Daily Devotions
This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at www.lhm.org.
“What makes you happy?” I asked her once. “Reading,” she told me. Dorothy grew up in rural Missouri in the 1930s. There wasn’t much to read, so, whatever she could get her hands on—a borrowed book, a tattered magazine, a church newsletter—she devoured from cover to cover. Some people skimmed or perused. Dorothy savored every word. And after she had lost so much—reading still made her happy.
Jesus has almost nothing to say about “happiness,” but He does have a lot to say about “joy,” which we might define as happiness that lasts. There is much worldly wisdom about how to be happy. The bulk of it boils down to two pieces of advice: either control your circumstances or control yourself—that is, you can try to control your circumstances to get what makes you happy or try to make yourself happy with what you have, or try some combination of both.
Jesus offers another away. It’s neither self-assertion, nor self-control, but self-surrender. And you’re not even the main “self” involved. That’s not to say that Jesus doesn’t call His followers to self-surrender. He does (see Mark 8:34). It just doesn’t start with you, but with God. It was Jesus’ joy to surrender Himself to His Father’s will by dying for us on the cross (see Hebrews 12:2). It was His Father’s good pleasure to surrender His beloved Son to save us (see Romans 8:32). It is the Holy Spirit’s delight to surrender Himself to rescue the world from the distortions of our un-surrendered selves (see John 16:7-15). So, when Jesus calls us to self-surrender, He’s not imposing an external rule. He is revealing the heart of God and inviting us to share in His joy.
We live in a world distorted by the contortions of countless un-surrendered selves—from the devil to the tyrant to the infant who wants everything his way now. And none of us will get out without losing everything first. The only question is how we go—either clinging to some sliver of control, or surrendering to the God who surrendered Himself first, so His joy could be in us.
I had the joy of visiting Dorothy for four years as her pastor. Looking back on 9o years, she could see how little power she had to control her circumstances, and how limited was her capacity to make herself happy. And then—after losing so much, her husband, her home, her mobility—she was also losing her eyesight, and with it, her ability to read. So, she entrusted this to Jesus, too. One day I asked her how she was doing. When she answered, there was sadness in her voice, but also surrender, and joy. She said, “Pastor, for me, the hardest part about getting old is not being able to read. My eyes just don’t work like they used to. But I trust God. And I’ll be content with that.”
WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, we trust You. Bring us to that new day in Your kingdom when You turn all our sorrow to joy. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker for The Lutheran Hour.
Reflection Questions:
1. What does God’s own Self-surrender reveal to you?
2. Is there something you’re having a hard time surrendering to Jesus?
3. When have you experienced Jesus turning your sorrow into joy?