Beeson Podcast, Episode #626 Dr. Robert Smith Jr. Nov. 1, 2022 >>Announcer: Welcome to the Beeson podcast, coming to you from Beeson Divinity School on the campus of Samford University. Now your hosts, Doug Sweeney and Kristen Padilla. >>Doug Sweeney: Welcome to the Beeson Podcast. I’m your host, Doug Sweeney, here with my co-host, Kristen Padilla. Last October, our beloved faculty member, Dr. Robert Smith Jr. felt strange one Tuesday night after teaching a class. He went to the hospital where doctors determined he’d suffered a mild stroke. While Dr. Smith received a good and encouraging prognosis, he still had to struggle through an especially challenging season in which he was forced to stop teaching and undergo treatment. It has been a whole year now since Dr. Smith suffered this stroke and we know that many of you have been holding him up in prayer. So, Kristen and I thought that we’d have him on the show and let you catch up with him and God’s work in his life. Kristen, Dr. Smith is well known to regular listeners, but I wonder if you might introduce him very briefly and get our conversation started. >>Kristen Padilla: Sure. Thanks, Doug. Welcome everyone, to the Beeson Podcast. Dr. Robert Smith Jr. is the Charles T. Carter Baptist Chair of Divinity here at Beeson where he teaches Christian preaching. He is the author of, “Doctrine That Dances,” and “The Oasis of God From Morning to Morning.” He’s working on another project as we speak. Very involved in the lives of our students. Welcome, Dr. Smith, to the Beeson Podcast. >>Dr. Smith: Thank you, sister Kristen, and Dr. Sweeney. >>Kristen Padilla: Well, you are no stranger to the Beeson Podcast. I’m sure if not all most of our listeners know who you are. And as Doug said, we wanted to talk to you about what has happened in your life this past year. So, I wonder if you could get us started by sharing about that significant health event and the circumstances surrounding it? >>Dr. Smith: Well, I’ve just celebrated a year since the stroke – last week, October 6th, 2021 is when it occurred. I went over to the cafeteria at the school to have dinner that night. And was sitting alone, enjoying the dinner. One of my students, Jordan Cummings, wanted to sit and eat with me. And she did. The Lord sent her. He really did. When we finished eating and got ready to take our dishes to the conveyor belt and to empty the food and the napkins and so forth into the garbage can, I started to get up. I knew something was wrong. She went on ahead. And I started to walk and I noticed my right foot was dragging. I started going down the steps after I had emptied the utensils and so forth. And the back of my right leg, the heal, wouldn’t cover the rung of the steps. So, I knew something was seriously wrong. I did call my son, Robert III, who lives in Birmingham. And (laughs) he just told me, “Pack your bags and I’ll be over there to get you.” And he took me to the UAB hospital. We sat there and filled out the papers; went to the emergency and stayed there for quite a while. In fact, stayed there till 5:00 the next day. Because they didn’t have any rooms available because of COVID. But they determined in the emergency that I had had a stroke and they were concerned whether or not my brain was bleeding. And so after staying there for about a week, they determined the bleeding had stopped. I was able to walk and function and remember and all of that. And then I got transferred to Cincinnati where I live. And I was under my doctors there and under, as the Dean has said, a lot of therapy and so forth. Most of all, under the care of my wife who has been a nurse for 50 years. So, it was some occurrence and I was attended to, not only by physical healthcare agents but my Great Physician, Jesus Christ, who cared for me. >>Doug Sweeney: Dr. Smith, as Kristen and I were preparing to interview you today, Kristen remembered that over a year ago, just over a year ago, you preached in chapel a sermon called, “Have You Been To Gilgal?” I believe it was on Joshua 4. But in the midst of the sermon you talked about difficult experiences you’ve had physically over the years. You shared hospital bracelets as an illustration. You talked with the students about how we don’t have time to waste and we need to take the time the Lord gives us with seriousness and prayerfulness. We don’t want to over interpret that, but we were just wondering whether you think the Lord was preparing you even as you prepared to preach that sermon for what you were able to go through? And what you think about can anybody be prepared for something like that? And if so, how should be we be prepared for life’s biggest challenges? >>Dr. Smith: Yeah. I often tell people that it is not wise to attempt to demystify the mystery of God, to unscrew the inscrutability of God, or to try to figure out ... and I coined this term ... the unfigureoutability of God. (laughter) But rather to listen to William