Submit to One Another

The Rev. Herbert G. Hand

Faith Anglican Church

Cordova, Tennessee

October 14, 2007

Series: "One Another" Living: Our Desperate Need for Community

Title: Submit to One Another

Text: Ephesians 5:15-21

I. Submission to the Powerful

I Am a Lighthouse!

One night the captain of a battleship looked out into the dark horizon and saw faint lights in the distance.

He told his signalman to send a message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south."

Immediately they received a message back: "Alter your course 10 degrees north."

The captain was furious; his command had been ignored.

So he sent a second message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south—I am the captain!"

The response was: "Alter your course 10 degrees north—I am seaman third class, Jones."

Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing it would evoke fear and submission: "Alter your course 10 degrees south—I am a battleship."

The final reply was: "Alter your course 10 degrees north—I am a lighthouse."

That captain was master and commander of his ship. Can’t you just hear him thinking:

I’m the captain.

I’m in control.

I captain the biggest and most powerful ship in the world. Get out of my way.

The only reason that captain submitted to the lowly seaman third class, was because the rocky shore under that light house was stronger and more powerful than his ship.

Our Sinful Desire to be Master and Commander

If we were honest, deep down we too would love to be master and commander.

We’d rather pray, "My kingdom come," than "Thy kingdom come."

Without God’s saving grace, without the ongoing sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit:

We are self centered and selfish.

We want to be king. We want to be Lord.

We want to be in control and in control of others.

We want to win, and if others get in our way, we want to make them suffer.

We do not want to submit to others. We want others to submit to us.

We see it all around us, and sadly at times we see it in the mirror.

Beating people into submission.

Nagging people into submission.

Financially manipulating people into submission.

It’s all about lording it over others:

Survival of the fittest.

Survival of the prettiest.

Survival of the most manipulative.

That’s the way of the world.

II. Submission in Jesus’ Kingdom

Jesus has a very different counter-cultural view of submission and power.

Submission is about mutual respect.

Submission is about looking out for others, not ourselves.

Submission is about giving cooperation and yielding to others.

Submission is a key component to "one another living."

Not Lording it Over Them

In Mark chapter 10, two of Jesus’ apostles, James and John sought power and position from Jesus. They sought to be elevated above the other apostles.

Jesus said,

^{36"What do you want me to do for
you?"}

^{37They replied,

"Let one of us sit at your right and the other at
your left in your glory."

41When the [other] ten [apostles] heard about this,
they became indignant with James and John.

When people politic for power, it destroys the
power-hungry and devastates the others.

^{42Jesus called them together and said,

"You know that those who are regarded as rulers of
the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.
^{43Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to
become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wants to be first
must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but
to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mark 10:36-45 (NIV)}

Jesus calls you and me to servanthood and servant
leadership. He calls us to submit to one another.

Submitting to Others

Even though our old sinful nature does not want to submit
to anyone, throughout the Bible, God commands us to submit to one another:

^{1Everyone must submit himself to the governing
authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established...

Romans 13:1 (NIV)

^{17Obey your [church] leaders and submit to
their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so
that their work will be a joy, not a burden...
Hebrews 13:17 (NIV)

¹⁸Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Colossians 3:18 (NIV)

^{16"Honor your father and your mother,
as the LORD your God has commanded you...
Deuteronomy 5:16 (NIV)

^{7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7 (NIV)}}}}

At first glance, it might sound like we must become
subservient, doormats, objects of abuse.

Not at all.

Godly biblical submission is:

A voluntary attitude of giving to others.
It’s about looking out for others, not merely
ourselves.
It’s about giving cooperation and yielding to
others.
It’s about mutual respect for one another.

Godly biblical submission is:

Not about being used or using others.
It’s not about being abused or abusing others.
It’s not about winning or losing.

Marriage Isn’t a Power Play

Almost 500 years ago, the great reformer, Martin Luther
said,

Married folk are not to act as they now usually do.
The men are almost lions in their homes, hard toward
their wives and servants.
The women, too, everywhere want to domineer and have
their husbands as servants.
It is foolish for a man to want to demonstrate his
masculine power and heroic strength by ruling over his wife.
On the other hand, the ambition of wives to dominate the
home is also intolerable.

Martin Luther. "William and Catherine
Booth," Christian History, no. 26.

The same could and should be said of the church.

