If you got a peace of mind, just a piece of your heart, just a piece of your household, You got power in the crumb, power in the leftovers.

41:23 Don't let anybody tell you that you are helpless and you ain't got nothing. Just turn around and say, I got a crumb and I'm going to run with it. I got a crumb. I'm going to run with it. I got a crumb. I'm going to run with it. I got a crumb. I'm gonna run with it I've got a crumb