"Overcoming Old News", Min. Tamisha Mills

0:00 Grace and peace, Alfred Street. I am Minister Tamisha Mills. And let me just say, it is such a joy to be one of your 2021 summer interns. I have been elated to be here. Some of you I've met in person. Some of you I met via Zoom and some Bible studies. And some of you I have not met yet. But I just want to say thank you for the warm welcome here at Alfred Street Baptist Church. Now, I bring you greetings from the Greater Allen AMB Cathedral of New York. It's in Jamaica, Queens, and my senior pastor is the Reverend Dr. Elaine Flake. I honor your pastor, the Reverend Dr. Howard John Wesley, for this opportunity to share with you in the preached word. Now, before we go to the word of God, let us just pray and invite the spirit in our space here today.

0:57 Let's pray. Gracious and eternal God, we thank you, we praise you, we honor you, O Lord. You are God and God alone, and beside you there is no other. God, we pray that your anointing would fall today. We pray, O God, that your Holy Spirit will lead and guide us to all truth. And now, God, we pray that you and you alone get the glory today. It is in Jesus Christ's name we do pray. Amen. Our scripture today comes from the gospel according to John chapter 9 verse 25. Verse 25 will be our focus, but I'd like to read the first 24 verses as well to give you a little bit of context to this story. Now bear with me Alfred Street, I know that's a lot of text, but I'd ask you to read along with me. Turn to John chapter 9, and we're going to read verses 1 through 25. And I'm reading from the New King James Version. It reads like this.

2:03 Now, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he said these things, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva. And he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And he said to him, go wash in the pool of Siloam, which is translated scent. So he went and washed and came back seeing.

3:01 Therefore, the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, Is not this he who sat and begged? Some said, This is he. Others said, He is like him. He said, I am he. Therefore, they said to him, How were your eyes opened? He answered and said, A man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and I received sight. Then they said to him, Where is he? He said, I do not know. They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. Now it was Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.

4:01 He said to them, he, meaning Jesus, put clay on my eyes and I washed and I see. Therefore, some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath. Others said, how can a man who is a sinner do such signs? and there was a division among them. They said to the blind man again, what do you say about him because he opened your eyes? He said, he is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. And they asked them saying, is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?

4:55 His parents answered them and said, we know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But by what means he now sees, we do not know. Or who opened his eyes, we do not know. He is of age, ask him. He will speak for himself. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that he was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore, his parents said, he is of age, ask him. So they again called the man who was blind and said to him, give God the glory. We know that this man is a sinner. Verse 25 says, he answered and said, Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know.

5:52 One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see. I'd like to preach today from sermon topic, overcoming old news. Overcoming old news. Before I came to seminary, I worked in television. and before that, I got my master's in journalism. There was a time in my life when I either wanted to be on camera reporting the news or I wanted to be a journalist writing the news for my community. And about eight or nine years ago, I remember this time, I remember this time, Pastor Wesley, where the key was to go to these events and town hall events and find the story. In the field of journalism, we use these terms like getting the scoop and old news. I remember the task of going to try and find the story and trying to write up the story and get it to my editor before the story became old news.

7:01 Now, old news means exactly what you think it is. It is old. It is no longer relevant. Maybe it was picked up by some other publications, but the fact is the excitement, the mystery, and the suspense around that story is no longer there. Now, for me, it was an issue. I had a problem with this because there's nothing worse than gathering all of these materials, going through all this trouble to get the sources and the content and write the story only for your editor to say, sorry, Tamisha, but this is old news. Today, the news cycle is 24-7. A story can be old in literally a blink of an eye. Anytime you take a break from social media, I don't know if you all do this, but anytime you take a break from social media just for a few hours, or God forbid, for a full day, you can be absolutely sure that you're going to miss something. You are going to miss a story.

8:03 you are going to miss some type of breaking news. And by the time you get back, folks have already tweeted about it. They have already posted about it. They have formed opinions. They wrote articles. They read articles. And they created 50 memes or TikToks about that particular story. And by the time you're ready to post about it, it's old news. And I like to think that our lives, beloved. They are news cycles. We are a walking sequence of events and stories. As we live our lives and tell our stories, we will need to differentiate between the old news and what's new. You see, I came to help somebody today because there are times that we get so fixated on what happened that we can't see what's happening. I believe there are some of us that are trapped in who we were back then, and we forget to embrace who we are right now, and dare I say, who we are becoming. We are not working on our new story because we're still trying to put these pieces together from our old story. Stay with me, Alfred Street.

9:26 Now, this text in the book of John, it may be familiar to some of you. And I know for me, it's always been an intriguing story to read. But in my study of this, I realized there's so much happening here. There are a number of ways to interpret this text, and there are a number of perspectives on what is most important here. But just in my own likeness of this text, I've always been stricken with one line from this story, and that's verse 25. The man says, whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, Now I see. That to me is such a clear and profound statement. It's one of those statements you hear and you feel like you should just say point blank period.

