TD Jakes - The Phenomenon That God Would Be Born
In the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter one, verses 21-23, you will find my assignment for this morning. I will not be long because you know this story well, but I want to point out some significance from this story and how we, as Christians, ought to approach this season. It is easy to get caught up in the currents of this world, the hustle and bustle, and the songs of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, going here and there, trying to keep up with the Joneses, outgiving each other gifts, and putting pressure on ourselves. However, this did not start as the commercialization of that which is holy.
The day we are standing in is a holy day—woo, I feel like preaching! Lord have mercy, I haven’t even gotten to it yet. The one we are preaching about is so holy that they first started calling him «the holy thing.» This is a holy moment, and I will read only a few passages of Scripture because that’s all I need. «And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.» Now, all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, «Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,» which being interpreted is «God With Us.»
I want to talk for just a few moments because we had such an amazing production that was a sermon all by itself. But if you will indulge me for just a few moments, I would like to elaborate on the subject: the phenomenon of God being born. Think about what a phenomenon that is! You are standing on the backside of it, looking at it, but for those who were in the Old Testament, looking forward to it, the idea that God would be born is a phenomenon. It is a phenomenon because God is a phenomenon, and if God is a phenomenon, he is going to do phenomenal things because you do what you are. Look at somebody and say, «He is a phenomenon. He is a phenomenon, and he’s going to do phenomenal things.»
Let’s pray: Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on us now as we gather at the gate of the tabernacle to behold the descent of the Shekinah glory overshadowing our humanity. Hide us in your glory; wrap us in the fabric of your grace. Conduct your business because you are God. You never needed a crowd to be God; you were God from the beginning, and you’ll be God when it’s all over. Now speak, Lord, for thy servant hears. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated in the presence of God.
It is important in this time and all times before it that we understand who God is. If we don’t understand who God is, then church becomes irrelevant. You get hurt, and you leave; you don’t get picked to lead a solo, you quit; you didn’t make the Deacon board, and you’re out. Because if you confuse God and church, then worship becomes cumbersome. God is God when church is over; God is God when the church doors are closed. God is God in the darkest season of your life. He is Sovereign; he is Yahweh; he is mighty; he is eternal; he is everlasting; he is immutable. He is God. Nobody campaigned for him; nobody had to vote for him. Nobody had to elect him; nobody can dethrone him; nobody can impeach him. God is God; he was not hired to be God; he just is God.
Faith for us does not begin when we get a new suit, a new car, or a new house. Faith begins with God. «He that cometh to God must first believe that he is"—not in a building, not in a man, not in a choir. You must first believe that he is, not that he was, not that he will be, but that he is. «He that cometh to God must first believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.» Not titles, not positions—no, no, no! Those that diligently seek him! Look at your neighbor and ask, «Why did you come? Are you trying to be discovered? Are you trying to be recognized? Are you trying to be promoted? Are you trying to be respected? Are you trying to get a platform? Are you trying to do a deal? What are you doing? Why did you come?» You must first believe that he is, and he only rewards those that diligently seek him.
There ought to be a hot pursuit this morning seeking God. I bump into you only because I am in pursuit of God, and my fellowship with you is predicated on us going in the same direction. Seeking God, understanding who God is in His divine state, is very important, but it is difficult to articulate because there is nothing to compare Him to. There is nothing to compare Him to. Even those who represent Him are not Him; those who teach about Him are not Him; those who can expound upon Him are not Him; those who represent Him are not Him. The buildings that are dedicated to Him are not Him. God is God.
The Bible says that heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool. That means that this planet you call Earth, which you think is so amazing with all its different time zones, is really just God’s ottoman! You must understand, however, that the Earth is a sphere and God made it to rest His feet upon. Your God is so big that He is incomprehensible; He’s so big that He is amazing! The Earth has a diameter of approximately 7,926 miles, while the polar diameter is almost 8,000 miles around, and God calls it His ottoman. Your God is high and lifted up; your God is amazing!
If you think the planet is amazing, I’ve been to the Grand Canyon; it was amazing. I’ve seen Niagara Falls; it was amazing. I’ve been in the deserts of South Africa; it was amazing. I’ve been on safari outside of Johannesburg; it was amazing. I’ve been to Brazil in the rainforest; it was amazing. I’ve traveled all over the world—I’ve seen many amazing things! God says that all of it put together is His footstool. 259 billion cubic miles? I place my feet on that! So when you’re talking about God, you’re talking about something that is indescribable.
When you’re talking about God, who has no beginning or end, we are celebrating the birth of Christ but not the birth of God. Because from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. Our God is the Ancient of Days; our God is the Prince of Peace; our God is the Everlasting Father. Our God is without beginning or end of days! Our God has more healing in the stitches of His clothing than all the hospitals on the planet; our God can heal anything! Our God can move anything! Our God has all power in His hand. Our God is so awesome that He looked for someone greater than Himself, and finding no one greater than Himself, He said, «I swear by Myself that blessings I will bless thee, and multiplying, I will multiply thee.»
