The Art of Surrender
Can we be authentic followers of Jesus without engaging in the art of surrender?
by Stephen G. Marsh
Gospel Reading: Matthew 26:14 – 27:66
For Sunday, April 17, 2011: Year A – Passion Sunday
I am an African American male who was born during the Civil Rights era of this country’s history. It was a watershed moment in America, when African Americans were demanding that their God-given humanity be recognized – a recognition that had never been part of the history of this country. My grandparent’s generation knew their place in society, and for the most part surrendered to the reality of racism and its indignities (but not without cussing out white people under their breath). My parent’s generation made some headway by speaking and acting more boldly, but still for the most part had to surrender to the racism that has always been woven into the fabric of this country.
By the time my “baby boom” generation came on the scene, surrender was no longer the prevailing strategy of black folk in this country. Resistance – by any means necessary – became the order of the day for many segments of the African American community.
The Ironic Nature of Surrender
I have recently had the blessing of being able to do some concentrated personal healing work on my disease of addiction. My healing work helped me to discover that one of the core issues of my addictions could be traced back to my own internalized fear, anxiety and confusion concerning the societal racism that I have been submerged in all my life. Different people respond to internalized anxiety in different ways, and becoming an addict was part of the way I responded.
I also discovered that surrender is the primary move that needs to be made before actual healing from addiction can begin. That posed a new dilemma for me, because as an African American male in a country where discrimination against African Americans is one of its founding tenets, it is not in my nature to surrender. My nature has been honed to resist, to fight, and to hold on for dear life, by whatever means necessary! I had to painfully have many of my own psychological layers peeled back to finally learn – as Sylvia Robinson said – that it’s not always holding on that makes one strong; sometimes it’s letting go.
What’s All This Have to do With Jesus, Preacher?
I’m glad you asked that question! In Matthew 26: 39, 42 and 44, Jesus struggles with what I have come to believe is the basis of authentic surrender: Not my will, but thy will be done. Whether it is struggling with the cross, struggling with addiction, or struggling with being genuine (as opposed to knock-off) disciples in this world, surrender to the God who gave us our purpose is a primary move that has to be made.
Or is it?
During this most holy and moving week of our Christian year, millions of registered followers of Jesus will be doing things the same way: their way.
This week, millions of registered followers of Jesus will fight and resist changes in their church, their community and their country that could potentially bring justice to many who are marginalized, and they will do it in the name of the Jesus who died for a justice agenda that included everyone.
This week, millions of registered followers of Jesus will hold on to racial and cultural privilege for dear life, by whatever means necessary, without seeking God in the Gethsemene of their souls on the matter.
The Hardest Question
Can we be authentic followers of Jesus without engaging in the art of surrender?
The Rev. Stephen G. Marsh is a grateful child of God who was born, raised and schooled in the windy city of Chicago. He was baptized in 1961, and between then and now has been called to serve God’s people in many capacities, from acolyte to bishop. Stephen pastored three urban Lutheran congregations in a span of twenty years, then served in metro Detroit as a bishop’s assistant for five years, and as bishop for one year. He has been a featured writer for The Lutheran magazine, as well as a contributor to numerous resources for urban congregations. Last but not least, he is a life-long and long-suffering Cubs fan!
Well said. The answer, of course, is no. The first step is surrender. Repentance is surrender. Letting the Lord God of all creation rule over your life is surrender. It’s a little curious that surrender should be that big an obstacle, since we surrender daily to much lesser gods, to the rulers of this age, to desires which harm self and others, to the false gods of “me” and “mine.” Thanks, Pr. Marsh!
April 14th, 2011 at 9:14 amAmen!!!
April 15th, 2011 at 1:54 pmIt is the hardest question. I see the “registered follower of Jesus” in myself, and don’t really wish to be one. Only this morning I was teaching a new membership class – we discussed the differences between being a member and a disciple. Jesus could have done it his way; instead he struggled and he surrendered, and did it God’s way. May we stay in Gethsemane a bit this week.