10:22 That's the end, right? In other words, this man is saying all that other stuff you all are trying to figure out. I don't know anything about that. But this I do know. Before I was blind. But now I see. Before I was this, but here's who I am now. When I read that, it's clear to me that the man is not focused on why he was born blind. He is not concerned about the legalities of Jesus's act. And he is unbothered about who is a sinner. The Pharisees, the Jews, the people in the town were so fixated on the old and how they knew he was blind. But this man is focused on making the distinction between who he was before and who he is now.

11:23 He is determined to overcome old news. The Pharisees were committed to the old news of him being blind that they could not come to terms with how God had changed him to be who he is now. And if we want to overcome old news, we will have to make the distinction between who we were then and who we are now. I want to be clear about this. This came up during adult vacation Bible school. if you were at Bible school this week. So I wanna be clear, the focus is not necessarily on the man being blind. What I want you to see here is that Jesus changed who the man was then into who he is now. Now that change that happens here is Jesus giving the man his sight.

12:20 And the scene of this encounter between the man and Jesus, I submit to you is how we can overcome our old news. I said before, there are some perspectives on this, but one that I particularly like comes from a professor named Caroline Lewis. And she argues that we cannot just focus on the miracle of seeing, and I would agree with that, But we must talk about hearing, seeing, and believing. How do you overcome old news? By doing what our dear brother in this text did, by hearing, seeing, and believing. Here's how I know. The first time the man encounters Jesus, he hears Jesus' voice. Verse 7, Archange, says that Jesus told the man, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.

13:18 And the text says that then he went and washed, came back, and was able to see. Before he could see Jesus, and before the man had experienced the divinity of Jesus for himself, he heard his voice and instruction. A part of differentiating between the old and the new is hearing the voice of Jesus. We need to discern when it is time for us to come out of our old. Now, I was not there, but the text does not say the man asked Jesus to give him his sight. What it does say is that Jesus spoke to him, gave him instruction, he heard his voice, and he went. Some of us are stuck in our old state because we have yet to hear God's voice and instruction.

14:18 We have yet to discern that the time in our old state is up. The man was blind and he was listening attentively for the instruction and he heard the voice of Jesus and he went. Here's how the man comes out of his old. He hears from Jesus and then he starts seeing Jesus. So the man is blind. He cannot see Jesus, but he can hear him. Then Jesus forms clay with his saliva. You know the story. And dirt wipes the man's eyes. the man goes and washes and now he comes back and now he can see Jesus. Not only can he see Jesus, but he can see all the things and the people that he could not see before. Now he can see the people that at one time watched him begging on the road. Now he can see all the people who are about to doubt what God has done for him. And if we are going to overcome our old, we need to start seeing Jesus in our midst. Some of us have not overcome because we have been conditioned to believe that Jesus is not working on our behalf. Some of us can't overcome our old news because we have yet to see that Jesus has changed us from who we were then to who we are now. The voice of that parent or that spouse or that teacher that told you you were never going to amount to anything, that voice is ringing in your ear and you're having difficulty seeing how Jesus has transitioned you into a whole new narrative. We need to see Jesus in our midst. See him. We need to hear him.

16:15 And lastly, by the end of the chapter, we see the man overcome his old news by becoming a believer. In spite of what the people said, in spite of how they got his parents involved, in spite of how much they just could not understand who he was now. In spite of all of those things, he believed that Jesus was in fact Lord. In verse 38, the man says, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped Jesus. You see, I don't want us to miss this. After he had articulated his story a few times, after he explained what Jesus did time and time again. After the Pharisees asked him for the second time, he began to form his own opinion about Jesus.

17:10 We see him clap back at them in verse 30. He says, there's the astonishing thing. You don't know where he's from, yet he opened my eyes. Then he says, if this man were not from God, he could do nothing. You see, Dr. Judy, the more he articulated his new and differentiated from his old, the more he began to believe in who Jesus was. And I came to tell somebody today, if you're going to overcome those old narratives that folks try to impose on you, you're going to have to keep articulating your new. You're going to have to start believing in the God who changed you from your old into your new. Believing is knowing that God took you from your then and situated you in your now. Believing is understanding where you are now and expecting that God has more in store for you. Believe that if God did it for you then, then he can certainly do it for you now. Believing in who God is and what God has done for you is the way to overcome old news. People will keep asking you, how did you gain all that confidence? How are you able to do some of the things that they cannot? How did you come out of your situation. And let me tell you, when you believe that God made a way, you have no choice but to give God credit for all that God has done.

18:51 believe what God did for you then is what God can do for you now I wonder if there's anybody in the virtual sanctuary that could just drop that in the chat I believe that God is the reason I am who I am today I am no longer living in my old but I am a new creation old things have passed away and behold, all things are new. When they ask you how your eyes were opened, tell them how. When they ask you, how is it you are now seeing? Tell them it is because I heard from God. When they ask you how you made it out, tell them it is because I am a believer. It's always the ones from back in the day that saw you when you were in your old or saw you when you were struggling or when you needed help. It's always those people that can't seem to believe that you have changed.

