Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III | “Joseph and His Dream” 6PM 09/06/26

1:04:30 I am seeking my brothers, he said. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock. The man said, They have gone away, for I heard them say, Let's go to Dothan. So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. they saw him from a distance. And before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. then we will say that a wild animal has devoured him and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

1:05:29 Here comes this dreamer. Another translation, that dreamer's coming this way again. Come now, let's kill him and throw him into the pits. Then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see, yeah, we shall see what will become, what will become of his dreams. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of God's holy word.

1:06:09 I want to place a tag here on this text. We have been in Genesis for the last several weeks. We've been looking at the family of Jacob and the experiences of Jacob and Jacob's family. And I want to just focus on this idea of Joseph and his dreams. Joseph and his dreams. If you would be so kind as to turn to your neighbor at this time, smile at your neighbor, even if they don't want to smile at you, do it all. and say neighbor, oh neighbor, hold fast to your dreams. Find another neighbor, maybe the same one. and say, neighbor, oh neighbor, be careful.

1:07:10 Dreams can be dangerous. Joseph and his dreams. Joseph and his dreams. One of the greatest poets of the 20th century is a person that many of you know. he's considered to be the poet laureate of the Harlem Renaissance a gentleman by the name of Langston Hughes Langston Hughes often in his poetry and his writings would write about dreams and the power of dreams He spoke about how dreams are powerful and also dangerous.

1:08:12 It's Hughes that says that it's dangerous for black people to dream. Because when black people dream, it automatically states and says to a system that we are about to shift and change what you created. It is Langston Hughes, during the Harlem Renaissance, wrote a poem entitled Just Dreams, Dreams. And it goes this way, hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams, for when dreams go, life is a barren field frozen in the snow. Langston Hughes dreams there is a danger in dreaming there is a risk in dreaming for those who still have confederate residue on their soul when they learn the dreams that have been given to those born black and beautiful, bold and blessed These dreams serve as an official heavenly notice that doctrinal lies of supremacy must be deleted and conversations of equality must commence.

1:09:40 Dreams can be dangerous. There is a danger in dreaming. Dreams are a spiritual and subconscious act. Dreams under normal circumstances happen when a person is unconscious and they surrender to sleep. But I say this, that when our dreams, our dreams are made audible, it causes certain sectors to literally quake. Just dreams can literally make people nervous. just dreams can cause people to fear just dreaming can upset the balance of the status quo and power if i may share a few dreamers that that you probably have never heard of a person by the name of jb strafford a lawyer from kentucky who made his way from kentucky because he had already was an owner of pool halls and shoeshine stands. He had a dream that he would build a five-star hotel for people who had to experience Jim and Jane Crow. Or maybe you have heard of a person by the name of Simon Barry. Simon Barry had a dream, since black people couldn't be picked up by a taxi, he said, I'm going to start my own taxi service, that they will be treated with dignity in an amazing, beautiful Ford Model T car.

1:11:14 Or an A.G. Smitherman who said that he wanted to open up a paper and not see destructive images of people kissed by nature's son. I'm going to create a paper that's unashamed and unapologetic about showing the beauty and the boldness of people who are black. Or maybe a person by the name of Elias Walker Woods who was inspired by Booker T. Washington along with W.E.B. Du Bois. He wanted to be a part of a school that didn't just call black students students but called them brilliant scholars every time they walked through the door. He had a dream. Or John and Lola Williams who had a dream to create a theater called the Dreamland Theater where you could go and see a movie or a play or even a concert and be blessed by music and images that would lift your spirit. Then there is a dreamer by the name of Mabel Little, said she was going to open a beauty salon and that every sister walking out would walk out three inches taller with their head thrown back because they knew that they were looking good after they left her salon. All of these dreamers that I mentioned built their business on the same street, the same street in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in a place known as Greenwood. And on May 31st, their dreams were deferred. Insecure males masquerading as men sought to defer their dreams. I believe it is Langston Hughes who says it best. What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun or does it fester like a sore and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load or does it as in Tulsa in Greenwood on Black Wall Street explode? Just dreams.

