Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III | "A Consecrated Contradiction" 6PM 08/16/26

1:24:21 Back to verse 1. It reads, Jacob settled in the land where his father lived as an undocumented migrant. The land of Canaan. This is the story of Jacob. But verse 3 says, Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children because he was the son of his old age. This is the story of Jacob. Now Israel loved Joseph more. This is the story of Jacob. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children because he was the son of his old age, and he made him an ornamented robe.

1:25:23 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. I'd like to place a tag here for our teaching at this moment. I want us to deal with this idea of a consecrated contradiction. A consecrated contradiction. And if you would be so kind as to look at your neighbor at this time and say, neighbor, oh neighbor, I'm sorry to have to say this, but you're looking at a contradiction. Amen. Amen.

1:26:16 Find another neighbor. Scripture says Turn to your neighbor and say, Neighbor. Oh, neighbor. Scripture says This is the story of Jacob. Amen.

1:26:39 A consecrated contradiction. River Marco, it is no secret that I love music. Specifically, I really love jazz music, hip-hop music. I just love all music. But there is a jazz musician many of you have heard of by the name of Miles Davis. He's a brilliant trumpeter who played with such lush tones, romantic, sonic signatures, an easy and effortless genius. It was Miles Davis, that many music critics said, was the one who taught people that less is more.

1:27:40 But when he got off stage, Miles Davis could be cruel, downright mean, and brutal to those he was closest with, especially the women who he supposedly loved. He was a contradiction. Another name that many of you may be familiar with, a person by the name of Adam Clayton Powell, arguably one of the greatest politicians, orators, and activists of the 20th century. No congressman before or since has authored more legislation than Adam Clayton Powell. He was a fearless leader, towering political figure, supporter and defender of Malcolm X, and the pastor of the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York.

1:28:46 But Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, when not in the halls of Congress or standing behind the pulpit at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, In his private life, he struggled, how should I say it, with monogamy and was well known for his consistent wandering eye. Powell was a contradiction. There was another person you may know, an artist by the name of Pablo Picasso, a man who created beauty upon canvas with color and configurations that caused even the pedestrian art lover to weep at what had been framed on canvas by his artistic imagination. But in his private life, he was difficult to deal with, cruel to his friends and to his co-workers.

1:29:52 He could put beauty on canvas, but then at the same time create cruelty in one spirit. Pablo Picasso was a contradiction. A name that anyone who is an architect fan or knows anything about architecture, especially within the Midwest. A person by the name of Frank Lloyd Wright. The most well-known and well-regarded architect in American history. His genius created what is known as the Prairie School. The words, form follows function. will forever be attached to his legacy, the architecture of the Midwest, specifically Chicago, is indebted and tied to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. But in his private life, he was clearly a narcissist, extraordinarily possessive, and it is reported that he exploited his students in his later years to do a large portion of his work without giving his students any compensation or credit. Frank Lloyd Wright, an architectural genius, but at the same time a narcissist, he was a contradiction. Scripture says that we read today, Jacob settled in the land where his father lived as an undocumented immigrant, the land of Canaan. One translation says, this is the story of Jacob. Another translation states, these are the descendants of Jacob.

1:31:45 What must be understood is that this is Jacob's story, even though from verse 37 on, we highlight Joseph, but it's really a story about Jacob. The story is about Jacob, and in verse 3, the scripture does something strange, turns a phrase. I do not want you to miss this on this day. It says Israel loved Joseph more than any of his children because he was the son of his old age. He made him an ornamented robe. This is strange. It's peculiar for several reasons. One, Joseph is not his child of his old age.

1:32:44 Benjamin is the child of his old age. But scripture says he loved Joseph more. But not that he just loved Joseph more. It says Israel loved Joseph more. This is peculiar. I had to consult my seminary professor, Dr. Judy Fentress Williams, about the peculiar nature of the structure of the scripture. You remember, Jacob is the one who wrestled with an angel at the space known as Peniel. He was given a new name. His new name was Israel in that encounter. And for those who are Bible students, you went to Sunday school, and at some point in your life, you will remember that the name Jacob literally means deceiver.

