Dharius Daniels - I've Got Something to Say

Well, listen, I want to start a series today called «Marvel Men,» and I want to read a scripture in Romans chapter 7, beginning at verse 21. It says, «So I find this law at work: although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself, in my mind, am a slave to God’s law, but my sinful nature is a slave to the law of sin.» I want to pause for the cause and speak from this subject today: «I’ve Got Something to Say.»

I’ve got something to say, ladies and gentlemen. Recently, I received a random text from my father. My father has a tendency to text pictures without context or explanation. He recently started sending me pictures, revealing to me that he’s figured out how to use that feature on his phone. He recently texted me a random box filled with comic books. For those of you who are at the age and stage in your lives where you are wondering, «What is a comic book?"—comic books are magazines with pictures that tell stories about the activities and impacts of fictitious superheroes and villains. Before some of your favorite movies became movies, they were comics. Batman was a comic book. Superman was a comic book. The Avengers were a comic book. Black Panther was a comic book.

So, he texted me this box filled with comic books, and I said, «What’s this?» He replied, «These are some of your old comic books that I stumbled upon when I was cleaning some things out around the house.» I began to look at the box and saw all of those comics. I said, «Man, I was a comic book connoisseur!» Yes, I had comic books about Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, and Black Panther. I’m going to see if you really feel this one; I’m going to see if you really know comics with this one: Iceman! See, y’all don’t remember Iceman? Okay, Wolverine! Okay, I know y’all don’t remember this one: The Fantastic Four! Don’t mess with me; the Silver Surfer!

I’m seeing all of these comics kind of spread around in the box, but one jumped out at me more than the others. As I started to reflect, I came across this one comic: Spider-Man. As I started to think deeply about comic books from back in the day, I gained a revelation that can give us some insight for this Father’s Day. This is what I saw: I realized that all of us have more in common with comic book characters than we think. I began to see, as I examined specifically Spider-Man, that these comic book characters were complicated. They were complicated because they had to live with the reality of duality.

What do I mean by that? Duality being two, not just one-sided but two-sided. It’s the reality of duality! It’s like you are Bruce Banner, but then you’re the Incredible Hulk. Come on, y’all! You’re Clark Kent, and you’re Superman. You’re Peter Parker, and you’re Spider-Man. Watch this: becoming Spider-Man doesn’t mean you lose Peter Parker. Which one do you get? It depends on the circumstance. Where’s my real church? Which one of me do you get? It depends on the day. Is there anybody even right now who’s honest enough to admit there’s some reality of duality? Sometimes I feel like Superman; sometimes I feel like Clark Kent. Sometimes I want to help people; sometimes I want people to leave me alone. Sometimes I want company, and then when I get company, I’m ready for the company to leave! Is there anybody willing to be honest about your reality of duality?

There are people in relationships with you attempting to understand you, frustrated by the obstacles they have to overcome to get an accurate understanding of who you are, not realizing that sometimes you find yourself confused, trying to figure out what’s going on. Is there an honest section to say that sometimes I don’t know what’s wrong with me today? So, I tell people to call me when they need me and then get upset when they call me. It’s the reality of duality, and duality is a reality for the Christian. How do I know? I read Romans 7. We just read it together, Brother Brock. The profundity of this passage is not just in what is said; it’s in who said it. This is Paul. Listen to what he says: he says, «Although I want to do good…» See, y’all, I’m reading Paul. He says, «I want to do good; I really do.» He says, «But I find this law at work: although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.»

He says, «For in my inner being, I delight in God’s law.» He says there is a part of me internally that finds delight in the ways, wishes, practices, preferences, and principles of God. He says, «But I see another law—the reality of duality! —I see another law at work in me. This law is waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner to the law of sin.»