Cooper, “God moves in a mysterious way.” His wonders to perform, he plants his footsteps on the sea, and he rides on every storm. And that last lyric, that last verse has these precious words, “God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain.” It’s not plain to me. I can’t interpret it. I live within the envelope of mystery. I’m not sure I want to know. I am sure that whatever happens to me does not happen incidentally or accidentally or coincidentally, but providentially. And there’s a purpose for it, and I think this will increase my worship of God here and particularly in eternity. So, it is walking by faith. It is God preparing me for what he’s preparing me for. And that is enough for me. Dean, I was reading ... this is a book written by Jonathan Akin and he says something. I’m almost done with it, it’s been a great read that has spoken to my soul. This is what he says, that is Jonathan Akin, he says, “If anyone would tell you the shortest surest way to all happiness, they would tell you to make it a rule to think and praise God for everything that happens to you. For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity befalls you, if you can thank and praise God for it, you will turn it into a blessing.” Now, of course, this is not what the author said, this is what John Newton says, “It’s almost as if Paul is saying, in everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you in Christ Jesus.” What is has done is it just helps me to understand that God wants to know if I really can praise him and serve him not only on the mountain but in the valley. I’m grateful that it has been a year. I’m grateful that I can be back with you and my Beeson family. I’ve never had a more enjoyable, delightful ministry in 30 years of teaching than I have had this year. That’s a fact. And so Soren Kierkegaard, I quote that often because it’s so true for me. “Life must be lived forward, but it can only be understood backwards.” You understand it in reflection. And I’m understanding some of it, but I will understand it better by and by. >>Kristen Padilla: As you are understanding it, as you’re looking back, I wonder if you can share with us one or more things that God has taught you so far through this experience? In what ways have you seen God at work in such a challenging time in your life? >>Dr. Smith: Sheldon Vanauken in his autobiographical reflection on “A Severe Mercy,” which is paradoxical. Severe mercy. Two mutually exclusive statements meeting at the intersection of apparent contradiction to produce truth. It was a severe occurrence to be in the hospital bed, not knowing whether you’re going to hear the necessity of having brain surgery, or was it an aneurism, or whatever. And yet it was mercy. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And I’m not trying to be pious or spiritual. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I don’t mean just because of schedule ... it’s more than that. More than that. But it has deepened my joy, my faith, my commitment – severe but mercy. Yeah, it has helped me to be sensitized toward people who have crises. I have met more people with strokes. I have had people, oh I don’t know, it’s as if God allows people to find their way to me and he gives me an opportunity to brag on Jesus. And so it’s an opportunity, honestly. It’s an opportunity to bask in the glory of God, just to see how much God ... who doesn’t need me ... how much he loves me, desires for me to share in the ministry – ‘cause he does the work that he’s called me to do. That’s it. I’m grateful. I’m grateful for the ... I don’t want to even think where I would be had it not been for the struggle. I really mean that. >>Doug Sweeney: Dr. Smith, I know well, because I was working with you on this, that for quite a while after the stroke you were under doctor’s orders just to sit still and people who know you know that you don’t like to sit still. Everybody who even knows about you knows that you’re a gifted, beloved preacher, who loves to open the Word of God for people. And you couldn’t do that for a long time. You had to just lay in bed and get better. And now things are starting to change a teeny bit. You’re back in the classroom. You preached in chapel about a year from the day of the stroke, not exactly, but almost. >>Dr. Smith: That’s true! >>Doug Sweeney: How’s it been for you? What was it like as a preacher, as a Prince of Preachers, not to be able to preach for a long period of time? And what’s it like now on the other side of your recovery – just sort of getting back into things a little bit and getting back into pulpits? >>Dr. Smith: It helped me to find and to see and to know more clearer than I have ever before known where my real worth is. Like Zechariah, who for nine months couldn’t preach, ‘cause he didn’t believe. How is this going to happen? How is Elizabeth and I going to have a child? She’s old and I’m old. Of course, he knew about Abraham and