Sermon Prep
Dan Metzger, pastor at St Marks United Methodist Church in Findlay, goes behind the scenes of weekly sermon prep, addressing cultural and spiritual issues, and what happens the other 6 days of the week.
Sermon Prep
Episode 8 - No excuses
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Pastor Dan is once again joined by Holly as they talk about why we make excuses and how we can quit making excuses when there's something God wants to change in us.
Welcome to the Sermon Prep Podcast. I'm Dan Metz from the pastor at St. Mark's United Methodist Church here in Finley, and we once again have a special guest with us. She was so good last time. We thought we'd have her back again. My wonderful bride and our youth pastor, Holly. Say hi, Holly.
SPEAKER_00Hi, Holly. You use the word special very loosely, but thank you. You are special. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01You're very special.
SPEAKER_00I have a cold, so my voice sounds an octave lower, but it is still me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we were joking like, who's the man that Dan brought on the podcast today?
SPEAKER_00I don't cannot get my voice to shake this thing, but here we are.
SPEAKER_01We are starting a new sermon series. We've been doing this, we've really only done it during the season of Lent, but we're coming out of that, and we're going to be doing a new sermon series at St. Mark's. Uh, it's entitled I Quit, and I guess I should preference that by saying, like, I'm not quitting uh the church as a job. It's just different things that we should.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I feel like we should have talked about that as a couple before you announced that.
SPEAKER_01Well, you know, I like to keep you on your books. Wow. Um, but we it's things that we need to quit doing sometimes as uh Christians, as followers of Jesus. There are some different things, habits that we have that sometimes we need to quit. And so this first week we are talking about making excuses. And so um I asked you before we did this so you had some time to think about it, but what is my go-to excuse when I don't want to do something? How can you tell that I don't want to do something?
SPEAKER_00Well, first of all, if it's something that Dan wants to do, that is he has a one-track mind, and that is all that he can focus on until it is done. There was one time when he really wanted to change the basement of our house when we lived in Columbus to a man cave because the girls had gotten old enough where like they didn't need all their toys all the time in one space, and so we had talked about like, yeah, I think we can maybe like do that project over the next few months and like you know, change he had it done the next day. All the toys were out, and then that basement was a man cave. Absolutely, and he 100% did it all himself. Now 100%. I mean well, you did it. It was you were happy, but when it comes to like things, I don't know, like laundry and dishes, or you know, doing something that he really doesn't want to do necessarily, he sometimes will throw his head back and pretend he's asleep in the middle of the room. Or um I have a tendency to phrase things like, Do you want to unload the dishwasher for me? And he'll say, Do I want to? And I'll say, Well, I kind of want you to want to. Like I don't know. I want you to want to. I want you to want to do it. I don't want to have to tell you to do it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I want I want you to want to do it is a big part of I think what makes us a test of marriage. I think it's what you sometimes have to do. You have to learn to want to want to do those things.
SPEAKER_00Because it makes the other person happy.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. So what do I do? Well, I never like want to do those things, like just man, you know it'd be really fun as doing the dishes, but I want to make you happy. And so that makes me want to do the dishes or the laundry or whatever the thing might be.
SPEAKER_00So, what's my go-to excuse when I don't want to do something? Do I make excuses?
SPEAKER_01I think you just tell me you're not going to do it. Oh, I do. Yeah, sometimes. You're like, oh yeah, no, thank you. Oh, well. And it and it usually I think I know you well enough by now to know like different things. Like, I'm not gonna ask her to do that thing. Or or I I think I guess if you have one and it's probably also mine, it's I just sat down. Or something like no.
SPEAKER_00Well, the girls are notorious for that. Once we finally sit down, they're like, Oh, can you make me a chicken sandwich? Or and it's just like we just sat down.
SPEAKER_01Or if I'm like, hey, do you want to go to this place or something like that? And you come in the room and you've already got your comfy clothes on. I'm like, oh, she's not going. I'm not going. That's not happening.
SPEAKER_00No, once those comfy clothes are on, I'm done.
