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 25 - Trials and Temptations
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Pastor Dan and Bruce Beck talk about first-world problems and what it means to be joyful no matter the circumstances.
Hey everybody, welcome to the Sermon Prep Podcast. This is Dan Metzger, the pastor at St. Mark's United Methodist Church, and with me today for the second time. Not in a row. Not in a row, but the second time is Media Guru Extraordinaire and all around good guy Bruce Beck. Thank you for reading that directly from the script that I provided earlier. Absolutely. Absolutely. So when you're on uh you're on WKXA every now and then with with Rex Howard. On occasion. And he always calls you cousin Bruce.
SPEAKER_00Are you actually related? No, I didn't think so. I call him Radio Rex. Radio. But I think I mean I may have called him cousin Rex, but that's just a thing he says. And I'm just amazed that he lets me on there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, we've always said you have a face for radio.
SPEAKER_01I do, and here we are. Oh, goodness. Anyway, this will be fun tonight. I think so. Um, uh, we are starting a new sermon series at church on the book of James, and we're starting off talking about uh at the very beginning, um, we're gonna be memorizing some scripture, and one of the ones that we're gonna memorize is consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters. Whenever you face trials of any kind, for we know that the testing of faith produces perseverance, and um it's kind of a hard thing for us to think about, like that. These hard things and and everything is something we should have joy in. But to start off with, I thought I'd ask you, what do you think of when you hear the word trial? What's like one of the first things that comes to mind for you?
SPEAKER_00It doesn't involve fun and it's a problem. And why is it happening to me in a generic kind of way? Yeah, why why me? Why me? Why?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. We I think we like to think of the idea that you know, when there's trials or something hard coming, like that should go to the bad people, and all the good things should come to us, all of us good people. I'm I go to church, right? There should be a smooth ride, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, right, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So it doesn't seem sometimes doesn't seem fair. It seems like, yeah, this this should not be.
SPEAKER_00Or you think why do why why do you why do what we define as bad people in parentheses or quotation marks, why do why do good stuff happen to them? Yeah, we're trying to be good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. So when we think of trials, I think um I I think it's all about perspective also. So some of the things that are what I would consider hard things that come my way. Um I don't know. I I think maybe in other parts of the world or at other times in history, people might have uh said, oh gee, poor you. You know, and we might call these first world problems. So what's a first world problem you face recently?
SPEAKER_00Um can I can I talk about the soundboard?
SPEAKER_02Sure.
SPEAKER_00Um you know, we we used to just not live stream and we have been for a number of years. And we've had the old soundboards and we have a digital soundboard now. And like um getting that all processed and set up, fine-tuning things when something goes wrong. Oh yeah or if I miss it, if I miss the slide transition or something, right? It's like, oh, the slide sound working. But there are people, tribes, people in remote areas that don't have access to regular church services. Sure. They don't have access to printed materials, they don't have the ability to go back and watch something. So I think we can be very thankful that we are we are blessed to have those things. Oh, yeah. But when something happens, it's like, oh yeah, crap.