Our God is so old that He is the Ancient of Days; He was there before the first candle was lit, before the first star was placed in the heavens, before the first sun began to blaze in the galaxy. God was there before the first drop of water fell at Niagara Falls. He is the Ancient of Days; He is our bulwark; He is our shield; He is our stronghold; He is our trumpet; He is our peace; He is our way maker; He is our bridge over troubled water; He is our bread of heaven; He is our strength.
He is the breasted One! And yet, He is our heavenly Father—beyond gender descriptions, God is God, and He always will be God. He’s God in the middle of the ocean; He’s God in the middle of the sea; He’s God in times of trouble, and He’s God for you and me! I’m talking about God! When you stop worrying about flesh and start praising God, demons tremble, hell gets nervous, Satan gets sick—curses are broken, yolks are destroyed! If you ever get in your mind to praise God, however you’re feeling will fall off of you! Whatever is happening will fall off of you! Whatever the devil said will not stop you if you get your mind on God!
God is so amazing that when Isaiah came into the temple, he said, «In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord—He was high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.» Let me break this down for you. Every king had a train, and the longer the train, the longer the kingdom. But God’s kingdom was so big that His train filled the temple! Do you understand what I’m talking about when I talk about God?
Israel asked to see Him, but when He started coming around the mountain, the ground began to shake and the mountain caught on fire! They said, «No, no, no—that’s okay, we cancel our appointments!» That’s who you are praising! That’s who you are serving! That’s who you came to worship! That’s who you came to lift up! That’s who you came to give tribute to! That’s who you came to glorify—the One who walks on water, the One who speaks to winds and waves, and they lay down prostrate on the floor! The One who has the last say, the One who has all power, the One who can heal all manner of disease, the One who can lift your head and keep it from falling, the One who can keep your feet in times of trouble and make you able to stand! Touch three people and say, «I serve God! That’s who I serve! I serve God!»
I’m trying to help you, but I serve God! Hallelujah! I’m trying to help you, but I serve God! I serve God! «He that hath begun a good work in me shall perform it until the day of Jesus Christ"—because I serve the Lord! I wish I had about ten people that had a little bit of the Holy Ghost in here. I know you’re dressed up and you look cute in your red, but if I had about ten people that would get over looking Christmasy and start praising God, God would do something in this place! Since we’re out here, we might as well shout! Somebody shout «God!» You don’t know—you just used the biggest word you know! I don’t care if you know a word that has fifteen letters in it; those three letters are the biggest word you will ever speak! Somebody throw your hands up and shout «God!»
Hallelujah! He’s big in the earth! He’s big under the earth! He’s big over the earth! He’s big in times of trouble! He’s big in times of blessing! Somebody say «God!» When the doctor says you gotta die, you ought to throw your hands up and say «God!» When the bill collector says you got more bills than you got money, you ought to shout «God!» When all hell is breaking loose in your life, and the devil expects you to crumble, you ought to shout «God!» Nobody can stop you from having God! Nobody can stop God from having you! Nobody can stop God from reaching you! Nobody can stop God from saving you!
They can hate on you, and they can’t stop you! They can put you in jail, and they can’t stop you! They can put their foot on you, and they can’t stop you! If God be for you—excuse me while I praise Him! I said if God be for you, you have to understand the magnitude of what we are about so you can understand the magnitude of the fight we’re in. Hell hates us because God loves us! And I’m not speaking in code about me—I’m talking about you! The devil hates you because God loves you, and he does everything he can to block you, depress you, defeat you, discourage you, intimidate you, make you doubt yourself, make you doubt your faith, make you doubt that you’re enough, make you doubt that you can succeed, make you doubt that you can make it by yourself, make you think you need people! You don’t need any of them—if God be for you!
Oh, me! Was I going to preach this morning? I said if I had a guest preacher, I’d cancel him! I would call him up and cancel him because I know who God is! High five somebody and say «God’s got you!» God’s got your bills! God’s got your house! God’s got your marriage! God’s got your mind! God’s got your children! God’s got your circumstance! God’s got your situation! God’s got your turmoil! God’s got your pain! God’s got your grief! God’s got whatever the devil is trying to use against you! God’s got you!
How dare you look astonished if you believe in God? God has got you! Shout «God!» Sit down; I’m just talking to you. I just wanted to put the text in context that when they called His name Emmanuel, it meant «God With Us.» I wanted you to see how significant it is for God to be with us; the personification of Jesus begins with acknowledging that this great, big God would come into the world at all— that He would come into His own creation. That amazing truth shows that He could not fit even into His own creation. The truth is, He had to reduce Himself to His lowest common denominator. The Bible says it this way: He poured out of Himself His glory and honor, humbled Himself, and got low enough to come into this world, and, having come into the world, He chose a woman. Yes, He came inside of a woman.
