Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III | "The Revolutionary Principles of Pentecost" 6PM 05/24/26

1:04:28 Parthians, that would be present-day Iran. Medes, also a portion of Iran. The Elamites, Iran, moving into a portion of Iraq. And residents of Mesopotamia. Judea, that would be the present-day West Bank. in Israel. Cappadocia, I'm sorry, Cappadocia, Cappadocia, that is also a part of what is Turkey. That name is pronounced a couple of different ways. Pontus and Asia. Phrygia, that is also Turkey, a present-day Turkey. Pamphylia, Egypt, but another term for Egypt is Kemet, Abyssinia, Cush. In other words, Africa.

1:05:27 And parts of Libya, which is also Africa, belonging to Cyrene, which is also Africa. And visitors, visitors from Rome. So, both Jews and proselytites, Cretans, that is from the island of Crete, and Arabs, in our own languages, we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power. All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what does this mean? But others sneered and said, they are filled with new wine. But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and listen to what I say.

1:06:36 Indeed, they are not drunk, as you suppose, for it's only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel. In the last days, it will be. God declares that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. A more appropriate translation, your sons and your daughters shall preach, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of God's holy word.

1:07:34 You may be seated in the presence of the Most High God. And they were all together in one place. I want to place a tag here for the time that we have together to teach this idea from this text, from the word here from Acts, the second chapter. We want to deal with this idea, the revolutionary principles of Pentecost. the revolutionary principles of Pentecost. If you'd be so kind as to turn to your neighbor at this time, just look at your neighbor. Don't look at me. Look at your neighbor. Look at your neighbor, Leah. Look at your neighbor. There you go. Thank you very much. Look at your neighbor. Gotcha. Look at your neighbor. Say, neighbor. Oh, neighbor. Oh, neighbor. They were all together. They were all together.

1:08:26 In one place. In one place. Amen. Now, find another neighbor. Maybe the same one. Even if they don't want to look at you, you look in their direction and smile anyway. There we go. And simply say, neighbor, oh neighbor, I want you to know there is power in Pentecost. Amen. Power. They were all together in one place. Many people think that Pentecostalism is simply a denomination, but it's actually a movement. It was founded or birthed by a person of the name of William Seymour in 1906. He was born in Centerville, Louisiana, and he was called by God to move out to Los Angeles, California, where in a small formerly AME church, six people gathered for an evening of teaching that ended up becoming week after week after week, night after night, of what was eventually called the Azusa Street Revival.

1:10:08 What should be known about the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles is that when the spirit showed up, it showed up in a unique and magnificent way, especially for those who were in the midst of the Jim Crow era in America. It was not just black people who showed up at this worship. It was black. It was Asian. It was Latino. It was indigenous. It was white European immigrants who had just landed on American soil, who only spoke German, and some who only spoke Yiddish. came together in 1906, and William Seymour preached every single night.

1:11:13 But what happened is that the Spirit fell in such a way that people say that they still cannot completely describe what happened and gave birth to what we call the modern-day Pentecostal movement. There were those who only spoke Spanish present and others who only spoke European or Asian languages. But they said the spirit descended in such a way that whether you were indigenous, you spoke Spanish, you only understood Yiddish, that all of a sudden that people heard things in their native tongue. It was a continuation of what had happened in the second book of Acts, the second chapter of Acts, the movement of God in a powerful way.

1:12:19 the majority of people who were in this gathering were people of color, along with people of European descent, but the majority of people of color. There was an equality in reference to male and female leadership, that there would be nights where sisters would give testimony and preach. There would be moments when indigenous people would stand and give testimony of what God was doing. There were moments when people who were Latino would share what God was doing in this moment. And word began to spread from six people in this tiny building. And all of a sudden, there were 800 people literally surrounding the building trying to get in every single night.