SPEAKER_01Can I can I give you a way less theological uh first world problem I've faced recently? Yeah. So um b because it's been summertime and it's been, you know, some of these weeks have been pretty warm. The second garage uh second fridge that I have out in my garage that I use mostly to keep you know pop and stuff cold um hasn't been able to keep up because it's been so hot outside. So the second refrigerator I have isn't quite keeping my drinks cold enough for me. And it's a problem. Do you want to talk about it? Yeah, I that's what this is. This is a therapy session for me. Appreciate you feeling free to talk about it. How's the family? Are they okay? They're they're you know, they're considering uh I think leaving because of it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, get it fixed quickly.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's all these things that we yeah, oh what about this? Um your Wi-Fi goes out. Yeah, your Wi-Fi goes out. Yeah, it's hard to keep my swimming pool clear. Sometimes the chemicals don't quite do what they're supposed to be. Yeah, all of these things. Yeah, yeah, it but but and you know, we make light of these things, but I do think sometimes all of these things, because of the world that we're that we're in, you know, sometimes these things can kind of compile on themselves over and over again. And you know, another one that that we've had recently that, yeah, it's a first world problem, but it's really kind of started getting to us is we have just it feels like we've gone through vehicle maintenance issue after maintenance issue after maintenance issue. Remember you were driving your oh my goodness, yeah. I'm yeah, right now driving Holly's great-grandma's car because it's just we've had to like switch around vehicles because it seems like there's something going wrong with every single one. Yeah, I'd been driving my dad's truck. Well, the water pump went out in that. So it's like you know, like why do bad things happen to good people, Bruce? Why do bad? I wonder. Good question. So we go through all these trials, we go through all these things, and you know, they can they can compile on them, and you can find yourself like I think in a really hard place. Oh, woe is me. Yeah, a very woe is me uh kind of thing. Um and I I think a part of what James is is trying to tell us in in his letter as he started it off. He says, consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of any kind, because it's going to produce it's the testing of faith produces perseverance. So there's something on the other side. Uh, there's something that that it's going to eventually get you to. It doesn't say to necessarily be happy when you're facing all of your trials, it says consider it that. Consider it. Like, like, hey, be thankful that this is happening, be even be joyful that this is happening, even though I'm probably not gonna have a smile on my face.
SPEAKER_00No, because it it is supposed to take us to a more maturity, a come, you know, uh more complete version of who we're I was thinking when you texted me earlier, and uh along these topics, you know, you have something bad happen and you have your response and you have your how you approach it, and it's like you can think, why me? Or you can think, what can I learn from this? Yeah, how can I use this to be a blessing to others? Yeah, it's just temporary, it's not gonna last forever.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and and it I think that's the exact perspective, and I would even take it a step farther than that and say maybe a part of it is all right, God, who are you going to make me into through all of this? Who are you becoming? Yeah, who who are like how are you molding me and shaping me? Not that God is doing these bad things to you so that something more can come out of it, but that God takes all of these things and redeems them somehow. And it's not a punishing thing from God, it's just life, yeah, and life happens, exactly. And God, in in the midst of those hard things, I think God forces good to come out of it, He squeezes good out of a thing that looks like there's no possible good that could could come out of it.
SPEAKER_00And I think if you're if you're thankful, do you consider all joy how you're thinking about it shapes your response to it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I think that's absolutely true. I I was um I'm gonna share this story a little bit on on Sunday. Um, but there's a a pastor friend of mine, um, her name's Lizzie. I just heard her speaking at a conference uh earlier this week. And in Columbus? Uh yes, I was down in Columbus. Um uh Lizzie's originally from uh uh the Texas-Mexico border. Her grandma lived in Mexico, and she was telling the story about her grandma. Um, when her grandma was coming to the end of her life, so the way hospitals work in Mexico, she um uh if you go into the hospital in what we would consider like hospice care, it's generally kind of one large room and there can be like eight different people in there and your family really is who comes and takes care of you and that kind of thing. So when she was getting to that point, her grandma's like, all right, like she was excited to get there because um, she's like, Because I will be in a room full of people who are dying, and I'll get to tell them about Jesus just before they die. Wow, like she was like excited. That like she, I don't know if she forgot this, she was also in that in that category of people, but she's like, No, I need to get there so that I can talk to these people about this stuff. Like this that completely reframes it. Oh, completely reframes that mean what a different perspective of of you know, can't how do I take this hard thing and do something beautiful out of it? Uh yeah, Paul, uh, when he's writing Philippians and he says, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. He's writing that from prison. Yeah, and and he's writing it and he's able to say that, I think, because he's like, Hey, I'm here, but man, what a cool opportunity I have right now to witness to these guards. And the and we generally, I think that takes a certain level of Christian maturity to get to that point where even it where it's not just, oh, I can look back on it now and see something good, but even in the midst of the hard thing, being able to see what good God might be forcing to come out of this or what opportunities for good is can come out of this.