1:33:46 Now, I don't know what was going on in the family, but to name your baby deceiver, that's a whole nother message right there. But Jacob was a child who was warring with his own brother in his mother's womb. And it says that when he came out of his mother's womb, first came Esau, the older brother. But it says that Jacob was holding on to the heel of Esau. When he came through the birth canal, he wanted to be first, but he came out second. The strange nature of the scripture is the fact that everywhere in the Bible, where a person is given a new name, the old name is permanently buried, never to be spoken again.

1:34:50 Abram becomes Abraham but nobody goes back calling him Abram again. Sarai becomes Sarah but no one goes back to calling her Sarai. Saul becomes Paul but nobody goes back to call Paul Saul. The new name signifies a new birth. A person has been born again into a world and the old self is no longer living but has been proclaimed dead and buried. The old name shall never be spoken again because names have power. And if you call on the old name, there was a thought that maybe that old spirit will show up. Jacob is given a new name in chapter 32, and scripture continues to vacillate between the old name and the new name. Dr. Judy Fentress Williams shared the wisdom of her mentor, Dr. Ellen Davis, an Old Testament professor at Yale. Dr. Davis says the name Jacob as Israel and the refusal of the writers to call Jacob consistently Israel all the time is the fact that Jacob has Israel potential and Jacob proclivities.

1:36:30 He is not fully formed, but is in the process of becoming. He's never finished. He is Jacob. He is Israel. Jacob means one who deceives, a con man, a scammer. But Israel means one who struggles. The Spirit wanted me to share with you the truth that we fail to embrace as people of faith in this simple fact. The truth is, we are Jacob and Israel at the same time. We have Jacob proclivities and Israel potential. The truth is, we must all face our inner Jacob.

1:37:28 Jacob wanted to be like Esau. When I saw this, it blessed me that he was holding on to Esau's heel. He wanted everything that his brother had. He did not think what he had was enough. Now, the term deceiver is supposed to be Jacob, that that is his personality. And the act is, as normally thought, he deceives other people. Jacob doesn't deceive other people. Jacob deceives himself. He was not a deceiver of others. He stole his brother's birthright in cahoots with his mama Rachel. The truth is, Jacob was deceiving himself. He thought he would be more of if he could have what his brother had.

1:38:28 When you don't think you're enough and your life will be better when you have someone else's blessing. When you believe the grass is greener on the other side. When you think you have been given a second rate blessing. If I can just have what they have, then my life will be better. You've got a Jacob spirit because you're deceiving yourself. You're deceiving yourself because of the simple idea that you are enough. You have everything you need. Stop comparing your life with other people because you don't know what they're going through. You've been given everything you need.

1:39:24 to be able to function and live in the manner in which God calls you to be. You will never be at peace if you're always suffering from the syndrome of comparing yourself to somebody else. If you don't think you're good enough, if you don't think you're smart enough, if you don't think you're this and that, you will always come up short. But the day you realize that you are enough, the way that God has created you, you will rest in a sense of peace that will surpass any type of human understanding. There was a song years ago, some may not remember, a song that said, what God has for me is for me. I know without a doubt that he will bring me out what God has for me.

1:40:28 It is for me. It is for me. It is for me. What God has for me. You are enough. You don't need what somebody else has. And we live in a world trying to convince you that there's something wrong with you. Trying to tell you that if you get one more thing or this one more aspect, that suddenly you will be better. Jacob thought, if I have what my brother has, then everything will be all right. Jacob needed to understand this simple concept. concept. You are enough just the way you are. We all must face our Jacob and our Israel. Look, his name is Jacob, deceiver, and his new name is Israel, struggle. Hold on, you missed it.

1:41:35 His name is Jacob. His new name is Israel. Old name deceiver, new name struggle. You missed your shout. Old name deceiver, new name struggle. It doesn't say new name perfection. It says new name struggle. I'm still struggling with my Jacob days. I'm still struggling getting through what I used to be. And every day I make it, I've got to thank God that I'm not what I used to be. If your relationship goes from deceiver to struggling, this is not perfection, but this is the beauty of the text. We are all on the struggle bus.

