Introduction
In our world, surrender can be a dirty word. Non-Christians may wonder why Christians want to follow Jesus and surrender to Him.
To the disciple of Jesus, surrender is indeed unthinkable unless the ONE we are surrendering to is absolutely dependable.
Our journey of discipleship can be described as progress along the pathway of surrender. There are three stages in this pathway, as we learn from Matthew 19:16-29:
A. I CAN AND I WANT (vv. 16-20)
- The rich young man checked all the boxes – wealth, youth, status, good character.
- He confidently asked: how can I earn eternal life by performing a special good deed? He was also confident that he had complied with the 5th to 9thcommandments, specified by Jesus.
- The issue was not his effort. Dallas Willard: “Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning.”
B. I CAN’T AND I DON’T WANT (vv. 21-24)
- Jesus was graciously showing the rich young man the necessary next step: not to strive harder, but to surrender.
- Jesus called him to be perfect (teleios) – this is not about being free of mistakes, but about being complete: having a heart completely given to King Jesus.
- The rich young man wanted to obey (to some extent) but not to surrender. David Benner: “Those who surrender obey, but not all who obey surrender. It is quite easy to obey God for the wrong reasons.”
- Why was he sorrowful? Because he knew that he was losing something precious by walking away from Jesus. But his heart was given to something even more precious to him – his wealth!
- Two insights as we reflect on this young man: (a) how ironic his situation is; and (b) how much we identify with him.
- If we sorrowfully struggle to surrender as the young man did, it might be a great thing: sorrow drives us to our knees to realise that apart from God, the Christian life is impossible!
- Only when “impossible” hits home will God’s miraculous possibility make sense.
C. GOD CAN AND I WANT (vv. 25-29)
- The LORD says to us today: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” When we see God’s miraculous possibility, surrender happens.
- Peter and the disciples had followed Jesus and surrendered to Him, walking away from their livelihoods. He was effectively asking Jesus in verse 27 – Lord, now that we have come this far with you, was this surrender really worth it?
- Jesus encouraged and reassured the disciples: yes, well worth it! Surrender has a high price, but the prize outweighs the price!
- One day, we will reign with Christ! One day, we will receive Christ’s reward!
- When we surrender, we inherit life! David Benner: “When we take this step of surrender, we suddenly discover the place for which we have been unconsciously longing. Like a tool seized by a strong hand, we are at last where we belong; we know we have been found.”
Conclusion
We keep moving forward on the pathway of surrender when we keep saying yes to God’s YES to us!
Sunday Worship Songs at cefc.ch/sws
Next Week’s Topic: Matthew 20:1-34
Next Week’s Speaker(s): Ps Lee Da-win (BPJ), Rev Dr Chua Chung Kai (WDL) & Ps Lim Keng Yeow (East)
