TD Jakes - Exceptionalism
Greetings in invincible name of Jesus Christ our king. I'm blessed and delighted to have the opportunity to share the word of the Lord and encourage you to strengthen and build you in your faith. The series I'm about to share with you I believe is designed for those of you who know that you are not just called but you are in fact chosen. The message is called exceptionalism and I believe it'll speak to your life. It's so important we've given that same title to the series. If you have been a person that didn't fit in with the clique and couldn't run with the pack and felt like a miss fit, maybe it's not that you don't fit but maybe indeed you're called exception isleism. Take a look and decide.
Jesus has a period in the synagogue to the religious people to claim this is the time, day and hour. He challenged the way they saw their faith. He's challenged the way they viewed their God. He challenged their routines and ritualisms and the doctrines and ideas. God not challenging the world but challenging the religious. This is the first date out of the gate. This is the first moment and he challenges not world, not sinners and not adulterers and he challenges the religious. If you are emancipated and getting ready to liberate you should start and he starts. The religious, sansty moans you. The holier than thou. The aristocracy of the kingdom. He challenges them because he takes their religion out of his prophet call understanding and historical content and brought it to the presence and religious people get challenged when their faith must be proven in the moment.
We love to talk about the history and destiny but we shy away from the now. In the midst of your normalcy and your ordinaryness God is doing something right now but do you see it? And if I would challenge you to see it, could you handle it? He said, victory is the scripture fulfilled in your eyes. He didn't get any trouble reading scriptures. As long as the historical scriptures do not inform your contemporary life. People are fine with his or the call context of God. Michelangelo great painting and cathedrals and we love him. Love how the historical relevance of God but when you have a God that's contemporary in your face right now people say no, no, no.
We're doing heaven or will study him in the past but not this moment. I need a God that can invade my present moment. I don't need a God that invades my yesterday and tomorrow I need a God that can invade my right now. And so, when Jesus did this, I love how he did it. The Bible said and anytime the Bible takes the time to tell you something it's powerful. He closed the book and said it's over. It's bad, ain't it? Service is over. Class dismissed. Wait a minute, Jesus, you ain't been to service you came up here and read the scripture and shut the book up? He said, class dismissed.
And the Bible said, they marvelled at his words. The pro-fun-dity and the power of his word. The excellence of his words. They were shocked at his word. And they defined him by what they saw and said is not this Joseph's son and they incarcerated him to walk in the realm of their understanding is not this Joseph's son? What are they saying about you that's stopping you? Will you be limited to how other people define you? Will you spend the rest of your life living up to their ideas of who you are. Or do you have the courage to break the mold?
This sermon today is not for the status quo. It is not for the ordinary. It's not for the routine or the ritualistic. This is for jail break people who will not wait to be released but you are going to break out of the dungeon of mediocrity and step into exceptionalism. If you're not doing it now you won't do it at all. You have to make-up your mind if you're going to be Joseph's son or not. This is the moment and the question is, is not this Joseph's son and what does your answer? No. I am not who you think I am. How dare you define me by your understanding. I am not who you say I am. Is not this Joseph's son? What is your answer? I am not Joseph's son. He raised me. But I am not trapped to where I came from. I am not bound by who raised me. He raised me. I was in it, but I'm not of it. Oh. Catch me quick now. This is a fast train. I was in it, but not of it.
If I close the book and sit down, I already said enough. Because if you will take what I said and apply it to your life, you will seize to be defined by what you are in because just because you were in it does not mean that you are of it. Look at somebody and say, yeah, I did it. But I wasn't of it. Is not this Joseph's son? This day the scriptures are fulfilled in your eyes. So they begin to banter with Jesus and say we hear all of these great things you're doing. Why don't you do them here? And Jesus said, it is written that a prophet is without honor in his own country. God. The first question is not this Joseph's son says, who do you belong to? And Jesus says the reason I can't do mighty works is a prophet is without honor in his own country.
This is a fight between ordinaryness and exceptionalism. Why could a prophet not do great works in his own country. Prophet is without honor in his own country and without honor a prophet is not seen correctly in his own country. Why is that? Because their view of him, not his view of him determines their level to receive from him. And he says the only thing limiting me from exceptionalism is how you see me.
