Missing Children Sunday | "Spiritual Lessons from a Child" 6PM | Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III 05/31/26

1:01:55 with every head bowed and every heart open. Let us go to God in prayer. search us oh god and know our hearts and try us and see if there is any destructive way in us you discover what does not belong we ask that you would remove it from us and cast it into the sea of forgetfulness as far as the east is from the west that may never return again 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 certainly my Redeemer. Holy Spirit, do thy will.

1:02:51 Do thy will, Holy Spirit. We offer this prayer in the mighty, magnificent, beautiful, healing, liberating, salvific name of Jesus who is the Christ. And the people of God who love God may say, Amen. I want to invite everyone, if we might, take a look at the 18th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew. Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18. The 18th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew. We're going to be looking at the New Revised Standard Version. Whatever version you have is certainly the Word of God. It will also be placed on the screen. And it reads as follows, beginning with verse 1.

1:03:43 At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He called a child whom he put among them and said, truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like a child or another translation, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, It would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.

1:04:54 Woe to the world because of things that cause sin. Such things are bound to come. But woe to the one through whom they come. Truly I tell you Unless You change And become Like children You will never Get through the door Whoever becomes Humble Like this child Is the greatest in the kingdom Of heaven Whoever welcomes one such child In my name welcomes me another translation verse 6 if any of y'all cause one of these little children to stumble, to be harmed, to sin.

1:05:52 It would be better if a great millstone were wrapped around your neck and you were thrown into the depths of the sea. Unless you change and become like children, unless you change and become like a child. 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. We'd like to place a tag here on this text for the moments that we have together and deal with this idea of spiritual lessons from a child. spiritual lessons from a child if you'd be so kind as to turn to your neighbor at this time turn and look at your neighbor look at your neighbor, Kelly find a neighbor look at your neighbor even if they don't want to look at you like they're trying to take notes they're trying to be all deep no notes to take they're trying to look studious and simply say neighbor oh neighbor Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

1:07:22 Amen. Amen. Spiritual lessons from a child. Spiritual lessons from a child. I have to say it this way. I have to begin and say it this way. Grandparents are unique human beings. I have to say it again, I have to say it this way, that grandparents are unique human beings. One comedian said it this way, being a grandparent is God's gift for not completely losing your mind raising your children. Grandparents have the unique position of providing all the love, experiencing all the joy, with none of the responsibility.

1:08:31 Somebody clapping hard on that one. Grandparents can position themselves as hero or shero and never the villain. They intentionally spoil. They intentionally spoil and side with grandchildren over parents. They conspire and even say subversive things to children, grandchildren, like, don't tell your mama and your daddy I did this. One study in Berlin, Germany, found that a grandparent active in the life of a grandchild has significant health benefits, better cognitive functions, social connections, greater sense of purpose, and increased physical activity for the grandparent.

1:09:38 I've witnessed this firsthand. When my parents became grandparents, I remember the image of my father rolling on the floor with his grandchildren. Yes, my father. That laid-back, straight-laced man, slow and deliberate of regal speech. Otis, how are you? You know, that dude. Rolling on the floor, laughing with uncontrollable joy. spreading across his face as his two-year-old grandchild crawled across his back. Grandparents are unique human beings. If I may share a memory plucked from our family, Monica's parents, Chuck and Deborah Brown of Orlando, Florida, were elated when Elijah and Michaela entered their life crowning them grandparents. Mama Brown, Monica's mother, was given the name Nani and by our children, and Chuck was given the name Peepaw.

1:10:40 It was a joy visiting Florida when they were young because, as grandparents, they wanted to spend time with their babies. This allowed Monica and I some downtime that we might catch up, go shopping, do the movies, sleep, sleep, and sleep, and sleep. And inevitably, we would return, and we witnessed the joy experienced by Nani and Peepaw. We were told our children played and played and played and played and played, running, jumping, swimming, exploring, laughing, dancing, drawing, singing, until eventually everybody was worn out. Elijah always just fell asleep on the couch next to Peapaw and Michaela while not asleep but her engine slowing down with her Nami. Mama Brown said something that I've a statement that I've heard many grandparents state over the years.

1:11:42 She said this, if I could bottle up their energy and sell it, I would be rich. Whenever a grandchild visits a grandparent just for a few hours, the grandparent becomes like a child. Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Become like children. Become like children. Like children. Like a child. Matthew's gospel, borrowing from Mark, expands the words of Jesus in a richer dimension and detail. He presents Jesus as a sage, as this wisdom teacher and rabbi. The disciples are having a conversation in Scripture. In verse 1, obviously they have been having conversation.