You see, the God who performed the delivery of the first woman, put Adam to sleep so that no man could get the credit for her, saying, «This is not your fight, Adam; I’ve got this covered. I’m going to show you what you have.» He reached within Adam and pulled her out, and heaven was amazed. But what I’m talking about is the God who created the woman now entering the woman He created, wrapping Himself in flesh and walking out in a flesh suit. They called His name Emmanuel—God with us. He was answering the question: «Adam, where are you?» That question was never answered until Jesus came. He said, «I’m coming to get you. I’m going to use this lamb as a temporary substitute, but lo, I come in the volume of the book to do Your will, O God.» He came down through over 42 generations, wrapping Himself in flesh, saying, «I’m coming to get you.»
The Incarnate God—where we get the word «carnal,» which relates to meat—wrapped Himself in a meat suit. «Incarnation» means «in meat.» I came down to your level; I came where you could touch me, where you could see me. If I had shown myself in my original state, it would have been too much for you; it would have burned the eyeballs out of your head. So, I hid myself in a meat suit just so we could have a conversation. Incarnated divinity! The Creator has now become subject to what He created. He gave up His omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. He submitted Himself to prayer because, having given up omnipotence, all-powerful now, He had to go to the garden and pray. Regarding omniscience, He says, «No man knows the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man comes; neither the angels nor the Son, but the Father, which is in heaven.»
This means I don’t know everything anymore, so I gave up my omniscience. He traveled because He gave up His omnipresence; as Father, He never had to travel—He was just there. But Jesus had to get in a boat and travel to come where you are; He said, «Let us cross over to the other side.» It is the humility of God; the God who said, «I count it not robbery to be equal with God,» made Himself of no reputation, humbling Himself and coming into the woman He created to fulfill Genesis 3:15, that the seed of the woman would rise up and bruise the head of the serpent. Christ is the seed of the woman. I pro like a woman who has no seed and a virgin who has no sex, so the only way that she could be pregnant… I feel like preaching; I should quit. I shouldn’t be up here because I have time for it today, baby—I’ve got time for it! Does anybody have time for it today?
I know whom I have believed, and He became incarnate with us. But that’s not the really good part. Let me give you the truly good part: part two. The polar propensity of the nativity scene tells more than a story that the King of Kings would not be born in a palace, mansion, cathedral, house, or hotel. The King of Kings, the Ancient of Days, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the Wonderful Counselor, the Bright and Morning Star, and the Lion of the Valley chose to live homeless. Now, even homeless people don’t choose to be homeless; He chose to be homeless not because He was broke—because His Father was looking for a hotel room. You don’t look for a hotel room if you’re broke. But God had shut the door on every possible option so that He could choose a spot to be born that was the lowest of the low—not a house, because houses are built for people, but a barn.
A barn is built for animals because the man about to be born wants to be born in a barn because He is a lamb! No, no, no—let me show you the polarities of the text. You must understand that Jesus is the light of the world, but He was born at night. He was born at night, even though in Him was life and that life was the light of men. He was born at night in a lowly place, so low that He could hear the cries of poor folks—broke folks, folks eating government cheese, folks that can’t afford powdered milk, people eating out of a trash can. Jesus says, «I can be touched by the feeling of your infirmity because I understand what it is to not have a place to stay, in a windy, drafty place.»
You’re too young to know about what I’m about to talk about, but I want to talk about the old houses our grandparents lived in, where they had newspaper in the cracks to stop the wind from blowing in. Jesus was born in a barn so that even if He were a slave in a shack, you could call on Him, and He’d hear you. Somebody holler «Jesus! Jesus!» We are comfortable with understanding a broke Jesus, a poor Jesus, and we love to talk about how lonely and broke He was, but the oxymoron of the text is that three wise men brought Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This is the offering that you give to a King. The king’s ransom is brought to a barn by camel.
Tell everybody how many need God to work on your credit? Touch everybody with their hands up and tell them the camels are coming! The camels are coming! The camels are coming! I know it looks crazy. I know you’re staying with your mama; I know you’re living in a garage apartment. But God said the camels are coming! God said what I’ve got for you is for you, and you don’t have to come to it; you don’t have to lower yourself for it; it’ll come to you! I’ll find you wherever you are. If I have to find you by night, if I have to follow the star, I’ll find you in the shelter; I’ll find you in your lonely place; I’ll find you with your power off; I’ll find you with nothing to eat for Christmas but a hot dog.
But I’ve got good news for you: Jesus said, «Preach good news to the poor.» I want the broke folks to know that the camels are coming to you! If you receive it, praise Him like you’ve lost your mind! Praise Him like you don’t care who’s looking at you! Praise Him like you don’t care what nobody thinks! Praise Him like you don’t care what you’ve got on. I don’t care if you borrowed something to come to church—give Him a crazy praise! Look at your neighbor and tell them, «My camels are coming!» I don’t care what you say; I don’t care how you look; I don’t care how you roll your eyes; my camels are coming.