1:13:21 Word spread around the country that something was happening. In the newspapers, the local newsletters, the African American papers shared that there was a movement of God that was happening in L.A. in what was known as Azusa Street, the Azusa Street Revival. But word spread to Northern California, and there were some people who were not individuals of color had to go and check some things out. That is when racism reared its ugly head. In the midst of a spiritual experience where people of different backgrounds were brought together by the Spirit of God, a group of men from the northern region who called themselves charismatics and evangelicals wanted to make sure that this black preacher was preaching the right doctrine.

1:14:31 And when they showed up, and I quote Dr. Ray from one of the newspapers, because the black newspapers and the Spanish newspapers just spoke about the movement of God. But I believe it was the larger L.A. paper had a different statement. It said that there are now reports that a frenzy is taking place on Azusa Street where white women are falling into the arms, I quote, of black bucks. That is what the paper said. And this beautiful movement that was developing ended up splitting where those who had been influenced by the Confederacy believed that they could not worship with a person like William Seymour and those who had felt the spirit at Azusa Street. they formed their own denominations, the assemblies of God.

1:15:49 And as a result, people of African descent ended up their own denominations, the church of God in Christ. These denominations ended up, though it was originally part of a movement when the Spirit of God rested on God's people and said, I can bring down any barrier that has been created. But as a result of another spirit known as racism, that spirit did not want to see that kind of solidarity. That whenever the Spirit of God rests upon God's people, it makes those in power nervous because things can shift and change. And this is a continuation of what was happening in the Scripture in the second chapter of Acts.

1:16:48 Thus, apostles had gathered together. This is Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost simply means, if I may teach this, 50 days. It's 50 days after Passover. the apostles, the disciples, they still have fresh in their memory the death of Jesus Christ. They still remember Christ hanging on that cross, and they still have memories of his resurrection, of him appearing to them, whether it was on the Emmaus Road or in that locked room. They are still gathered together because they are still nervous, because they are in the midst of an empire, and they are raising questions about what is the next move. And they have come together as a community, and there they are celebrating the Pentecost, or what in the Jewish tradition is called the Shabbat.

1:17:54 The Shabbat is the festival of the celebration of harvest, of wheat. It is also the celebration of when Moses was on Mount Sinai and brought down the Torah. Shabbat is the time when you are to study. They read the book of Ruth, recognizing how God continues to move from generation to generation. But while they were together, something profound happened, something unique and amazing. And this is at the root of what I call the revolutionary principles of Pentecost. Pentecost principles are rooted in what one should understand is ancestral memory. What do you mean by that?

1:18:49 It is ancestral memory. Now, look at what is happening. They're gathered together on Pentecost, 50 days after Passover. They are celebrating what is known as Shabbat, the wheat harvest. They are repeating and communicating how God has moved in the lives of their ancestors. That is what the Shabbat is all about. what the Lord has done, not in my life, but what the Lord has done in the lives of those who came before me. They are repeating the stories of God parting a sea. They are repeating the stories of David taking down a Goliath. They're repeating the stories of Ruth and of Queen Vashti, they are retelling the ancestral encounter. And I'm here to let you know that there is something powerful when we choose to share our ancestral story of what God has done with those before we were even born, that we must learn to retell the story. It is a part of our spiritual operating system. It allows us to come in contact with God's spiritual hardware.

1:20:17 Let me see if I can explain it this way. You need an operating system on something like this iPhone that I have because you can't communicate with the hardware. The software, the operating system allows you to connect with that which you cannot communicate with. And what I'm here to share with you is that there is a spiritual operating system that we are called to utilize, to literally download the testimonies of those who went before us so that we can gather from their intelligence and their work of how we are to proceed right now. That even if God has not moved you, believe in your life, you can look back over the lives of those who were before you and see how God has moved. And there is a moment, this moment in history, where there are those who do not want you to download some ancestral intelligence.