1:12:38 And the residue of the empire is upon their words. Because they raise a question. They asked Jesus, can you tell us who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? The disciples are poisoned by the empire culture and residue of Rome is a part of their argument about hierarchy and position and pecking order among the faithful. What kind of question is that? Who's the greatest in God's kingdom? This residue from Rome, there must have been the residue of a class system in their words. Not unlike Rome, they thought that there was a privileged and underprivileged in the kingdom of heaven. There were lords and peasants, royalty and subjects, nobility and commoners. Even among the disciples, the residue of the Roman Empire clouded the vision of those walking with Jesus.

1:13:39 Beloved, look how Jesus answers. He sees that they are looking at the spiritual life through the residue of the empire. And Jesus does not answer the way in which they would like for him to answer. He answers to flip things on its head. He says this, truly I tell you, by placing a small child in front of them, Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like a child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes such a child in my name welcomes me. to become like a child. Jesus is offering these lessons, spiritual lessons that we receive when we are in the presence of children.

1:14:42 If I may, if I may, just to share a story, we have a nephew, a nephew by the name of Stevie. Stevie calls me uncle. He just says uncle. He doesn't say Uncle Otis, nothing like that. He just said Uncle Rev. No, he says uncle. And one day, his mother brought him by. And Monica and I, acting like joyous grandparents, our adopted grandchild, we were excited to hang out with this energetic, enthusiastic, and I refused to take a nap five-year-old. Went out to the park with Stevie. And Stevie, this is what he said. He said, Uncle, Uncle, watch me. I said, Yeah, man, what you doing? He said, Look at this. I said, Oh, that's something else. What you doing? He's just standing there like this. I was just excited to see him stand there just doing like this. That's all he was doing. He said, Uncle, look at me. He's doing like this. He's posing. I said, that's amazing. I've never seen anybody pose like that ever before.

1:15:35 Then he says to me, he says, Uncle, pick me up. He wants me to pick him up and place him high up on the jungle gym. He was afraid to climb up the ladder. He was afraid of heights, but he wanted me to pick him up because he knew that I had the power and the authority to pick him up, to place him in places he could not go himself because he wanted to be at this higher level, though he was afraid of heights. I knew he was afraid of heights and that he would get nervous when he got up there. But because he requested of me, I put him in the position he wanted to be. And I placed him up on the jungle gym. Once he got way up there and saw how high he was, he called my name again and said, uncle, come get me down. Get me down, uncle. So uncle went and reached him, reached up to him and brought him down. Even though I had placed him where he wanted to be, even though I knew that he didn't want to be there, but I let him go where he didn't want to go.

1:16:37 Because once he got up there, he would then realize I don't want to be up here in the first place because what I wanted is not what I needed. So he called my name again. And because I was nearby, I placed him where he needed to be. Some of you all miss me right now. That there is someone that sometimes God will place you where you want to be, but then once you get there, you realize that's not where you needed to be, and you call on the name of the Lord again, and God will put you back where you actually need to be. I reached up and brought him back down, and because he had good home training. When I took him and placed him on solid ground, he said, thank you, uncle, because I was able to do what he could not do for himself. He had to depend upon me, someone who had more power than him, and therefore, when I did something in his life, he said, thank you. Let me help you out. If God has ever taken God's hands and placed God's hands on you and moved you into a place that is now safe and secure, you ought to say thank you. If you've ever called on God and God showed up when you did not expect God to show up, you need to say thank you. If God has ever placed you on solid ground, you ought to say thank you. Is there anyone in here you are thankful that God will show up and place you on solid ground? Become like a child. Stevie helped teach me and helps to teach us when you are in the presence of a child. Stevie was resting in his limits. He was unashamed about calling me because he said there are certain things that I don't have

1:18:45 the power to do. But if I call on one who has more power, I can be in a space that I never thought that I would be in. There are those who have good home training and know that when you are placed in a particular position, you need to say thank you. And so I put Stevie back on the ground, and then Stevie did something, he got up on a ledge and he yelled across the park. He said, I'll go! Look! And Stevie jumped off the ledge and I said, and that ledge was four inches high and he landed on the ground he said look I said man I ain't never seen nobody jump like that that was amazing he got back up on the ledge again and he jumped again and he did a forward roll and said look at this and I said that's amazing that you jumped and he kept jumping back and forth for 15 minutes. I watched him jump off of that ledge. He said, Uncle, did you see? Was that amazing? I said, it was amazing. It looked as if he was flying. It was incredible. He was using his imagination, and he was doing something that Kirk Byron Jones speaks about, that he had reclaimed sacred play. He was just in the moment, enjoying what was happening in the moment. He was having fun for fun's sake, enjoying what was happening unless you become like a child. And there as he was having fun in the moment, not worried about an agenda, not worried about what would happen tomorrow, he's just jumping off a four-inch ledge or in the park and was experiencing joy in that moment. Stevie was learning coordination along with his imagination.