SPEAKER_00And how you frame it. Um are you looking back at yourself in the trial? Are you looking up towards God and out towards others and how it can how what it can do for your life and how it can change you?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I wonder, um, so uh have you ever gone through something that looking back now, like in the middle of it, like that was not fun at all? But can you think of looking back at at now something hard that you can say, hey, God used that thing for good?
SPEAKER_00I think um one thing is um losing my family across time. Yeah, I mean all my immediate family has passed, and uh uh how I've been supported by others, how I've been supported by friends and family at church and in the community. Um I have a sensitivity and empathy for others and um to be an encourager and to listen and and sympathize with just in loss in general.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that's beautiful. I mean, to be able to see that now, I mean, obviously, like I don't think God was ever like, hey, let's take his family members from him so that he can be more empathetic, but that God takes those things and says, All right, but I'm gonna transform you and do something to you through that. Yeah, yeah, I think that's beautiful. I think one thing for me uh was um, and this is kind of a it's almost becoming a cliche thing and an easy thing to point back to, but COVID, um COVID, obviously, obviously a bad time, obviously a hard time. I think I became a much better pastor during COVID. Um during the the hard things, it it forced me to um with new things, yeah. Oh waste outreach. Yeah, I mean it for it forced it forced us to do that, and um and also just kind of reframe my perspective. And uh like so there's this joke that pastors say behind closed doors, uh where we always say, you know, this job being a pastor would be great if it wasn't for the people, and um which we say very tongue-in-cheek. I don't just put that out there for you. Sorry for that, but I I think you know what we mean by that. Yeah, that I think it's supposed to be really difficult. Yeah, and and I actually got to pastor without the people for a period of time. Um and not that that was a great thing, and of course I miss people and relationships and all that stuff, but it it it changed me, it changed my perspective, it allowed me to lead in a different way. Um, I think I think I became a better pastor during COVID, and that I'm still and I'm still trying to become a better pastor every day, but I I learned some things about myself and about um self-care and about uh just how to how to communicate with others, different ways to communicate with people. I think a lot of good things came out of that. Um uh even just a small silly thing, we figured out technology in a way that we hadn't before um started live streaming our services. And we still have people now who are benefiting from that, who were uh who are maybe shut ins or in nursing homes or whatever it might be, yeah, who are still benefiting from that, from these things that we learned and we started doing that. I don't know if we'd have done if we hadn't been forced. Probably probably not, maybe not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was rapid, it was, yeah. Yeah. So so why do you think our first instinct is to ask why me instead of God, what are you doing?
SPEAKER_00Because it's personal and it's you're engulfed in it and it's surrounding you, and you look at the trial before like just being in a trial is no fun. Right. Probably it's you you you become overwhelmed and you you think of bad things, bad thoughts, why me? Yeah, and kind of a natural reaction without faith. Yeah, I think it's it's yeah, without faith. But faith is like a God. What can I learn from this?
SPEAKER_01And I mean, one of the things that Holly and I we we say this all the time we say to each other, you know, God's brought us this far, why would he let us go now? Yeah. We say things like it's that God's never just like left us in the desert before. I don't think he's going to this time either. You know, we like it's trying to remind ourselves of that faith in the midst of the trials.
SPEAKER_00And one thing I've I've done weddings with you and I've done funerals. And one of the things, and it's about perspective again, is what the things that you say at a funeral, the lap the the worst thing is ever the last thing.
SPEAKER_01Last thing, yeah. Yeah, you'll probably hear that quote again this week. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's part of what part of what we believe is that you know, if we're in the midst of the worst thing, it must not be the last thing because it hasn't been redeemed yet. And and everything gets redeemed, and even when we take our last breath, that's still only gonna be the second to last thing. It's not the last thing. Yeah, um, because the the next thing is going to be being in the presence of Christ. And um, so yeah, we we can continually have that perspective. That's a part of what we it's a part of what we uh what we trust. I wonder, so I was thinking about in in the middle of all this, uh, you know the the country song um I think is Garth Brooks who who did it. It's like I thank God for unanswered prayers. Um, I think that there's sometimes where we're even in the midst of things and we're like, I can't believe this is going on. Um, that this hard thing in my life is happening, or or you know, that this I think the song talks about I can't believe this girl broke up with me or whatever. But then you know it's later on, it's like, oh, there's something so much better over here on the other side that I wasn't anticipating that I didn't I didn't even know was gonna be possible.
