Sermon Tone Analysis

God is good all the time!

And, all the time God is good!

Southlake, if I share something with y’all.

I hope you don’t get mad at me or change your view point of me.

But, I need to share this little bit with you to help introduce a key theme of today’s sermon.

Brother and Sisters, just like many of you, I love music.

Whether it is gospel, reggae, classical, R & B, or jazz; I love music.

About the only type of music I don’t like is that new wave or Chicago house music.

That noise just grates on my nerves.

You know Southlake, I can listen to some go-go, some blues, some rock and roll, some country music and even some opera.

But brothers and sisters, I must admit that I love me some old school hip-hop (Heavy D, Public Enemy, Eric B and Rahkeem, Geto Boys, LL, Beastie Boys, Emenim, TuPac and Biggie).

If you put on Rappers Delight from Sugar Hill, I become the greatest rapper the state of Ohio has ever produced and the coldest M.C. that the state of Georgia has ever seen, bar none!

If you don’t believe me ask Mariah.

I know every word, hook and beat.

Yes Sir! Now I told you all of this to get to this point.

I was recently in the barbershop and they was playing the most recent Jay Z album and the song “Story of OJ” came on.

Now any one who has listened to Jay-Z knows that, as Brother Mitchell would say, he can spit.

And of the many things Jay-Z said on that song, what stood out to me was when he said “I ain’t black, I’m OJ”.

Southlake, let that thought marinate on your minds for a minute, “I ain’t black, I’m OJ”.

That’s deep!In thinking about that statement, it is my personal belief and thought that Jay-Z is trying to convey that sometimes a person, especially a person of color can achieve some form of success and then begin to believe that the rules no longer apply to them.

I believe this mentality is known as the “Entitlement Mentality”.

An entitlement mentality is a state of mind in which an individual comes to believe that privileges are instead rights and they are expected as just a way of life.

Characteristics of an entitlement mentality is:A lack of action or laziness.

Sometimes we describe it as just being comfortable.

Southlake, I recall when God moved us to appoint Elders for this congregation.

I recall how honored and blessed I felt to be considered for such service.

But Southlake, I am being very transparent here.

I also recall how scared, how anxious and how nervous I was in being able to serve God and this congregation in such a capacity.

I recall how hard I worked in my studies and my ministry work.

I was committed and I was all in.

Then several months ago, Vernon got ill and I was talking with him and he asked me if I would be willing to preach in his place.

I initially thought he was joking, but I soon realized that he was dead serious.

Southlake, after that call I truly realized that I had begun to coast in my service and committment to God and this congregation.

While, I was continuing to do those things I had grown comfortable with, I realized that my passion and zeal to grow and serve God may have ebbed.

Brothers and sisters, I had become complacent or in real talk, I had become lazy.

I am growing in my knowledge and understanding that it is easier for us as imperfect human beings to think about God’s role in my life rather to reflect on my role in God’s plan, which really removes any sense of entitlement.

A complaining nature.

Southlake, we complain about the weather, our children, our jobs, church leadership and one another.

And, although our complaints can be minor in nature and spirit, they do reveal something about our heart.

All complaints are not borne out of a malicious spirit.

Job challenges our stereotype of a complainer.

In his outcries, Job prays in 10:1-2 “My inner self loathes my life; I want to give vent to my complaint; I want to speak out of the bitterness of my inner self.

I will say to God, ‘You should not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me’ ” ().

He repeats and recasts his elevated and prolonged complaints in surprising similes: “Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?” ().

Self-centeredness or selfishness.

This is something that we all must pray about and be on -guard for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

And if you think not, then you are truly fooling yourself.

The scriptures is full of self-centered and selfish behaviour.

We are born bent on our own ambitions.

It’s in our nature to control and compete.

And pride—often the source of this behavior—keenly notices the pride of others.

Often, we want to point out the failing of the equally prideful and impose our own wills on them, while neglecting to see these traits in ourselves.

In , we find a myriad of characters who are bent on obtaining favor and selfish gain—often at the expense and exasperation of others.

Rachel foolishly demands a son of Jacob () and then—because the family dynamics weren’t complicated enough—she has her handmaid bear her a child via Jacob.

When she finally obtains a son, she is not joyful—she is triumphant: “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed” ().

Leah uses bribery and her own handmaid to gain the attention of her neglectful husband, while Laban and Jacob continue circling, using and manipulating one another (, ).

