Blog for May 28, 2014
LOVE IN ACTION – Submission = “Beautiful”
I know this may sound strange, but I believe one of the
most “BEAUTIFUL” aspects of LOVE IN
ACTION is expressed through a life lived in humble “submission”. Paul writes in Ephesians that we are live a life of
love through humble submission
“to one another out of reverence for Christ…” (Eph. 5:1 & 21) A sincere follower of the Lord
Jesus learns through following His example that humble submission is a central
focus of Christian living. “Self-submission
(not self-assertion) is the hallmark of the spirit-filled Christian”. Submission is so beautiful because it is
yielding to the heart of another as a “help-meet”
– to so live to submit all of one’s resources and energies to help their partner
accomplish their dream or mission.
Let me share 3 examples of humble submission.
First is the Lord Jesus who yielded to the Father. On the evening of the Passover (Lord’s Supper) as the
disciples argued over greatness and status (Luke 22:24-27), Jesus humbly gets up and washes their feet. He was modeling for them (and us) that true
greatest is found in the person who uses his authority or their status to build
people up, not in using their status to make himself feel important. BEAUTIFUL!
Then there is the Apostle Paul who yielded to the Lord Jesus. In his day, Paul was a well-educated and held great
status and power as a Pharisee and Roman citizen. But by his own confession, he
identified himself as a man of service and suffering. Paul discarded all those
things that defined him prior to His meeting with Resurrected Lord. (Acts 9) All of this lost its value. He saw himself through
his relationship with Christ alone. Paul writes in Romans 1:1, I am a
“bond-slave” of Christ Jesus… “set apart” (literally, “new-horizoned”) for the Gospel.” Paul is saying that when I
submitted my life to the Lord, I embraced fully a new “horizon” for which I
would forever live. Read his testimony, “but
one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead I
press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward (his new horizon) in
Christ Jesus”. (Phil 3:12-14) Paul fully submitted to Christ as His slave.
He chose the suffering and service of his Lord as the benchmark of his work and
the foundation of his identity. BEAUTIFUL!
Then there is the life of William Borden.[1] As heir
to the Borden family fortune, he was already wealthy. In 1904, for his high
school graduation present, his parents gave 16-year-old Borden a trip around
the world. As the young man traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe,
he felt a growing burden for the world's hurting people. He wrote home about
his "desire to be a missionary."
He graduated from Yale and then Princeton Seminary in New Jersey. When he
finished his studies at Princeton, he sailed for China. Because he was hoping
to work with Muslims, he stopped first in Egypt to study Arabic. While there,
he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was
dead. Mary Taylor wrote in her biography of his life, "Borden not only gave (away) his wealth, but himself, in a way so
joyous and natural that it (seemed) a privilege rather than a sacrifice". Was Borden's untimely death a waste? Not from God's
perspective, and not from William Borden’s perspective either. Prior to his
death, Borden had written these words in his diary,
"No
reserves, No retreats, No regrets."
Living in
humble submission to the Lord… BEAUTIFUL!
Pastor Garry
