Surrender to Unity

Leviticus 25:34-43; John 17:15-24; Ephesians 5:20-30

Rev. Chris Harbin, Rocks Baptist Church—Pamplin, VA

18 January 2004

“How good and pleasant it is for us to dwell together in unity!” “We have joined our spirits with the spirit of God—we are one in the bond of love!” These words of unity and harmony roll off our tongues with ease. They are not difficult to speak, but they are difficult to live. It is not easy to live in unity and harmony, for it requires surrender of some of our personal cares and concerns.

The Levitical laws governing the ownership and treatment of slaves speak to a concept very foreign to our context. Yahweh enjoined this band of freed slaves to break out of the mold they had learned so well and treat their slaves with a deference they had not known. The harsh treatment they had received in Egypt should not be repeated among their own. They were not to accept their kinfolk as slaves, but treat their dependents as employees. They were to live in harmony, trusting in Yahweh’s provision for them. God gives an interesting reason for this—they are not to be sold as slaves, for they are servants of Yahweh. Though God’s people may become indebted to others, they can only belong to one master—the One who redeemed them.

On Jesus’ last night with the disciples, he prayed among other things for our unity and harmony. He prayed that we might be one in the sense that Jesus and the Father were one—united in purpose, mission, and being. We were not to be removed from the world with its problems, but show the world our unity with God and with one another. He prayed that as disciples we would embody our commission in unity. Our allegiance and surrender to God were to be a primary reminder of our discipleship and identity. It is through our unity that we are best able to present the message of the good news before the world.

We have not done a good job on this count. Perhaps it is because we have forgotten what the good news is all about. It makes us too uncomfortable to remember that the good news is not just a policy to keep us out of hell. It is hard to remember that the gospel of Christ was not simply a call to peace, comfort, and tranquility. We overlook that Jesus calls us directly into His presence to live ever before Him, even as Jesus lived a life of complete unity with the Father. We just don’t like to use the word “surrender” for ourselves. We hold our concept of freedom and liberty too highly to even understand what surrender to God means, much less requires. We are too desperate to retain a semblance of control over our lives. We equate surrender with the failure to be self-sufficient.

We are not called to self-sufficiency. We are called to dependence upon God. We are called to surrender. It is only through surrender that we can attain the unity Christ demands of us—surrender to God and to the unity that God requires.

Paul wrote about this surrender in Ephesians. This passage is not about subjugation, but of mutual surrender and unity. It is about giving ourselves to God so fully that our surrender overflows to giving ourselves to one another as well. This unity requires that we give God control, handing our own care into God’s hands.

In Ephesians 3, Paul addresses how the grace of God transformed his life, making him a servant of the good news among the gentiles. Paul became a simple vehicle through which God poured grace among the nations. In chapter four, he calls the Ephesian Christians to unity in the same surrender to God’s will that they had seen in Paul. They were to surrender themselves to serve God in whatever capacity, growing into one single body as the representation of Christ upon the earth. They were to allow God to renew them in God’s own likeness. Their righteousness and holiness should portray God before the nations visibly. While the false gods of the nations had idols to portray them, Christians were to become living representations of God’s identity and character.

The imitation of God in forgiveness was to be the central characterization of Christians. It should set the tone for our relationships, even as we attempt to live out the love for all humanity that Christ portrayed on the cross. This love and grace is received only through surrender—surrendering our lives and our past to accept God’s future. This surrender works itself out as we allow our lives to be controlled not as by alcohol, but by the Spirit of God filling and influencing every aspect of our lives.

It is on the basis of this surrender that Paul calls us to mutual submission within the body of believers. “Submit yourselves to one another out of reverence to Christ; wives to husbands as to the Lord; …husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her; …children, obey your parents; …slaves, obey your masters; …masters, you have the same Master in heaven.” It is in this mutual submission and unity that we are to take the full armor of God to stand against the enemy. We are to stand as a people united in purpose under the same Lord, setting aside our own interests and looking out for one another.

It is only in surrender that we can win the battle. We must surrender fully to Christ as Lord, King, Victor, and Redeemer in order to present a united front to the world. If we fail to surrender to unity, we surrender victory to the enemy.

The Levitical laws of slave ownership demanded looking beyond rugged individualism, to place the good of the nation ahead of personal gain. Drive for domination, control, and ownership pale in the face of our responsibility to meet the needs of those less fortunate. Unity under a banner of doctrinal, social, political, or historical issues pales in the gospel’s demand for complete surrender to unity under Christ’s lordship. The mission to bear the gospel before the entire world demands surrendering our personal issues and desires in subjection to our call.

If we are to live in true unity, we will have to surrender our lives completely to God’s rule. It is only as we allow God to fulfill our needs that we can have the freedom to meet the needs of others. We can only become the unified body that Christ prayed for as we surrender control of our lives and well-being into God’s care. The gospel is surrender. We must surrender to God. We must surrender to unity among ourselves.

God revealed grace, acceptance, mercy, and love on the cross. Do we have the confidence to trust that God loves us enough to care for our needs? Are we confident enough that God is willing? True surrender is not easy. We cannot experience real unity until we surrender our lives and dreams into the hands of God.

—©2004 Christopher B. Harbin

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