1:13:29 Did you not know that Malcolm X was assassinated because of his dreams? On February 21st in 1965, for he dared dream of a world of dignity and parity and possibility, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated because of his dreams. He dreamed of a world free of racialized poverty and militarized occupation. Dreaming can be dangerous. Don't you know there's even a sister who plays tennis by the name of Naomi Osaka who dreamed of honoring Allen Iverson with beautifully displayed cornrows, yet her hair caused controversy because she failed to submit to the pressed paradigms of tennis caste-centric culture. Dreams, just dreaming can be dangerous. if I may for a moment just speak about some dreams this gentleman by the name of Joseph and his dreams he is the progeny of a dreamer by the name of Jacob Jacob was a dreamer Joseph is a dreamer Jacob a dreamer now Joseph is the inheritor of the burden of Jacob's dreams Jacob dreamt of celestial ladders and some even say that when he wrestled with that angel at night he was dreaming. And here now is the story of Joseph, but it's really Jacob's story, but it is told through the narrative of Joseph. Joseph, this young man of 17 years, this young man, we witness something that is important, that he is born into a dysfunctional family. This is not a choice. It It's not his fault. He's born into a family of crisis and trauma. His daddy is Jacob. His mama is Rachel. He got another mama named Leah. His daddy, his father has children by several different women. He lived in a house where his father produced multiple children through a

1:15:41 variety of relationships. While this sounds extreme, the truth is Jacob is a mirror of us. The difficulty of commitment, normalizing chaos, celebrating birthing without raising, the chaos of family is real. The conflict as home is real. Now may we cast aside our foolish and false sense of perfection, bourgeoisie, operation and judgment. We all hold some dysfunction. Don't try to act like you're wearing your white up in here today. You come from Mr. and Mrs. Perfect family. Everything has always been all right in your life. If you are one of them perfect people, please find another church. This is the place for those people who actually have some issues that come out of some degree of dysfunction and are grateful unto the Lord.

1:16:35 Don't try to get all snooty up in here right now. You need to know that we all hold some dysfunction, some conflict, some trauma, some hurt, some repressed feelings, some distance, some anger, some jealousy, insecurity, inability to accept. Everybody's got some dysfunction. Is there anybody in here who's honest enough to know if you go down your family tree, there's some dysfunction in your family? Don't try to look and act as if everything's all right in your life. I'm looking for the folk who want to be real today up in church and can say they've got some dysfunction in their life. And Joseph is from a dysfunctional family. Family that sociologists and psychologists would say is problematic. It is a dysfunctional family, but it's his family. You missed your shout.

1:17:33 He comes from a dysfunctional family, but it's his family. He ain't got another family. That's all that he has. He's going to do the best that he can with the family that he has. It's his family. You ain't getting another family. That's the family you were born in. learn how to deal with the dysfunction and learn how to turn the dysfunction into something that is functional is what I'm trying to say. That dysfunctional family is a reality. Joseph was born in a dysfunctional family, but he was still a functional dreamer. Here is the thing that he was born into a dysfunctional family. A dysfunctional system can still produce functional dreams. The dream is what can be. Dysfunction is what has been.

1:18:26 Often we confuse dysfunction as denial of dreams. Dysfunction can make dreaming challenging, but not impossible. Dysfunction does not have to stop your dreams. Let me say it this way. America has a system of dysfunction. Designed to disenfranchise, but in spite of the system, we still keep on dreaming. Especially for those who understand anything about Chicago history. People who dreamed like Oscar the Priest, who was the first black man to occupy a space in Congress after Reconstruction. Or a chairman by the name of Fred Hampton who decided to organize here in Chicago. or a little warrior by the name of Reverend Willie Barrow who organized women in the Chicago area or a gentleman by the name of Harold Washington who said when others said you cannot be mayor, he said I'm going to be mayor of Chicago or a woman by the name of Margaret Burroughs.