Brothers and Sisters, today I have come by to tell you That I Ain’t OJ, I Am Black; but I do want to ask “Who Are You”

​Connect the Testaments: A 365-Day Devotional with Bible Reading Plan August 6Familiarity breeds contempt, so the saying goes.

But the line from Aesop’s fable “The Fox and the Lion” wasn’t meant to imply that we often take those closest to us for granted.

Rather, the fox fails to properly acknowledge the lion—the king of all beasts—because he doesn’t know his place.

His self-perception is dangerously inflated.

The same is true for the fickle Nazarenes who heard Jesus interpret the Scriptures.

When Jesus preached in the synagogue of His hometown, the Nazarenes were initially receptive.

But when He interpreted the prophet Isaiah’s words in a way they disliked—a way that showed Him as the one who “proclaim[s] release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind” (; see )—they belittled Him: “Is this man not the son of Joseph?” ().

Now many of us more seasoned Saints have read or have heard of Ralph Ellison’s book entitled the “Invisible Man”.

Invisible Man is a novel by Ralph Ellison about an African American man whose color renders him invisible, published in 1952.

It addresses many of the social and intellectual issues facing African-Americans early in the twentieth century and even still today.

Issues such as black pride and nationalism, as well as issues of individuality and personal identity.Essentially, it is a story of an unnamed black man, who lives in an underground room wired with hundreds of electric lights, operated by power stolen from the city's electric grid.

This man reflects on the various ways in which he has sought and experienced being socially invisible during his life and how he had grown tired of hiding from the world but is now ready to engage with society and the world.

Southlake, “I ain’t OJ, I’m black”.

Every physical characteristic I have let’s you that.Yet brothers and sisters, I want to take this story from the physical realm and replace it with characteristics of our spiritual walk.

Southlake, this morning I come to ask “WHO ARE YOU and WHO ARE WE”.

TRANSITION STATEMENT: Now before you say who are you to ask us this question, just remember that this same question is asked many times in the bible.

Throughout the scriptures this question is posed to validate: 1) an individuals actual identity; 2) or what tribe or lineage they come from; 3) or what type of authority had or should be given them; 4) and/or to put an individual back into their place.For example, when we read the Scriptures we read:In , when Esau was seeking the blessings of his father Jacob, Jacob lie in his bed and asked his own son Esau, “Who Are You”? (validating identity)In , we see the Jewish leaders ask John the Baptist on several occasion's as to Who Are You? (authority), we see the question asked, “but WHO ARE YOU, a human being, to talk back to God? (humility) This is one of those self-check questions where a parent may say to a child “Who the ?*# you think you are?” Before finishing of by saying “You ain’t nobody”!

And, this question is asked again in which reads: “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, [12] so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

[13] Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed.

They would say, ‘In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.’

[14] Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

[15] [One day] the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’

[16] Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all.

He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.”

(NIV)Southlake, when I read this scripture, I find myself thinking that God does have a sense of humor.

Every time I visualize this scene, I start to chuckle to myself.

Yet, if you mediate on this text you will that there is a sharp contrast in this passage of scripture between authentic and inauthentic ministry.

The first section shows the power of God manifested through the works of Paul, while the second half shows what happens when someone seeks notoriety, but are not operating in the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we contrast the two, I want to take them out of order and look at the second half of the scripture passage first.

Seven sons of a Jewish chief priest were attempting to cast out demons “in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches.”

The evil spirits replied, ‘Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’ and then jumped on the brothers and gave them a good whipping.

The brothers left the house, humiliated and physically beat-down, and just powerless against the evil spirits.

Now before we go further, I just want to remind the church that the scripture tells us as that believers need not fear the dark side because God is greater than the forces of evil.

John wrote, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

( KJV) So we can surmise that these men did not have God’s power; they were imposters, wanting the notoriety that Paul had without the commitment.

The evil spirits said to them, ‘Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’

Transition Statement: SL, I must admit that there have been times when I would have answered this question by saying “I ain’t black, I’m OJ.” Sometimes, especially when we are not grounded in Gods’ Word, we want to be the celebrity and we want the church and our friends to see and know what I have done.

When you get time read about Simone the Sorcerer in .

Brothers and sisters, I recall back in my sports playing days, I could not wait to get the newspaper after I had a big game.

I could not wait to see my name in print and hopefully the bold, big print.

I wanted folks to know who I was.

I would get mad if it wasn’t and/or the paper highlighted some of my teammates.

I grew to understand that I wasn’t playing for the team, but I was playing for myself.