The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Sunday, February 22, 2026 —
First Sunday in Lent Scripture of the Day •
Reference: Romans 5:12–19; Matthew 4:1–11 • Read Here: Romans 5:12–19 (NRSVue) • Matthew 4:1–11 (NRSVue) The Text Below come form a translation from Hooker, Amiri B. Sanctified Bars & Freedom Songs: 29-Day Prophetic Devotional for Black History Month 2026 (p. 76). (Function). Kindle Edition.
🎤 Hip-Hop Flow — Romans 5:12–19
Sin slid in when Adam fell down,
Death hit the block, spread all around.
One man’s slip, whole crew got stained,
Now everybody caught in the death chain.
Law showed up, but sin was there first,
From Adam to Moses, curse on curse.
But Adam was a shadow, Christ the real deal,
Grace overflowing, life that heals.
One man’s failure brought judgment tight,
But one Man’s gift made many right.
Through Jesus’ obedience, grace multiplies,
Sin dethroned, righteousness rise.
So just like one move got us trapped in wrong,
One righteous act makes the fam strong.
Death came heavy, but Christ brings life,
God’s free gift cuts sharper than a knife.
🎤 Hip-Hop Flow — Matthew 4:1–11
Spirit led Jesus to the desert zone,
Fasting forty days, hungry to the bone.
Devil pulled up: “Turn rocks to bread,
If You the Son of God, keep Yourself fed.”
Jesus clapped back: “Man don’t live by food,
But every word of God, that’s the real fuel.”
Enemy shifted, temple in sight,
“Jump off the edge, angels got you, right?
Scripture says they’ll catch you, no fall, no shame.”
Jesus shot back: “Don’t test God’s name.”
Next move, high mountain, kingdoms on blast,
“All this I’ll give You, just bow real fast.”
Jesus said, “Nah, Satan, bounce from My face,
Only worship the Lord, only Him you embrace.”
Devil dipped quick, angels drew near,
Served the Son of God, no doubt, no fear.
Theological Quote of the Day
Quote: “I don’t know what the future may hold, but I know who holds the future.”
Attribution: Rev. Dr. Ralph D. Abernathy: Bio Note: SCLC co-founder, pastor, and civil-rights general who carried the movement’s torch after Dr. King’s assassination.
There is a song by Walter Hawkins that goes
A change, A change has come over me
He changed my life and now I’m free
He washed away all my sins and he made me whole
He washed me white as snow
He changed my life complete and now I sit, I sit at his feet
To do what must be done I’ll work and work until he comes
A wonderful change has come over me
A wonderful change has come over me
Yes he changed (changed)
My life complete (changed)
And now I sit (changed)
I sit at my savior’s feet (I’m so glad he changed me)
To do (changed)
What must be done (changed)
I’m gonna work and work
Until my savior comes (I’m so glad he changed me)
I’m not what I want to be
Oh I’m not what I use to be
I’m not the same way thank God
Thank God (I’m so glad he changed me)
He changed my walk, (CHANGE)
He changed my talk, (CHANGED)
He changed my life he even changed (CHANGED)
Changed my soul, I’ve come along way, in Jesus, I’ve come along way, in Christ, I’ve come along way, Thank God Thank God
In Lent’s wilderness, Jesus refuses spectacle and shortcuts; real revolution is obedience. Paul contrasts Adam’s fall with Christ’s gift—grace that dethrones death.
Rev. Dr. Ralph D. Abernathy steadies the future in God’s hands, Walter Hawkins sings transformation, and Scott-Heron warns against passive consumption. The kingdom breaks in off-camera—through fasting, fidelity, and freedom work.
Big Idea: God’s revolution isn’t spectacle—it’s Jesus’ obedient love that overturns Adam’s fall and forms our quiet, faithful resistance.
Opening Intro
Church, today we gather in the memory of a people who learned how to survive what was meant to destroy them…
a people who learned how to sing when the night was long…
a people who learned how to organize when hope was scarce…
a people who learned that God often moves off-camera before God ever moves on the stage.
Black history is not merely what was televised.
Black history is what was whispered in kitchens, organized in basements, prayed over in sanctuaries, and carried in weary bodies walking dusty roads toward justice.
And if we tell the truth today, we must tell the whole truth:
While Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood as the visible face of the Poor People’s Campaign — a moral movement that cost him his life — it was Coretta Scott King and Marian Wright Edelman who helped carry the work forward when the cameras left…
when the nation turned away…
when poverty still stalked the doorsteps of Black and poor communities. I really wish I had the time to tell how much of our LaFem history has been overlooked and hidden.
They helped move the struggle from civil rights to human survival:
food on tables,
healthcare for children,
shelter for families,
dignity for the poor.
