Surrender
is an important concept of faith that many Christians overlook. We love the
word obedience, but when it comes to surrender, we only give lip service. Let’s
start with reflecting on one of the great hymns of the faith. My good friend, Perry,
would sing this song almost every time he was asked to sing a solo. It brought
people to tears, because it flowed from his heart.
All to Jesus I
surrender, all to him I freely give,
I will ever love and
trust him, in his presence daily live.
If
faith is a trust relationship with God then we must ask ourselves, what is the
measure of faith? What is the hallmark
of a trust relationship? Is it belief?
Is it obedience? Or is it surrender?
You
may think I am quibbling over words. But it is much more important. You see,
many Christians live with a false sense of the fullness of a trust relationship
with God based on obedience, rather than based on surrender. When we hear
sermons on obedience, we sit up tall in the pew, look about at the others in
the room, and pat ourselves on the back. (Or we sit there wallowing in our unceasing
failure.) The “obedient” respond like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable in Luke
18. He puffed up his chest as he dropped his obedient tithe in the temple
treasury while, at the same time, scorning the tax collector next to him, a man
who was beating his chest and crying out for mercy.
Do
you remember the little Sicilian man in the movie, “Princess Bride”? He would often say, “Inconceivable”. Finally,
Inigo Montoya said to him, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means
what you think it means.” May I suggest that we
do the same with the word “obedience”. We keep using the word, but it does not
mean what we think it means. We think that we are full of faith when we obey
every rule and command we find in Scripture. We believe we are righteous because
we are obedient. We think that if we are totally compliant that we are
surrendered. But that is not the case. The opposite is what is true. If we are
fully surrendered then obedience will follow. That is what Jesus meant when he
said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Jesus was not uttering a
threat to his disciples, rather he was saying that obedience flows out of love
and surrender.
The
proud Pharisee in Jesus’ parable (Luke 18) was obedient, but he was not surrendered.
The rich young ruler in Luke 18 was obedient, from his youth, but he was not
surrendered. His riches were more important than surrender, and obedience assuaged
his heart. Obedience for him was an impediment. The blind man that clamored for
Jesus to heal him was full of faith (also in Lk 18). And you cannot measure that
faith by obedience. Rather, his impetuous, noisy and persistent demands demonstrated
a heart that was surrendered to the love and power of Jesus. Then in Luke 19 we
have the story of Zacchaeus. He probably had heard the parables and seen the
miracles of Jesus (Lk 18) as Jesus approached Jericho and his heart was
captivated. Jesus went to his home for lunch. After Zacchaeus repented and
offered extravagant demonstrations of his surrender, Jesus said, “Today,
righteousness and salvation has come to this home.” Like Abraham, righteousness based on love,
trust, and surrender. But for both Abraham and Zacchaeus it was surrender that led
them to obey, even beyond reason.
I
don’t have a dislike or disrespect for obedience. It is the ultimate response
of love and trust for God. But it is not the primary response to God. The
summary truth of Scripture is to love the Lord your God with all your heart,
soul, mind and actions. That is surrender. God said to a small group of men some
years ago, “I want you to seek my face, not my will.” If you were to stand in
the presence of Jesus, face to face, could you freely express your love for him,
or would you expect him to be pleased and impressed by all your deeds and
obedience?
I
have a problem when Christians place obedience above knowing and loving God.
Hence, the concept of surrender, for me, paves the way to proper obedience. You
see, obedience often stays within defined parameters, whereas surrender is not
even guided by such rules and expectations. Obedience often stems from fear of
God, rather than love for God. Obedience can even lead to serving God and worshipping
God, absent of love for God. Always talking of obedience to your children may
in fact turn them away from faith, whereas talking to them of a relationship of
love and trust, using language of the heart, may inspire their faith.
Now
for a personal illustration. But let me set the stage with this cute little
story. A poor farmer was approached by a
priest and asked, “If you had a horse would you give it to the Lord?” The
farmer answered, “Yes.” “And if you had a cow?” “Absolutely!” “And a goat?” “Sure!”
“A pig?” “That’s not fair”, protested the farmer, “You know I have a pig!”
When
we retired Carol and I had plans of building a nice comfortable apartment. But
as the time approached, we decided that the cost of $100,000 would use up much
of our retirement funds and also make us far too comfortable to hear God’s
voice beckon us to serve Him in new and challenging ways, even in the sunset of
our lives. So, we chose to purchase a 400 square foot park model trailer to
live in, costing only $15,000. No, I am not bragging, nor suggesting everyone
should do the same. But my kids need to know, someday, why Mom and Dad did what
they did. We were not necessarily being obedient, but we were choosing to be
surrendered. We anxiously await each and every call of the Master to step out and
serve.
Take my life and let it
be consecrated Lord, to thee.
Take my hands and let
them move at the impulse of thy love.
Take my silver and my
gold, not a mite would I withhold.
Take my heart, it is
thine own, it shall be thy royal throne.
(Some
of my favorite lines from the great Frances Havergal hymn, “Take my Life and
Let It Be”)
