January 23- 7:30 Worship. Trinity United Church of Christ / Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III

42:34 Lord, make me right. Let us go to God in prayer at this moment with every head bound, with our eyes closed. Search me, O God, and know my heart. and try me and see if there is any destructive way in me. When you discover what does not belong, I ask that you would remove it and cast it into the sea of forgetfulness. As far as the east is from the west, that it may never return again. I recognize I am not worthy to preach your word. I simply ask that you will send the angel by the name of grace and mercy to stand beside this pulpit. The words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight.

43:30 Lord, you are my strength. Without a doubt, you are certainly my redeemer. Holy Spirit, do thy will, do thy will, the Holy Spirit, and the mighty, magnificent, awesome, majestic, powerful, saving name of Jesus, who is the Christ, we pray.

43:56 The people of God who love God may simply say, Amen. Amen. Amen. I want to at this moment, as we prepare to enter into the word of God, I want to invite you to turn with me to Romans chapter 8, verses 5 through 6 and 7. I'm going to look at two different translations. We're going to look at the NIV translation first, and then the message translation. So Romans chapter 8 verses 5 through 7 reads as follows. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires.

44:59 Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. That is the NIV version. But the message translation reads this way. Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle, but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's actions in them find that God's spirit is in them, living and breathing God.

45:58 Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end. attention to God leads us out into the open into a spacious free life may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of God's holy word I want to for the next few moments that we have together on this day I want to deal with this idea of I am my own worst enemy I am my own worst enemy. It is one of the greatest films that was ever created. I believe I will get an amen from none other than Carol Jacobs. A film entitled The Godfather. This trilogy about a family, the Corleone family to be exact.

46:56 But there is a quote that comes from, I believe it is the third film that is often quoted. Al Pacino, who plays Michael Corleone, makes this statement that has been used in philosophy classes and literature down through the years. Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. This quote speaks to the past choices, the unstable character of Michael Corleone. He is his own worst enemy because of the people he has surrounded himself with, the choices that he made, and the family relationships that he refused to build, and those that he kept. He is his own worst enemy, where he created a future that was always haunted by his past because he refused to face the issues that were plaguing his own soul. The greatest issue for us all, the most difficult villain that we will ever face and have to defeat, will be the one that we face in the mirror.

48:15 It is the poet Rudy Francesco who shares the beauty of this idea and the challenges that we face on a daily basis. He says in his poem, Mirrors and Windows, he says, There was a moment in my life when I could not tell the difference between a window and a mirror. I could look into both and see everything but myself. This is the human condition. This is the fundamental struggle where our fight rests in the internal. Or as my Morehouse brother, Reverend Jamal Bryant states, he says, this is World War me. We struggle to see the window and recognize the mirror. It is that great African saint and theologian by the name of St. Augustine who states all of humanity faces this challenge, This struggle that began in the Garden of Eden, where humanity learned how to walk and question creation and humanity's creator.

49:22 We are pushed and pulled by our own desires and frailty. Our humanness gets in the way of seeing our godliness. But it is scripture that says, those who live according to the sinful nature have their mindset on what the nature desires. Come with me for a moment and discover the beauty and challenge of this word. It has been preachers of old who often held up the word sin without any definition. It was a part of a larger Christian culture, this word sin. We assume that it simply means actions or words. Sin was something we did versus a state of who we are. Sin, when given the appropriate translation in English, literally means separation.

50:27 living disconnected binding oneself in a solitary place without the company of God nor understanding of your purpose sin leaves you floating not unlike a boat without a rudder or a traveler without a map just moving through life making decisions without the depth of intention sin is separation Sin is living alone in this universe Nor understanding one's connection to all that has been created When we are disconnected from God Separate from the warmth of community When we do not know or understand our lives And how they impact others This is sin When we sin, it means that we are disconnected We sin when we are all about me We sin when we care not about how we impact the person next to us.