1:42:40 Stop it. Stop it right now. Everyone in here, you on the struggle bus. Don't try to act bougie today You on the struggle bus You need to know Do I have a witness Who is unafraid to say You on the struggle bus You're on a struggle bus. Because, if I may say it differently, that we all have Jacob and Israel in us. Let me say it differently, that we all, everyone in here, we all have horns and a halo. Don't look at me funny. Because if I roll up on you on the wrong day of the week when things ain't right, them horns coming out.

1:43:34 You will not say blessed and highly favored. You will speak in some tongues. we all got some horns we all got some halos and truth be told depending on when you meet somebody you might meet the halo or the horn you do not know and walking with God is the freedom to stop living in the deception and admit that we are all struggling. And this is what I love. I love, I have such deep respect for those who are recovering from addiction because I love the way they speak because they never say I've recovered. They say I'm recovering. That signals that there's a process going on.

1:44:31 That every day I'm free, I give God thanks that I've made it thus far. But I'm not done because God is still working on me. And I don't know if I'm speaking to any people in recovery. You still think I'm talking about drugs and alcohol. I'm talking about everyone up in here. You recovering from something. You recovering from being mean. You recovering from being nasty. You recovering from every kind. We all are in recovery. Do I have anyone in here that is willing to admit that you are in recovery? Y'all live in a space of contradiction. I'm a work in progress.

1:45:32 Don't you judge me. I'm a work in progress. So in the words of one songwriter, please be patient with me. God is not through with me yet please be patient with me God is not through with me yet but let me tell you when God gets through with me. When God gets through with me, I shall come forth. I shall come forth like pure gold. If I may find, if there are two or three people in this space, that you need people to be patient with you, that you're not all that you should be, But when you look and examine your life and you realize where you have come from, when you come into God's house, you've got to give God thanks that God has brought you so far.

1:46:47 Do I have a witness in here that can thank God I'm not what I used to be 10 years ago? I am not what I used to be five years ago. I am not all that I should be, but when I look over my life and how God has brought me through many dangers and toils and snares and walked with me, I give God thanks.

1:47:14 We have to face our inner Jacob. We have to face our own contradictions that we deal with day to day. We are not perfect. We are struggling. we are recovering but but may i share something that there is yes on the personal level that we are called on so many levels that that we must examine spiritually but i've got to tell you this the church has a jacob syndrome uh-huh the church has a jacob syndrome we have deceived those who walked through our doors we deceived with the promise of loving like jesus but we operated with the practice of dissing more like the devil if i may be more theological in my critique we have created a theology rooted in shame borrowed from Augustine's concept of original sin. This theological concept, when held by the Roman church, created imagery of God simply as a judge. Augustine speaks of humanity with negative language, the idea of born into sin. This language shapes an image of God as judge who either punishes or rewards. One's image of God will determine how you interact with God's people. One's image of God, let me say it again, will determine how you interact with God's people and all of humanity. Let me say it again, all of humanity. Everyone is made in the image of God, regardless of race, class, gender, creed, color, orientation, or even a religious affiliation.

1:49:03 If God is only a judge, then our experience with God is rooted in judgment and fear and not love and healing. Judges hand out pardon or punishment. Judges don't heal, they decree. Judges sit above and offer sentences, rulings, or decrees, or dissents. Historically, this image of God has dominated the West, bringing people into a shame-centric relationship with God. I'm guilty. I'm unworthy. I'm broken. I'm terrible. This image of God misuses much, if not all, of God's godness, especially through Jesus Christ. But in the Eastern Orthodox, better known as the Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian, Palestinian. Yes, there are Palestinian Christians. The image of God is a healer. God wants to heal us regardless if we are believers or not. Healing takes place when we choose to dance with Christ. The dance is so beautiful, it will bless those who witness the dance. I don't have to tell you to follow Jesus with a pamphlet and come knocking at your door because the way that I live, you see Jesus in me.

1:50:20 My compassion and my kindness and the way that I act shows my faith, not by trying to convert you, but by trying to live in a way that you will experience the love of God through my actions, activities, and my language. You see, our problem is we want to proclaim without practice. We want to shout without service. There are people who actually think in church that they own a pew. They will show up and look funny at somebody else sitting in the pew they think they own. You don't own no pew. You don't own no wood. You didn't build the church. You don't own the oxygen. You don't own the space. You must understand when you come into God's house, you must come humbly to say the Lord woke me up today. because I should not even be here with all the things that should have destroyed me in the first place. But when I come into God's house, I'm not going to hang my head, roll my eyes, look funny at somebody else.