April 16th, 2011 at 2:38 pmLove the notion of ‘surrender’ as a function of discipleship. Thank you for this.
April 16th, 2011 at 11:40 pmThank you for sharing part of your journey with us. It takes a lot of guts and strength to engage in “concentrated personal healing work.”
Resisting justice in the name of the one who came to bring justice to the oppressed…yep, that happens way too often in way too many places.
So how do I surrender sufficiently so that I’m no longer chief among those resisting justice?
April 17th, 2011 at 1:19 amThank you Rev Marsh for articulating such an eloquent call to the cost of true discipleship. The very idea that we can be authentic followers of Jesus without considering the cost is preposterous. Every text within the canonical New Testament, albeit in very different ways and from very different perspectives, calls us to recognize that there is a very real cost to following Jesus.
That being said, I question whether surrender is the best, or even an appropriate, term to describe this cost of discipleship. Webster’s Dictionary defines surrender as “to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand.” Synonyms include capitulation, defeat, abandon and relinquishment; none of which allows for any freely chosen action on part of the party surrendering and certainly not in the surrendering party’s best interest. The other side of surrender is victory, domination and subjugation of an inferior opposition with it most commonly used in a militaristic context. Do we really want to paint Jesus and the image of God and God’s way he revealed as the enemy that demands our surrender and subjugation?
Some have suggested that the type of surrender God requires is really for out own eventual good, but this either makes the use of the term “surrender” so generic as to make it meaningless (do we surrender our time when we take a job, do we surrender our money when we buy something? Does anybody anywhere make a decision that does not require the surrender of something else?) or it casts God/Jesus in the model of the emperor where God’s will is imposed on an unwilling world that will only realize the benefits of God’s way if they yield to his superiority.
Jesus and Paul both repeatedly said that the real test of our spirituality was judged by examining the fruit it produced. As Rev Marsh’s family history attests the theology of surrender has produced disastrous consequences for many people, both Christian and non-Christian throughout Christian history. However the horrific consequences of a theology of surrender did not end with the civil war or even the civil rights era of the 1960’s. My mother, like many other women, lived and stayed in an abusive marriage for over 50 years because of a theology that glorified the suffering of Jesus, and justified the ongoing suffering of his followers with the command that his followers were to pick up their cross daily. For many Christians, especially women, blacks and other marginalized people, Christianity has legitimized and glorified the role of the victim by emphasizing the importance of surrender to that which deeply wounds or offends us because it is seen as the will of God. The horror of Abraham’s attempted murder of Isaac is frequently used as justification for obeying God whether we understand or agree with God’s demands of us or not. The view that Jesus was “silent as a lamb before his shearers” is frequently paraded about as the evidence of the value of suffering in silence. Especially when combined with an obsessive focus on a salvation available only, or even primarily, in the afterlife, the mantra becomes one of “enduring to the end” and thus Jesus, who claimed to come to set the captives free, is frequently used as justification for the continued bondage of the oppressed. The evidence of both recent and ancient history affirms that the glorification of suffering, submission and surrender as salvific has led to horrific consequences for many people. Why would we even consider using the language of empire and domination to describe the gospel – the good news – of Jesus for a hurting and broken world?
Implicit in the question appears to be the assumption that the only alternative to surrender is active opposition. But are we really faced with only two alternatives? Is the world really this black and white? I would like to suggest that a third way can be found in the very name of God’s people Israel, which literally means ““one who fights or argues with God and prevails” (Gen 32:28) . When we are faced with a hard or costly path that appears to lie before us the answer is not to meekly and quietly surrender, but rather to argue, rage and question and thereby expand the range of alternatives that we are prepared to consider. How much evil has been done in God’s name because people did not question what they perceived to be the call of God on their lives? I would suggest that the fruit that results from our engagement with the gospel of Jesus rather than our obedience is the true test of being an authentic follower of Jesus.
April 22nd, 2011 at 2:34 pm