The title “When the Spirit Says Surrender” might seem strange because we think of the Holy Spirit as a source of power, not weakness. The Apostle Paul even tells his protégé Timothy that “God did not give you a Spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control." (2 Timothy 1:7) So, what’s this notion of “surrender” all about?
It is about surrendering to the source of our power, almighty God. That is what Jesus did when he submitted himself to God’s service by insisting on being baptized publicly in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. He said he was doing it “to fulfill all righteousness.” The Holy Spirit then anointed him, descending upon him as a dove, while God expressed approval for God's beloved Son from the heavens.
On the second Sunday of Epiphany we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, for this was another epiphany, or revelation, to the world that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. This was Jesus’ coming out party that introduced his life’s purpose, his mission impossible, assigned to him by his heavenly Father and announced to the world by John the Baptist: “To take away the sins of the whole world!”
We too submit ourselves to both the sacrament of baptism and membership in Christ’s holy church in order to “fulfill all righteousness.” That means we are thereby blessed, consecrated and set apart by God so that we can one day discover, accept and pursue whatever sacred and sacrificial mission God has in store for us through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks to God’s prevenient grace, the Holy Spirit is watching over us, and watching out for each of us, from our very first breath and heartbeat. But when we are baptized and justified by repenting of our sins and then accepting and surrendering to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, then that Holy Spirit can be unleashed and mobilized within us and begin to influence our lives in powerful, transformative ways.
When we bend our will to the will of God and to the wisdom that dwells richly in God’s Holy Spirit, when we rely not on our own strengths and resources but on God’s, when we put our lives in God’s hands, when we, like Jesus, can honestly say “Not my will but thine be done, Lord,” then we will discover that we don’t lose; we gain. When we kneel to surrender in prayer to the power of God’s Holy Spirit, we will rise in the true victory that Jesus has promised to us now and forever more, a victory that is waiting for us all. Amen!