SPEAKER_01Um, so this uh the scripture this week is uh from Luke 14, and it's this parable that Jesus tells where he says that there's somebody that invites um invites the town to a banquet, invites a whole bunch of people to a banquet. And uh they all are like, yep, we'll be at the banquet. And then when the time for the banquet comes, he sends a servant out and says, Hey everybody, the the meal's ready, it's dinner time, you know, come on out to the banquet. And they all begin to make excuses, uh, one after another. One of them says uh that I just bought a field and I have to go look at it, and like the field's not gonna be there the next day. And another person says, I just bought five yoke of oxen and I need to go try them out, which oh what I don't know how that translates to today. And then the third person says, I can't come, I just got married, which I don't know what that what that necessarily means. We'll we'll kind of dive into it a little bit on Sunday, but the the bottom line was they were all lame excuses of uh you know not wanting to come. And so um, and of course, what Jesus is trying to to teach to people is this idea that you know God has invited us to a thing, he's invited us to a new way of life, he's invited us to um to to you know abundant life in him. He invites us to live a certain way and to uh be a part of this kingdom that he's establishing. He's invited us to this, and we make some pretty lame excuses for why we can't participate in that. We tend to say, so one of the things I'm gonna talk about a little bit is the way that the way that like a party RSVP happened in those days is you would they would you know, weeks, a week or you know, however long before, they'd say, Hey, I'm gonna have a party on this day, I'm gonna have a banquet on this day, and you would kind of give the yes or no, I'm gonna come. Kind of like a save of the date for a wedding. Yeah, but yeah, I'll be there. And then it's like the day of the there's no refrigeration or anything like that. So just when the food's ready, that's when you show up. And the servant was gonna come and tell you, and it was like a huge insult to say yes to the first one and no to the second one when the servant came and said, Hey, it's time, and that's what he's kind of saying, everybody's doing there. And so uh the translation, I think, for us is that we all tend to say, Yes, I want to be a part of this kingdom life. Like, you know, we say yes to Jesus at some point, um, you know, whatever that might be. But then when the time comes to actually act on it, to actually be a part of that kingdom life, we tend to find ways to make excuses. Like we'll say, hey, yes, I want to follow Jesus, and Jesus is like, Great, that's awesome. All right, now I'm ready for you to go and do this thing. And we're like, oh, I don't know if I can right now. Like I'm I'm busy. I I don't know, I don't know if I want to do that. Like, so that's that's the thing that I think I think is was not only a struggle then, but is still a struggle for people today.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think it comes down to priorities, right? Like things have to be a priority, and there's a lot of things that we commit to, faith being one of them, like, and different things about our faith, different practices to live out our faith, right? Reading the Bible, going to church, going to Bible study, joining a small group, you know, those sorts of things, all great things, but they're all commitments. And if those commitments aren't a priority to us, or we have other priorities that we put ahead of that, ahead of our faith, ahead of God, there's always gonna be an excuse that we find why we can't, why we can't do that. Of like, well, I can't go to church today because it's 75 degrees and the golf course is open, or you know, I can't go to youth groups tonight because I was up too late last night talking to my friends when I get my homework done, so now I can't go. Like, I think there's just always, right, there's always excuses that we could come up with of I can't read my Bible this morning because I'm late for work, which yeah, you shouldn't be late for work, but how else can you fit that into your to your day, right? And so I think if things fall through the cracks of being a priority for us, then we just let other things fill up that time, and then pretty soon we forget that we ever committed to those things in the first place.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And we make excuses for a lot of different reasons. Um for, you know, it and I think there's the there's the little things, you know, these small things where I think we need to be obedient and to try to um try to cut down the excuses. And so there's little things that you can do, you know, right away. If it's things like doing your devotions in the morning, set the set your alarm tonight, set your alarm now, saying, I'm gonna be getting up early to do this thing, you know, what whatever it might be, um, to like set yourself up to do these things well so that you can eliminate the excuses.
SPEAKER_00Um another thing I found, sorry.
