Committed My Cause to the Lord! | Pentecost IV | 21 June 2026 | Matthew 10:5a, 21–33 | David M. Wendel

First Reading: Jeremiah 20:7–13
Second Reading: Romans 6:12–23

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, 

²¹ Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ²² and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. ²⁴ “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant^[d] above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign^[e] those of his household. ²⁶ “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. ²⁸ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.^[f] 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?^[g] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your

Father. ³⁰ But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ³² So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³ but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 10:5a, 21–33 English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles

Committed My Cause to the Lord! 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This July 19^th will be the 45^th anniversary of my ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament. And NALC Bishop Emeritus John Bradosky, whom many of you know, will be present to preach at both services to give thanks, not for one lowly pastor, but for God’s call to each of us, to ministry and service, as God’s calls all of us into ministry: some into the ordinary ministry through baptism, others into the extraordinary ministry, through ordination. So, recently I’ve been thinking about my ordination service.

The first reading at my ordination at my home church, First Lutheran Church, Columbus, Indiana, was the call of Jeremiah. I chose that passage because I was quite young, only 25 years old, which seemed, to me at the time, really, really young! And if you’re not familiar with the call and ministry of Jeremiah, it begins with him, having been called directly by the word of the Lord. And Jeremiah responds to God’s call, saying, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” Jeremiah would’ve gladly avoided the call of God, at least for a few years, to grow up, to gain greater wisdom and life experience, because the specific call of God to Jeremiah, would not be an easy one. For God was calling Jeremiah to proclaim an unwanted, unpleasant message to God’s people. In fact, the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah was to be one of the most difficult of all the prophets, as God was displeased with Judah, and her kings and her priests, resulting in God calling Jeremiah to go and declare God’s judgement against 5 kings of Judah, during his 40 years of ministry!  Jeremiah was sent to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow. So, Jeremiah accepted the call reluctantly, because as it says in Jeremiah 1:9, “The Lord put forth his hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth; and the Lord said to Jeremiah, ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.”

And how did Jeremiah’s ministry go? Our first reading today gives us a glimpse. Our passage picks up in verse 7 of chapter 20. But in verse 1, we read, “Now Pashur the priest…who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying…so Pashur had Jeremiah beaten and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord.” That’s how the kings and priests responded to Jeremiah’s prophecies of doom, destruction and judgement. They didn’t receive it with repentance and return to the Lord God. They had Jeremiah beaten and publicly humiliated. And did this physical torture and public shaming silence Jeremiah? On the contrary, after being released, Jeremiah prophesied even more destruction for Pashur, Jerusalem and Judah, declaring that Pashur and his friends would fall by the sword of their enemies and Judah would be handed over, by God, to the pagan king of Babylon, with all the wealth of Jerusalem, all its gains, all its prized belongings and all the treasures of the kings of Judah being taken into the hands of their enemies who would plunder them and seize them and carry them off to Babylon!

And that’s where our reading picks up, as we find Jeremiah, who had been so forceful and forthright in his prophecy against Pashur and the king and Judah, apparently struggling now, going back and forth in his own mind, as he considered the call of God on the one hand and the rejection and persecution he was experiencing, on the other. Jeremiah cries out, “O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. ⁸ For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, ‘Violence and destruction!’ For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. ⁹ If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. ¹⁰ For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! ‘Denounce him! Let us denounce Jeremiah!’ say all my close friends, watching for my fall. They say, ‘Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.’” That is Jeremiah’s internal struggle with the call of God, his burning desire to faithfully declare God’s judgement and wrath, in the face of rejection and persecution, as even his friends come out against him, to quiet his message of violence and destruction!

And yet, the prophet, in response to his inner conflict, answers his own cry, telling himself, “But the LORD is with me as a mighty warrior; therefore, my persecutors will stumble, they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed…their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.” And Jeremiah concludes, in our passage, “O LORD of hosts, who tries the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.” In spite of great opposition, threats, and plots against him, Jeremiah concludes he cannot keep silent, because the word of the LORD is like a great fire, burning inside him! He has tried to hold it in, for his own sake, but he can’t. And so, finally, Jeremiah accepts his lot in life. Jeremiah will trust in the LORD, affirming, “for to you Lord God, have I committed my cause.” It’s interesting that Jeremiah continues, because it is to the Lord God, that he has committed his cause. Which can be interpreted in two ways.

