Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III | “Esau’s Story” 6PM 08/30/26

1:08:01 Another translation, I'm satisfied and at peace, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself. 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.

1:08:26 As we've been in Genesis and we continue this exploration in Genesis of Jacob's family, we want to today look at this idea of Esau's story. Esau's story. If you'd be so kind to turn to your neighbor at this time, just turn and look at your neighbor, even if they don't look at you.

1:08:51 Look at your neighbor. If you're from Spain, find a neighbor from Spain. There you go. Amen. All right. All right. Look at your neighbor. Smile at your neighbor and say, neighbor. Oh, neighbor. Esau stated, I have enough. I have enough. Turn to your neighbor, other neighbor, and look at your neighbor.

1:09:17 And say, neighbor. Oh, neighbor. He said, I got enough. Amen. Esau's story. Esau's story. bitterness can kill you. Resentment can destroy you.

1:09:50 Unexamined anger will eat your soul day by day. Unchecked rage is a poison if left untreated. It will drain your heart of its capacity for empathy, compassion, and perspective. The human condition requires spiritual checkups, moral assessment, emotional regulation, psychological evaluation, and physical appraisal. We all need daily, and at the very least, weekly exams to determine our spiritual holistic health. Let me say it again. Bitterness can kill you. resentment can destroy you unexamined anger will eat your soul day by day the spiritual life requires more attention than the physical and the emotional for the spiritual life is not separate from the physical life but is the key to a healthy holistic life let me say it this way we are God's children we are God's creation And each person, every person, is made in the image of God.

1:11:17 We are spiritual beings, as one writer states, having a physical experience. Not physical beings who happen to have a spiritual encounter. The spiritual life requires we deepen our connection to the Spirit, practice works of love and justice, be evangelists for grace and mercy, and missionaries for compassion and peace. all while learning to be a healthy human being, healthy emotionally, mentally, physically, and the spiritual life is not separate from one's physical life. Let me say it this way.

1:12:11 What you believe must be congruent with how we live. What we believe must be in balance with what we speak. Let me see if I can say it this way. If you claim to love Jesus, you offer shouts in the sanctuary, praise on the streets, lift up holy hands wherever you go, and have to take a praise break every time you think about the goodness of Jesus. But you're still mean as Hades.

1:12:47 You are demonstrating an incongruency. Something is out of alignment. As a chiropractor stated, a limb is an indication of being out of alignment. Your body trying to realign what was once out of alignment. And last week we witnessed Jacob out of alignment, being realigned after wrestling with himself and with God. God performed a chiropractic adjustment on Jacob, realigning Jacob's hip, but at the same time doing an adjustment to his heart and realigning his spirit. So he would walk different for the rest of his life because it was an indication of his encounter with the Spirit of God. Now this is where most, most, most preachers would rest to focus on Jacob because we often focus on Jacob's transformation.

1:13:58 We see him become a different person forever changed by his walk externally and his heart internally. His name is Jacob and Israel and for the rest of his life he will struggle between these two personalities. forever the two personalities will war in his heart and in his spirit that make up who he is I said it last week I'll say it again that that Jacob has horns and a halo just like each of us if I catch you at the wrong time your halo will drop off and the horns will come out We witnessed Jacob last week as we were examining this. Jacob gave up everything in preparation to meet his brother Esau in hopes that his brother would not take vengeance upon him.

1:15:04 Remember, he stole his brother's birthright. But it's not Jacob. I'm not interested in Jacob today. I want to lift up today this character, this person by the name of Esau, who has been marginalized within the homiletical canon and Christian tradition. You know the story of Esau. Not the story of Jacob, but the story of Esau. That when Esau came back from hunting one day, that he saw that his brother was making a bowl of soup and he was hungry. and he said, just let me have some of the soup, Jacob. Come on, Jay, let me have some. And his brother Jacob said this. He said, I'll give you some soup if you give me your birthright. He wouldn't think much of it. He just took the soup because he was hungry. But that was foreshadowing of what was going to happen later in the life of Esau. because Esau went out to hunt some years later and came back and found that his brother received the blessing from his father he was supposed to receive as the elder son.

1:16:17 And on top of that, Jacob conspired with his mama to steal his brother Esau's birthright. Now when you talk about dysfunctional families, this family has it all. But that is not what really touched me in that 27th chapter. It is simply this, that when Jacob stole his brother's birthright, you then read these words from Esau. Esau says, Dad, do you have a blessing for me? Is there anything left for me? And the father simply says, no, I gave out the blessing. According to tradition, your brother has what you were supposed to have.

1:17:14 The only blessing that I have is that life is going to be difficult and hard for you. and I could hear in my own imagination so desperately wanted the blessing from his father. Dad, do you have anything for me? You gave everything to Jacob and didn't leave me anything. And there in those chapters you then hear Esau make this statement that he has bowed, I am going to kill my brother. After we lay my father to rest, since he is in his old age, when we finish those final rites, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, I'm going to kill my brother.

1:18:09 Because he took from me what was mine. And at that moment, Jacob is warned by his mother. His mother says, you got to get out of town because your own brother wants to take you out. And from that time, we don't hear from Jacob in Scripture until this 33rd chapter. This 33rd chapter just has transfixed me. Because in chapter 27, he wants daddy to bless him. And he's ready to kill his brother. But somewhere between the 27th chapter and chapter 33, something happened in the life of Esau. Because the final time, the time that he now connects with his brother Jacob, he then wraps his arms around him, kisses him on the cheek, and begins to weep with him.

1:19:11 and when his brother tries to give him everything that he has, everything that he stole from him, it is Esau who says, I have enough. Keep what you have. I don't need what you got. I have everything I need. I no longer am angry. I'm no longer out of touch with what's going on in my spirit, I have enough. Another translation is, I'm satisfied and I'm at peace and you can't disturb my peace. I've got everything that I need. And it raises a question for us today. How does Esau transform? How does he move from bitterness to seeing the blessings around him? raising that question that this gentleman says, I have enough.

1:20:11 And I believe, I believe that part of the pillars of his renewal are within this text embedded in here that if we utilize our homiletical imagination along with some exegetical skill, we can see what is happening. I believe that Esau was curious enough to ask questions about his own story. He was curious about what was going on internally, that he wanted to ask some questions of his own spirit. Let me say it this way. He was curious enough to ask questions about his own story. Let me tell you this. The story you tell will either make you a prisoner of your past or an architect for your future. the story you tell yourself will keep you in your yesterday or will open a door for a new tomorrow the story you tell you can stay in your bitterness and stay in your yesterday or you can allow god to open up possibility for tomorrow the story you tell will determine if you will be a prisoner and incarcerated by your past or will you be an architect for your future? He says, I have enough. Pillars of renewal are right here when he says, I have enough. I'm at peace. I'm satisfied.

1:21:48 I don't need anything else. And I found out, just reading a little bit of St. Augustine in reference to what is happening. What is happening here is that Esau recognized that he has free agency. Free agency to push against an old story. In other words, Esau says that I don't have to allow the last page written to be the end of my story. That I have the power and authority to write a new chapter. Just because bitterness was in the last chapter doesn't mean it has to be in my new chapter because I have free agency. I have the ability to push against the story and narrative of my yesterday. Free agency, free agency, Reverend Derrick. I use that term purposely right now, free agency, because I'm a basketball fan. I love basketball. And one of my favorite basketball players is a gentleman by the name of Jalen Brunson. I love Jalen Brunson because he is now called the most overlooked and the most underrated NBA player. He was told from the time he was in high school all the way through college and early in the NBA as the 33rd pick, he was told you are too slow, you're too short, you're too small. But Jalen Brunson had a mother and a father by the name of Rick and Sandra. And they told in an interview in Fortune Magazine that there are certain principles we preach to our son. We told our son, you can control your inner world, but you cannot control your circumstances. You need to know that you may not be able to control what happens to you, but you can control how you interact and react to what happens to you.

1:23:47 They then said this to him. One of the principles that we shared with Jalen is you've got to learn how to be comfortable in your skin. You got to learn how to be all right the way you have been designed. You see, a person may be able to out jump you, but they can't outwork you. You can control your inner world through preparation. And Jalen Brunson outworked and outstudied and outperformed everybody. He said this when he became an NBA champion. They said there are other people who can jump higher. There are other people who can run faster. There are other people who are taller, but there's not going to be anybody smarter on the court than me because I'm going to outwork everybody. That's what I do. They've always overlooked me. He does not need to be the tallest, the fastest, or be able to jump the farthest. He is the smallest on the court, and no one could ever outwork Jalen Brunson. And this is what this means for us today. Free agency means you have a choice. What shall you choose? You can stay in your story of yesterday. You can stay in your bitterness if you want to, but if you want to be an architect for your future, you need to know you've got a pen to write a new chapter. You've got to pull your pen out and say that I am a child of God, and God has given me power, and God did not give me the spirit of fear. I refuse to allow the enemy to shut me off in a room where I am bitter and I am resentful for the rest of my life, because God has been too good to me and God has blessed me and I'm here to let you know that if in fact you woke up this morning, if you have breath in your body, it is God saying I've got another chapter that I am not done with you. And I stopped by here to find out, is there anyone here who pulled out their pen this morning to simply say God is writing a new chapter in my life. God is not done with me. I know what

