Lent 5: Surrender

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"Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”” Luke 23:46a

At the point of death, Jesus cries out a phrase from Psalm 31:5 and gives all He has to His Father (Luke 23:44-46).   His life is now almost over having been sentenced to death by an angry mob and a calculating politician and yet, this is not the full picture. He has submitted Himself to God every step of the way and here is where He has ended up... on the cross, abandoned by His followers, in the company of sinners, and still living by faith. Jesus is an example to us of full surrender to God.

Regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the pain, regardless of what others say, Jesus offers Himself to God. One of the definitions of surrender in the dictionary is “to give (oneself) up (as to the police”. Surrender means stopping trying to control a situation and letting those in authority direct how things go. Unarmed, people who surrender to the police have to entrust themselves to the justice system of their government. For us, sinners saved by grace, it means entrusting ourselves to the justice of God as well as His goodness, love, faithfulness, patience, power, and joy.

How do we do this practically? There are definitely situations - moments of crisis or when potential disaster looms – that we find ourselves praying to God and committing ourselves into His care. But what about on a day to day basis? We can offer God our whole lives but often there are areas that we actually haven't surrendered. Yesterday, I found a bookmark that I hadn't seen for years. I think Gilles Doucet created it when we were co-leading the Spiritual Formation Track at Sunnyside in 2003-04. (Unless someone reading this recognizes it from somewhere else. Let me know!) It outlines a 3 step process to go through to come to a place of identifying the need for surrender in specific areas of your life.

Silence
Take a few moments to be still and silent before God. Just be with Him.

Searching
Ask the Father to allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart. Is there something you are not trusting Him with? Something you feel you need control over?

Surrender
Write down what you think the Holy Spirit might be telling you to trust Christ with. What do you need to give over to Him?

Once you have identified what you need to surrender, do so in prayer and in your life practice.  Then the results are in God's hands.  “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."

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