SPEAKER_00We can't think that it would even happen, right? Like, um, I know there's some illustration, like a little girl's holding up some bear or something, and uh I like she doesn't want to give it up, but God has a bigger teddy bear God's got like the giant teddy bear behind his back.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he's like we don't want to let go of that one first to be able to have this one. Yeah, and I think there's some times like that in life where it's our our perspective is so in that moment. I mean, I can remember I can remember times um, you know, uh when it it was evident that like, oh, maybe my time's coming to an end at at this particular church or or doing this particular thing and like feeling defeated almost, but then not realizing that oh, well, there's there's something even greater in store, like like coming down the pike that's gonna be gonna be even better, or you know, thinking like I was gonna hire this person, but now they can't come. But then this other thing, this other person came available. It's like, oh man, that I wouldn't have been able to bring them on staff if it was, you know, if it wasn't for this. So there's all those different kinds of things that that tend to happen that um that our perspective, I think, is sometimes so small. Um, that we, yeah, sometimes I think we do. We thank God for these unanswered prayers now. Like, thank you for not doing that. When I was like begging and pleading with you to fix it in a certain way, and you had something even greater in store.
SPEAKER_00He will bless you, but it'll be beyond what you can even think.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but beyond what you could ask or imagine. Yeah, I and I think that that's that's absolutely true. Uh, we're not gonna have a whole lot of time to get into this right now, but um, one of the things we're also gonna talk about this week that that James talks about, he talks about trials. Trials are things that like happen to us, but then there's also temptations that kind of well up from within. And um do you think do you think uh today in the 21st century here in the United States, do you think it's that there's more temptation? Is it just different temptations? Um, do you think it's harder now than it's than it's ever been? Are there is there more out there than what there used to be?
SPEAKER_00I think temptation is increased in that it's more available. Yeah. In that um the internet, dance and internet um TV, different media um accesses, just instant betting, whatever.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah. Yeah, it's all right at your fingertips. Yeah, yeah, right at your fingertips. You don't have to like go find a bookie somewhere. Yeah, you can do a Google search and find a bookie. Right. Yeah. Yeah, there's there's yeah, so I I think that maybe there is some that gets more at our fingertips than what it than what it ever was. Um yeah, and I it's it can be hard for us to there's uh there's this Lutheran pastor, I forget his name off the top of my head. I'll look it up and I'll talk about him on Sunday. Okay, but um you still have time to I got a little bit of time. Um, but he talks about this moment of the maybe in temptation. Like instead of like you're saying you've been saying no, no, no to things all the time, and then you go, maybe, you know, maybe no one else will notice, and you leave the door open just a crack.
SPEAKER_00I remember your sermon on it just takes one step at a time, yeah, until somebody's completely ruined, yeah, and by the choice of the state.
SPEAKER_01Like it's one little thing, and then and then that little thing becomes the next thing, and you become numb. Yeah, and James kind of talks about this, and the way that he talks about it is this idea of like he actually talks about in terms of like uh a gestation, like a like a child being born, it says, you know, it's a it's a small thing, but then you know, you allow it to grow. You water it, then you give and you end up giving birth to this sin, and sin gives birth to death and and destruction. No, I don't think anybody decides, I think I'm gonna wake up today and ruin my life. Like I don't think that that ever happens. It's it's little things one small step at a time. And sometimes that might be triggered by a trial. Yeah, and if you don't have the right response, yeah, I think that's absolutely right. I think that trials um trials can open the door to some temptations sometimes, uh, or make us vulnerable to you know, if your trial is um that you know money's been hard to come by, there can be some temptations because you can do things you need to do to get that from the store.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, all of all of that. Can I tie some? Yeah, something that I think we're working on as a church is building community. And in building community, when trials come, if you have people around you, you'll be stronger.