1:25:55 I've experienced. I cannot change, but guess what? I can use my yesterday as fuel for what will happen in my tomorrow. Is there anyone in here? Do I have two or three witnesses that can say, God's not done with me. I'm writing a new chapter. I have free agency. I have the power to be an architect for my future. We often request God to change us, but we will not open the door when the Spirit comes knocking. God is not some terrorist holding people hostage, saying you got to do X, Y, and Z. What happens often is God will gently come knocking at the door and say you can open it if you want to, or you can keep it closed if you want to. But if you open it, some things are going to happen that will blow your mind. You can stay in this space that you've been to and been in all of your life, or you can open up. Because here's the thing about opening a door. When you open a door, you let a breeze in. When you open a door, you let new light in. When you open a door, there's new power that comes in. And some of us have been closed off in a room that doesn't even have any windows. You don't even know what's going on outside. You've been running scenarios in your mind for the last several years, and God's been knocking saying, I know what happened in your past, but I'm trying to get you to write a new future. God is attempting to help us write a new chapter.

1:27:34 And God is not holding us hostage, demanding. God is just gently knocking. When you're ready, just open the door. But be careful if you don't open the door. You've been waiting so long. God may just move on. And by the time you open the door, you may have missed your opportunity to experience what God had intended for you because we choose to be a prisoner of our past. esau decided because of free agency what augustine calls free will to say i will write my tomorrow you have agency uh to make certain choices and new opportunities and here is the other thing that i recognize that he had free agency he makes a choice between chapter 27 and chapter 33 but the other thing that I believe here is that Esau, and it's right here in scripture, I believe, tapped into the truth hiding in himself. Let me help you out. In order to make a shift so you can get to your new chapter, you've got to tap into the truth that's hidden in yourself.

1:28:54 it says wait a minute look at it jacob was expecting his brother to try and kill him but when his brother saw jacob when he saw saw jacob he came running and wrapped his arms around him he wasn't expecting that but then scripture says and they wept they wept together twin brothers Listen to this now. Esau wanted to kill somebody who looked just like him. He wanted what is called fratricide, the killing of somebody who looks like him. His anger was directed towards somebody who looked just like him because his anger was actually hiding something else. And so he was taking his anger and allowing the anger to lead him.

1:30:01 But something happened between 27 and 33. He decided to write a new chapter. And when you tap into the hidden truth, the hidden truth in yourself, God can then do some work that you can't do on your own. Scripture says they wept, he cried, because here's the truth. The truth is, yes, he was angry, but the truth behind this is that he missed his brother. He loved his brother. His anger was hiding hurt. Let me say this. Anger always hides something else. It usually hides something else. And we will put anger on top of that which we don't want to taste. Let me help you out. When we were in Augusta, Georgia, Monica and I, there was a deacon that I absolutely loved. His name was Jordan Wright. Jordan Wright was like an adopted grandfather. I used to go to S&S Cafeteria with Jordan Wright and Hewlin Johnson, both deacons. They were both World War II veterans.

1:31:14 I loved sitting down and laughing with them, hearing their stories. It was always a wonderful experience. And I always had a story about something that Jordan Wright would say every time I went to eat at S&S Cafeteria. But I found out something interesting about Deacon Jordan Wright. He was something very interesting that when we would go to S&S Cafeteria, if he had some food that he didn't like. S&S Cafeteria, for those of you who don't know, that's the place where you go where you can see your food before it comes out. You can see it. You can just look and say, I want that, I want that, I want that. You see your food. And he would eat, and sometimes there was food that maybe he did not like. He would never send it back. What Jordan Wright would do is he would put a whole bunch of sauce on it. Whatever sauce he had. It might be a whole bunch of hot sauce. It might be a whole bunch of ketchup. I don't know. Whatever sauce it was, he would put so much sauce on it. and I would ask like Deacon Wright why are you putting so much sauce on it he said well I don't like the food he said well I said send it back and he said no no I'm not gonna send it back I I just don't want to taste the flavor of what I don't like so I don't want to put the sauce on top of it anger is nothing but emotional sauce to cover up the bitter flavors that we don't want to taste in the first place. And what Esau was actually saying, Esau was angry, but the flavor that he didn't want to speak about was that he felt unseen. I'm insecure about my insecurity, so I want to be angry but not deal with my insecurity. Because if I have to deal with my insecurity, then I've got to deal with myself. But I'd rather be angry with you so I don't have to deal with myself so I don't have to deal with my insecurities. I'm insecure. When someone, let me put it this way, for those of you who miss that person, that person that gets upset because they feel that you sat in their pew because they actually think they own the pew and no one else