Now we’ve got a gold rush in a barn; we’ve got a baby laying in a trough; we’ve got a child wrapped up in milk rags—what swaddling clothes are, the rags you use when milking a cow, and the excess milk gets in the rag. The old rags with the old milk, those old, stinking rags, were used to wrap up Jesus. He was wrapped up in milk rags because He is the milk of the Word. Glory to God! The rags recognized the milk, and the milk recognized the rags, and it wasn’t any dirtier than the flesh He gave, amen! So, if He was willing to step into flesh, He was willing to come in among milk rags and dwell among us. You can’t get so low that God can’t find you. If you make your bed in hell, He is there.
If you take the wings of the morning and ascend to the uttermost parts of the earth, God is still there! And still, He was God, smelling like sour milk. He’s still God! Listen to what Isaiah said: «Unto us a son is born, and unto us a child is given.» Here we are—you know how big a baby is. We’ve got a child, and the next verse says, «The government shall be upon His shoulders.» Look at how much weight the baby could carry! No wonder the Bible said, «Despise not the day!»
I’m preaching to somebody; I don’t know who it is. If I’m preaching to you, make some noise! If you started out in a small place, make some noise! If you’ve got more weight on you than it looks like you can carry, make some noise! If the devil’s been measuring your shoulders but not your God, make some noise! The God you serve came with little shoulders but great grace, and the government shall be upon His shoulders; of His kingdom, there shall be no end! Wow! Shepherds were tending their sheep in the field when the Lamb was born in a trough and dwelt amongst us. If you’re rich, He can reach you. If you’re dealing in gold, He’s got you. If you’ve got frankincense and myrrh and stocks and bonds and annuities…look at the oxymoron of the text: barn and gold, little shoulders, big government!
Oh, I feel like praying for somebody who feels like your shoulders are too small for the weight you carry. I pray God strengthens you this morning because God can strengthen your little shoulders to bear a whole lot of weight! I want you to know Samson didn’t look like Hercules. If Samson had looked like Hercules, they wouldn’t have asked him where his strength lay. Come on, somebody! If he was built like a titan, I wouldn’t have to ask him where his strength lies. But when you’re built like Pee Wee Herman, and you’re throwing gates at people, I want to know what your secret is! Somebody in this room, you don’t look like what you’re able to do, but if they mess with you, they mess with the wrong person.
Because there’s something down in you—white folks too, brown folks too, there’s something down in you—Ukrainians too—that if you stand in God, God will make you stand tall! I’ve got something to tell you, and I’m going to close. I want you to get this note real quick, and I want you to take this with you. This is what I want you to get out of the Christmas story, and don’t let the mistletoe make you forget it: Never let your circumstances diminish who you are. I’ll say it again—never let your circumstances diminish who you are! Don’t let people diminish who you are; don’t let their reactions diminish who you are. When you know who you are, you can be in milk rags and still be mighty; you can have little shoulders and stand up to a lot of weight. This is what I want you to remember: you can be living in a barn and still be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Don’t let your circumstances diminish who you are; are you with me?
Number two: true greatness doesn’t have to be exalted. True greatness doesn’t have to be exalted; it doesn’t have to make a name for itself. It doesn’t have to pass out business cards; it doesn’t have to impress people; it doesn’t have to ride around in a Rolls-Royce; it doesn’t need a fleet of people walking in behind it. When you’re truly great, I never worried about where folks set me in the church because I know who I am. Whether I’m in the front seat or the back seat, I still know who I am. Whether I’m driving or you’re driving, I still know who I am. Whether I’m riding in a truck or coming on a donkey, I know who I am! Hallelujah! The last thing I told my baby boy when I sent him to college: Don’t forget who you are! People will talk about what you do, but don’t forget who you are.
True greatness doesn’t have to be exalted. It doesn’t have to make a name for itself; it doesn’t have to prove itself; it doesn’t have to impress people; it doesn’t have to showboat; it doesn’t have to show off; it just is what it is. Somebody came around my house, and they said, «Oh my God, what do you have on?» I had on this little raggedy something that looked like it didn’t match, didn’t go together—blue socks, green shoes, purple pants, orange T-shirt. Sometimes I break it down just as low as I can get so I can just chill out. But even in looking like a spaceman from out of space, toss me an M—I think I look pretty good this morning! But my anointing is not in my jacket; my anointing is in… I can’t give you my anointing; the anointing that I have comes from God all by Himself. They tried to make Jesus king, and He ran away because you can’t make me what I already am. True greatness doesn’t have to be exhausted.