1:20:45 And one thing that we must reclaim is reclaim our sacred sense of play, meaning that we must be just rooted in a moment. Remove your agenda and be exactly where you are right now. Stop worrying about tomorrow? Stop worrying about what will happen in another hour? Can you be present enough in this moment where you can just experience the kind of joy that God is trying to pour into us? Unless you become like a child. But here is the thing, and that I must bid you good day, that we are taught by a child that I learned from Stevie, but also learned from some of our friends that is simply this. Children know how to experience joy. Let me say it this way. It is a friend of ours, Sister Liz, who expressed her joy when she heard that her grandbaby was going to be born in April. She put on a text thread that this little girl, this little baby by the name of mason would be born and she had so much joy that her grandbaby was going to be born and as an adult she was excited that she could be a grandmother and that is a sense of great joy but here is the thing that children teach us a different type of joy now i must say it this way there there is adult type joy, joy that you receive because you are joyous, but yet somebody else is sorrowful because you might have beat them in a match or a game. I was watching the Spurs game last night and there was a sense of joy when the Spurs beat the Oklahoma Thunder.

1:22:46 It was actually quite powerful to see this 22-year-old, 7'4", from France by the name of Victor Wimignaba. When he realized that he had won the game, all of a sudden he began to tear up. He covered his face and he grabbed all of his teammates and they began to weep and cry with joy. I don't know who he was looking at in the stands, but he looked up in the stands and held his fist to his forehead and just looked and began to cry. When they tried to interview him, all he could do was well up with tears and just say, this moment, it is my team, it is my team. And he just really even could not get out the expression of joy. But the cameraman didn't stay on Victor Wim and Yaba the whole time. They then cast the camera to those who were defeated that day, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

1:23:45 And there was not joy in their eyes. They had not experienced joy. They were having a moment of sorrow. You see, this is joy, adult joy, where you say you beat somebody, you won. There is a winner and there is a loser. There is a grandma joy, but it's not like a childhood joy. I have to say that childhood joy is different from adult joy because a childhood joy is just joy for joy's sake. Reverend Bryant, I was in the hallway. It was some time ago, and Reverend Bryant's son, Rain, was in the hallway. Rain was moving up and down the hallway, gave me a high five, and ran down the hallway and said, hey, man, how you doing? But then as Rain was in the hallway, Rain did something. Rain started to dance in the hallway.

1:24:39 And I looked around. I said, there was no music. But Rain was dancing anyhow. But then I realized that there was no music outside that was playing. The music was on the inside. And Rain just started doing his thing in the hallway. So I looked around in the hallway. There was nobody else in the hallway. So I started dancing too. And Rain and I were dancing in the hallway. And I realized that his music was coming from inside. And he was now the DJ. And he was dropping a song from his crate. And he was playing a song. And I decided to join in. And here we are with a small five-year-old. And here is an adult. We are both dancing in the hallway. And then something blessed me when I thought about Rain.

1:25:33 His name is Rain. He was doing a rain dance, you know, a rain dance. His name is Rain. He's doing a rain dance. And there are those who think that the rain dance in the indigenous community is about bringing the rain. It's about rain something from the outside. But when you do some more research about the indigenous community, the rain dance is not about the rain just coming down. It's about what's coming out of you. that there's already something in you. And if you dance long enough, that dance will become contagious. That joy will become contagious because the joy you have inside will touch somebody else you come in contact with. And so I stopped by here to find out if there's anyone in this house where there's a joy that has moved in your spirit.

1:26:31 You're not worried about who's on your right. You're not worried about who's on your left. You're not worried about who's in front. You're not worried about who's behind. But when you think about the goodness of God and all that God has done for you. When you think about the doors God opened that no man can shut. When you think about the doors God closed that no one can open. When you think how God picked you up and turned you around and planted you on solid ground. When you think about how God has healed you. When you think how God has pulled you back from trouble and travesty. When you think how God moved you out of a toxic relationship. When you think how God put food on the table, a roof over your head and clothes on your back. There's a joy that moves in your spirit and you begin your little rain dance thinking about the goodness of God.

1:27:33 Is there any...