Some translators interpret Jeremiah’s words as, “…for to you, Lord, have I pleaded my case.” In this sense, Jeremiah would be at peace because he has brought his honest, heartfelt concerns to the LORD, and now, he will trust in the Lord’s vengeance and vindication. That’s one way of interpreting Jeremiah’s words. However, it seems the more accepted translation is, as in the English Standard Version, “to you have I committed my cause,” meaning, “Lord, I have committed the cause of my life, my purpose and reason for existing, to you—so regardless my anxiety and fears, I will trust in you!” Both are helpful, meaningful ways to understand Jeremiah’s position.

And I hear you thinking, “But what does all this Old Testament, Jeremiah prophecy stuff have to do with me, with us, today?” Well, as we turn to our Gospel reading, we hear Jesus speaking, not to Jeremiah but to his twelve disciples, and what Jesus is saying sounds very much like He is preparing them for the same kind of ministry as Jeremiah—a ministry which would result in rejection and opposition! Jesus sent the twelve out to preach the good news and He instructed them saying, as a result of your preaching, “ Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ²² and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake… ²³ When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next…for ²⁴ A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master… If they have called me,” Jesus says, “the master of the house, Beelzebul—which means ‘Satan—the prince of demons,’ how much more will they malign those of his household.” Clearly, the Lord is preparing His twelve disciples for persecution and opposition, as they are called to share the word of the Lord which will not always be welcome or tolerated. But, is He speaking to you and me, as well? Are Jesus’ instructions in our account today meant for us, as in our world today, we are sent out to call people to die to themselves, to live for Jesus, who gave His life on the cross for them?

Surely, most of us who are living our faith, most of us who are not ashamed to mention the name of Jesus, most of us who strive to live Christ-like lives, obediently, faithfully, have experienced criticism and skepticism, if not outright opposition. Calling people to die to themselves, inviting others to repent and confess their sin, modeling for others what it means to reject the ways of the world to live a biblical, ethical life of love, righteousness and peace, will necessarily rub folks the wrong way and may at times bring about rejection and persecution. We today will not be immune from that. We will not escape that, unless we keep our faith hidden under a basket, unless we refuse to publicly affirm that Jesus is Lord. But for those of us who are called; for those of us who are disciples and followers of Jesus today; for those of us, in whom the Word of the Lord burns inside us so that we can’t keep silent, together with Jeremiah, together with the twelve disciples, there will be rejection and persecution, there will be opposition—not everyone in our world will be open to the message which we consider, “good news.” So, how do we endure to the end? How do we persist? How do we not fear those who can kill the body, to silence the messenger and so the message?

First, as with Jeremiah, we bring to the Lord God our concerns, knowing, trusting that He will strengthen us and encourage us to be able to fulfill our calling as disciples of Jesus. As Jeremiah said, “to you, LORD, I have pleaded my case…and you are with me as a mighty warrior, therefore I will sing to you and praise you, O Lord!”

Second, we will remember that it is to the Lord that we have committed our cause, it is to the Lord that we have committed the cause, the purpose, the reason for our lives, so that relying on Him, trusting in Him, we will not fear! We will proclaim God’s Word from the rooftops! We will not hide our faith in shadows and darkness but will live and serve in the light of day. For that’s what it means to commit our cause to the Lord.

And, we have committed our cause to the Lord, haven’t we? We can think of this as Martin Luther spoke of the bondage of the will—that we will either be in bondage to sin, Satan and the ways of the world, or we will serve God and His purposes. We will either be committed, in our daily lives, to living as secular, worldly people furthering the agendas and concerns of the world without God and the world opposed to God, or we will be committed, wholeheartedly, undividedly, to God and His Word and His will. As I’ve told seminarians considering a call to ministry, basically, if you are not completely committed to God’s cause, if you don’t have God’s Word burning in your heart like a fire inside you that you can’t damp down, don’t go into the ministry because you won’t be able to withstand the opposition and rejection. As it was for Jeremiah, as it was for the twelve disciples, so it can be for us. So, we cling to Jeremiah’s conclusion: “The Lord is with us as a mighty warrior…the Lord of hosts… who sees the heart and the mind, to you have I committed my cause. We will sing to the Lord; we will praise the Lord! For He delivers us in our time of need!

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

©The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
d.wendel@grace43081.org
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
Westerville, Ohio USA