Spiritual Disciplines ~ Submission

Today we are going to look at the spiritual discipline of submission and when many of you saw that this morning you may have just wanted to leave because even the word submission makes you feel uncomfortable. Or maybe the word and the images of submission bring back horrible memories or experiences for you, if that is the case then let me be clear from the very beginning that when we talk about submission today we are not talking about submitting ourselves in situations or to people where we are going to be abused, taken advantage of or beaten down. In fact, if you are in a situation today that is like that I urge you to get some help to change that situation. In the world around us, submission is often seen a bad thing because it reflects an abuse of power and position that only seems to put people into bondage. From marriage, to families, to employment and community relationships at large and yes even in the church when submission is misused it creates brokenness and pain and if that has been your experience or if that is where you are today, you may just wanted to run, but I would ask you to not run this morning and I would ask all of us to open our hearts and minds and our lives to a new way of looking at relationships and submission, because when we talk about submission the way God intends it to be lived, when we talk about it through the perspective of our faith and according to the values of God’s kingdom, submission can lead to freedom and stronger and healthier relationships and even to life. I think we see this in a teaching that is often misunderstood and definitely misused from the book of Ephesians.


Ephesians 5:22-24. Now if we were to just stop here, which many people have done and many may want to do, we have a completely wrong understanding of submission. If only one party submits you have bondage, and unfortunately this is where many women have been during their lives, but this is not what Paul is saying here, Paul never says that only person has to submit – it is always both parties. When both parties in any relationship are willing to submit to each other we have freedom, so Paul goes on, Ephesians 5:25-30. The clear word of God here is for husbands to submit to their wives in love and be willing to love their wives to the depth that Christ has loved the church, or loved us. When we look at Jesus, we see that his love for us moved him to give everything he had, even his very life for us. So husbands need to be willing to sacrifice everything they have in order to love and care for their wives, they need to submit to them in love. It is mutual submission in the bonds of love and commitment that God calls for, yes wives submit to your husbands but husbands submit to your wives and in fact, husbands you are called to go deeper and take it a step farther – love your wives even to the point of death. What we begin to see here is that if we all practice the spiritual discipline of submission, if we are all willing to submit to God and to one another in love then we will have strong, healthy, life-giving relationships.

Paul continues to outline this understanding of submission in the family in Ephesians 6:1-4. Again, if we stop at children obey your parents we set up the possibility for unhealthy relationship that can lead to abuse and bondage and brokenness and the sad truth is that this has happened all to often, but when we see that parents are to submit in love and grace and patience to their children – we see how healthy life-giving relationships can grow and become strong. So again, when the world talks about submission it leads to abuse, but when God talks about submission it is mutual submission in love and that leads to life.

Paul takes this idea of submission one step further and talks about the relationships we have in our community when he talks about slaves and masters. Ephesians 6:5-9. Here is where we see mutual submission in love actually leading to freedom. It says masters were to treat their slaves the same way slaves were to treat their masters, which means masters were to serve their slaves and look out for the best interest which could lead to them actually setting their slaves free. In fact, Paul later addresses this very situation with a runaway slave who had become a Christian. Paul sends the slave, Onesimus, back to his master but with the clear call for the master to receive Onesimus not as a slave but as a brother. Because of their relationship with God through Jesus, a relationship which sets us all free, Paul calls Philemon, the master, to set Onesimus free. So instead of leading to bondage, mutual submission and the love of Christ can lead to freedom. This idea of mutual submission and love is how Paul began this whole teaching - Ephesians 5:21.

Now something that is important to think about here is that when Paul is writing this letter about submitting to one another he isn’t writing to wives, children or slaves to tell them to submit because first of all – they already were, but also, wives, children and slaves were not the ones who are going to read this letter. Most women at this time didn’t read, neither did children and while slaves might have been educated, they wouldn’t have been given the time to sit and discuss things in church – they were working. So this letter was not addressed primarily to women, children or slaves but to the men of the church, so Paul is clearly writing to those in power and those who have positions of authority and he is calling them to submit first. This teaching isn’t a call for wives, children and slaves to obey as many people have taught in the past or want to teach today, this is really a call for men and parents and owners and leaders and all people who are in a position of power to treat others well and to be willing to deny ourselves in order to care for those around us in love. So today, if we are in a position of power or authority in any situation or in any relationship then we need to ask ourselves if we are practicing this discipline of submission. In our families, at work and in the community are we submitting ourselves to others? Are we denying ourselves for the sake and well being of others?

