Surrender
In a few weeks’ time, Bono, the lead singer of the highly successful Irish rock band U2, publishes a new book called, ‘Surrender: 40 songs, One Story’.
The book is the story of the remarkable life he’s lived, the challenges he’s faced and the friends and family who have shaped and sustained him.
Bono is also an activist, and this memoir is reported as being ‘honest and irreverent, intimate and profound’. I suspect it will be on some peoples Christmas list this year!
I was surprised by the title of the book, and then I read what Bono said about it:
‘Surrender is a word freighted with meaning for me. I am still grappling with this most humbling of commands in the band, in my marriage, in my faith and in my life as an activist.’
When I consider this word, I think of defeated soldiers with arms in the air submitting to their enemy. They have been defeated, and their opponents are now in control.
But there are other interpretations too, but I believe the root is about giving something up or yielding to somebody else.
This is also a theme in the Bible. Here is what Jesus said…
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”
There is a difference between soldiers ‘surrendering’ in battle and what Jesus says here. He does not control or force anyone to yield. In other words, it is something that an individual does of their own choosing.
There are many stories in the Bible, and others I have heard first hand, as a church leader, of people coming to a point of ‘revelation’. It’s at that point they willingly ‘surrender’ to God.
Jesus promises that for those who yield to him, will find a new life. This is a good and better life: One where there is peace with God, relationship with Jesus, it’s fuelled by the Holy Spirit, and lasts for all eternity!
In my experience, this kind of surrendering is ongoing. There are still times that I yield to God, as I try to live my life as a ‘disciple’ of Jesus.
Are you like Bono, grappling with the idea of surrendering? Are you trying to make a life for yourself without God? Are you wanting to be a disciple of Jesus?
Let me encourage you to think about what Jesus said. Perhaps it’s time to surrender to Him!
God bless
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader