MAAFA | "The Truth About Liberation" 6PM | Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III 02/08/26

1:23:18 Then they will pay attention to it and not to deceptive words. So the taskmasters, or translation, the overseers, and the supervisors of the people went out and said to the people, Thus says Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Go and get straw yourselves wherever you can find it. but your work will not be lessened in the least. So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble or straw. The taskmasters, the overseers, urged them on, saying, Complete your work, the same daily assignment as when you were given straw. And the Israelite supervisors, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, Why did you not finish the required quantity of bricks yesterday? and today as you did before. Then the Israelite supervisors came to Pharaoh and cried, why do you treat your servants like this? No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, make bricks.

1:24:23 Look how your servants are beaten, but the fault is with you. He said, you are lazy, lazy. That is why you work. Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord. Go now and work, for no straw shall be given to you, but you shall still deliver the same number of bricks. The Israelite supervisors saw that they were in trouble when they were told, you shall not lessen your daily number of bricks. As they left Pharaoh, they came upon Moses and Aaron who were waiting to meet them. They said to them, The Lord, look upon you and judge. You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us. Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, Oh my Lord, why have you mistreated this people?

1:25:33 Why did you ever send me since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name? He has mistreated this people. And you have done nothing at all to deliver your people. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of God's holy word. I'd like to place a tag here on this text for this moment. I'd like for us to deal with this simple idea in the continuation of this series that we have been in for Black History Month, The Genius of Black People. But we want to deal with this subheading of the truth about liberation. The truth about liberation.

1:26:33 If you could turn to your neighbor at this time and say to your neighbor, Neighbor. Neighbor. Oh, neighbor. Oh, neighbor. We need to tell the truth. We need to tell the truth. About liberation. About liberation. Let's find another neighbor. Find another neighbor. Say neighbor Oh neighbor Did you hear What Moses said He said Why Did you ever Send me The truth about liberation or the problem of liberation. The truth about liberation.

1:27:27 Beloved, courage and cowardice live in the same body. Courage and cowardice live in the same house. The flight or fight response exists in the same heart. Or as one might say it in a modern sense, throwing hands or throwing in the towel exists in the same body. We often think a person who is courageous has no fear. Desire is absent. The desire to flee is absent. Any flight response has been exercised from the body. But what makes a person courageous is they have the ability to manage and wrestle with the fear they are experiencing.

1:28:32 One writer states it this way, being courageous is nothing but fear being placed in a headlock by courage. Courage and fear occupy the same body. Courage and fear live in the same heart. But let me take a little bit further that fear has become and is a tool of the enemy. I would even go so far as to say fear is the primary tool of any empire and the greatest tool employed by cowardly men to obtain power without any principle. We live, we live in an age where fear is weaponized. Fear is weaponized and has become a commodity that drives an economy. This device I hold in my hand, it has the ability to connect people.

1:29:41 This device I hold in my hand is the number one weapon used by cowardly men to inject fear in the civic discourse. Do you not know that social media runs on fear? Social media runs on anxiety, inadequacy, outrage, and judgment. The more fear, the greater outrage, the longer you spend staring at your screen. Now let's submit that one of the greatest mountains as human beings that we will ever climb is the mountain of fear, is the mountain of anxiety, the mountain of unease, the mountain of rage, the mountain of inadequacy, and the mountain of judgment.

1:30:38 Courage and fear occupy the same body. we will until we learn to handle fear the truth is liberation is not possible the truth about liberation is that it does not function like a sitcom show where there's a situation a complication and it's resolved in 30 minutes Liberation, the path to human flourishing. Liberation, spiritual thriving. Liberation, deeper connection with God. Liberation, a higher commitment to the spirit. Liberation, perpetual spiritual growth is not clean nor simple. As a matter of fact, liberation is messy.

1:31:33 Liberation exposes our vulnerabilities. Liberation will show your bigotry, your weakness, your blind spots, false notions, brokenness, and destructive habits. Liberation is messy, but we know what we want to leave, but fear will keep us where we are. Many people stay in bondage because they are more comfortable with known misery than unknown possibility. Many people would rather suffer with what is familiar than wander in unknown freedom. Courage is difficult. Courage requires more than self-discipline or memory.