51:26 We sin when we think we are the singular entities without connection in this vast sacred economy designed by God. We become our own worst enemies. It is Augustine who states no matter how much education you may have or whatever particular caste you may be in, we all stumble. Paul says it better for it is Augustine who borrows from Paul. Paul says we all fall short of the glory of God, meaning we will be pulled into the direction of separation and isolation, attempting to run from our call, our purpose, our role as beings made in the image of God, the imagio Dei. I like what philosopher Thomas Hobbes says. Even though he was an agnostic, he says he takes up this idea by making the claim that humanity wants to live a life of separation and in solitude. Life that leads to all the strife we experience because it is our desire to live by our own rules that inflicts the most damage upon others, especially the most vulnerable among us.

52:46 We desire, we want convenience and quick relief. We want drive-through with no lines. We believe in hedonism. In other words, let me do what I want when I want it because it makes me feel good, but I don't really care how it affects you. There is no social contract when we live in separation because it is about ourselves and how we feel in the moment because we are floating upon the sea without a rudder and not even a sail. we believe we have the right to say anything because in America we have the right to free speech yes we have the right to free speech you can say whatever you want to say but the moral question the spiritual question is should you say it should the words come out of your mouth Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

53:51 And when we live in separation, we become self-centered. When you're self-centered, it's all about you and you don't care about your neighbor. But the way that God created this world, it is all interconnected. And what affects you affects me. And when I don't see the God in you, I end up cutting myself and you at the same time. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. This is what Paul was getting to, beloved, that we live a life of separation. We live this life that is separate from God. Paul is saying that when you're separated, you don't care about community. When you're separated, you're not walking the path of Christ.

54:46 When you're separated, that is the sinful mental nature where you are dependent upon yourself and you do not care about those you come in contact with. Separate, sinful. Selfish, sinful. Unaware, sinful. Divorced from compassion, sinful. Disconnected from grace, sinful. Sin is separation from God and being blind to the sacred beauty of others. When I choose harm over healing, when I choose death over life, when I choose cruelty over compassion, this is the essence of disconnected living. the problem in our community the problem in our nation is an issue a spiritual issue of disconnection we don't care what happens to someone else that's why someone can say isn't it terrible what those folk are doing in such and such community they're shooting each other But if you are connected, then your heart breaks for every child of God that we may not all be responsible, but everybody is accountable.

56:11 Ah, separation from who you are. Separation from God. Separation. That's what sin means. So all of this old talk, sin is what you do. Sin is your disconnection. Sin is not seeing yourself in community. Sin is not seeing the sacredness of someone else. That means that you are operating within an idea of sin. It means that you are not in community. with those that God has created. But the scripture says, if I may give some good news here, Paul talks about the sinful nature. The translation in the message translation is when you're trying to do it all on your own and you think you got everything that you need using your own moral fiber and not realizing that you are connected. Ah, yes, that will always lead to pain and destruction. The scripture goes on to say, the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace.

57:19 Let me say it again. The mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace. And for those, those theologues upon this broadcast, you need to know that spirit, when translated in Greek and then to English. That spirit in Greek is pneuma. Pneuma when translated means breath. It means that when you inhale the breath of God, that some things are exhaled out of your life. When you're living by the spirit, it means that you have to inhale, but let me help all those fundamentalist Pentecostals, charismatics who may be listening, who think that they got the spirit one time, but everybody knows that in order to survive, you can't breathe once. You got to keep on breathing. In other words, I've got to keep inhaling and exhaling because even though I inhale oxygen, something poisons within me that must be released out of me. I've got to exhale some other stuff so that I can inhale again. What I'm trying to let you know that the spirit doesn't come once. You got to work every single day for it and keep inhaling every hour of your life if you want to live a life of peace. Inhale. Ah, do something for me. Do something for me right now.

58:44 I need everybody just to just take a breath. Ah, just inhale. As a matter of fact, that should be your praise right now that when you can breathe you ought to get excited that you can breathe because it's something that you didn't produce for those of you who think you can do it all by yourself i invite you to try and get some oxygen all by yourself manufacture it all by yourself but you see when you wake up in the morning and you can breathe somebody ought to open up their mouth and give God praise because when you inhale, it means that you already exhale some stuff that doesn't belong in you. Mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. So the question becomes, how do we deal? How do we deal with this? If everyone, according to Paul, if everyone, according to Augustine, if everyone according to Thomas Hobbes, everyone will encounter what is destructive. Everyone will encounter the fact that we have to deal with the fact that we are pulled in the area of separation and solitude, that we want to lean into our own personal hedonism, where we want to do what we want to do because it feels good at the moment that we don't care how it affects other people. How do we handle this? And that is what the scripture is speaking.