1:21:25 They do not want you to know what happened in the past because if I remove your history, you will not know how God has been moving in the lives of your ancestors. And so I stop by here today to say that we've got to use a spiritual operating system, One that can come in contact with and download some ancestral information for us. So let me download a few people for us today. I want to download a person by the name of John Lewis to tell us that we've got to get into good trouble. Can I download Shirley Chisholm who tells us that we are unbought and unbossed? Can I download Bayard Rustin who can tell us how to organize in the midst of trouble? Can I download James Weldon Johnson and say lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring with the harmonies of liberty?

1:22:29 Can I download some Malcolm X to know that there are some field Negroes and some house Negroes? And I'm here to let you know at Trinity, we are field folks. We're not going to be in the house. Can I download some W.E.B. Du Bois to let you know about the souls of black folk? Can I download Frantz Fanon and Howard Thurman? I stopped by here to let you know we must utilize our ancestral intelligence, that there are stories that when we come in contact with those stories, it empowers us. And there are opponents who do not want you to know who you are and whose you are. But I'm here to let you know that there's power in your history. Because God has been working in our history. How do you think you got here?

1:23:23 You got here because somebody made a way for you. You got here because somebody opened a door for you. You got here because somebody prayed for you. Is there anyone in here that knows that we got here because there were ancestors who made a way for us? Pentecost is about retelling our ancestral story. They were gathered together. And can you imagine the disciples are gathered together? They are praying. They are worshiping. But they are also testifying. What are they testifying about? I can imagine Peter when he's looking at that knife that he keeps in his back pocket. I remember when I had to cut off that man's ear when he rolled up on my Jesus.

1:24:26 But I can imagine that they were telling stories of what Jesus had done. There they are together, said, do you remember when Jesus stopped that funeral? and everybody was weeping but that child came back to life. Do you remember when he spat on the ground and he took that mud and placed it on that man's eyes and now he can see? Do you remember when they lowered that man in front of him, came from the roof and Jesus healed him? Do you remember that woman with an issue of blood who didn't even holler, hey Jesus heal me but just touched the hem of his garment? Do you remember when he stopped by Mary and Martha's house and was able to resurrect Lazarus? Do you remember what Jesus has done? And every once in a while, you ought to have do you remember moment. You ought to remember how God has continued to move in your life. And I don't know if there's anyone in here. Do you remember how God has continually kept you? Do you remember when you were on the edge of insanity and death? Do you remember when you almost lost your mind and God snatched you back? Do you remember? They were gathered together all in the same place. They were praying. They were worshiping. They were also testifying of how God had moved.

1:26:08 But this is the thing that I like. I like that. May I share this? And I'm kind of a theological nerd because there are certain things that I look and I see in Scripture and it excites me. You will notice they are all together in the same place. And it says that the Spirit comes down, divided tongues, and rests on each of them. Now here is the mistake that many people make. They think that this is the same as speaking in tongues. This is not speaking in tongues. It is in Corinthians that speaks about speaking in tongues. That is one of the gifts that God provides to God's people. There is the gift of teaching, the gift of encouragement, the gift of preaching, the gift of discernment, the gift of prophecy, the gift of speaking in tongues.

1:27:13 But it also says there's a gift of interpretation. But Scripture also says that you shouldn't be speaking in tongues if you don't have anybody to interpret what you're saying because ain't nobody going to know what you're saying. So that is different when we speak of speaking in tongues. This is the Spirit descending, and they are speaking other languages. But here is the thing that makes me shout. They are inside, and the Spirit comes down, and all of a sudden whatever their native tongue was, they're Galileans, they're speaking their their Aramaic is what they are speaking and all of a sudden it shifts that now the people on the outside hear the people in the room speaking in their native tongue. The brother from Iran hears his native tongue. The one from Turkey hears his native tongue. The one from Asia hears her native tongue. The one from Crete, the one from Libya, from Kemet, from Africa, from Abyssinia. The one from Palestine, Cyrene, the one visiting from Rome hears people speaking in their native tongue. Now understand this. The reason the people are so confused is because each group had ghettoized itself. Let me help you out. Ghettoization means that you separate because there may be a commonality or you are forced to separate by those who are in power to keep you in particular space and so there are individuals they are separated by their language and their culture and then they start to hear people speaking their language this is a biblical reversal let me help you out for the Bible students