SPEAKER_01Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00The other another thing I found is accountability is super important because if you have somebody else who you know is gonna ask you, hey, did you read that scripture today? Or hey, did you did you go to church today? What did you think of the sermon? If if so you know somebody else is saving you a seat or they're waiting on you, or they're reading the same scripture as you or you know outside of church, right? Like maybe it's um maybe it's running. That's why a lot of people have who are training for 5K's, 10ks, half marathons, marathons, whatever it might be, um they join a running group. And you know, yeah, you can do the same mileage by yourself, but the accountability is so important. And if you don't have that accountability, I mean there's a million excuses of why you can't go outside and run. Either it's too hot, it's too cold, that's just a little bit windy, I don't know, there's big rocks on my road, or there might be a coyote, or I don't know what it is, but right, there's um the accountability. Yeah, and as somebody who's trained for a marathon before, I've made my I have made my number of excuses as to why I can't go for a run. And so I just think accountability is super important, especially to our to our faith.
SPEAKER_01So just kind of going back to that that idea, accountability, you're right, is so important. And we're gonna, it's actually gonna be a part of what we talk about this week is who's gonna hold you accountable to do these things. Um, but it was funny because I started this sermon on Monday, and when I started it, I think I messaged you early in the afternoon as like, hey, I had to go home. I was convicted by the thing that I started, right? It's like I've got to go run. Like I felt like it was a part of that's a part of a thing that I uh make an excuse for is um like oh, I don't have time to exercise, or you know, I hurt my knee in high school, which is true, but I use it as an excuse for a lot of things, and um, and so you know, I don't do as well as I could to to stay in shape. And so I started thinking about like, all right, I need to do this and you know, download the app and do all the things that I need to do. Um, because I was feeling like I need to do that. And so what it comes down to though is the what I was thinking about this week is the why to all of it. So if it's just something I want to do to improve myself, um I'm pretty good at eventually uh when things get a little bit hard saying, uh I'm happy with how I am. Like it's good good enough. But if the why, I I think when we start looking at the why, if the why is like a spiritual why, a thing that God wants to change in us, that's when things, that's when things change. Like when God wants this change in your life. So is there a spiritual dimension to it? And what I was thinking about this week is it's like I I know that I need to be a healthier person because the healthier I am, the more stamina I have in ministry. I want to do this for a long time. I want to be I want to be able to be a good example to people. There's a whole thing about your body being a temple, you know, you're creating the image of God, take care of the things that God has given you. And um, and then also I just think like when I'm healthier, I enjoy this world that He's created for me more than I do when I'm not, and I'm just sitting and eating a bag of chips. Uh like I I I want to be able to enjoy the things that God has um has has given me in life. And so uh and so when there's like the spiritual dimension to it, I think I think it changes. And I think that goes way beyond just things like being a healthier person. It's all the different stuff that we do. Um uh whether it's you know, uh quitting a habit or um or you know, maybe you need a change in your job or something like that. And if the reason is, well, because I want to make bank, I want to make more money, I want to do all these things, that's not like a great reason. But if the reason is uh because I want to, you know, I need to change jobs because there's something that um that God wants me to be able to do for his kingdom, or maybe even if it is a pay increase, like because he wants me to be able to uh to to be a great steward of the gifts that he's given and you know enhance his kingdom somehow with this. Like those are different reasons. And I think I think when the why is a spiritual why, it definitely enhances our ability to stop making excuses. Our excuses don't stick as well anymore. Um so I was just looking at like some of the very common excuses that I think we sometimes make. And um so I think one is um we make excuses out of fear, like I don't want to do these things because um I'm afraid that I might fail. I'm afraid that it's going to be awkward. I don't want to make this change because it might mean I have to make I come into conflict with somebody. I definitely struggle with that one. I don't like conflict. I don't like I don't like creating conflict with others, but sometimes change needs to, sometimes there has to be change and in that a lot of times change and conflict end up going hand in hand. So I think that's definitely one I make excuses because I like things to be comfortable. I like I I like the way things are, and so I don't want to, I'm comfortable where I am and change. It might not be as comfortable of a thing, it might be a really hard thing to do. Uh busyness, I think this is definitely one that all of us use at some point in time. Like, like I'll I'll do that thing for you, Jesus, when I have the time. Uh I'll get to it when I have the time. I remember um one of the things that I was like uh a couple of years ago, really feeling like, man, I'm supposed to do this thing. Um it was like and and you had been pushing me on it, like you've got