When they asked him is not this Joseph's son they were really saying how did you get to talk like that? Your daddy is a carpenter. Stay in your place. Be like your kinfolks. Act like your relatives. Live like your neighborhood. What are you doing driving that kind of car. You mean you're going to school? Aren't you Joseph's son? How dare you open up your own business. Stay in your place. You're Joseph's son. You're supposed to be swinging a hammer. Driving in nails. Stay in your place. I saw where you came from. Is not this Joseph's son?
Only you can answer. The question before you is will you be ordinary, fit in with the pack, run with the wolves or will you step out and be exceptional. Not superior just exceptional. Rode root word to exceptional is accept. You can't be if you don't have the word except. It's happening to everybody. I live that way. They are privy. Are you going to be one of them or are you going to be exceptional. I'm not sure but I think there are exceptional people in this church. Let all the exceptional people identify yourselves this morning. Touch somebody and say everyone except me. Everyone stayed except me. Everyone fainted except me. Everyone committed suicide except me. Everyone died except me. Everyone lost their mind except me. Everyone quit - let the exceptional people give God a praise.
I want you to be bold and radical and I want you to be tenacious and walk over to somebody and look them straight in the eye and take them by the hand and say, I am exceptional. Yeah. If you get me, you got an exceptional man if you get me you have an exceptional woman. If you get me, you have an exceptional trial. If you get me you have an exceptional worker. Let the exceptional people give God a praise right now. Sit down I'm almost there.
Can I go a little bit deeper? So Jesus, who is exceptional is having a conversation with ordinary. And exceptional and ordinary always have a conflict. Anytime exceptional people dwell in the midst of ordinary thinking people there's always going to be conflict. Don't trying to get around with people who think ordinary when you know God made you to think exceptional. Don't even trying to reason with them. Don't trying to argue with them or straighten them out. We speak two different languages. You are speaking ordinary and I am talking exceptional.
He said to them. I will not stay in my place. I will not nail, nails and swing hammers and live up to some reputation of some former ancestor and your interpretation of how you see someone that looks like me, dresses like me and walks like me. I'm exceptional. A trend setter, a rule breaker. I don't have to wear nobody's name but Jakes. If you're in the balcony you better let me hear some noise up there. Yeah. I thought there was some exceptional people up there in that balcony. You can't hide from this word I'm sending this word right up there where you are.
So exceptional and ordinary are having an argument. And Jesus, Jesus says, I'm going to call a couple of witnesses on the witness stand and then I'm going to shut this case down. He says, there were many widows in Israel. Many widows in Israel who were living in a famine for 3 1/2 of years. Denied. Thirsty for water. He said but why then does God come to saigon to a woman in the city and send deliverance to a widow woman who is not even a jew? He says, you don't always find exceptional where you expect to find it. He said there were many widows who needed a miracle. Who didn't get it after 3 1/2 of years of famine. Except this one woman that God chose to be exceptional.
Oh, my God. This is a famine breaking word. I break the famine over your life right now in the name of Jesus. I said I break the famine over your life in the name of Jesus. I don't care what kind of famine you've been in. Financial famine. Emotional famine. Relational famine. Creative famine. Whether you have writers block. Been confused in your finances. I break the famine over your life right now in the name of Jesus.
Now not many people can do that. Yeah, yeah. If you've been on a lem fight, a lem struggle. A lem fight. This is where it ends. Yes. Yes. Where are my radical people? Where are my radical people? Grab your neighbor and say it break today. I'm not going to live where God used to be. I'm going to live where God is right now. Right now in the name of Jesus. This famine is over. The curse is broken. Give him a crazy praise. The Bible says overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of the testimony.
Touch seven people and tell them my famine is over. Glory to God. Tell them my famine is over. I declare it. I'm going to speak it. I'm going to speak it out loud. My famine is over. That's the long battle. After a lot of pain and after some lonely nights. After some hard times. Devil today, the scripture is fulfilled. My famine is over. I feel a Holy Ghost break through about to a takeover this set. Somebody help me praise him. My famine is over. Set the table in the presence of mine enemies my famine is over. This is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. I said my famine is over. Throw yourself a party. Bake yourself a cake. Blow a horn. Blow a whistle. Dance right where you are. Spin around in the floor. Let the devil know. Let every witch know, my famine is over!