1:51:23 I'm just going to say, Lord, I thank you for how good you've been to me. I'm going to thank you for how you pulled me out of so many fires, open doors that no man should have been able to open up. I thank you, Lord, for who you have been in my life. Is there anyone in here? You can thank God for what God has done in your life. You can thank God that you are coming into God's house, not our house. It is God's house. And because it's God's house, you need to act like a guest in God's house. And if you're a guest in God's house, you ought to be thankful for everything. When you are in somebody else's space, you don't act like you own it. This is not our church. This is God's house.

1:52:25 And I'm grateful God opened the door for a fool like me to come into this house. Don't look at me funny. You ought to be thankful the door has been opened to you. Because if we actually printed out the things that we have done and what we've been through, it would shock our neighbor we're sitting right next to. Stop trying to act so prim and proper, bougie and everything else. When you come up in here, you ought to say, Lord, thank you for allowing me across the threshold. We want proclamation without practice. The church has a Jacob spirit.

1:53:31 we must deal with our own Jacob spirit but can I tell you one more thing America. has a Jacob spirit with some Israel proclivities.

1:54:00 Recently, it was the New York Times that was doing an interview of voters in Georgia, interviewing voters of different ages and different generations, asking them if they voted, who they voted for, why they voted, what do they think about this party and that party? And when they were closing out the interview, I was so blessed. In the interviewee asked this brother who was from a younger generation, and he said something so powerful, this wonderful southern accent. He said, the interviewer said, what do you want people to know about you and your generation as a voter. And this brother paused and said this. He said, I love this country. I just want this country to love me back. Langston Hughes said it best in his poem, Let America be America again.

1:55:00 Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer upon the plain, seeking a home where he himself is free. But then he offers this line, America was never America to me. This is a country of contradictions. This same country of contradictions can elect the first black senator in the state of Georgia by the name of Dr. Raphael Warnock. But in the same breath, this country can wipe out 300,000 careers of black women working in government. This country, in one breath, can celebrate the New York Knicks winning a championship, lifting up men of color, American, Nigerian, Dominican Republic, and Mexican. But yet this same country will castigate a Colin Kaepernick for standing upon his principles.

1:56:04 We are a nation that is a contradiction. We now live in a moment where what I just stated is considered by some to be un-American. This administration will attempt to, with its Jacob spirit, to deceive you into thinking truth-telling is un-American. Truth-telling is a form of civic love, and love is worth fighting for. Let me say it this way. I'm not a fan of America. I'm a friend of America because a friend will tell you the truth. And I'm here to let you know the best friend America has ever had is black people because we've been willing to tell the truth about this nation. I'm not a fan.

1:57:04 Fans are fanatics. Fans are always, it's wonderful and great. But a friend will tell you the truth. A friend will tell you when you mess up. A friend will tell you that the founding fathers can speak about liberty and freedom, but yet they also own slaves. a friend will tell you the truth about your contradictions. Consecrated. Contradiction. Consecrated simply means to be set apart and holy and sacred. Contradiction means opposition not in alignment with. This doesn't make any sense. You can't be consecrated and a contradiction at the same time. To say consecrated and contradiction, these words don't mix. But I say yes, they do.

1:58:03 Jacob is Israel. Israel is Jacob. Jacob is deceiver. Israel struggles. This is the realization that we are not either or, but we are both and. that even when you make a transition and you get your new name, there still the ghosts of where you used to be will continue to haunt you. If you try to act like you've never been in a Jacob moment, you will end up crushing your spirit and the spirits of others you are in relationship with. We are Jacob and Israel. We are both and, not one or the other.

1:58:59 You got some horns and you got a halo. You got some hmm in you. And you got some angel in you. You are both and. And that's pretty much all I got to tell you. May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be at your back. But can I share just one more thing? I promise you I'll take my seat. One of my favorite preachers and teachers is a gentleman who is now with the Lord by the name of Dr. Fred Craddock. I used to love hearing Dr. Craddock at the Children's Defense Fund at the Haley Farm. Absolutely brilliant individual from Tennessee. taught at Emory University, and pastored at the Cherry Log Church in northern Georgia.