That is off-camera obedience.
And today’s gospel tells us:
God’s revolution is not spectacle.
It is obedience.
Move I. Live by the Word, Not by Appetite (Matthew 4:4)
Jesus is hungry. Forty days in the wilderness. Body weak. Spirit tested.
The tempter says:
“If you are the Son of God, turn stones into bread.”
In other words:
Feed yourself. Save yourself. Use power for your own comfort.
But Jesus answers:
“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
This is not about denying hunger.
This is about refusing to build a world where only some people eat.
Dr. King began to see it clearly near the end of his life:
Civil rights without economic justice leaves people free… and still hungry.
And Marian Wright Edelman saw the truth even sharper when she founded the Children’s Defense Fund after founding the Poor Peoples Campaign.
Children cannot learn when they are hungry.
They cannot dream when they are sick.
They cannot thrive without shelter.
Coretta Scott King carried this work forward, insisting that her husband’s legacy was not memorials and quotes — but justice in policy, food in homes, healthcare for families. But these were issues she had always been pushing as a Co-Leander in the the Civil Rights movement.
The revolution Jesus leads is not about personal survival.
It is about communal justice.
We do not live by bread alone —
but we cannot preach the Word while ignoring empty stomachs.
Move II. Trust God’s Care; Refuse to Perform Faith (Matthew 4:7)
The tempter takes Jesus to the temple pinnacle:
“Throw yourself down. Let the angels catch you.”
In other words:
Perform faith. Impress the crowd. Prove your anointing.
But Jesus refuses.
Because real faith does not perform for applause.
And Church, the movement for justice was never about performance.
The cameras showed marches.
But they did not show:
• mothers organizing food programs
• church women feeding children before school
• lawyers drafting policy through the night
• grandmothers stretching groceries across a week
• local pastors keeping families housed
That is faith.
Faith is not spectacle.
Faith is staying when the cameras leave.
Coretta Scott King did not perform grief — she organized legacy. Bethy Shabazz Didn’t not Show tears she helped shape the next level.
Marian Wright Edelman did not seek the spotlight — she built systems to protect children.
That is holy resistance.
Move III. Worship God Alone; Reject Power Without the Cross (Matthew 4:10)
The tempter offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world:
“All this I will give you… if you bow.”
Power without suffering.
Influence without sacrifice.
Authority without the cross.
Jesus refuses.
Because justice cannot be built on compromise with evil.
Dr. King refused power without justice.
He refused popularity without truth.
He refused safety without righteousness.
And when he spoke against war, poverty, and economic exploitation, the nation turned against him.
But the women kept building.
Because the movement was never about power.
It was about liberation.
The revolution of God refuses domination and chooses dignity.
IV. Receive the Gift that Reverses the Curse
(Romans 5:17–19)
Paul tells us:
Through one man came sin and death.
Through Christ comes grace and life.
Adam grasped.
Christ obeyed.
Adam chose self.
Christ chose surrender.
Adam’s fall broke creation.
Christ’s obedience begins its repair.
And here is the truth Black history testifies to:
Grace has always moved through obedient people
whose names are not always remembered.
Grace moved through Harriet Tubman’s hidden routes.
Grace moved through Fannie Lou Hamer’s organizing.
Grace moved through church mothers feeding children.
Grace moved through Coretta Scott King and Marian Wright Edelman building justice after the cameras left.
Grace reigns through quiet obedience.
Prophetic Turn: The Revolution Still Continues
Church, the Poor People’s Campaign was not finished in 1968.
Because poverty still stalks our communities.
Healthcare inequity still shortens Black lives.
Food deserts still starve neighborhoods.
Housing instability still haunts families.
The revolution continues.
Not on television.
Not in hashtags.
Not in sound bites.
But in everyday obedience.
What Off-Camera Obedience Looks Like Today
It looks like:
• mentoring children
• advocating for healthcare access
• feeding neighbors
• organizing for living wages
• protecting voting rights
• strengthening families
• building community partnerships
• telling the truth about poverty
It looks like the church leaving the building.
Closing Charge
Beloved,
Choose hidden obedience over public approval.
Fast from shortcuts.
Feast on Scripture.
Refuse spectacle faith.
Reject power without the cross.
Let grace reign through your daily life.
Because the revolution God is leading
will not be televised.
But it will be lived.
And when history is written, it will not only remember the leaders on the stage…
It will remember the saints who labored in the shadows
and turned obedience into liberation.
Benediction
Go now:
Live by the Word.
Trust God’s care.
Worship God alone.
Receive the grace that overturns the curse.
And let Christ’s love fuel your everyday revolution.
Amen.