1:32:30 Courage demands a distinctive choice. Courage demands a choice. As Maya Angelou said years ago, she believes that courage, courage, courage is the greatest of all virtues because you cannot love unless you have courage. You cannot have peace unless you have courage. You cannot have hope. Unless you have courage, you cannot have faith. Unless you have courage, you cannot reconcile or forgive unless you have courage. She goes on to say that courage is the spark or the spark plug that ignites every other virtue. I submit to you that courage must be cultivated. Courage is difficult, but it must be cultivated. We must learn to be courageous. None of us are born courageous. You have to practice your courage and work through the fear.

1:33:39 We must practice courage, and I say it to this day. That is what this ma'afa is about. Now, we do this not just to honor our ancestors. We come in here, Trinity, and we celebrate what our ancestors did, but this is to help create conditions to develop courageous leadership in the face of fear. To learn where you have come from. And in your spiritual DNA is the same courage waiting to be unboxed and put forth. I say it this way. Know this. You are.

1:34:33 We are. Built for this moment. You were designed to handle what the enemy is throwing. When you know your own story, when you have had a serious session with your own soul, you can proclaim with certainty that we are built for this. You are built for this. We are built for this. Can I tell you all a secret? The enemy uses fear as a weapon. but truth be told the enemy is afraid of you You do not spend this much time and energy and money and resources. Do you know they fear you? They fear us.

1:35:33 You see, if the opposition weren't scared, they would not have to lie so much. You only got to lie when you're scared.

1:35:54 And you don't have to lie or bury facts of history or erase history. What you afraid of? If you think you're so supreme, you don't have to cheat in order to win. Michael Jordan never had to cheat to win a game. But guess what? Every time, even if he lost a game, he still walked off the court and said, I'm the baddest man on this court.

1:36:30 Muhammad Ali never had to cheat in order to win in the ring. Even when he lost, he still went back to his corner and said, I am the greatest. I float like a butterfly, and I still sting like a bee. Serena Williams has never had to cheat in order to be a champion. There is something about us that puts fear in the hearts of insecure men. Let me say it this way. males masquerading as men who stay up late at night, make posts trying to insult a beautiful, dignified, intelligent qualified, loving and scandal free couple Fear and cowardice cannot stand excellence and dignity.

1:37:35 I want to approach this text differently. I hope I'm able to communicate with what the Spirit was saying as I was reading this scripture about Moses, Aaron, and Mary. standing before Pharaoh, communicating the idea of liberation. In other words, free agency, the ability to live human flourishing, to be who God has called you to be. Speaking truth to power, stating, let my people go. It is within this fifth chapter, we witness the obedience of Moses, speaking with authority before a person who thought he had all authority. This was an act of courage to marginalized human beings standing before a person who is considered to be the most powerful individual on earth.

1:38:34 Our God is telling us, Pharaoh, that you need to let our people go. I'm saying to you, with all of your soldiers around you, it's just me and my brother and I got a staff. And I'm saying, I was told, let our people go. You know, it would have been easier for him, Moses and Aaron and Miriam just to be silent. Just to go along to get along. To ignore the call of God. But Moses chose to be obedient to a call. And didn't even know what he was getting into.

1:39:29 He was minding his own business. Had a good old job just tending some sheep. In the family industry. Then he sees a burning bush. God says, you need to take off your shoes. God speaks to him and said, you are going to deliver God's people. I've heard the groaning of my people. And Moses accepts the call from God to go before Pharaoh and even has a dialogue with God. Moses says, I'm not sure you're talking to the right brother. Don't you know I have a speech impediment?

1:40:13 God says, well, bring your brother. Let him do the talking. Either way, keep going. I called you. But don't you know I'm in retirement right now? I've got my third AARP card. Are you sure you want to call me? Yes. because I've heard the groaning of my people. Here is a simple principle that I want you to hear today.

1:40:49 Moses chooses to be obedient to the call. Be obedient to the call that God has placed upon your spirit. And in this moment, we are called to be obedient to the call that God has placed upon our spirit collectively. Be obedient to the call. There is a moment in this moment that we must ask in our own private prayer closet. of all that is happening in this world, the question will be asked years from now. The question will be asked by your children's children's children.

1:41:46 The question will be, where were you when democracy was on fire? Where were you when ice came for your neighbor? Where were you when they came for our voting rights? Where were you when they put children in cages? This is a spiritual question that has political implications, not a political question with some spiritual residue. often when I have to speak for a King Day, I usually quote a poem that I read and received from Dr. Vincent Harding that speaks about how we view the movement. When you do King Days, there's always a bunch of elected officials who don't support anything that Dr. King would have supported.

