PENTECOST 16, A – August 31, 2008
SCRIPTURES – Psalm 37; Jeremiah 15:15-21; Rom. 12:9-21; Matt. 16:21-28
“Delight yourself in the
Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
What are we to make of this promise? Is it really a promise, or
just encouraging words that are meant to spur us on to greater
faithfulness? Does God mean what He says here? Does He really want
to give us the desires of our hearts? Yes! A thousand times, yes!
God is never insincere. He always means what He says, and He backs
up His promises with actions.
“Delight yourself in the
Lord, and he will
give you the desires of your heart.” You can count
on this!
Why, then, does this promise not always come true? Or, at least seem to
not always come true? The problem is not the promise, nor God’s
sincerity in giving the promise. The problem is we put the cart
before the horse, the desire before the delight.
“Delight yourself in the
Lord,” begins the Psalm verse. The Lord is to be our focus and
delight, not the desires of our hearts. What is foremost in your
heart and mind? Is Lord your joy, your heart’s desire? And, not
because of what He can do for you, but simply because He is, is
the true and good and holy Creator and Savior?
q
Jeremiah the prophet delighted in the Lord. “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,” he said. He was willing to be insulted and spoken against because he
believed and proclaimed what God said; he avoided partying with
people who had no place for God’s Word. But, eventually, he tired
of this and wanted God to punish his persecutors. He wanted his
sufferings to end. His delight, his focus became his own peace,
not God and His plan for him and others. This led him to challenge
God:
“Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?”
q
Peter
delighted in the Lord. When
Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” he
boldly confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God!” But, he then went on to trust his own wisdom and
oppose Jesus. When the Lord said that He had to go
to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief
priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be
raised, Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “Far
be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” He
rebukes Him whom he had just confessed to be God! For this Jesus
rebuked Peter severely: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a
hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things
of God, but on the things of man.”
Jesus here hits upon the heart of the matter. Our
focus, our joy and delight, is so often upon our own things.
Sometimes they are things that are rather self-centered, trivial
and unimportant, such as a hole-in-one or some stupid get rich
quick scheme. Other times our focus is upon things that are very
worthy, such as an end to suffering or health or peace or justice.
Even so, our things will pass away. Even physical health and
worldly peace is temporary. Only the Lord and the life He gives
will last forever. Our true delight, then, is to be in the Lord
Himself. It is to be in Jesus and in all He says and does, for His
words and actions make God known and give us His life.
What will happen if the Lord is your delight?
Change will happen. He will bring about change in you. Consider,
for instance, a young man who is newly married and deeply in love.
His focus and delight is not in things, but in his wife. Above all
he loves to be with her and to please her. Does this delight and
love have any effect on the desires of his heart? It sure does! It
begins to change them.
q
I
remember one year, during our first few years of marriage, giving
Lorayne a special birthday present, one I knew she would love. I
took her to see a performance of Swan Lake by the Boston
ballet. Now, I really wasn’t a fan of ballet. I enjoyed symphonic
music, but skinny women in frilly tutu’s spinning on their toes
and guys in tights jumping around had never been my thing. But,
Lorayne loved dance and I knew that she would enjoy this. So, I
forked over quite a few bucks for tickets and we drove an hour
into Boston for the performance. Lorayne did love it, and you know
what? The more I watched the more I came to truly appreciate and
enjoy the ballet. The athleticism and skill of the dancers was
incredible, as was their interpretation of the story and how the
music expressed it. My delight in my wife and desire to please her
shaped the desires of my heart.
How much more can delight in God change us, for God and His love are far greater, far more powerful, than any love of ours! Yes, He wants to give us the desires of our hearts. But first He wants to change our hearts, to fill them with desires that are truly good. Worldly desires are not only temporary; they are often misguided, and so Satanic, as Jesus revealed when He said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Satan wants us to avoid suffering and sacrifice and loss, to see no good in them. But, God has been sacrificing from the beginning. The desire of His heart is to save sinners, lead them to repentance that He might forgive their sins and bring them to live in His love forever in heaven. The desire of His heart moved God to give to us His Son: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17) Jesus delighted in His Father, and so the desire of His heart was to fulfill His Father’s will and save us. He therefore denied Himself, went to Jerusalem to bear the cross and be killed for us, and on the third day rise to life again. His heart went out to sinners, and He endured much suffering that we might be saved eternally.
Jesus, the Son of the living God, has given you His heart. He has given you His very life, and not only upon the cross. He married Himself to you in your baptism that He might share His love and His life with you forever. Your life is secure in Him! But, there are many worldly desires that would threaten our eternal life by putting our focus upon ourselves and not Christ. Our Lord does not desire this! And so, He lays the cross upon you to turn you away from your desires and lead you to long for Him and delight in Him. He also lays the cross upon you that you might live for others. For, there are many who do not delight in Jesus and have this security, many whose minds are set on the things of man, not the things of God, and so who are led by Satan. Their end will be hell with him. Christ would use you, His beloved, to reach them.
How? Our Epistle reading sums it up: “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor… Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” This is not easy. It is the cross. But, it is the life of Jesus. It is what He has done for us, and will do in and through us as we delight in Him. Fix your eyes on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Delight in Him! He will fill you with His desires, and fulfill the desires of your heart. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