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, that's 100%. And and that's how I do know that that's gonna be my landing point for the sermon on Sunday. I think that there is. There's something to this, um, that we do this together. We don't go through our trials or our temptations on our own. When we try to, it it's so much harder. And when you're together, it's easier to. Yeah. Yeah. And so I think it's uh one of the important things in in all of this is to not let it be a hidden thing, but let this be stuff that we walk through together, that we do together. Um, it's gonna be the longest podcast episode. Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, listener. Don't turn it off yet. I got a good story for you. I'm here until I'm not. I'll I'll share this story a little bit on Sunday too. But I was um I was at a uh a funeral service uh last week, two weeks ago. I forget now. Time runs together. Um and it was at a Catholic church, and uh the funeral it felt like it was almost gonna get delayed because. There had been a um beforehand, there had been, I think it was on a Saturday, there had been like a Saturday morning mass. And after mass, the line immediately formed at the confession booth. And um, and so before the priest could do the uh the uh funeral service, had to hear confession first. And I was like, how do you and so I I got to talk to him a little bit afterwards. I was like, how do you switch gears from like that has to be so heavy being in the and like all these people coming in and unloading all of this stuff, like all of this this sin and this pain and this hurt and this guilt and all these things. Like I said, isn't that just super heavy? He says, Absolutely not. It is, he's like, there is so much freedom in that booth. Like it's it's it's not a place of heaviness, it's a place of lightness where of release, yeah, where people are releasing the stuff and there's forgiveness and there's grace and there's mercy. And even saying things out loud, and yeah, and he's like, and even even just saying things out loud to somebody sitting behind a wall, you know, with with a little window between you, and and that's a part, I know we don't practice that as United Methodists very well, but we're still the same scripture applies to us that we're supposed to confess to one another and bear our burdens with one another. Um, that that's a thing that we're supposed to do. And there's something about that when we carry these things together, when we say to one another, hey, I need help with this, I'm struggling with this, keep me accountable in this. It it helps us get through these trials and these temptations.
SPEAKER_00You know, just saying things out loud in grief share this last year. I was in closure. And I just had I shared a couple of things with a group, um, even though my family's been gone for a number of years. Um, just saying a couple of things out loud to a group and acknowledging the pain inside. Just it's free. I was boy, void. I was my spirit was lifted, and still, I'm still lifted today. Can I share one thing? Yeah, go ahead. Um I think the main thing was um across time, my dad passed in '82, and then my mom passed to the last family member in 2014. But I always felt weird, like different, because like my friends would say, I'm going over to see my mom and dad, or I'm gonna go do this with a brother or sister. I just felt weird and outcast. And I said that. And I've I've mentioned it, but but saying in that group and the support I got, yeah, just and if I can share the other thing. When my mom passed, she was alone at the nursing home. And I felt so bad that I had let her down. She was always there, she was at present, every other family's member's passing. And I've hurt because the one that had been most self-serving was alone. And I always felt bad. It's like just from the support, like it's in God's timing, he was there with her. It's not my responsibility. If I could have been, I mean, if I would have been there, but just letting those things go and naming them just released my spirit. Yeah, that's a healing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, it takes others, and so that's why a part of our a part of our scripture that we're gonna memorize this week. It starts off with the phrase brothers and sisters. Uh that family, and he's not the scripture and talking about going through trials and talking about going through temptations, he's not talking to you going through it alone, he's talking to us as a group and how we're going through things together. And I think that that's so important as we face really hard things in life that we find ways to do it together. So and and the enemy wants us to be alone, yeah. Oh, and community. We talked about that the week before isolation and independence and and like trying to do things off on a wrong ranger. Yeah, and that's not how it's meant to be. No.
SPEAKER_00So well, thanks, Bruce.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for having me. Absolutely, and thank you for sticking around with us. And we'll see you next week on another Sermon Prep Podcast.