Delight in the Lord
Matthew 16: 21-28
Pentecost 14 (Proper 17)
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost is the Gospel reading Matthew 16. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Those are the words of Psalm 37. We have already heard them in the Introit at the beginning of the service. They are wonderful words to hear. They are wonderful words because they talk about getting the desires of our heart. Yet, when we look at the readings for today it does not appear that those who trust in the Lord actually get the desires of their heart.
We see that in our Old Testament reading. Jeremiah was sent by God to call the people of Israel to repentance. Most of the people responded by persecuting him. As Jeremiah carried out the work that God sent him to do listen to what he says. “I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?” That does not sound like a description of what we would desire. In our epistle reading, Paul gives a beautiful description of Christian love. One of the things that he mentions is that we should never avenge ourselves against our enemies. Paul is stating that we as Christians will have enemies and at times, we will be wronged by them and that we should be kind to them anyway. That’s not something we usually desire. In our Gospel reading we hear the words of Jesus describes what being His disciple looks like. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Taking up a cross is not something we often desire.
Psalm 37 tells us that those who delight in the Lord will get the desires of their heart and yet as we look at our reading for today it does not appear to happen to those who trust in the Lord. What we need to do is look at things a bit more carefully. What Psalm 37 says is wonderful but can be misunderstood. The words could be taken to mean that we can manipulate God. If I do all the right things, then God will give me whatever I want. That is not what the verse is saying. The verse is actually talking about God’s gracious giving. The truth of the matter is that we can never manipulate God into giving us anything better than what He has already given us. As Christians we have a new nature that God creates in us in our Baptism and so we firmly believe that what God gives to us is always what is best. That is why we delight in the Lord. What God wills to give us is the desire of our heart, it is our delight, and it is what we will always get. What we don’t get from God is what our sinful nature wants.
That is the trouble that Peter runs into in our Gospel reading. Jesus tells His disciples that He will go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, be killed, and on the third day be raised. Peter rebuked the Lord for saying these things. Peter was not setting his mind on the things of God but on the things of man. He was not thinking about God’s plan to bring salvation to the world through the death and resurrection of Christ. He did not delight in the Gospel. Instead he was thinking about earthly glory and success. What our Lord was revealing to the disciples was what was needed to be done to atone for our sins and bring us into right relation with God. Jesus did exactly what He said. He died on the cross and rose from the dead and saved us all from sin and death. We now delight in the Lord, and we receive what He has given us, which is salvation. The Lord gives us what is best. He forgives us, restores us and gives us eternal life.
Now that we have been saved from sin and death and brought into God’s Kingdom, Jesus goes on to describes what it means to be His disciple. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” We are by nature selfish. As we look at the darkness that resides in us, we are dismayed about it. We see that we cannot free ourselves from sin or death and so we turn to the Lord and trust in Him. By the power of the Holy Spirit we no longer live for self but unto Christ who died for us. That is the way of Jesus. He walked the way of humble service and obedience of His Father in heaven. He did not go down the path of earthly glory but instead went the way of the cross to bring about our salvation. He now calls us to live a life centered in Him. We live a life of trusting in Lord rather than in ourselves.
We are to deny ourselves and then take up our cross. To take up our cross means that we may suffer in this world for being a Christian. There is always going to be a temptation to conform to the sinful world. Our Lord does not call us to conform to the world but to confess Him even if it means suffering in this life. We take up our cross when we suffer for the sake of Christ. This will vary for each Christian. The point is that we daily take up our cross knowing that this is the will of God as we live in this fallen world. We take up our cross knowing that it is the Lord who sustains us.
We are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. To follow Jesus means that we remain faithful to Him. We look to the Lord and trust in Him as He leads us through this life and into the heavenly kingdom. Jesus turns us way from setting our minds on the things of man so that we can set our minds on the things of God. Remember what He said. “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” In other words, those who rely on self, conform to the world, and turn away from Christ will be condemned. But those who trust in Jesus will be saved.
What the Lord gives us is life and salvation and that is what we desire. At the beginning of the sermon I mentioned Jeremiah the prophet. In our Old Testament reading he was lamenting because he was being persecuted. The Lord responded with a promise and a promise from God is all that was needed. This is what the Lord said to him. “And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you, declares the Lord. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” God kept His promise to Jeremiah and did indeed deliver him. It is the same with all of us for we know that the promises of God are fulfilled in Christ Jesus.
I also mentioned Paul’s teaching on how we should treat our enemies. This is what he said. “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay says the Lord.” In other words we can trust that God’s justice will always prevail and that all people will stand before the judgement of the Lord.
God has created in us a clean heart and a right spirit through His Son, Jesus Christ. We know delight in the Lord. What God wills to give us is the desire of our heart, it is our delight, it is what we will always get. And what does the Lord give us? He gives us forgiveness, life, and salvation. He turns our minds to the things of God. And so let us deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Amen.