Verse
Tuesday nights I hold court at the kitchen table pew
Ms. Odell brings her letters, asks me what the numbers mean
Landlord writes in red ink like a warning label glue
Fine print stacked so thick it swallows the in-between
I break it down to plain talk, peel back the legalese
Late fee clause, grace period, the words that bite like frost
Fourteen days to vacate, hid inside a paragraph like fleas
I read it twice for free 'cause knowledge is the one thing not lost
Pre-Chorus
Every folder that I open holds a family's whole address
Every stamp a small eviction, dressed up like a guess
What's a preacher if he only saves the ones who tithe
I learned the tongue of landlords just to keep my people's lives
Chorus
Rent money sermons, preached from a folding chair
Half past ten and the whole block still up there
I ain't got the answer, just the words to help you bear
Rent money sermons, that's the only prayer I share
Verse
Mr. Danny got a shutoff, thirty days turned into nine
Brings the paper shaking, asks if there's a loophole to design
Found him an extension buried on the second page
Called the number, held for forty minutes, watched him pace
Meanwhile my own drawer's stacking envelopes I haven't touched
Doctor bill, car note, giving out way more than I got to spare
Funny how I fix the language but I freeze up on my own
Preacher man half drowning while he's walking the whole street home
Pre-Chorus
Every folder that I open holds a story I ain't lived
Every stamp a small eviction, every silence unforgiven
What's a preacher if he only saves the ones who tithe
I'm behind on my own reading, running low on light
Chorus
Rent money sermons, preached from a folding chair
Half past ten and the whole block still up there
I ain't got the answer, just the words to help you bear
Rent money sermons, that's the only prayer I share
Bridge
Ms. Odell knocked on Thursday, no envelope in her hand
Brought a plate of something warm, said sit down, let me read the plan
Turns out she's got a cousin working down at the county desk
Turns out kindness compounds quicker than the interest
Built a church on paper, never knew the paper builds you back
Every sermon that I gave came home to fill the crack
Chorus
Rent money sermons, preached from a folding chair
Half past ten and the whole block still up there
I ain't got the answer, just the words to help you bear
Rent money sermons, that's the only prayer I share