Number three, get this—this is so good: what God has for you will come to you. What God has for you, you don’t see the baby seeking the wise men; you see the wise men seeking Jesus. The baby didn’t travel; the blessing did. Slap somebody and tell them, «Your blessing is on the way!» Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! It’s been traveling and traveling and traveling, trying to find you—traveling, trying to get to you. If you study it out, Herod thought he should get the blessing, but when God has something for you, can’t nobody get it—no impostor, no hater, no procrastinator, no antagonist. What God has for you, I don’t care if you’re in the shelter; it will come to you. That’s how you recognize it. God knows your address. God knows your name. God knows how to get it to you.
Number four: darkness cannot comprehend light. The light of the world was born at night, and the darkness comprehended it not. Jesus knew that He was the light of the world and didn’t need natural light to have divine light. Are you hearing what I’m saying? You can be surrounded by witches. I wish I had an old-time church. I got a new-time church, but I wish I had an old-time church that had to work with witches. I wish I had some people working in some hellish situations, but you go in the office, and you know who you are. You got a little bottle of oil in your pocket, plead the blood, claim your space, speak in tongues—you know who you are.
I wish I had some old saints that when all hell broke loose, you dropped down on your knees and started pleading the blood, saying, «Wait a minute! God gave me this house; the devil is a liar; you can’t take my stuff.» Darkness cannot comprehend light, and my all-time favorite: every catastrophe is an opportunity if you handle it right. Every catastrophe is an opportunity if you handle it right. You don’t have to pray about the opportunity; the opportunity is in the catastrophe. The thing you have to pray about is, «How do I handle it? Show me how to handle it.» Instead of falling out and fainting, saying, «I don’t deserve this; I don’t understand this; it doesn’t make any sense; it’s not fair,» if God allowed it to come, it’s an opportunity.
You know why—Romans 8:28. All things… can I go a little deeper? I’m almost done. Jesus was born into a catastrophe. He was born on the hit list of Herod. He was born; He didn’t do anything. How could He have done something? He just got here. Yeah, He was born on the hit list! Herod sought to kill Him. Write this down: Herod sought to kill Him, but God protected Him. Either you’re going to believe God or you’re not. I’m not asking you to believe me. I’m not asking you to believe in our church. I’m not asking you to believe in anything but God.
If you believe in God, God will protect you—not against people’s opinions. People are going to think whatever they want to think; let them think. You can’t spend your life trying to change people’s minds. You’ve got to know Herod was after Jesus because Jesus was a threat. Jesus was a threat! They started bringing the gold that Herod would have gotten to Jesus, so Herod tried to kill Him to protect his kingdom. It was a plot, and Jesus was born in it. Some of you were born in a mess; you didn’t grow up on the right side of the tracks. Your family—when you look it up—is dysfunctional.
Some of y’all landed a job without a degree, and you got a promotion and you’re going up while other people are going down, and they’re hating on you. And there ain’t no need trying to change their minds about it. If God decides to bring the camels over, He just brought the camels over! Somebody bear witness in here! Some of you got a degree, but it’s not even in the area you’re working in, but God put you in a whole different area and raised you up and blessed you. If I’m talking about you, holler at your boy right now! You got a degree in cupcakes, and you’re running a STEM program. Never forget who you are because of where you are, because where you are will change quicker than who you are.
Final point—I’ll sit down. The greatest things in my life in the Bible—I could, I won’t do it, but I could go all through the Bible. I might go a little bit; I wish I could take all of y’all in the car to Montgomery, West Virginia. Your mouth would fall out—all your teeth, those are the ones you bought! I was…You don’t understand! It’s not just that the church was small; there wasn’t anybody in it. I wasn’t worried about the building; I just wanted some people to come into it. I was preaching in a building; there was nobody in there. Silas played the organ; my microphone was tied up to the amplifier. A drunk staggered into the place; I laid hands on him and made him the first deacon in the name of Jesus, filled with the Holy Ghost power. He fell out on the floor somewhere. We found the note from the first revival, and it said $250 popcorn sales—$2.50 at that time, I think the 50 cents sold. We sowed five. The greatest things.
«Lord, send them away! We don’t have anything to feed the people!» That’s a catastrophe. You mean we got 5,000 men—not to mention women and children—and we have nothing to feed them? Service is over; let’s dismiss! And Jesus said, «They need not depart.» A lot of times, we don’t recognize our blessing because it’s a small thing: two fish, five loaves of bread. Jesus said, «Oh, that’s enough! I work with small things.» The widow said, «I’m getting ready to bake a cake and die! All I got is a handful of meal.» He said, «Make a little cake for me first.» Didn’t you hear what she said? Now, if you got a handful of meal and you’re going to make a little cake for somebody first, it’s going to be a cookie! In other words, He asked her for a cracker, but out of the cracker, her meal barrel never ran out. It never ran out! Excuse me; somebody say «small things.»