to write a book, like you're supposed to do this. And I kind of knew that I was supposed to, but I was like, I don't have time. Like I'm so busy, I don't have time. When am I gonna have time to write a book? Like, when in the world would I make the the time to be able to do something like that? But when you you get to the point where it's like this isn't this isn't about me, this is something like if God's put it on your heart you've gotta do it, then you've gotta do it. Yeah, and you gotta get over that busyness thing and you gotta figure it out. And the time somehow happened, you know, like there was a way to do it. And then the the last one that I was thinking about was uh insecurity. Um and kind of going back to that that same example, like that was another reason. Like, who in the world is gonna read this? Like, why would I do this? Who am I to say anything to anyone? Um, I think sometimes insecurity can hold us back. So those are just some of the excuses I was thinking about that I think we have sometimes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for sure. I mean, I can identify and relate to many of those excuses that I make in the small things just every day, but also you know, there's been times that you know I've I have had to make changes um because of things at work or you know, things like that where you know I felt like God was wanting me to do something. Like, for example, when this um youth position opened up here at St. Mark's several years ago, and you know, the job that I was currently in full-time, you know, wasn't gonna allow for me to have another like part-time job. Um, it was just really demanding. The hours were just crazy, and so I just wasn't able to. So that was kind of an excuse of why I couldn't step into the role. Um, but you know, I decided to make the change to a different um career path and take this on, and it allowed me to do that. But there were also other excuses of like, I'm more of a behind the scenes kind of person. I'm not, I've always been that way. Dan and I have always kind of been a good team that way, where he's the he's like the front man, right? He's the one speaking, he's the one like leading worship or you know, that sort of thing all through our ministry. And I'm always I'm always the very comfortable being the one in the background, like making sure he has everything he needs and um making sure you know we know where we're going and like all that sort of stuff. But um to be to take more of a leadership role um was kind of a hard thing for me because that's just not where I naturally see myself all the time. Um and love kids, love youth, but sometimes you know, that insecurity creeps in and the busyness creeps in of like how am I gonna have am I gonna have time to devote um the time needed to you know making sure that our our youth group meetings are what they need to be or mission trips or you know, that sort of thing. Am I gonna be able to take vacation time from work to do that? Or um are they even gonna like me? Those sorts of things. You know, those were all excuses that I made um before interviewing for the job, um, but definitely something that I felt God calling me to do, and sometimes, yeah, had to put all those excuses aside and just um do what I felt like God wanted me to do, and here I am.
SPEAKER_01So, what we're gonna ask this week, and if you're listening to this before Sunday, you get a head start. Um, but the question we're gonna ask this week is what's something that God wants to change in your life? If it's something that you just you want to change in your life, like I hope that you're able to figure that out and do that, do that thing if it's if it's something that's really good for you. I hope you're able to do that. But is there something in your life that God wants to change, that God wants to see changed? And if there is, and I and well, first of all, if there's not, then congratulations on being Jesus Christ and and being a perfect person who doesn't need anything changed. But think about what's the thing that God wants to change in your life, and then when you think about what that thing is, what's your excuse to not change it? Like what's what excuses that have you been using to not do that thing? And our our encouragement to you is gonna be stop making excuses. Stop making if there's something that God wants to change in your life, if something if there's something that God wants to be different in your life, uh what what excuses could you possibly make to not do those things? And um, and we're gonna encourage you to do things like uh like not only pray about it, but let somebody know, find somebody to be accountable, write it down. Um do do the things that it takes to to see that change because if God wants to change something in your life, it's it's like he's inviting you to the banquet. It's it's always gonna be a good thing. It's gonna be something beautiful, it's gonna be something wonderful, it's gonna be a part of what abundant life looks like for you. Um so whatever the change is, um, and whatever your excuses are, we want to try to figure out how do we put these excuses to the side and uh how do we live into um who God wants us to be and quit making excuses.
SPEAKER_00I think that's it.
SPEAKER_01Anything else wise to say?
SPEAKER_00Oh man, no, I think I think that's enough. I mean, I'm just not gonna make any excuses.
SPEAKER_01Right, no more excuses.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I'm going getting ready to go to youth group right now, so this gives me good like excuses, no excuses from the youth. No excuses from the youth tonight. Go listen to the podcast.
SPEAKER_01There you go. That's the message. There you go. Well, thanks so much for joining us. Hope to see you this weekend, and uh thanks for being with us on another Sermon Prep podcast.