1:42:51 But they come and they bring remarks. And there's this wonderful poem that says this. Now that he is safely dead, let us build monuments to his name. It is easy to celebrate a dead man than it is to build a new world. I remember one time asking my parents when I was young because I was romanticizing the civil rights movement. I said it must have been so exciting that all people of African descent, black folk, were so unified. Y'all were fighting for voting rights and standing against the Klan and pushing against militarism. Everybody was working together. And they paused and looked at me and said, no. As a matter of fact, most people were not involved. Most people were silent.

1:43:48 Now that that day is gone, you can't find anybody that wasn't involved. But then it was difficult to find somebody to get involved. They were obedient to the call. They recognized that there was a call upon their lives. And we must recognize that the work that we do, the call that God has given us, is not about us. The call that God has given us is about those you will never meet. Each of us in this space, no matter how smart you think you are, no matter how many degrees you got on your wall, you stand on the shoulders of somebody else. someone who did not have the opportunity, someone who was insulted, someone who was brutalized, someone who was marginalized, and we stand on their shoulders.

1:45:09 And they could never have envisioned some of the spaces that we are able to enter into today. But they had moral courage to say I'm not doing this for me. I am doing this for some folks I will never meet. I'm reminded of why people shout so much at an HBCU graduation. If you've ever been to an HBCU graduation, it always starts off pomp and circumstance. Please hold your applause until the class of 2026 receives their degrees. Then we will clap for the entire class of 2026. Every single year, the dean gives the same statement.

1:46:12 Every single year, Big Mama ignores the same statement. because when she sees her child walk across that stage, she remembers how she has been praying for this day, and she starts shouting, saying, thank you, Jesus. But she's not shouting just for herself. She's shouting for a cloud of witnesses who made the moment possible. And all I want someone to understand is you sit in these seats. You are where you are. The abilities that you have is not just because of you. It is because we stand on the shoulders of others, people named and unnamed. And there are moments in our lives where we have to celebrate those who came before us.

1:47:11 And if they did this for us, it is our responsibility. to make a way for somebody else. I'm trying to say it. I'm trying to say it. Doing the best I can. I like the way that Howard Thurman says it. When he was a child, he met an elder who was planting pecan or pecan trees, depending upon what part of the country you are from. And Thurman, when he was probably about 12 years old, said to this man who was probably about 87 years old, he said, sir, you are not going to live long enough to be able to taste the fruit of the trees you're planting. And the elder said this, all my life, I've been eating the fruit from trees I did not plant. The least I can do is plant something for somebody else.

1:48:14 And I stopped by here today. Do I have any planters in the house that you are willing to plant for another generation? You are willing to plant for those who are yet to be born. This is our responsibility, is to plant for those who are in the not yet. This is not about you. This is not about me. We stand on the shoulders of others, and we must be obedient to the call that God has placed upon our heart. But look at the scripture at what happens. Moses stands before Pharaoh, says to Pharaoh, let my people go. And Pharaoh pauses for a second and says, let your people go.

1:49:15 They're my people. I don't know your God. I've never met your. Don't you know who you're talking to? I'm Pharaoh everything has my name on it I'm Pharaoh. Can't you see the buildings that I've built around here? Look, how dare you say this to me? He responds, Reverend Rice, and says, no. So, as a matter of fact, I want y'all to work harder. Because, you know, y'all some lazy folks.

1:50:07 Because we see that you all just, y'all don't work hard enough. So we're going to make the economic conditions worse for you and your people. Even though all of your labor will benefit me and my family. And so he appoints, according to scripture, taskmasters. Another translation, he appoints overseers and superintendents. Now look at this. He appoints taskmasters and overseers. He actually gets other Jewish people, other Hebrews, to be over the Jewish and Hebrew community. Let me help you out. He finds some good colonized folks.

1:51:01 For him to pass out his agenda, colonize people from the house. Didn't get any field folk Just colonized people Said that you get a dollar more than they do We'll give you access to rooms they don't have You get to stand at the outside of the party, not to the party, but you get to come in the building.

1:51:59 And so their own people are a part of their oppression. Did you see this? Their own people are a part of the oppression. You got to be careful because even today there are overseers and superintendents that have been dispatched in our community. There are overseers on the Supreme Court, overseers who are entertainers, overseers who are political overseers. There are intellectual overseers and there are overseers in the pulpit who preach every Sunday, not for the liberation of the community, but to please somebody else who's not even in the room. And Moses and Aaron are struggling at this moment.