Small things, little tiny things. I’m trying to help you locate what God is getting ready to bring into your life. You’re trying to find a finished mate. You remember the first time, honey? I went to preach for Bishop Watkins with holes in my shoes, and I couldn’t kneel down in the pulpit because I didn’t want him to see that. Oh, I can’t do that! I didn’t want them to see the holes in my shoes. PT, I crouched down trying not to put my foot up so they wouldn’t see the holes in the bottom of my shoes. In the 43 years we’ve been married, I have never had to wonder why you married me because see, she didn’t marry Bishop Jakes; she married Elder Jakes. She met Minister Jakes; she married Elder Jakes with the holes. They all told her, «You’re a fool!» Didn’t they do it? They told you that I was one suit Jakes. Some of you have always been passed over because nobody could detect the value of your small thing, but God is going to do a great thing out of small.
I had good rap, but there was nothing behind it. I was talking smack. I told you, «Stay with me, girl; I’m going to take you places you have never seen!» My brother, I didn’t have bus fare, but I told you, «If you stay with me, I’m going to take you places you have never seen! I’m going to blow your mind, girl; I’m going to rock your world!» I know I just lost my job and ran out of unemployment; I know this gas is off right now, and we’re going to miss Anar Roy’s house to use her telephone, but don’t pay that any attention. I know we’re picking apples to feed the kids right now; I know my sister’s driving over in her Toyota to split groceries with us so we can eat right now. You stick with me, girl; I’m going to show you something—small things!
Now you have a term now called «imposter syndrome,» a psychological concept suggesting that you are not authentically you because you don’t feel big enough, great enough, smart enough, bright enough. You say, «How can my shoulders hold the government while my lips need milk?» And because you don’t respect small things, you stay trapped in places that are beneath you, and you feel buried right now when you are never buried; you’re just planted. Now, I’m going to close with this. I didn’t come to convince you or nobody, because I know who I am. That ain’t what this is about; you can think whatever you want to think; I don’t care. I came to do my job. I came to prophesy as I was commanded.
I came to hear the Master say, «Well done, thou good and faithful servant.» I came to stand up like a grown man who has a God who sees everything. I came to do my job. I’m going to do it; I’m going to do it. You know I’m going to do it. We got the same mama. Some of the same people who doubt me are the very people I’m fighting for—trying to get them houses, trying to fix their communities, trying to give them a chance, and I’m a small thing even now against what I’m trying to do. I understand what imposter syndrome feels like, 'cause my shoulders are not as big as my mission. But if God is for you—do you see my woman standing here beside me? The one that you saw God touch her last Sunday in this church? You saw her take off and start running across this church, and I had not seen her stand on her feet before!
You see her standing by me; believe me for the works that I do. I never even touched her. I preached this gospel. What you don’t know is she’s been running all over the house all week long. I said, «Will you please sit down somewhere? Don’t push your luck!» She’s all over the house wrapping up gifts—all kinds of stuff: baby gifts, grandma gifts, all kinds of stuff. Got church, got Christmas music playing in the house, running all over the house, bossing everybody around, getting on everybody’s nerves. She said, «That’s my job!» I want to pray for everybody in this room and everybody online who has ever felt like the mission was bigger than you. I want to pray for everybody in this church and for everyone online who thought, «I’ve got more on my shoulders than I can handle.»
I want to pray for everybody in this church or online who has dealt with catastrophes. Never mind me; you don’t come to church to hear about me. I never preach about me. I never preach about folks; I never talk about people. In all the years I’ve been preaching, I’ve never scandalized anybody. Ever, in almost 50 years, nobody’s name has ever been in my mouth. I preach Christ and Him crucified, and I came this morning to tell you about Jesus who can take a nobody and raise him up if you just believe. And every now and then, God takes me through something that you can see, 'cause otherwise, I wouldn’t say nothing. I’ve been in all kinds of battles and walked out here and said, «Good morning, peace house!»
I prophesy as commanded; I do my job! That’s what a man does. You do your job, come hell or high water; you do what He told you to do. Thank you, thank you! I try my best to keep the dignity my mother gave me, the strength of my ancestors, the courage of my father. All of my ancestors stand up in me. You fight me, everything in me stands up! Yeah, you fight us too; we are one people. We stand together! Yep! And I want to pray for people because I know what it is to feel like your shoulders are too small for the government you carry. Everybody brings everything to you—every problem, every crisis, every situation—and they’re always talking about you. So strong.
Sometimes that ain’t a compliment, but because you’re so dependable, they don’t think you’ve got any feelings at all. They just drag you and drag you and drag you. And the baby Jesus' shoulders were so tiny; all these kids. I remember when they’re born, they have the little bitty shoulders. You’ve seen a baby? «The government shall be upon His shoulders,» and He didn’t say, «Unto us a man,» He said, «Unto us a Son is given, and a child is born.» When people put weight on you, they put weight on your little boy; they put weight on your little girl, and your little girl carries the weight of what your grown woman has to do. Yeah, and I want to pray for you that your shoulders don’t break, because what I give out to others will come back to me.