1:19:35 There would be no DeSable Museum if it hadn't been for Margaret Burroughs or a woman by the name of Hazel Johnson in Argyle Gardens who was organizing environmental protests before anybody knew anything about environmental protests. Or if you are a politician and you have a space, whether it is in Congress or in the Senate, I'm sorry I have to say it to you. Or even if you made it to the White House, you need to thank a brother who kept hope alive by the name of Reverend Jesse Jackson. And if you cannot thank Jesse Jackson, then you do not deserve to be in the position that you are in. And if you ever had a good-looking Afro, you had to use something known as Afro Sheen, a brother by the name of George Johnson who ended up funding a place, a place better known as Soul Train.

1:20:36 You must understand because of those who are able to dream, Even the dysfunctional system in America cannot keep us from our dreams. This is the power of who we are. There is a revolutionary effect to dreaming, for it plants a seed and shifts the atmosphere. It is Stephen Curry who always imagined when he was practicing, he imagined he was giving the winning shot in basketball. ball. He said, you've got to dream it before you actually do it. And so he was always dreaming and imagining in his mind. But dreams always make other people nervous. That is why within scripture, you must understand that Joseph, I have to critique Joseph here. Joseph is 17. He's kind of young. He does not have maturity yet. And there is Joseph. Joseph is looking for his brothers. He's already told his brothers that he has a dream and shares his dream with his brothers. And here you have in scripture his brothers, when they see him at a distance, they say, here comes this dreamer.

1:21:51 Come now, let's kill him and see what comes of his dreams. Joseph, as I said, was young. And Joseph made a huge mistake because he's 17. He don't know nothing. He thinks he knows stuff. He's given a gift, but he doesn't have the wisdom yet. He says, hey y'all, I got a dream. My sheath rose up and your sheaths bowed down to mine. How you like that? And then the brothers didn't like hearing that. He already told one dream. Then he tells another dream. The sun, moon, and 11 stars, they all surrounded me and started bowing down to me. What'd you think about that?

1:22:52 And the brothers, it says, hate him even more. Even his daddy said, what kind of dream is this? Joseph was immature. Joseph kept sharing his dreams to his brothers. Joseph kept telling other people what God had placed in his spirit. Let me help you out. Stop sharing your dreams with non-dreaming people. non-dreaming people cannot understand your dream there are some things you need to keep to yourself you need to move in silence be a mystery not everybody in your crew need to know what god has placed on your spirit they don't need to know what god is doing in your life you need to just keep your mouth shut the strat this strategy is not arrogance the greatest lesson you can learn sometimes is the power of silence. Let them talk about you. Let them say whatever they want to say.

1:24:08 Don't share what God has given to you. You don't need to let other people know until you find another dreamer that understands the dreams that you're dealing with. You can't explain to a non-dreaming person what the dream is about because they have no understanding because they ain't never dreamt in their life. They have no idea what God can do and how God will do it. So stop sharing stuff with people who already are hating on you because you want approval from them because you feel bad that they have not affirmed your dreams. They're not to affirm your dreams. You have someone else who's already affirmed your dreams. God has already placed it in your spirit.

1:25:01 Stop waiting for somebody else who ain't never talked to the Lord to try and affirm what God has already said to you. Dreamers bless dreamers. Dreamers bless dreamers. And may I say this to every activist and community organizer. You don't need everybody to join your movement. You just need a few bodies, not everybody. Because a few bodies can do more. Find your dreaming tribe. His own brothers thought his death or enslavement would stop the dream. Here's the thing. They can stop Joseph, but they can't stop the dream.

1:25:56 You can kill a dreamer, but you cannot kill a dream. Because a dream sits outside of the physical. It rests within the spiritual. And you can take someone out, but the dream is still floating around. And the dream will rest in someone else's spirit. You see, you can take out Mufasa's daddy, but Mufasa is still going to show up. Because the dream is still going to show up. You see, you must understand that why we are here even in this place. Can I share something with you? That the black church is a dream factory. Did you not know the black church at its best is designed to decolonize the imagination and teach people how to dream? From the moment we arrived on these shores, we found spaces where we could imagine in hushed harbors and clearings.