1:33:19 can sit in the seat that they've been sitting in. Many times people get angry about you sitting in their pew because they don't have any agency or power at home, but they feel that they've got agency and power at church and so they get angry with you because they don't want you to know the stuff that they're really dealing with. It is Thich Hatt Han who says it this way, the Buddhist writer who tells a story about anger that I love so very much that blessed me when I first heard it. He said this, that when your house is burning, you don't chase the arsonist, you put out the fire first. and some of us end up chasing the arsonist and he said that's anger and you allow your whole house to burn and burn some things down that you can never recover take care of the fire first before you try to chase down the arsonist so you can recover some things in your life another way to say it in the om3 translation is simply this some of y'all will get it you can't be cute and bitter at the same time. Bitterness destroys your beauty internally and externally.

1:34:41 And Esau says, I have enough. I found peace. I found authority and power. I don't need what you have because I've got everything that I need. And it is Nelson Mandela who tells the story when he was in Robben Island, that there was someone who saw him on the video camera coming out of Robben Island. They said to him, the person I saw coming out of the cell, the face that you had, the movement of your body was not the same person. When I saw you come out of the prison, I saw you on the video camera, there was something on you. But when you came out the prison, it seemed as if you were free. Nelson Mandela said, I left that man in the prison because I had a job to do to lead my people and lead the nation. I couldn't lead the nation with that kind of weight on my soul.

1:35:43 I had to leave it in the prison. And the story of Esau from my sanctified imagination, as I believe it's not written in scripture, but from a sanctified imagination, I believe this was the conversation that he had with Jacob. That when Jacob said, don't you want these servants that I give to you, the gifts that I'm passing on to you? And Esau says, well, I've got enough, brother. Jay, I want to let you know I examined my life. I realize I've spent too much energy on you. I spent too many days waking up in the middle of the night thinking about what I'm going to do when I see you. I spent too much time blaming and being angry and bitter and resentful. I wanted you to feel the way I felt. I wanted you to suffer.

1:36:37 But I have to tell you how God spoke to me. One day my youngest child said some words to me. My youngest child pulled my coattails and said, Daddy, why are you angry all the time? Is it my fault that you're so unhappy? And in that moment, I stopped in my tracks. And the first time, I looked in my child's eyes, not as a burden, but as a blessing. I looked at my child and the extraordinary blessings around me. I looked at my family and surroundings and my household and the land we were working and the crops that we are given that we were growing and how other people were being blessed by our work. We were feeding and supporting and I remembered all the blessings that I received. That I received a blessing from another father. I received a blessing from my daddy.

1:37:33 But there was a blessing that I had from another father. because anytime you ask anyone from the Edomite kingdom who blessed them, they will say it was Esau. My name will not be in lights like yours, Jacob. People will not know my name, but I want you to know I've got enough. I'm at peace with who I am, and I miss you, my brother. I couldn't carry that weight anymore. I'm not going to allow it to destroy me, and this is what God wanted me to know, that I can't be bitter like this anymore. I have to release what I've been holding because when I hold a fist, I can't grab onto any blessings. But when I open my hands, all of a sudden God can place something in my hands and I'm here to let you know, unball your fist, open up your hands, let God place something in your hand.

1:38:33 you never expected. And when my sanctified imagination, I imagine Jacob, I imagine the words he said to Jacob was, my earthly daddy doesn't determine my blessings. My heavenly father determines my blessings. I'm here to let you know I've got enough. I don't compare myself to you anymore. I compare myself to what God has called me to do. I don't need to measure my life next to you. I measure my life based on the calling that God has given me. I can walk with peace and I can sleep at night. Ain't nothing like a good night's sleep. And I'm here to let you know that I feel better now and I can imagine in my sanctified imagination that Esau said these words. Maybe you've heard them before. I'm grateful for the things you've done. Yes, I'm grateful for the victories we've won. I could go on and on about your works, but I'm grateful, grateful, so grateful just to praise you Lord and flowing from my heart are the issues of my heart. He is gratefulness. But then I can imagine he shifts the words that he says and I can hear Esau saying, how can I say thanks for the things you have done for me? Things so undeserved, yet you gave to prove your love to me. The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude all that I am and ever hope to be.

1:40:23 I owe it all to thee. To God be the glory. To God be the glory. To God be the glory for the things he has done With his blood, he has saved me. With his power, he has raised me. To God be the glory. To God be the glory.