Keith Battle - Beyond The Cookout

Good morning, hello Justin! I’m glad you made it to church today, and I’m glad all of you brothers at the DC jail made it to service today, tonight, or whatever time it is. We’re so grateful that God has allowed us this opportunity to connect with you all and with everybody joining us online right now. This is Memorial Day weekend, and on this weekend, rightfully, we take time to celebrate and remember those who gave their lives to support, defend, and protect our community and our country. Whether they were in the military, firefighters, or police officers, these individuals made the choice to put their lives on the line to provide a better quality of life and safety for those of us who do not serve in those capacities. Many of them lost their lives or have lost their health in the process, and this is our opportunity to thank them. In this country, we haven’t done a great job, overall, of caring for those who didn’t just have conversations about defending the country but who literally went to war and spilled their own blood on the ground fighting battles they didn’t even start. I believe they deserve our honor, and we honor them today. So thank God for all of them, and may we never forget the One who bled to death for us on Calvary. And, babe, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m talking about Jesus—yeah, that One had eternal significance, amen.

So, for this weekend, many people will be visiting cemeteries, remembering those who are no longer with us. I just want to pause for a moment to pray for those who are grieving, especially during these times, and to thank God for those who were a part of our lives for a time. Father, thank you for this time. Thank you for this day. We thank you for every friend, family member, and loved one who has transitioned before us. Many died violently in war and risked their lives to protect us, and we thank you for them. We thank you for their lives and pray for comfort, that you would show us how to navigate even the most difficult times and help people to keep on going, keep living, keep serving, and keep helping others. Help us to get unstuck so that our grief doesn’t paralyze us. Please do that for us; use this word today to inspire us, inform us, and correct us—whatever we need to be better. Use this time to do it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Another part of this weekend, beyond the seriousness of grief and memorializing people, is that this is a big cookout weekend. People really line up because some have a cookout, and some have a cookout crusade. They just got cooking; I was lined up. You know, you aren’t cooking anything yourself; you’re going to people’s houses to get food. You just want to know what time they start. You know people who say, «Where’s the cookout?» That’s what they want to know! Because of that, we tried to stage a little cookout up here. I want to share some cookout etiquette with you as your pastor. There are some things you ought to know, and I don’t want to assume that you understand the cookout environment.

First, you’ll see there are two coolers up here because, at every cookout, there are usually two coolers: one for the kids to go into and another cooler that the kids aren’t supposed to touch. Understand that there are two coolers; don’t send your kids to just any cooler—make sure they go to the right one. Then, there’s always a table, and there are multiple tables. If you see a table with newspapers spread across it, understand that it’s going to have some seasoning on it. That’s for the crabs—understand that! You can’t use it for the wrong purpose. If you see another table with a piece of paper and a pen on it, best believe it’s for playing cards—don’t put the cards on the crab table, and don’t put the crabs on the card table. Keep the tables organized! I’m trying to help you all here.

Now, there are certain ways you’re supposed to approach a cookout. You don’t just walk up there. First, because it’s a cookout, you can go to anyone’s cookout—even if you don’t know two people—but if you know someone who got invited, you can go. Don’t just roll up randomly; if you smell something grilling, you can’t just pull over. You need to know someone who was invited and be with them when you arrive. You can’t just show up and say, «Yeah, Carlos told me I could come.» No, the person who invited you has to be with you, and you can’t get there before them. You may even not want to come later because you must be with them since they might not know you.

By the way, there really are no invite lists for cookouts; only bougie people do that. Most people just send out invitations informally.