1:26:58 We discovered human dignity when there were systems that were designed to tell us that we could not dream, that we could not rise up. But we showed up in spaces where we found out that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. And when you come through these doors, I want you to know that this is also a dream factory. This is a place that elevates your imagination so that you can know the possibilities that God has for you. You are not here by happenstance, not by luck. Don't you know God had to orchestrate so much just to get you where you are? And every time you wake up in the morning, your devil gets upset every time you put your feet upon the floor because everything the enemy tried to do to destroy you did not work. When you come into this house, you ought to have a shout in your spirit because everything that tried to destroy you did not work.

1:27:58 And here you come in this house and you have something that God has placed in your spirit. You should be thankful for what God is about to do in your life. I'm looking for two or three dreamers up in here. Two or three people who know that they are fearfully and wonderfully made. That God has done great work in your life. You are not a mistake. You are what God has been looking for. You are the prayers of your ancestors. You are the shout of grandma. You are the blessing of big mama. Don't you know who you are? You should not be here, but you are here nonetheless because of the glory of God. Is there anybody in here? Do you know it is because?

1:28:52 of the Lord on your side this is a dream factory a place where you bring back the broken pieces of your spirit and God weaves them back together and you are then placed back on track. It is, it is. I remember my mother and my father sharing years, years ago telling me about the power of black churches, especially in rural areas. My father from Troop County, Georgia, would talk about the power of his country church.

1:29:47 He said many times men only had two suits. they had a dark one and a light one maybe white and a black or a gray and a black whatever it may be they only had two suits but when they came to church they put on those suits and while outside they might have been called boy outside they might have been called the n-word but when they came into church all of a sudden they were called mister They were called brother. They were called deacon and reverend. They imagined themselves outside of the dysfunctional system of Jim and James Crow. And when the sisters came into worship, they only had a few outfits, but they could work those few outfits as if they had 54 outfits throughout the year. And when they came into church, they were Mrs. and Sister and Mother or Reverend when they came into church, that they were pushing against a dysfunctional system that sought to destroy the dreams of black people.

1:31:07 This is a dream factory. How you think black folk learn how to speak in public? Why do you think our musicians are so good? They learned how to dream first in the church. Encouragement from people in the church. This is a dream factory.

1:31:43 And here's a little secret. you can stop a dreamer but you can't stop the dream every time I open up the paper and check my feed on my phone I find out Joseph's brothers are still around They just got new names. They got names like Stephen Miller, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance, Donald Trump. Matter of fact, they even have an organization that they hang out with, a fraternity called ICE.

1:32:40 The more sophisticated they pass policies to disrupt polling places, terrify black and brown children, threaten to detain families in cisterns called detention centers. But even when they attempt to intimidate and silence, new dreamers keep popping up. Trinity, here on 95th Street now, we are the product of ancestral dreams. We're only here because someone knew how to dream before we knew how to dream. This church that will be 65 years young very soon, in a few months, that there was a dreamer by the name of Kenneth Smith who laid the dream work.

1:33:35 But when Kenneth Smith was gone, that didn't mean the dream was gone. Then another dreamer by the name of William Jamerson showed up. And William Jamerson used his power of dreaming in this community, but after William Jamerson left, there was another dreamer by the name of Reuben Shears who showed up. And Reuben Shears had a dream and said, be unashamedly black and unapologetically Christian. And he said after he left, he said, make sure you choose another dreamer that understands the motto of the church. And then another dreamer showed up from Philadelphia by the name of Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. And after Dr. Wright left, I'm letting you know I'm just a dreamer. I'm just a product of you to know that it's my duty to ensure that there's going to be another dreamer who comes along in this place because we are the place, we are the place of dreams here in the black church.

1:34:37 Thank God for dreamers. Thank God for the dream. And when you look at the scripture, if I were to continue the story of Joseph and I have to take my seat, but it's still, it doesn't seem to end on a high note when I stop there at the 20th verse because it starts in chapter 37. But something happens to Joseph. His brothers sell him and drop him down in a pit, but he's pulled out of the pit by the Midianites. The Midianites sell him and he ends up working for a man by the name of Potiphar. But Potiphar had a wife who sexually harassed Joseph. But yet when he was sexually harassed and then said it was he said she said he was thrown into prison.

