A Series of Surrenders

 

Earl and Hazel Lee wrote in their book Committed to Grace, regarding the experience of meeting and sharing in the spiritual journey of the now Rev. Janine Tartaglia-Metcalf (Janine was formerly a news correspondent with NBC).  “Janine faced some mountain-sized decisions,” they wrote.  “It was a series of surrenders.”  Then they quoted these words from William James.  “The whole development of Christianity or its inwardness consists in little more than greater and greater emphasis on the crisis of surrender.”

I highlighted these words in my copy of their book, because I was teaching a course on the Doctrine of Holiness and it fit some of the material I wanted to cover.  But, I also highlighted these words, because I think they are true!  The continuing work of Jesus Christ in our lives is “a series of surrenders.”  Call this work of Christ any name you want, but the bottom line for growth in Him is surrender and submission.  These are not popular words for us today, but they are relevant.

It seems to me that the special time of remembrance, which we call “Thanksgiving” in the United States, includes and highlights this attitude of surrender.  Would it be appropriate to suggest that for us to properly give thanks to God requires an aspect of self-surrender?  To give thanks humbly, we surrender our desire to be self-sufficient. To give thanks honorably we surrender pride in order to recognize the Giver of all good and perfect gifts.  To give thanks honestly we yield the right of way to the One who deserves all praise.

In a Thanksgiving sermon, Pastor Joel Gregory told about the Masai tribe in West Africa, which has an unusual way of saying, “I thank you.”  They say literally, “My head is in the dirt.”  When the Masai express thanks, they literally put their forehead on the ground.  They want to acknowledge gratitude with humility.  It is interesting that another tribe in Africa expresses gratitude by saying, “I sit on the ground before you.”  When one of them wants to express gratitude to another, they sit in front of the hut of the person to whom they wish to express gratitude and just sit there in humility for an extended length of time.

Would you call that an act of surrender?  It certainly takes time and humility of spirit to say thanks in those African traditions.  Maybe the writer had this in mind in 2 Kings 17:36, when he wrote, “But the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices.”  Or perhaps the attitude of the Psalmist fits this spirit of surrender when he suggested in Psalm 138:2, “I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.”

Thanksgiving then, is not simply a “nice” meal of God-given bounty, but a humbling recognition of and surrender to God’s grace and Sovereignty.  But, that is what our relationship to God is all about isn’t it?  It is “a series of surrenders.”