1:29:19 I'm doing the best I can this is a biblical reversal because you will remember in Genesis the story of the tower of Babel. Humanity spoke the same language but got arrogant and said we're not going to let God flood the earth anymore. We'll build a tower to heaven so we never have to worry about a flood. God then touches the people with God's spirit and they start speaking different languages. In other words, you hear people babbling. Where we get the word, we say you're babbling, meaning I don't understand what you're saying. I hear sound, but I don't understand the sound. Now we have a group of people all together and the Spirit of God rests on them.

1:30:21 And what normally would be babbling, now I understand the testimony. Can you imagine you are in a neighborhood where you don't speak the language, but you know the folks are speaking the language you don't know, but all of a sudden you hear the testimony of what God has been doing in their lives. That is going to arrest you. It's going to stop you. And here you have the people saying, wait a minute, I'm from Iran. Somebody said, I'm from the West Bank. Somebody said, I'm from the South Side. And now people are speaking my language. I can understand what they are saying. It must be the Spirit of God. But as always, there are some naysayers in the crowd.

1:31:18 the naysayers say nah it can't be that's too amazing them folk must all be drunk you and the people speaking must be drunk but then Peter says hold up it's 9 in the morning nobody's drinking not until the sun goes down for some And here in this moment, the people who were separated, all of a sudden, barriers are broken and solidarity is created. You missed your shout. This is in the midst of the Roman Empire. The Romans like separation because they can keep people in line as long as there's division in the community. But when division stops, the empire gets nervous because they realize that there can be solidarity.

1:32:26 I'm here to let you know that we have a responsibility to solidarity as a community. solidarity in the middle of this empire can i share something with you that the spirit placed upon me if we want to see the kind of solidarity we've got to recognize that there really isn't much difference between what we are going through and our brothers and sisters in another neighborhood are going through what our brothers and sisters in another state are going through there is a small group of people that want to keep us separate, but if we allow the Spirit of God to rest upon us, we will know that we are all interconnected as the children of God. If we want to see some good trouble in this United States, yet to be United States of America.

1:33:27 You see, what would happen if black artists who have the most influence culturally across the globe, what if black artists like Chance the Rapper, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Kirk Franklin, The Roots, and Rihanna, what if they had concerts all around America, but the only way you could get in is if you registered to vote? What if they had concerts that that was the price of admission? The empire would be worried. What if at every HBCU, if you wanted to get your money or have housing on campus, you had to register to vote? Imagine if every black church, instead of just having a revival to shout and say, God has been good. What if we have a registration revival where in order to vote, I'm here to let you know.

1:34:26 What if the Divine Nine has a national step show? And in order to get in the national step show, you have to register to vote. In other words, we're going to step to the polls. What would happen? Because the enemies, the opposition of our ancestors could not stand. I'm here to let you know the enemies do not, they are not upset if Trinity says what Trinity says. They're upset if I and Trinity, we get together with St. Sabina. If St. Sabina gets together with Salem and Salem gets together with the West Side. When we get together, when Otis Moss connects with Reverend Sierra, Reverend Sierra connects with Father Mike. And Father Mike sits down with Iman Muhammad. And Iman Muhammad sits down with Father Martinez. And Father Martinez sits down with Reverend Garcia.

1:35:19 When we build a coalition and solidarity, knowing that it is the Spirit of God that directs us and holds us and bless us, we can turn this world upside down. And I'm here to let you know Pentecost is about solidarity and breaking down barriers. Let us break down barriers. They fear a coalition between urban communities and rural communities because we're catching it from the same people and don't even realize it. Pentecost is also about breaking barriers and it's creating solidarity as the spirit. of God falls. But here is the other thing that I love so very much. Pentecost shares the importance of spiritual practice in community. The community, the community here at Trinity, we're a community. There are some things you can do by yourself. You can worship by yourself, but there are some things you can only do in community. The brothers behind me, They're brothers that can do a solo by themselves, but they'll never sound like a choir because there are some things you have to do in community.