1:00:18 That is what this word is today. That if you want to handle, if you want to breathe in the spirit every day, what Paul is trying to tell us is that you've got to have some self-reflection. In other words, in other words, you've got to find your mirror. You've got to look in the mirror and stop lying when you're looking in the mirror. You've got to look in the mirror and say that there are some things that God's got to work on that only God can do in my life. There are some things that are broken. You've got to face some things in the mirror, and most of us would rather look out a window and point at someone else's issues than look at the mirror and say, Lord, help me right now. You've got to look in the mirror. there's something known as self-reflection. Find your mirror.

1:01:14 Sometimes the greatest issues and the greatest conflict that we have with people that we love is because they are reflecting back the issue that we already have in our heart. That we are annoyed and frustrated with someone because they are simply a reflection of things that we have dealt with and are dealing with. We've got to find that mirror. And if I may add at this here, at this moment, that's why it's a good thing to make sure that you have some self-reflective friends. Some people who can tell you the truth and not lie when some stuff is raggedy in your life. You need some people who are self-reflective for you. Self-reflection then becomes this particular principle that we have to work out if we are going to breathe the Spirit daily. So self-reflection is one, yes, without a doubt that we must reflect, but it does not end there with simple self-reflection.

1:02:15 It means that there has to be some self-honesty. because after you see what is problematic, you've got to be honest enough to claim it and see that it does not honor Christ. But when you discover something in your own soul that does not illuminate the power of God, you've got to be courageous enough to turn it over to God that's why I am so incredibly impressed about women and men who go through the 12-step program because the 12-step program functions this way you've got to be self-reflective you've got to see some stuff but you've got to be honest and in that program it amazes me where someone has to stand before other people say their name and then admit that they are an alcoholic my name is such and such I'm an alcoholic so and so they will go on and tell their testimony of their alcoholism they have to admit they have to confess they have to testify in other words there has to be honesty in that mirror If you are going to breathe in the Spirit and have the opportunity to live this life of peace, which is not absence from tension and challenge, that's just an internal operation of what the Spirit will do.

1:03:56 There has to be self-honesty. So there is this idea of self-reflection. There is this idea of self-honesty. but I must bid you good day because the final thing that we must understand is when you are self-reflective and you are honest it leads to self-transformation. How does it lead to self-transformation? Because once you are willing to look in the mirror once you are willing to see what is broken and cracked and fragile once you are honest enough to claim it and go to Christ Self-transformation only comes when you make the choice. You can look in the mirror all day and say, I don't like this, but you'll still be the same way the next day because you ain't done nothing about it. But the thing is, when you decide that I choose, I make a choice this day.

1:04:53 I'm not saying what I'm going to do 10 years from now. But in this hour, in this moment, at this time, in this second, I make a choice to live a life differently. I make a choice for Christ right now. And this is the good news, that God gives us something known as free will. You can get with this or you can get with that. But I'm here to let you know that Jesus is where it's at. You can choose Christ. And that's the beautiful thing, is that God gives us choice. Once I've reflected and once I'm honest and when I make the choice to choose Jesus. That is the transformative moment. That's when I can inhale. With all my failures, I can choose Christ. With all my brokenness, I can choose Christ. With all the times I've messed up, I can choose Christ. No matter how many times I've stumbled, How many times I've fallen down?

1:05:59 I can get back up and I can call on my God. I can call on my Savior. I can choose Christ. Well, I've got to bid you good day, but I'm here to let you know we are our own worst enemy, but I'm so glad that we can choose Christ. because Christ will embrace us even within all our brokenness. I must tell you this one final thing here. I was doing some reading, and I love to read about shogun and also samurai culture. I have quite a few books that talk about this period, that feudal period in Japan. Something fascinating to me about the history and fascinating about how they went about ordering their lives. But I found out something called kitsugi.