2:00:00 Dr. Craddock, in his memoir, shares a story about the love of his father. He said he did not realize how incredibly loving his father was. It took him years to understand the kind of father that he truly was. And so he shares a story that when he was 12 years old, that they were approaching Christmas. His mother gathered the family and said that this year there will be no Christmas dinner. There will be no gifts under the tree. Because Craddock said this, he said, my father was an alcoholic who had moments of sobriety. As he told the story, he kept repeating the fact that his father was an alcoholic who had moments of sobriety. And so his mother shares with the family that there will be no Christmas dinner. There will be no gifts under the tree because Craddock knew that his father was an alcoholic who had moments of sobriety. And so as they came closer to Christmas, the mother kept sharing with them that there will be no dinner. There will be no gifts.

2:01:14 that they will have to go to the pantry, but there will be no gifts under the tree because your father is an alcoholic who has moments of sobriety. He lost his job. There was no income for them to have the celebration and the resources for gifts and for a major Christmas dinner. And so Fred Craddock went to bed on Christmas Eve, assuming that he would wake up in the morning. There would be nothing under the tree. There would be no food cooking because his father was an alcoholic who had moments of sobriety. He went to sleep on Christmas Eve with the expectation that there would be nothing on the next day when he woke up. But when he got up that morning, went downstairs into the living room, he saw more gifts than he had ever seen in his life. he heard his mama was frying some food for breakfast and shared that they were going to have an incredible dinner.

2:02:22 Craddock did not understand what happened. He was just grateful. He figured it was just a gift from God or from some neighbors or something. He didn't know because his father was an alcoholic that had moments, who had moments of sobriety. But it was not until several years later that he understood what happened on that Christmas day when he was 12 years old. He was talking with his father when he was 14. Then he realized the love that his father had for him. He was talking with his father. And as his father was talking, he realized that his father was missing some teeth. He realized that his father had holes in his mouth. What happened? And then he dawned on him what his daddy did. His daddy used to have gold teeth. But what he did a few days before Christmas, he went in the bathroom and he pulled out the gold teeth from his mouth.

2:03:25 He took the gold and pawned it so that he would have enough money to provide gifts and food for his family. And Craddock said this, and it blessed me so. He said, every time I see the holes in his mouth, I'm reminded of the love he has for me. But then Craddock said this, I know somebody else who has some holes in his hands. I know somebody else who has some holes in his feet. I know somebody who has a pierced side and how much he loves me. Well, I'm here to remind you that we serve a God who loves us so much, is willing to put some holes in his body so that we may be set free.

2:04:21 Because God is a healer. God does not judge us based on our worst moment. What God does is that I'm willing to save the contradiction because I don't look at you just as Jacob. I don't look at you just as Israel. I look at you as what you can be and what you shall be. So I must bid you good day. May the Lord bless you real good on this day. But I stopped by to find out if there's anyone in this house. Are you thankful that we serve a God who loves us enough? A God who loves us in spite of our contradiction. Does not love us because we stumbled. Does not just love us because we failed, but loves all of who we are. Good day. May the Lord bless you real good.

2:05:19 But I'm so glad we serve a God who loves us in spite of all of our contradictions. We are a consecrated contradiction. We are not one or the other, but we are both and. We are not either or, but we are both and. And we are called to recognize that we are a consecrated contradiction. We are struggling. Not perfect, but struggling. I know some folks want to be super holy. I'm sorry.

2:06:13 You're not super holy. we all are a walking contradiction. Horns and halos. And after the benediction, it is my prayer that halos shall be in the parking lot. As you make your way to your car and you make your way home, may all the halos come out. So please be patient with me. God is not through with me yet. Please be patient with me. God is not through with me yet.

2:07:11 But when God gets through with me, when God gets through with me, I shall come forth, I shall come forth like pure gold. Just tell your neighbor, please, please be patient with me. God is not through with me yet. Please be patient with me.