1:36:50 And Pentecost shares the importance of spiritual practice in community. The village is where we catch a glimpse of God. Let me see if I can share this story. It was Mark Crandall, a high school junior from Long Island, who created a program, I believe it was in 1984, when he was sent to Zimbabwe and became friends with a basketball player by the name of Ngoni Makulu. And they created a program called Hoops for Hope that was founded in 1995. Hoops for Hope created a program across Zimbabwe and South Africa where over 750 young men the first year joined this program. But eventually, over 7,600 participants annually were involved with Hoops for Hope. What is Hoops for Hope? What they did is they created a curriculum. Basketball was just how you get in.

1:37:44 But the curriculum was around substance abuse, gender inequality, teenage risk management, HIV and AIDS, and they helped deal with the Ebola and COVID-19 crisis. Hoops for Hopes has seven principles to teach every young person that they have seven tools to be a champion. One is integrity. The other one is responsibility. The third is a sense of humor. The other is a sense of self-awareness. The fifth one is a sense of self-esteem. And number six is focus. But it's number seven that I want to share with you that was such a blessing. The seventh principle is Ubuntu. It is the principle of I am because we are. It is Archbishop Desmond Tutu in his book No Future Without Forgiveness.

1:38:39 He explains that Ubuntu is not I think, therefore I am. It is I am human because I belong. I participate. I share my humanity. My humanity is tied to your humanity. That my success is connected to your success. And your success is connected to my success. And it was in the summer of 2008 that Coach Doc Rivers, as a result of the NBA having workshops in Zimbabwe and South Africa, met one of the directors of the South African Hoops for Hopes, a person by the name of Kitta Matungulu, and Coach Kitta, as they called him. He was sharing with him the principles that work here in South Africa. We practice Ubuntu.

1:39:33 He's sharing with Coach Doc Rivers. He shared with him how we have been able to transform the lives of young people. And Coach Doc Rivers told Coach Keita, he said, well, I've got some issues. I'm now the coach of the Boston Celtics. It's 2008. And I've got three major stars, one named Kevin Garnett. The other by the name of Ray Allen and another by the name of Paul Pierce. They are major stars. They got their major egos. How do I get them to work together? And Coach Keita said, well, you got to teach them Ubuntu. You got to teach them that their success is their team's success, and the team's success is their success. They've got to learn the power of Ubuntu. And so Coach Keita shared with Doc Rivers this principle, And then Doc Rivers said, well, I want to do one more thing. I want to hire you to be not my assistant coach, but I want you to be in charge of Ubuntu culture for the Boston Celtics.

1:40:37 I want you to teach everybody that we've got to function with the culture of Ubuntu. Well, the rest is history because the Celtics won the NBA championship that year. And when they got their rings, it was engraved on the inside of their ring, Ubuntu, because they had been learning that I've got to move over so you succeed. And when you succeed, I shout and celebrate what you are doing. You're still missing what I'm saying. Here we are at Trinity. This is Ubuntu space. You must understand that someone else's success is also your success. And I want to shout out three young people right now. Yes, Kayla. Yes, Sanaa. Yes, Macy. I want to shout out the three of you right now. Your success is our success.

1:41:30 When you do well, we do well. Your blessing is our blessing. And as you march on in your life, we will celebrate you along the way. We say Ubuntu. We praise God for you. Ubuntu. You are going to do great things. That it is important that we celebrate, but also recognize that the success of someone else is also your success. And maybe you need to look at your neighbor right now. You don't know what your neighbor's been through. You don't know what hurdle your neighbor has jumped over, but maybe you need to encourage your neighbor right now and say, I praise God for you because your success is my success. Your blessing is my blessing because I can see the Lord working in your life. Ubuntu. We are in a space of Ubuntu, a space where we recognize and understand that someone else's success is our success, and the church is one of the few spaces where we can recognize and elevate the work of someone else and be a part of a village and elevate what they are doing.