It all comes back to Ephesians 5:21, submit to one another out of reverence to Christ. We could also say, submit to one another because of the example and the call of Christ. You see the reason we take this spiritual discipline seriously and think and pray about what it looks like for us to submit ourselves to God and others is because submission is the clear example and call of Jesus.

Jesus’ entire life was an example of submission and we see this in Philippians 2:6-7. Jesus submitted himself to God when he willing denied himself and came into this world. Jesus was fully God and as God he had every right to remain in heaven dwelling in all the splendor, power and glory of heaven, but Jesus didn’t hold on to that right, he denied himself all that heaven held to enter into this world. And then in this world Jesus again submitted himself to the will of God and denied himself all the rights and privileges he was due here. In this world Jesus was still King of kings and Lord of lords and he could have had everything handed to him, but he gave up his rights to live in a palace and be attended to by servants to become a servant. Jesus not only submitted himself to God, he submitted himself to us in this world and he did it to show us that the way of submission is in fact the way to life.

We see the submission of Jesus leading to freedom and life in the rest of this passage from Philippians 2:7-11. The submission of Jesus to the will of God and his self denial in this world did lead to the cross, but Jesus always knew that the cross was not the end of the story – an empty tomb and a resurrection were coming - freedom and victory and life was coming. When we look at the example of Jesus we see that his submission to God in heaven and in this world leads to freedom from sin and victory over death and eternal life for us all and what we need to learn here is that full submission to God and being willing to submit ourselves to one another in the context of God’s love and grace will also lead us to freedom and victory and life. This is why God calls us to practice this spiritual discipline of submission, because true freedom, victory and life are only found when we submit ourselves to Jesus and through Jesus to one another.

So we need to take this discipline seriously because we see it as the hallmark of Jesus life, but it is also the clear call of Jesus to all who want to follow him. Jesus said if anyone wants to become my disciple, deny yourself, take up a cross and follow me. When Jesus says this he is not calling us to pick up and carry an actual wooden cross on which we will be crucified, but he is calling us to take up a way of life that is characterized by self denial and submission. The cross for Jesus wasn’t a symbol of death as much as it was a symbol of self-denial and his being willing to submit himself to God. I wonder if we see that every time we see a cross.

Yes, the cross is a symbol of God’s love for us because it shows us the length and breadth and height that God was willing to go to save us, but it is also a symbol of submission because while Jesus did carry and die on an actual cross – he didn’t have to. There were any number of occasions when Jesus could have turned away from the cross and followed a different path. Remember last week we heard how the death of John the Baptist may have brought Jesus own death into clearer focus and Jesus could have turned in that moment to follow a road that would not lead to the cross, but he didn’t. Jesus denied himself, he gave up his rights to an easy, safe and comfortable life and chose to submit himself to God, and while his submission did lead to the cross, let’s not forget that the cross did lead to a resurrection and victory and life.

So the cross is a symbol of submission and when Jesus says we need to take up a cross and follow him, it means we need to learn how to submit ourselves to God and one another. Submission to God begins with a simple yes. Yes God I want to stop living for myself and start living for you and then submission is followed up in how we live out all of the spiritual disciplines we have looked at so far. Submission to God calls us to confess our sin to God, it calls us to study God’s word so that we can more fully understand God’s will, it calls us to let go of this world and all it’s excess stuff so we can get hold of God, and it calls us to find moments of solitude so we can hear God’s still small voice. Submission to God calls us to spend time in worship and prayer as we place God first in our lives. Submission to God is also an ongoing battle because our natural inclination is to live for ourselves and place ourselves first and think about what we want. So taking up a cross means that every day we are willing to stop thinking about what we want and what is good for us and begin to think about what God wants for us and what God wants from us.

Look at Philippians 2:4-5, if we all did this, if we all placed the needs of others before our own, we would all be loved, all be served and all be honored. If we submit to one another in love there is no abuse, no bondage, no brokenness but only life and freedom.

So when we talk about submitting ourselves to one another, here’s the question we need to ask:

• Have we placed the needs of others before our own?

• Have we placed the needs of our spouse and/or our children before our own?

• Have we placed the needs of those who work for us before our own?

• Have we placed the needs of those we work with in the church and community before our own?

• Have we placed the needs of those who are hungry and hurting in our world before our own?

If we haven’t placed the needs of others before our own, if we need to submit to God and one another, what is it going to look like and what will it take for us to do this?

For many of us, submission is not an easy thing to think about because we have seen it lead to abusive situations and pain, but in the context of God’s love and grace – submission leads to freedom and life. So where do we start? We start by submitting ourselves fully to God. We start by giving God full control of our lives here and now and yielding our will to His and then we allow God to teach us more fully what it means to take up a cross, to deny ourselves and follow Jesus.