And if I’m talking to you this morning, don’t you let your pride keep you in your seat. If you’ve got a lot on your shoulders, come stand down front. If you’re watching online, and sometimes your shoulders feel so small for what people expect of you, I want you to see the magnitude of this story. I want you to understand it. I want you to realize the very phenomenon that God would be born in us. I know we’re filthy rags; all of us ain’t nothing to discover. You don’t have to investigate; I ain’t nothing, and you ain’t either. Emmanuel! That God would be born! He told us that He would leave angels to hang out with us hooligans, that He would leave streets paved with gold to meet us in alleys, gutters, trials, troubles, and dysfunctions, and agony.
That is the gospel. The gospel is not about how elite we are; it’s about how incomplete we are. Instead of resorting to drugs, blowing your brains out, or getting drunk, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, I ask you to care enough about yourself to come for prayer. This is self-care. It’s not just getting your nails or hair done; it’s about dealing with the catastrophes through which your opportunities will come and gaining the wisdom of «God, give me the wisdom to know what to do in this moment.»
Sometimes the devil will use your temper against you. My mama would say it this way: he’ll make you cut off your nose to spite your face. You have to be still and know that God is God. As long as I am the senior pastor of this church, as long as I stand here as the bishop over this house, I know who I’m called to, and my sheep know my voice; a stranger they will not follow. I know if he’s attacking me, he’s attacking you. I know it—I know it; it isn’t just me. There’s nothing that special about me for it to only be me. Believe me, I know what it is to feel like your shoulders are too small for what people throw at you. What drove me to this text is the phrase, «the government shall be upon His shoulders,» and I said, «But God, He’s just a baby.» «Unto us a son is born, and unto us a child is given.»
With gray hair, people don’t know that beneath all of that gray hair or those biceps and triceps, there’s a little boy in there, a little girl. Every old woman in this church has a little girl inside her who gets tired and wants to quit. You feel like your shoulders are too small for the burdens they put on you, and sometimes you have to hold your peace while they drag you. You have to hold your peace while others get promoted, and you don’t. You have to hold your peace after a divorce, but they don’t ever tell your side of the story. You have to hold your peace; they say what you did, but they don’t say why you did it. Does anyone know what I’m talking about?
My gift to you this morning is that I sit where you sit and feel what you feel. I don’t want to be your hero at the expense of giving up my humanity, because I want to tell you that sometimes I get tired. Sometimes, I want to call them up, and this isn’t the first time. It probably won’t be the last, because it goes along with the job, and you have to suck it up and deal with it. Life isn’t fair. The very people you try to help often don’t show appreciation. It’s not the man I’m worried about—it’s the people you’re trying to help. You look at your shoulders, and they feel so small for the size of the government resting upon them.
But my prayer for you today, whether you’re a grandmama raising your grandkids, a woman who had a baby with a man who’s gone, or a single father trying to take care of kids and braid a little girl’s hair, is that you would know I am praying for you. Whether you feel devalued in your job or unappreciated in your neighborhood, I want to pray for you, especially if you’ve picked up fights that weren’t even yours, and you stood up for people, wishing someone would stand up for you. Am I talking to the right people?
The amazing thing is that God is with us. God is with us. God is with us, and He is phenomenal. He would be born not just in a manger but born in us, because I am the barn He chose to be born in. We’re going to be all right. You cannot control what others do to you or say about you, but listen to this part carefully: what you must control is what you say to yourself. That’s the hard part because if you don’t say the right things to yourself, you’ll quit; you’ll dry up; you will wither. Remind yourself who you are. Forgive yourself for who you are not. You can’t spend the rest of your life apologizing for things you can’t change, and God will strengthen your shoulders. I believe before you leave this room, you know what I was really worried about all week?
Our terrorist threat is at its highest level, and I spent my week making sure that everything we needed was in place in case there was an attack. The attack is supposed to be against synagogues and churches in the South, and I knew today would be a target. We have all kinds of extra security precautions in place: over your car, at the door, on the roof, in the back, and all around us because while they were trying to kill me, I was trying to protect you. We spent extra money and hired additional people, and there is all kinds of security in place right now that you can’t even see in case they choose us. It’s my job to be ready so a car bomb doesn’t come in here while we’re having church. I have to think about that. Anyone who has that kind of government on their shoulders doesn’t have time to play around with nonsense.
Young people, I love you, but that’s just gossip from young folks anyway, because you’re not old enough to know that it’s ridiculous. To be 66, that’s a stupid rumor; maybe 36 would be a little flattering, but anyway, that you thought it possible for Abraham to have that much. Y’all say, «Keep it real.» Sometimes you don’t need a statement from me; what you need is common sense. Just common sense. Just a little bit of common sense. But this is what the crux of the moment means: it is not my storm. God will do with me whatever He will, and I told Him to do with me whatever He will because everything I’ve done, everything I have, and everything I’ve accomplished has only been because of Him.