Sarah, but this can’t be happening to me. And he is stricken with dumbness and he can’t talk. What good is a preacher who can’t talk? What good is a preacher who can’t counsel? He can’t speak. At least for nine months. I don’t know how soon she was pregnant after this incident, but ... And so he had to just be silent and be still. That’s one of the blessings of it. My worth is not in my ministry. No. My worth is in Him. I had to learn that. I’d yet to come to understand that people who really love you love you for who you are to them, not for what you do. Like you, for instance, and like my daughter, Kristen. So, silence was good for me. I didn’t like it. But I learned. Everywhere I went I had to get someone to take me. I don’t like that. But I had to learn. It was during that time that going back to the basics, just being a voracious reader of scripture, just can’t get enough of it. Having the appetite whetted to the nth degree. All of those kinds of things. So, again, finding just ... I knew it here ... I knew it. 18 inches down to here, that’s the longest journey in the world. 18 inches from head to heart. I had to learn about my heart. Your ability to do ... God does not value you because of your ability to do anything. God loves you because God loves you. Simple as that. And he can’t love you more, and he can’t love you less based upon your productivity. Mm hmm (Negative). He just absolutely loves you. That’s pretty good. >>Kristen Padilla: Amen. That is great news. Dr. Smith, I know you to be a very humble person. Someone who wouldn’t talk about receiving awards and such, but I’m going to ask you to talk about (laughs) a recent award that you received- >>Doug Sweeney: Yeah, do it, Kristen! >>Kristen Padilla: ... from Baylor University’s Truett Seminary for your Global Impact in Christian Preaching. This is their legacy award. And listeners, I do have to tell you, he’s already received a living legend award. So, this is a second type award of such caliber. Tell our listeners about this award, Dr. Smith. And what it means to you. >>Dr. Smith: Thank you, Kristen. I appreciate that. (laughs) I am undeserving but I am not unappreciative. That’s an absolutely fact. It’s shocking. I can’t get out from underneath it. I’m still drowning, really, in the reality of it. That they would select me to receive this award. And that they want to pay recognition to 56 years of preaching and 30 years of teaching, and so forth and so on when there are literally hundreds of thousands deserving. And I did. I said to the promoters when they called me about it, “No, you need to give this to someone else who deserves it.” And they wouldn’t listen to me. It’s true. Very true. It’s just overwhelming. And it’s not an attempt to be modest at all. I’m just overwhelmed by it. And it’s not anything I can talk about very easily. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to bring that to conclusion. (laughter) >>Doug Sweeney: That was good. We’re happy to brag on him, even if he’s not happy to brag on himself. And Kristen and I want our listeners to know that particularly those who are alumni that Dr. Smith is going to say a few words by way of a devotional and a word of encouragement to alumni at our Annual Alumni Conference banquet on Tuesday night, November the 8th. So, please come back for that. But that’s really Dr. Smith, just a set up for asking you about this. I have only known you real well for a few years. I’ve known about you, heard you preach for many years, but you and I have been friends for just a few years. And as I’ve come to know you as a friend, one of the things that’s impressed me the most deeply about you is the heart you have for your students. I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody who pours as much love and time and prayer and concern into each and every student as you do. So, on this side of your stroke, tell us what this means to you to get back in the classroom, to have all these alumni come and reconnect with you and share fellowship with you? What is your teaching ministry and what do the students who are a part of your teaching ministry mean to you? >>Dr. Smith: Well, they mean everything. I don’t want my students to be Robert Smith clones. Kristen is one of them. I don’t want that. But I do want to write into their lives. They represent books to me that I want them to be able to go back and read [inaudible 00:20:02]. I want something that’s permanent. I tell them this is not a class, this is an experience. And if you’re not transformed by the experience then this class has failed. If you leave this place after so many weeks of teaching and you leave unchanged, unchallenged, unaffected, unstretched – then this class has failed. So, it’s important to me to get to really do three things. I say the very first day of class – number one, I am not going to be sneaky. I want you to know I want to be your pastor. That’s the first thing. I tell them that. “I