19:52 They can't seem to be convinced. Be careful about the people around you that say they're praying with you, but when your prayers come to pass, they seem so shocked. It's always those folks who never want to acknowledge your change. They can't believe you're not who you used to be. Tell them who you are now. I'll tell you a funny story. This story birthed out of verses. You see, the interns, we sat down in the think tank for the verses. I think we were coming up with the questions for the semifinals. And we were coming up with these questions, Reverend Marcia. We were sitting down with Pastor Wesley and Dr. Judy, and we got to Mary Magdalene. and who she was. And we wanted to create a question about her. And lo and behold, one of the first things that folks remember about my dear sister, Mary Magdalene, is that she was a woman that had seven demons cast out of her.

20:57 And I had to interject, I had to interject, Reverend Barbara, because why is it that the one thing that folks cannot forget about her is that she had seven demons in her? Have you ever ran into someone who just will not stop calling you by your childhood name? Or someone who just feels they need to remind you of who you used to be or something you used to do in the past? Why is it that Mary Magdalene cannot shake this reputation? So I said, time out, pause, let's flag on the play, all of that. I said, yes, she had seven demons, right? But Pastor Wesley, that's who she was. That's old news, right? In Luke chapter eight, she is identified as a woman who funded Jesus's ministry out of her own resources.

21:53 In other words, she used to be demon possessed, but now she is a devoted benefactor. And I just came to tell somebody today in the virtual sanctuary that there are gonna be some people that will want to identify you by what you used to be and who you used to be, but we are not gonna do that. What we're gonna do is let God define who it is that you are.

22:18 If you cannot step out of that old mindset, it's going to be hard for you to live in your future. God wants to make sure that folks have no choice but to put some respect on your name. Sister Mary Magdalene, she used to be demon-possessed, but the writer of the Gospel of Luke had no choice but to mention her contribution to Jesus' ministry. You can overcome old news. You see, when you step into your purpose, when you honor all that God has done for you, make these folks put some respect on your name. You don't have to always be Ray Ray from down the street who may be flunked out of school, but tell them they may call you Raymond, the man that was called according to God's purpose. I came to declare to someone today that God wants to make your future so favorable that people are going to have to forget your past.

23:23 Folks will no longer be able to associate you with your old name because that title just no longer holds up. You can overcome old news. The man in this text, John chapter nine, is teaching us on today, teaching us how to overcome our old state. How did he do it? by hearing, by seeing, and by believing, by staying true to his witness. In the text, it says he kept telling them how he was able to now see. Gil, it said he kept talking about this encounter with Jesus. Let me ask you, Alfred Street, what more will Jesus have to do? What more will he have to do in order for you to stay true to your witness? For some of us, Jesus has spat and wiped mud on our eyes multiple times, yet we are struck in the place of blindness. What more will Jesus have to do for you to overcome your old news? When will you acknowledge the new thing that God wants to do in your life? How long will you use the excuse of who you used to be to stop you from embracing who you are now? How long will you be afraid of commitment because the previous situation went wrong?

25:00 How long will you put off getting the degree because you're reminded of how much you struggled in school back in the day? How many more ways can Jesus spit in the dirt in order for you to see how he has brought you over? And I'll leave you with this. When I was out reporting during journalism school, I would not let up with these editors. There were times I would get so focused on a story, I knew it was pressing, I felt like people needed to hear it, and they had deemed it old news. Here's what the editor said to help me out. Here's what they said, Reverend Mark. They said, Tamisha, if you want to use this story, here's how you overcome the fact that it's old news. This is what I want you to do.

25:53 They said to me, find me a new source. The editor said, T, if you find a new source and they give you new information, then I will run your story. And I came to tell somebody today, the way to overcome old news is to identify a new source. The difference between the old news that the Pharisees could not let go, the difference, Archange, between that and the man who is now standing before them, that difference was Jesus. Jesus was the difference. Jesus is the source. And I came to let someone know today that the crew you used to hang with, the divorce you're still thinking about, the job that lets you go, the mindset that you were used to, all of those things are old news. It's time for you to cite a new source.

26:52 And that new source is Jesus. Now, I'm sorry. I know that sounds cliche, but I have to tell you the way somebody told me. It's time for you to report on what's happening today and what is about to come. Yes, that thing happened to you. Yes, it's a part of your history. Yes, it may have even been worth mentioning. But guess what? God is doing a new thing in your life. So report on that. Let folks know what they can expect from you now. The man said, here's what I do know. Though I was blind, now I can see. Here's how you overcome your old news. Tell them that you're a developing story. There is new content. You have a new source and this source does not need to remain anonymous. His name is Jesus. Print that name and quote him with no misspellings. He's looking to rewrite your ending if you just embrace your new. What will you say when they ask you, what have you been up to? Will you embrace your new state? Or will you try to fit into who they expect you to be and mismanage your miracle. You can overcome old news by hearing, hearing it's time to come out of your old, by seeing how Jesus has brought you out, and by believing that the Lord has so much more in store for you. That is my prayer for you today, that you overcome by hearing Jesus, by seeing him, and by believing.

28:45 God bless you.