1:42:49 This is what Pentecost was doing. The idea that spiritual practice must also happen in a community space. But I must leave you today and just give you this final thing. The Spirit rests upon the people. The Spirit rests upon the disciples, upon the apostles, upon the people hearing the disciples' testimony. And all I want to share with you to my final point is simply this. Pentecost reminds us the spirit is real. I want you to know it is not a figment of someone's imagination. The spirit is real. The spirit will show up. The spirit will move. The spirit will bless. The spirit will heal.

1:43:43 the spirit will talk it might not come when you want it but the spirit is always right on time and i don't know who i'm speaking to who knows that the spirit of god the holy spirit is real Spirit still transforms lives. The spirit still shows up and allows people to communicate. Can I tell you an experience we had? Those of us who made our way to Senegal and Gambia for our Ubuntu project, we brought a musician by the name of Isaiah Sharkey with us. Isaiah Sharkey, a gifted guitarist, along with his wife, Opal Staples, came with us. And Isaiah, who's from Chicago, with roots in Mississippi, he was being filmed as he was going to connect with a Senegalese musician by the name of Numacunda.

1:44:49 Numacunda was a chorah player. The chorah is a 21-string instrument, a combination of a banjo and a harp. Now there was one problem because Isaiah had never met Numakunda. Numakunda had never met Isaiah. Isaiah speaks English. Numakunda speaks Woloth. They don't speak the same language. But when they met, the spirit showed up. Numakunda pulled out his Korah. He was trying to talk to Sharky in Woloth. Sharky doesn't know Wolof. They even had an interpreter, but the interpreter cannot speak the language of Wolof and translate into English because there are some words in Wolof that won't translate in English. And so what Numakunda did, he said, I know a way.

1:45:49 He said, the spirit is on me. I know a way. He picks up his cora and he starts playing some notes and then looks at Sharky. Sharky takes his guitar and then plays some notes. Then Numakunda plays some notes on the cora. And before you know it, it was as if they were one musician playing together. And as they were playing, Numacunda's daughter started singing in Woloth. They didn't know what she was singing, but Opal figured out that she was saying something about thank you, Lord. So then Opal started singing thank you, Lord. They had thank you, Lord in Woloth and thank you, Lord in English. And as they were playing music in Numacunda's compound, the music was so powerful that other people outside the compound wanted to look in to see what was going on because they were hearing sounds that they had never heard before. I'm here to let you know that the Spirit of God will play some notes in your spirit where you'll be able to communicate in ways that you never thought you'd communicate before.

1:47:03 Good day. May the Lord bless you real good. But I'm here to let you know that the Spirit is real. The Spirit still heals. The Spirit is real. The Spirit still blesses. The Spirit is real. The Spirit still opens doors that no man can shut. Shuts doors that no man can open. Is there anyone in here? Do you know the Spirit is real? Has the Spirit ever shown up in your life? Has the Spirit ever possessed your body? Has the Spirit ever spoken to you in a dream? Has the Spirit ever shown up in your household? Is there anyone in here? Do you know the Spirit is? The Spirit is real.

1:48:00 The revolutionary principles of Pentecost. And we are called to retell our ancestral stories. That the Spirit of Pentecost wants to break down some barriers. And create solidarity. And that we have a spiritual practice. where we are called to practice in community. See, a piano sounds good by itself, the keyboard, but there's a difference when the rest of the instruments join in the band. A different sound is created in the process. That is community. Someone can sing a solo, but they will never sound like a choir. That's the power of community.

1:48:54 You can run the 200 as fast as you want, but if you don't have a relay team, you never cross the finish line. That's the power of community. And we are called to be in community and allow God to break down barriers that have been created by humanity, not created by the holy. The door of the church is open right now. send your anointing the door is open