want to be your pastor.” Second of all, I want to be your friend. If I can be your pastor and friend, I’m confident the Lord will help me to be your professor. But I want to be your pastor, first. Which for me means I want you to know me and I want to know you. And whatever you’re going through. We have a student right now who will talked today in class, I prayed for her, and I’ve been praying for her. She’s out in Denver, Colorado. I’ve called her. And prayed for her. And written her and so forth. I want to be involved in their lives. Not for some kind of prestigious recognition or to be talked about. They’re my family. And most of all I’ve got to give an account to God for how I have stewarded them. That’s it right there. So, when they leave this experience, I want them to leave knowing that they’ve been with Jesus and that they have had more than a class. I want to teach them something that you can’t find in books. That’s what I want to do. So, that’s really it. Accountability to God and my desire that they will be changed, not so much by the subject matter but by the atmosphere that they come in contact with. So that every time ... I don’t want a student to have to come to class. I want a student who can’t keep from coming to class. Because they expect God to move. And that’s it. >>Kristen Padilla: Well, as your former student, I can testify that everything that Dr. Smith has said, listeners, is indeed true. And he is invested in the lives of his students long after they graduate. And I am so grateful to be one of those who receives that blessing from you Dr. Smith. Thank you for being so vulnerable with us on the show and open and sharing with us about your struggles, health struggles, and what God has been teaching you through this difficult time. We typically ask our guests at the end of the show to share something that the Lord has been teaching them recently. You’ve shared what the Lord has been teaching you recently already. So, I’m wondering if you could speak now to those listeners who are going, or have recently gone through, a trial of their own. Perhaps they’ve also gone through a health challenge or they have a loved one, a spouse or a child, who has gone through a health challenge. What word from scripture and encouragement can you share with them as we end the show? Perhaps even a word that you yourself have received from the Lord this last year? >>Dr. Smith: I would say to our listeners to see a crisis not as a sentence that ends with a period, but as one that has been somewhat interrupted by the pause of a semi colon. Because a semi colon does not state termination, but hesitation. Pause, suspension, temporarily. And then we go on. It’s almost a time of rebounding, to complete the sentence. That may mean, it doesn’t always mean recovery, delivery, in this life, but those who believe in the Lord Jesus will eventually experience, like all of us, deliverance. The former things will pass away. Death will be no more. And though God is able to do anything, he may not choose to do it for whatever reason he chooses to. However, for believers, there will come deliverance. So, I don’t want to give people false hope. No. Our hope is not in our healing, our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. That’s really it. So, I want to be able to ... all of us are going to experience it. But those of us who have hope in Christ take that period, that would seem to end you life or end your circumstances in a negative way, don’t get rid of the period. Keep the period there. And give a little space and put a little comma underneath it, with makes a semi colon. You need the period for testimony. Mm, that’s what happened to me. But then I put a comma underneath it and now instead of a period, you have a semi colon. And it means continuation. Can you go on beyond that point? That’s what I want to say. >>Doug Sweeney: Friends, you have been listening to Dr. Robert Smith Jr. He is the Charles T. Carter Baptist Chair of Divinity here at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches Christian Preaching. He is the author of a number of very important books and articles, including, “Doctrine That Dances,” “The Oasis of God: From Morning to Morning,” and a fantastic new commentary on the Book of Joshua that’s coming out later this year. We thank you for joining us. We thank you, Dr. Smith, for being with us today. >>Dr. Smith: It’s a privilege. >>Doug Sweeney: We love you and we love our listeners. >>Dr. Smith: I love you more! >>Doug Sweeney: And we say to them, goodbye for now. >>Kristen Padilla: You’ve been listening to the Beeson podcast. Our theme music is written and performed by Advent Birmingham of the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama. Our engineer is Rob Willis. Our announcer is Mike Pasquarello. Our co-hosts are Doug Sweeney and, myself, Kristen Padilla. Please subscribe to the Beeson podcast at www.BeesonDivinity.com/podcast or on iTunes.