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Luke 9:18-27 18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” 19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” 20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” 21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” 23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
John 1:1-3, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Philippians 2:1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Having the Mind of Christ: Surrender, the Moment of Letting Go
Today I want to talk about something that most people do not like. It is the word surrender. In our world, surrender is often seen as weakness. We are taught to fight for our rights, protect our pride, and pursue our own success. The world celebrates independence, self-promotion, and personal glory. But the kingdom of God works differently. In the kingdom of God, the way up is down. The path to greatness is humility. Victory begins with surrender.
Surrender is the moment of letting go, letting go of ourselves and entrusting ourselves to Jesus instead. If we are seeking to have the mind of Christ we will, at some point, come to a place of surrender. That moment in our Christian journey when we let go of our old mindset and reach out for the new mindset of Jesus Christ. Surrendering to Christ is the best choice we can ever make in our lives.
Surrender involves making a conscious decision to give up control of our lives and turn them over completely to Jesus. Surrender is always a conscious act. Faith is a gift from God. Surrender is our response to God. Now, we may have to surrender various aspects of our life and it may take all of our lives to surrender everything to God.
It’s not easy to surrender but that is what we need to do, let go of our selfish, grasping ways and instead reach out for Jesus, put our trust in Jesus, surrender ourselves, body and soul to the one who gave His life to redeem us from sin.
Let me give you an example. One author used trapeze artists at a circus as an example and wrote, “As I watched the men on the flying trapeze, I realized that we were all waiting for one particular moment. It’s that moment when the guy on one bar chooses to let go. He soars through the air in absolute trust that his partner will be coming from the other side to grasp him with his extended arms. The whole performance is focused on that moment of letting go. We have a word for that moment of letting go in the life of Christian discipleship. The word is surrender. It’s that moment in which a person chooses to let go of one thing in order to reach out in trust for another. It is the moment of letting go of something in ourselves in order to grasp a new life in Christ.”
Then the author imagined Jesus as a trapeze artist. Jesus swung down into the depths of our humanity and death God catches hold of Jesus just as a trapeze artist reaches out to catch their partner and God swings Jesus up into the glory of God. Jesus refused to hold onto his divinity but released himself to come with us all the way down into our death. In His self-emptying love, God raises Him to new life through the resurrection.
Jesus gave up all personal ambitions, all self-seeking impulses, and surrendered Himself without reserve to the will of God. As we grow to have the mind of Christ we will also surrender ourselves to God.
Surrender involves making a conscious decision to give up control of our lives and turn them over completely to Jesus. Surrender is always a conscious act. Faith is a gift from God. Surrender is our response to God. Now, we may have to surrender various aspects of our life and it may take all of our lives to surrender everything to God.
In the passage we read today, the Apostle Paul calls believers to live with the same attitude as Jesus Christ. And he shows us that Jesus demonstrated the greatest act of surrender the world has ever seen.
Today we are going to look at four powerful truths about surrender. Surrender changes how we treat others. Surrender requires humility. Surrender requires trust and obedience. Surrender requires self-denial. Surrender leads to God’s exaltation.
First, surrender changes how we treat others. Paul begins by speaking about unity in the church. He says if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any fellowship of the Spirit, then believers should be like-minded, having the same love, and being one in spirit and purpose. Then he says something that cuts against our natural instincts. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”
That is a radical command. Our natural instinct is to look out for ourselves first. But surrender to God always affects how we treat people. When we surrender our pride, we begin to care about others. When we surrender selfish ambition, we begin to serve others. When we surrender our ego, we begin to seek unity instead of conflict. When believers surrender their pride, the church becomes stronger, healthier, and more loving.
Second, surrender requires humility. Paul then gives us the greatest example of humility ever lived. He says: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Think about what he is saying. If we want to understand surrender, we must look at Jesus. The passage says that though Jesus was in the very nature God, He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.
Instead, He made Himself nothing and took the form of a servant. Think about that. The Lord of the universe, the Creator of All took on the form of a servant and came to us. In John’s gospel Jesus is called the Word. It says that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
The Creator stepped into creation. The King of heaven became a servant. The One who spoke the universe into existence chose to walk among us.
