Stick'em Up

The raising of hands in worship to God has become a tradition in the church over time.  I am not sure where or when it started, but every Sunday millions of people raise their hands in worship to God.  The act of raising one’s hands is to signify surrendering of self to God.  Sometimes it is as fluid in worship as the singing.  Sometimes it just fits so nicely that it is as though you have no choice but to raise your hands.  Other times it does not come fluidly and you may even be asked to raise your hands.  The pastor will get up and ask the congregation to raise their hands in submission and worship to God.  I really don’t like those times much.  The old westerns come to mind.  The lawman standing with gun drawn and pointed at the dastardly outlaw with pencil mustache and black hat. “Stick’em up!” is the exclamation.  Those instances make me feel manipulated in some way.  Am I being arrested or robbed?   

But raising your hands in worship to God is minor compared to the true surrender that God requires of His children.  It is not cool to surrender.  A person who loses control is thought to be weak, a noodly spined individual without power and lacking a reason to put up a fight.  However, a quick review of scripture will show that many a leading man and woman surrendered.

Esther -  (Esther 4:12-17)

Here is a woman who was favored by God for a reason.  A jew in the court of a mighty foreign king with a minister hostile to the jews and their faith, Esther had caught the eye of the king and God intended to use that attention to once again deliver His people.  But Esther had to be willing to surrender in order to accomplish what needed to be done.  It was time for Esther to find out whether her life was more valuable to herself than obedience to God and salvation of her people.  If you don’t already know, read the account to find out what Esther did.

Daniel -  (Daniel 6)

Nothing like a little lion to make you question your faith in God.  While Daniel may not have known how his adversaries intended to trap, accuse and judge him or what penalty would be served out, he did understand that when he knelt down to worship his God he was putting his life at risk.  Daniel surrendered his life to God.  It seems like such a small matter.  Why didn’t Daniel just hold off praying on his knees for a period of time?  Why didn’t he water down his testimony just this once to stay in good standing with the king?  Daniel surrendered himself.  There was no other way but the way of the Lord and Daniel knew it.  The lions’ mouths were shut and the adversaries doomed, but the greater outcome of this chapter in Daniel’s life was the witness that it provides to you and me of a life surrendered.

Paul-  (Acts through Hebrews in the New Testament)

Paul, who was Saul, is an interesting character and very enlightening when it comes to the topic of surrender.  We know Paul as the greatest evangelist and missionary possibly in the history of Christianity.  The thing that leads to Paul’s great success in outreach and preaching the gospel was his surrender.  As Paul put it (and I paraphrase) “I am already dead.  Christ lives in me.  So I do His will.”  But Paul was not always surrendered to God.  Early on, as a young man, Saul was surrendered to his religion.  He was devote.  An example of a Jew to all around him.  Saul was surrendered to such an extent that he attempted to kill the truth of Jesus Christ by killing the people that believed in Him.  God obviously saw that surrendered spirit and decided He wanted some of that on His team.  Saul, becoming Paul, did not stand a chance when facing an omnipotent God who loved him.  His surrender to his religion was turned into a surrender to God that has impacted the history of mankind.

Jesus -  (4 Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)

The greatest act of living surrender is shown through Jesus Christ.  Never in mankind’s history has an individual showed such surrender in their life.  A man tempted by Satan directly, hunted and reviled by the religious leaders, accused by false witness, betrayed by his close friends, scorned, beaten and killed on a cross, never raised His voice in his own defense.  Jesus never made a plea for his own sake.  In fact, His life was so surrendered even the condition of His body was predetermined by scripture.  Jesus was the personification of surrender to God.  Yet, never has a stronger individual walked the face of the earth.  His power in speech and person was noted as awe inspiring on numerous documented occasions.  He had the authority of presence to whip the money collectors and merchants out of the temple courts in front of those powerful men who profited from them.  Even political powers had to grapple with this single man, a carpenter by upbringing, without property, without home and without name.  Jesus’ power as a man came from Him surrendering to God the Father.  Jesus was born surrendered, lived surrendered, died surrendered and rose again surrendered.  

I have selected a few examples from the Bible to illustrate surrender.  There are of course many, many others.  Today people continue to willingly surrender to God their lives and it is these individuals who bring glory to Him.  I encourage a more thorough review of surrender to God’s will, to God’s way.  What you will find is that surrender has nothing to do with being weak, has very little to do with lip service, has a lot to do with what is done and has everything to do with accomplishing great things for God.