Do with me what you will. What I’m trying to tell you about your life and your situation is: don’t let your little shoulders make you doubt yourself. Don’t let your little shoulders make you think you can’t do it, even when it’s unfair. Even when you’re taking care of somebody else’s child and your knees hurt and your back is out. Even when it’s unfair and you have to take another job to make Christmas happen. Even when it’s unfair, and your shoulders feel too small for the responsibilities you have, I’m going to pray that God strengthens you. I know you’ve been praying for me all week because I can feel it.
I told my wife I had the weirdest grace over me; it feels like I’m in a bubble. I didn’t recognize the peace—it didn’t even make sense. There were moments of pain, but for the most part, I felt this deep peace, partly because I know the truth and partly because I never wanted to be famous. I did not build this to be popular; I wanted it to be effective. I came in the building and sat down, and without talking to you or turning my head or looking at you, I could feel you worrying about me. And though the performance was amazing, it was hard for them to do because it felt almost like preaching at a funeral due to your worry. I come to tell you, I’m okay. I’m okay because I never told you I was perfect. I never put anyone down. I have my own flaws and my own faults, but that’s not the kind of stuff you forget.
Come here. I get this young lady right here; leather and lace, classy and still steady in a storm. This girl right here—we pray for you today. Lift your hands; we pray for you that your faith fails not, that God would strengthen you with all might when all hell breaks loose, that God would keep your feet from falling when the enemy uses your love against you. People who love hard grieve hard. That God would strengthen you when people take you for granted and use you, till they use you up. That God would speak to every inner voice inside you that says you’re not enough, that you can’t take anymore, and that you can’t do it. That God would counteract everything the enemy has sent to sabotage you, would fill you with all might, all glory, and all power, and that God would stand up in you. Holy, that He would stand up in you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. When your feet are tied and your back is hurting, God would stand up in you. That God will grant you wisdom, strength, and might—not to do the first thing that comes to your mind, but to wait on God to give you the plan on what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Yes, most of all, my prayer for you is that you stop living in your head, trying to convince people who will not be convinced that you are enough. Hallelujah, Jesus, or He wouldn’t have called you. Hallelujah, Jesus. He knew whom He called when He called you. Hallelujah, Jesus.
He knew what He grabbed when He grabbed you. He knew what He found when He found you, and I pray that you would be bold as a lion. I pray that you would be bold as a lion. I pray that the strength of God would rise up in you, and that you would be wise as a serpent, and that God would grant you wisdom and know when your greatest strength is your silence. I pray that you would understand that quietness and confidence should be your strength. My God, I pray that you would know—not just quote—that no weapon formed against you shall be able to prosper. I pray that you would know that Christmas is not about what’s under the tree—Christmas is about who hung on the tree. Even if there’s not enough stuff under the tree, there’s enough that hung on the tree to make up for anything you couldn’t put under the tree.
I want you to forgive yourself for not being a magician, and I want you to forgive yourself for not being able to fix things you didn’t break, and for not being able to change people you didn’t discard. I want you to believe in yourself enough to understand that it is not your job to fix people; it is your job to love people—not to feel guilty about the people you couldn’t fix or those you’ve apologized to, especially when they still act funny. You can’t help how they act. I want your little shoulders, your little girl, your little boy, to know that you are carrying grown folks' responsibilities, and sometimes several grown folks' responsibilities are resting on you: your parents' and your kids'.
I want you to know this year for Christmas, you are enough. If God is in you, you are enough. You are enough because you are anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit. You are enough because God loves you and He chose you—stop arguing with Him about it. You are enough, even when your spouse doesn’t acknowledge you. You are enough, even when they leave you for something lesser. You are enough. And you don’t have to tell them; you have to tell yourself. What good is it to tell them if you don’t tell yourself? He won’t put more on you than you can bear.
May the strength of Almighty God rest upon you. May the anointing of God rise up in your belly when the road gets tough. May the Spirit of God empower you with life and strength when you feel all by yourself and all alone. May God renew you like an eagle. May you present yourself like a lamb but always have a lion in your belly. May you stand up against whatever is thrown at you, knowing that He who began a good work in you shall perform it to the day of redemption. And may you walk out of here knowing that the phenomenon is in you—that it is not just that Christ is born into the world; He is born into you. So I give you Jesus for Christmas.
(Everybody with their hands up) Now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling and present us faultless before the coming of the Lord Jesus. To the only wise God, our Father, be glory, dominion, and power, world without end, throughout all ages. In the name that is exalted above every name, in the name that is above all names, in earth, under the earth, and above the earth, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I say to you, Merry Christmas. I say to you, amen.
(Everybody with their hands up) Now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling and present us faultless before the coming of the Lord Jesus. To the only wise God, our Father, be glory, dominion, and power, world without end, throughout all ages. In the name that is exalted above every name, in the name that is above all names, in earth, under the earth, and above the earth, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I say to you, Merry Christmas. I say to you, amen.