Imagine a powerful king leaving his palace, taking off his royal robes, and putting on the clothes of a servant. Imagine that king walking into the poorest part of his kingdom and cleaning the streets himself. People would be shocked. They would ask, “Why would a king do that?” But that is exactly what Jesus did. He stepped down from glory and entered our broken world. He was born in a humble place. He lived among ordinary people. He served the sick, the poor, and the broken. That is the humility of Christ. And Paul says that same attitude should be in us. Humility is not thinking less of yourself. Humility is thinking of others more. As was said last week, we need to give up the me-first mindset.
Third, surrender requires trust and obedience. The passage continues with one of the most powerful statements in Scripture. Paul says Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross. This is the ultimate picture of surrender. Jesus did not just surrender comfort. He surrendered His life. The cross was one of the most brutal forms of execution in the Roman world. It was designed to bring maximum suffering and humiliation. Yet Jesus willingly went there. Why? Because He trusted the Father and obeyed.
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed a prayer of surrender. “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not my will, but yours be done.” That is the prayer of surrender. It is easy to obey God when the path is comfortable. It is much harder when the path leads through sacrifice. But true surrender says, “God, I trust you even when I don’t understand.” Proverbs 3:5 has long been where I turn in times of trouble and doubt. “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. This verse always pulls me out of worry and turns me instead to trust.
In what area do you struggle to trust God? I struggle with surrendering money issues to God. I give them over to God and then I take them back. I often worry instead of trust. Over the years I have found many women struggle with surrendering their children to God. Each of us will have our own areas of struggle but the more we surrender various areas of our life to God the more peace we will experience.
Here’s an example of trust. Have you ever heard of what is called the trust fall exercise? Someone stands in front of someone else and falls backward expecting the person behind them to catch them. The difficult part is letting go of control, leaning backward and trusting. The person must believe that those behind them will catch them. Surrender to God is like that. We stop trying to control everything. We trust that God will catch us.
And finally surrender requires self-denial. In our reading from Luke we heard Jesus say, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. Jesus challenges us in our passage from Luke to let go of doing it our way and instead do it His way. “Deny yourself”, Jesus said, “and take up your cross daily and follow me.” There’s an important word in that sentence. Daily. We need to surrender every day, over and over again each and every day. Our battle with sin is in some ways the same as an alcoholic’s battle. It must be fought over again each day.
Surrender leads to exaltation. The story does not end with the cross. Paul says, “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above every name.” Because Jesus humbled Himself, God lifted Him up. Because He surrendered, He was exalted.
The passage goes on to say that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This reveals a powerful principle in the kingdom of God. Humility comes before honor. Surrender comes before exaltation. The world says climb higher. But God says bow lower.
Jesus once taught that unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. From the outside, burying a seed looks like the end. But it is actually the beginning of new life. In the same way, surrender may feel like loss. But in God’s hands, surrender produces life, growth, and blessing.
The life of Jesus gives us the pattern for our own lives. He surrendered His rights. He surrendered His pride. He surrendered His comfort. He surrendered His life. And because He surrendered, God exalted Him.
The question for us today is simple. What is God asking you to surrender? Maybe it is pride. Maybe it is control. Maybe it is a plan that you refuse to release. Maybe it is a relationship, a habit, or a dream you have been holding onto tightly. God is calling us to trust Him. True peace comes when we stop fighting God and start trusting Him. When we surrender to God, we do not lose. We gain the life He intended for us. And the greatest example of surrender will always be the cross of Jesus Christ.
Today God is inviting us to pray a simple prayer: “Lord, I surrender.” Not my will. Not my plans. Not my pride. But Your will be done.
Our Hymn of Response is, “I Surrender All.” It says we freely give all, we love and trust him and live in his presence. We bow at Jesus’ feet, giving up worldly pleasures. During our singing I invite each of you to ask Jesus into your hearts and surrender your will, either again or for the first time to our loving Savior.