Keion Henderson - The House is in Your Name

God told me to tell you that the house is in your name. That’s what I want to talk about. Some of you missed it because you are still thinking about yesterday. Look at your other neighbor—the one who is smiling, the one who isn’t on their phone, the one who isn’t texting. I want you to look at them and say, «God told me to tell you that the house is in your name.» Now, if you believe it, claim it. The house is in your name. I feel God; that’s a word for somebody. Now we’re going to finish this year strong, guys. Devil, you have no place in our affairs; you’re evicted! It isn’t your house; the house is in my name, which means I can refuse service, I can refuse entry. I dare you to put the devil on notice and tell him you have been evicted; you have been quarantined. You are not welcome in my daughter’s bedroom; you are not welcome in my kitchen because the house is in my name.

Over the past several years, the world has had ample opportunities to fall completely apart. School shootings, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tatiana Jefferson—we could have lost our minds. The fluctuating economy, COVID-19. How many of you struggled when you wanted to go to church and just couldn’t because COVID said we couldn’t come? You were at home like some people who wanted to stay home, but I was glad when they said unto me. Water contamination in American cities—who would have ever thought you’d have to close your mouth to take a shower in America? The truth is we just had to boil our water a couple of weeks ago right here because you’re never really safe; you can’t ever let your guard down. You may not hear about this, but if you go to California and states in the West, there are cities with Americans in them that don’t even have water to drink because big companies have reconfigured the irrigation system and supplanted a majority of the water shortages to grow crops like almonds while the rich get richer and the poor keep dying.

Mental health, suicide—it’s real, and we keep walking around praising God anyhow. We can keep on shouting, but 40 million Black people in this country are at a point where our opportunities are scarce. Racism and race relations exist in a world where God has created us all equal. Here it is: you have people who are white who love everybody but get bad raps because of those who don’t. Then you have Black people acting like they are not racist either. Oh, because if you want to find a real racist person, my granddaddy was racist. Crime in the inner city—you can’t even watch anything on Instagram without clicking through the trigger warning and seeing people shoot up a birthday party or a football game. This world is crazy, and the government—that’s a whole other story.

But one thing we all have in common, you in this room and you watching me online—one thing we all have in common. You want to know what that is? We are still here. It could have been you—outdoors with no food and no clothes, left alone without a friend or just another number with a tragic end. But He didn’t see fit to let any of these things be. Every day, by His power, He keeps on blessing me. So this is what I’m going to do: thank you, Lord, for all of this. I’ve got seven seconds for all you’ve done for me.

But one of the epidemics and pandemics that I believe is not being discussed, and that I want to bring into the conversation, is that I think there is another tactic that the devil is using to destroy God’s people, and that is—are you ready? This is my supposition: the generational gap. God gives the young man for war; He gives the old man for wisdom. When the old man and the young man, and the young woman and the old woman are not connected, you have people who war without wisdom. I know our generation is fighting without wisdom because, if you know anything about history, our moms taught us that we don’t fight and embarrass ourselves online—what goes on in the house, stays in the house.

The reason I know we’re lacking wisdom is that we live on the internet, telling our business, and then get mad when people talk about us. I just want to put this out here: you don’t have to post everything! Stop going live and crying about how somebody beat you, only for you to be with them tomorrow. The generational divide has brought us so far apart that the older generation believes they’re right, the younger generation believes they’re right. Now we have miscommunication, which leads to misunderstanding. You should see how we look at one another. The older generation looks at you young people like, «What in the world is wrong with you?» The younger generation looks at the older generation saying, «See, you don’t understand anything,» because if you understood, you would understand.

Right in this room, we’re all worshiping together. Our biggest divide right now is not our color; it is not our economic status. Right now, it’s the generational divide. We don’t agree on much of anything. Let me tell you something: young people, older people hate your music! I don’t know what y’all are saying except for three words, repeated over and over—auto-tuned, seven million copies sold. Meanwhile, the writers of old, they were right. Marvin said, «What’s going on?» Older people, I know you think that you…