1:53:03 Can you imagine that you have been called by God of the task of liberation? The problem is you didn't understand the truth of liberation. You thought liberation was going to be quick. You didn't realize this is a generational fight. That it doesn't end with you. You are just receiving the baton. and your job is only to run the race you've been given on the leg you have been given. And when you end, you need to pass what you have on to somebody else. This is not about you. It is not about me. And Moses and Aaron become so frustrated when they hear their own people saying, You brought a bad odor upon us because of your action. It's your fault that we are not in the room.

1:54:03 It's your fault we didn't get appointed to the position. It's your fault that we're not making the money we thought we would. It's your fault. We had these good jobs with Pharaoh. And then Pharaoh decided that we couldn't be like Joseph and be second in command. And so Moses does something that I believe we need to examine. He says this, Oh my Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you even send me? here is what I want to share with you we've got to be honest about our spiritual and mental health Moses says Lord I don't know why you sent me Lord I want you to know that you haven't done anything I've got to speak to you and be honest and unfortunately we we have such toxic theology Harmful theology.

1:55:18 That is why Dr. Stephanie Crumpton's book is so powerful, We Gonna Be Alright, that chronicles the trauma that we experience and that is necessary to be honest about our spiritual and our mental health. We need to check in and we need to be honest and about our prayer life without toxic and harmful theology. Let me say it this way. All of us have had a Moses prayer moment where we had a question before God. God, why did you do this? And when are you going to show up? Why did you even send me? I don't understand why I'm doing this because it seems that I'm seeing failure more than I'm seeing success. Why would you do this?

1:56:20 That is why we've got to learn how to be honest about our spiritual and mental health. that we do a disservice when we say that people have to be so holy and cannot raise questions before God. When Jesus was on the cross, Jesus had enough sense to say, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? And there are questions that I have in this moment. And I wonder in this painful time, I want to know why, God, you allowed such an infantile narcissist to become a cult figure in this nation. Why have billionaires who have no moral center become the thought leaders? Why have celebrities become the leaders in this moment?

1:57:19 It hurts watching and hearing and reading. Why? I want to know when I look at the horror of Gaza and the horror of genocide in Gaza and the genocide in Sudan and the genocide in Congo. I raise the question why. I get overwhelmed. Sometimes I just want to check out. Tired of this. I want to see some liberation. The question is how do you check in when you want to check out? I got to tell you something sometimes I have to look at my wrist so I can check back in a few years ago I got a watch I'm wearing it right now my watch is a reminder on the face of this watch is a gentleman that many may not know some of you have heard I've mentioned him before a person by the name of Robert Smalls I look at my watch and then I know what time it is not what it is chronologically, but I'm talking about Kairos time, talking about God's time. When I look at Robert Small's picture, then I have to repeat Robert Small's story in my spirit. For those of you who never heard of Robert Small's, because he was written out of American history, because they were fearful if black people heard this story, and if white people heard this story, it might cause a revolution. Because Robert Smalls was so committed to God that it was Robert Smalls who was born in Buford, South Carolina. Born an enslaved African, but when his child, Robert Jr., was born, Robert and his wife had to plan for freedom unlike any other plan. Robert Smalls worked on a ship, on the shipyards in Charleston, South Carolina.

1:59:14 And he realized that racism was ignorant and arrogant at the same time. You know that he was allowed to clean the ship. He was allowed to fix the ship. He was allowed to drive the ship, but he couldn't be the captain of the ship. And so he noticed that the people who were the captain and the XO would disappear and go to the red light district every Friday night and wouldn't show back up until Monday. So Robert said, well, I got an idea. I'm going to bring my family on Friday night after they leave the ship and bring 11 more family members onto the ship. And when they got onto the ship, because Robert Smalls had memorized all of the Confederate war codes, He put on a Confederate uniform early on a Saturday morning before the sun came up.

2:00:14 Nothing but the moonlight was out. And they decided they were going to sail a Confederate ship out of the Charleston Harbor. Put on a hat and an outfit and came to the harbormaster. And all the harbormaster could see was a silhouette of a man. and he just gave all of the necessary codes and whistles and the harbormaster went like this and Robert Smalls went like this and said, peace, we out of here.