1:07:00 Kitsugi, it was 15th century, 15th century Japan. There was a shogun who had some tea, teapots and things of that nature that were broken, and he sent them to get fixed. And when they came back, they were more jacked up than when he sent them out to get fixed. And so it was a group of Japanese craftsmen who found out a way to improve that which is broken, which they call kitsugi. You see, if you find a kitsugi pot today, it will be worth a lot of money. But the strange thing is when you find a kitsugi pot, they're imperfect, because the craftsmen are always looking for the pots that have been thrown away, the ones that have been broken, the ones that have been cracked, the ones that are always leaking water or leaking teeth. And what they do is they take the broken pieces and then they get some gold flecks and they use it to bind the broken pieces to the pot. So you'll have these cracks in the pot, but the pots that have the cracks in it have gold in the cracks. And what I want you to know is that when you get a kitsugi pot, it is more expensive than a regular pot because the potter has taken what is broken and added some more flavor and also more value.

1:08:34 And though you can see the cracks, the cracks are actually a testimony that speak to the potter who had their hands on the pot. You're still missing what I'm saying. You see, I want you to know that the God we serve pulls us out of the heap of what everybody has thrown aside, but then puts us back together, but doesn't put us back together so no one knows what we've been through. Because if you've got a crack in your spirit, if you've got a crack in your heart, the God we serve will fill it with grace and mercy, compassion and love. And you shouldn't be on the down low about what God has done for you. You ought to say, yeah, here's my scar, but my God healed my scar. Here's my crack, but my God filled my crack. Is there anybody in here?

1:09:29 Do you know our God will do a kitsugi on you? Will fill some cracks and bless your life. Good day. May the Lord bless you real good. But I want you to know that our God will bring you back together after you've been broken.

1:09:52 We got a God who will do some kitsugi work on you. who will fill some cracks. But there's got to be some self-reflection. There must be self-honesty in order for you to move to self-transformation. We are our own worst enemy. There will come a time when you thought you made it out. but they will pull you back in because of the choices that we have made, the decisions that we have put forth, the people we have surrounded ourselves with. We've separated ourselves from God. But thanks be to God that every day you have the opportunity to breathe in the Spirit of God and God will fill the cracks in your life.

1:11:01 The door of the church is open right now. If you want to commit yourself to Jesus Christ, we welcome you. We welcome you here at Trinity United Church of Christ. There is no other church this side of the Jordan that is unashamed and unapologetic like Trinity United Church of Christ. We welcome you to be a part of this community. Coming up on the screen, you'll see information. you can email us or call us right now those of you who are in the chat i want you to go ahead and say god has filled some cracks in your life kitsugi that's k-i-t-s-u-g-i kitsugi that god has done some kitsugi work with you that's a new word to speak in tongues they won't know what you're talking about i think you're speaking in tongues they say kitsugi kitsugi kitsugi and just give god praise that we've got a Katsuki God who will fill some cracks and add more value in your life.

1:12:05 We welcome you right now to be a part of Trinity United Church of Christ. Our digital pastor is right online at this moment. If you want to connect with Reverend Digi to become a part of this community. We praise God for you. And we thank you for being with us on this day. We're going to continue this series. I am my own worst enemy next week. And then we will go into February with our My Alpha series. My Alpha series that I believe that will be such a blessing to our community. The title of the series is It's Time to Get Free. It's Time to Get Free. And we're going to look at how we can get free, free in Christ, how our communities can be set free, how our families can be set free, how your dreams and visions can be set free, how you can be set free financially so that you can make an impact in your community. We thank you for being with us on this day, and we just want to offer this benediction at this moment. May the peace of God be with you. May the Spirit of God dwell in you. May the power of God rest upon you.

1:13:34 may you be unafraid to take some deep breaths in the morning and to fill yourself to fill your lungs with oxygen provided by our creator may the peace of God be with you and may the road rise to meet you may the wind always be at your back may the sunlight of Jesus Christ grace your cheek and may rain, may it gently fall upon your field. And may God keep you in the hollow of God's hand. Until we meet again, go in peace. And don't forget that our God said, Katsuki, in your heart and in your life. God bless.