Reverent Submission

The Sunday morning message in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on May 21, 2023.  The Bible verses used are Hebrews 5:1-10.

            When you think about the word “sin”, what do you think of?

            There are a lot of sins, of course.  And we all commit at least some of them because, as the Apostle Paul says in Romans Chapter Three, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  But it seems like there are some sins we think about and talk about a lot, and others that we don’t think or talk about very much at all.

            So what sins do we think of?  Sexual sins, maybe.  Greed.  Violence.  Maybe bad language, taking the Lord’s name in vain.  

But you know, there are some sins we hardly ever think of.  Here are a couple of them.  Arrogance and self-righteousness.

For some reason, we don’t think about those sins very much.  We don’t talk about them very much, either.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe they just don’t grab people’s attention the way some of those others do.  Maybe you cannot get ratings or headlines talking about arrogance and self-righteousness, the way you can talking about some of those other things, I don’t know.

But maybe, one of the reasons we don’t talk about arrogance and self-righteousness is because we have a really hard time seeing it in ourselves.  And we also have a hard time seeing it in people who agree with us.  It’s easy for us to see it in people who don’t agree with us.  If we’re in some kind of debate or argument about something–especially if it’s a political something–it’s really easy for us to see the other side as being arrogant and self-righteous.  But not our side.  We’re not like that at all.  We’re just–right–and everyone should be able to see how right we are.  And if they cannot see it, well, they’re just stupid.  Or arrogant.  Or self-righteous.

The Bible has a lot of things to say about arrogance and self-righteousness.  The prophets talked about it over and over again.  They told people repeatedly that the reason God was going to abandon them, or already had abandoned them, was because of their arrogance.  They had turned away from God.  They had decided they knew better than God, and so they went their own way.  And God was going to make them deal with the consequences of that.

And when Jesus got upset with the Pharisees, what did he criticize them for?  Their arrogance.  Their self-righteousness.  Jesus even told a story about a Pharisee who stood on the street corner and loudly thanked God because of how great and wonderful the Pharisee was, how he was so much better than all the other people around him.  And he said that those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Our reading for today points out how Jesus did not exalt Himself, but humbled Himself, being obedient to God.  Right there, that should be a lesson to us against arrogance and self-righteousness.  Because, after all, if there was ever someone who walked on earth who was entitled to exalt Himself, it would be Jesus, right?  This is the divine Son of God we’re talking about here.  This is the Messiah.  This is the one who can work miracles:  heal people, drive out demons, even raise people from the dead.  If there was ever someone who was entitled to be self-righteous, even arrogant, it would be Jesus Christ.

But He was not.  The letter to the Hebrews describes Jesus as “the great high priest”, but it reminds us that this was not a title Jesus took for Himself.  This was a title given to Him by God the Father.  And then it says this:  “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission.”

Think about that.  Again, we’re talking about the divine Son of God here.  The One who was with God the Father at the creation of the world.  The One who voluntarily came to earth to save us from having to take the consequences for our sins.  If anyone’s prayers would be automatically heard by God, it would be Jesus Christ’s prayers, don’t you think?  And yet, our reading says the reason Jesus’ prayers were heard was “because of His reverent submission.”

That makes me think about how I pray.  Maybe we should all think about that.  When we pray, do we pray with “reverent submission”?  Do we even know what it means, to pray with reverent submission?

Reverent submission, from what I’ve read, means a few things.  First, it means showing extreme respect for God.  Second, it means recognizing our complete and continual dependence on God.  Third, it means a complete and total surrender of our will to God’s will.

So again, do we pray with reverent submission?  Maybe you do.  I hope you do.  But I have to admit that too often, I don’t.  And if we don’t, maybe we should not be so surprised when God does not do what we want God to do.

Do we show an attitude of extreme respect for God?  Or do we just expect that God will be there to hear our prayer, no matter how we pray and no matter when we pray?  Now, don’t get me wrong.  God is always there for us.  But do we take that for granted?  Or are we deeply grateful that we can go to God, no matter what our situation is, and God will be there for us?  

We need to remember that this is the almighty, all-powerful God we’re praying to.  This is the God who created the entire universe just by speaking a word.  We need to treat that God with extreme respect.  I mean, if even Jesus treated God the Father that way, I think you and I probably need to do that, too.

When we pray, do we recognize our complete and continual dependence on God?  Maybe we do when we’re in trouble, when we’re praying for God to get us out of a tight spot or something.  But do we do it at other times?  When things are going well, do we still recognize our complete and continual dependence on God?  Or, again, do we start to take God for granted?  Do we start to assume that, because things are going well now, they always will go well?  Do we think that because, after all, we’re Christians, God owes it to us to help us and do what we want?

Again, this is the almighty, all-powerful God we’re praying to.  Even Jesus, who could do miracles and had more power than you or I could ever dream of having, recognized his complete and continual dependence on God the Father.  He knew that any power He had, any power He would ever have, had been granted to Him from God.  Again, if Jesus treated God the Father that way, I think you and I probably should, as well.

And when we pray, is our attitude one of complete and total submission to God’s will?  Or are we really trying to tell God what to do and how to do it?  And when God does not do things our way, do we get disappointed or even upset with God?  Do we wonder what’s wrong with God, that God did not do things the way we wanted God to do them?

Again, it comes down to recognizing that this is the almighty, all-powerful God that we’re talking to.  God, who exists in the past, the present, and the future all at the same time.  God, who knows more about right and wrong than you and I ever could.  God, who not only knows the future, but knows our future, and knows what’s best for us better than we ever will.  Again, if Jesus Christ Himself submitted to God’s will, I think you and I probably need to, too.

But one more thing.  If we’ve have not been doing this very well, if we have not been praying with reverent submission, it’s not the end of the world.  We can work on it.  We can learn.  Because our reading today also said this about Jesus:  “Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered.”

Even Jesus, the divine Son of God, had to learn this while He was on earth.  Because Jesus, while He was fully divine, was also fully human.  And being fully human, Jesus dealt with all the things you and I deal with.  He had to overcome the things you and I need to overcome.  That tells me that even Jesus, Himself, had to overcome a tendency to arrogance and self-righteousness.  As our reading says, He had to learn to be obedient to God.

And He did.  Jesus was able overcome that human tendency to arrogance and self-righteousness.  And that gives us hope that you and I can overcome it, too.

And the good news is that we don’t have to do it alone.  Jesus will help us.  Because Jesus is the great high priest, and as our reading also says, the high priest represents us before God.  Jesus is there for us.  Jesus is working with us.  Jesus will show us the way to overcome our arrogance and self-righteousness.  And if we follow Him, if we obey Him, we will overcome it.

Jesus’ prayers were heard because He prayed with reverent submission.  When you and I pray with reverent submission, our prayers will be heard, too.  The almighty, all-powerful God will hear us.  And He will respond, in His way and in His time.  We can always count on God.