1:35:38 But while he was in prison he met a cup bearer and a baker and he interpreted their dreams. And because he met the cupbearer and baker and interpreted their dreams, he was then given an opportunity to be in the presence of Pharaoh and interpreted Pharaoh's dream. And by interpreting Pharaoh's dream, Pharaoh brought him on to the payroll of Pharaoh's administration. He said, well, there's going to be seven years of famine, seven years of plenty. So go ahead and stockpile now and Egypt will fare well when there's an economic downturn. As a result of listening to Joseph, Egypt became a place that prospered in the midst of the famine. But here is how God navigates some stuff.

1:36:36 Because as he was working in Egypt, they gave him not only a raise but changed his position. He became second in command next to Pharaoh. You missed your shout. He was in prison, taken out of prison, elevated to second in command next to Pharaoh. And now that he's second in command, there are undocumented immigrants coming into Egypt because the economy is so bad everywhere else because of what Egypt has done to other economies around the world. Now people are showing up to Egypt, but one family decides to come to Egypt. The family of Jacob, you missed your shout. his daddy and all his brothers decide to come to Egypt where he's in control.

1:37:36 They don't know what he looks like because now he's wearing all kind of smooth African material. They don't know what he looks like, but he peeps his own family and sees his family and recognizes that his family is now safe in Egypt. And one day he decides to reveal himself to his brothers. And what do his brothers do? His brothers are fearful of what will be done to them. But he says, you don't understand. You see, God was working something. It took several years, but God was up to something.

1:38:32 Let me see if I can break it down for you. I can imagine Joseph saying, you see, I have to say thank you, Lord, because if you hadn't been jealous of me, you would never throw me in a pit. If you hadn't thrown me in a pit, then I wouldn't get pulled out of the pit. If I hadn't been pulled out of the pit, I would never work for Potiphar. If I never worked for Potiphar, I would never be in a situation of he said, she said. If I was never in the he said, she said, I would never have been placed in prison. If I was never placed in prison, I would never interpret the cup bearer and the baker's dream. If I never interpreted their dream, I'd never have an opportunity to be before Pharaoh. If I was never before Pharaoh, I would never interpret his dream. If I never interpret his dream, then I would never get hired by Pharaoh.

1:39:28 If I never got hired by Pharaoh, we would not save the economy. If I never saved the economy, then my family would not show up here. If my family had never shown up here, you would never be bowing down right now. If you were never bowing down right now, I'd never have to tell you this. What you meant for evil, God meant for good. And I've got to thank God for the things I've been through. I've got to thank God for the hardships I've been through. I thank you for the valleys. I thank you for the mountains. I thank you for the hardships. Begiven, it had not been for the Lord on my side. Where would I be? I know that the Lord answered. I called on the Lord and the Lord showed up.

1:40:24 So good day, Trinity. Is there anyone in here? Are you thankful that sometimes your blessing takes several chapters? You've got to start in chapter 37 before you get to your chapter 49. It took all that time to see the revelation of God. Sometimes you've got to wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord and be of good courage. Because we serve a God, a God who's an on-time God. God might not come when you want him, but I know our God is right on time. Good day. May the Lord bless you real good.

1:41:18 We serve. I sought the Lord! Joseph, salt the Lord! We start this story in chapter 37. There is no resolution till chapter 49. You may be in chapter 38. You missed it. you haven't even got to chapter 40 yet. You may be in chapter 38.

1:42:12 I don't know where you are on your journey, but it will take some time. Because here's the thing. Joseph was too young, immature, to be able to fully embrace the gifts that God had given him. And there's nothing more dangerous than placing a gifted person without wisdom in a position. Gifted people without wisdom in a position are always set up for a downfall. And there are moments when you got passed over, you need to say thank you. You need to say thank you.

1:43:15 You have no idea what devils you ended up avoiding. We know you have the gifts, but you weren't ready yet. There's nothing more dangerous than having the gifts, but not yet having the wisdom. Tell your neighbor it's not chapter 49 yet.