It is foolish...to demonstrate...power...by ruling over
others.
The ambition to dominate...is intolerable.
This is not servant leadership, this is Lordship... and
there is only Lord, and His name is Jesus.

Declaring Fealty to the King of Kings

In ancient times the high king would have a feast with
their vassal kings and conclude their time with a covenant meal.

The vassal kings would promise fealty and obedience.
The high king would promise protection.

Each week we eat our high king’s covenant meal. We
proclaim our fealty to him. He reminds us of his protection.

There is only one Lord, only one Master and Commander.
His name is Jesus.

Godly Biblical Submission

Godly biblical submission is not something we demand of
others. It’s something we voluntarily give to others.

Godly biblical submission is something we practice with
one another.

All the Bible passages on submission only make sense if
you read Ephesians 5:21. Let’s turn to our reading from Ephesians.

Ephesians 5:21 says,

^{21Submit to one another out of reverence for
Christ.
Ephesians 5:21 (NIV)}

The Queen or His Wife?

On February 10, 1840, Queen Victoria of England was
married to Prince Albert of Germany.

Shortly after their wedding, the royal couple had a
heated argument.

Albert stormed out of the room and locked himself in his
private apartment.

Victoria hammered furiously on the door.

"Who's there?" called Albert.

"The Queen of England, and she demands to be
admitted."

There was no response, and the door remained locked.
Victoria hammered again.

Again Albert said, "Who's there?"

Victoria repeated her reply,

"The Queen of England, and she demands to be
admitted."

The door remained shut.

Victoria continued her fruitless and furious knocking.

Finally she offered a gentle tap.

"Who's there?" Albert asked.

"Your wife, Albert," the Queen replied. The
prince opened the door immediately!

As the Queen of England, Victoria had the right to demand
that Albert open the door. But by making that demand as Queen all she created was
resentment.

But when she came in humility and submission, then the
door was opened.

http://www.trinitycrc.org/sermons/eph5v21b.html

Godly biblical submission always opens doors and destroys
resentment.

III. Learning to Submit to One Another

How can you and I learn to submit, in a balanced biblical
way:

"To the governing authorities..."

To the "authority" of our "[church]
leaders..."

"To your husbands..."
"To God..."
"To one another..."

Submitting to Our Parents

The first and most basic way of learning submission is at
the feet of our parents.

The Ten Commandments have two sections:

The first four deal with our relationship with God.
The remaining six deal with our relationships with one
another.

Did you notice what the first commandment of the second
section is, the first commandment dealing with our relationships with one another?

The first commandment of the second section is the fifth
commandment.

^{16"Honor your father and your mother, as
the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well
with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 5:16 (NIV)}

Do you want to "live long"?

Do you want it to "go well with you"?

Then first learn to honor your father and mother.

Learn to submit to them:

Learn to voluntary joyfully serve them.
Learn to be genuinely concerned for your parents.
Learn to cooperate with them and yield to them.
Learn to have respect for them.

How do children learn to honor and submit to teachers,
police officers, and pastors?

Their parents must first teach them to honor and submit
to them.

The discipline problems in our schools, the lawlessness
in our cities, the refusal of church goers to repent and mature:

Are directly correlated to parents not requiring their
children to honor them.

Eating Without Forks

Eighteen years ago Mary and I first visited Virginia
Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.

As part of our visit, we were invited to dinner in a
student’s home. That was a dinner I’ll never forget!

We sat down to an exquisite dinner in a beautiful home.
This was not your typical seminary student. They
didn’t live in subsidized student housing, like 95% of the students. They owned a
half million dollar home in the suburbs.
They were well educated and from among the cultural
elite, but their children were wild and out of control.
All throughout dinner the children ran in and out of the
dinning room with not a comment from their parents.
Their eight and 10 year olds ate with their hands and a
single knife.

Neither of them had learned to use a fork or spoon.

Their parents did not want to oppress their
children’s freedom. They didn’t want to weigh them down with rules.

These children never learned to honor and submit to their
parents. Sadly:

They learned to defy authority.
They learned that they were master, commander, and lord.
They learned selfishness.
They learned the corrupt ways of this world.

IV. Conclusion

God’s plan is for us to learn godly biblical
submission at the feet of our parents.

God’s plan is for you and me to learn to,

"Submit to one another out of reverence for
Christ."
Ephesians 5:21 (NIV)}}