2:00:44 He sails out of the Charleston Harbor but passed Fort Sumter where the Civil War began and then the Union forces had a blockade to say, shoot down any, fire upon any ship that comes out of the Charleston Harbor. But thank God Sister Smalls was on the ship. Sister Smalls said, make sure you got a white sheet. You bring it with us when we get on the ship. And so there was a union ship about to fire on the ship called the Planter. And Sister Smalls said, get me that sheet and run it up the flagpole to say that we surrender. And so they run the sheet up the flagpole. But then we notice that a fog comes in and they can't see the flag. And so the Union forces train their guns on this ship and they begin a count.

2:01:44 One, two, and before they say three, like a movie on cue, the sun comes out and starts burning away the fog. and they see a flag of surrender. Somebody says, halt! And they don't fire their guns and they board this ship looking for white people. They look everywhere on the ship. Can't find no white people on the ship. And then Robert Smalls walks up to the captain and says these words. My name is Robert Smalls. I give this ship to Abraham Lincoln for the fight to freedom. And I wasn't there, but I can imagine all the soldiers saying, what? The words of what Robert Small does goes across the United States.

2:02:49 He then moves to Philadelphia with his family, sends his children to Europe to study. But then he joins the Union Army, becomes the first African American who serves in the Union Army as an officer. And then he says, this still is not enough. He and his wife make a decision that they would move back to South Carolina after the war. But here's the crazy thing. They buy the house and the plantation where they were held slaves. And allow the mistress who was still there to live on the property. Not in the big house, a small Airbnb in the back somewhere.

2:03:40 They start four schools for black children. They become the richest black couple in South Carolina. Still not enough. He then decides, I've got to run for Congress. He runs for Congress and he wins. Serves in Congress for 10 years. then offers legislation that everyone in this room has benefited from. The legislation was what we know today as the public school system in America. The reason we have public schools is because of Robert Smalls. I sometimes have to check in and realize what our ancestors did with less than what we have today. If they could do so much with less, then I believe we can do so much more with what we had.

2:04:46 I have to check in with Thurman and Baldwin and Butler and check in with Jesus and Scripture and know what we are called to do. That in the fifth chapter, in this fifth chapter, you do not hear the voice of God. You hear Pharaoh's voice. You hear Moses' voice. You hear the overseer's voice. But you don't hear the voice of God. And all I want to say to you as I close, you've got to be ready for the move of God when God moves you to another chapter. Because in chapter 5, there are no miracles. In chapter 5, you have to face the truth of liberation. It takes work.

2:05:38 In chapter 5, Pharaoh does not release God's people. Pharaoh decides, I'm going to keep everything. The truth is, we are in chapter 5. But here's the thing. Chapter 4, he heard the voice of God. Chapter 5, God is silent. Chapter 6, the voice of God appears again. But in chapter 5, Moses and Aaron and Miriam must be obedient to the call and honest about their mental and spiritual health. there will be chapters in your life. There will be a chapter four. You'll be sure God spoke. But then chapter five is going to show up and you're going to wonder, God, did I really hear you speak in chapter four? And you're going to have to hold on while you're in your chapter five because chapter five lasts longer than any other chapter that you will experience in your life.

2:06:42 that if you can hold on in your chapter 5, that God's still writing, that God is not done, that God has not forgotten us. That's why I'm reminded of a poet by the name of James Cleveland. He says, I don't feel no way tired. I've come too far from where I started from. nobody told me the road would be easy but I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me I'm speaking to everybody in chapter 5 you haven't made it to chapter 6 but you still have memory of what God did in chapter 4 I'm here to let you know God did not bring you this far just to leave you good day. May the Lord bless you real good.

2:07:39 But I'm here to let you know hold on. Hold on. Hold on. A little while longer. Hold on. Keep praying. Keep fighting. Keep struggling. And there will come a time when God will turn the page and you will hear the voice of God again. We are in Chapter... you will hear pharaoh's voice you'll hear your voice you'll hear the overseer's voice but you're not going to hear god's voice until chapter six don't let anyone tell you when chapter six will come they don't know But I can tell you this.

2:08:48 If you've already been through chapter four, you know you've had an experience. Hold to the memory. Stay to the work. In the words of our southern ancestors, keep your hand on the plow. and there will come a time when you will move to chapter 6 this ain't a chapter 6 moment chapter 6 is for shouting chapter 5 is for reflection chapter 6 is for your hallelujah chapter 5 is for your prayer ministry chapter 6 is when you can talk about the liberation, but chapter 5 is when you've got to do your own check-in with other people.

2:09:42 We are in chapter 5 as a community, and we're in chapter 5 as a nation. And this, my friends, is the truth about liberation. The door of the church is open.