I Surrender All (Judson W. Van De Venker; This Far by Faith #235; United Methodist Hymnal #354)
Refrain:
I surrender all,
I surrender all,
All to thee, my blessed Saviour,
I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender,
All to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
In his presence daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at his feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Make me, Saviour, wholly thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to thee,
Fill me with thy love and power,
Let thy blessing fall on me.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to his name!
Devotion
This hymn is dated but I often sing the refrain as a prayer. It captures a dichotomy we live and struggle with daily: control versus surrender. Isn’t that what was found in each of this week’s readings? Jeremiah had no control over how people responded to the word God had placed in his mouth. I had no control over how the man who stopped by our sanctuary defined and dismissed us without ever having spent time with us. St. Paul certainly tried to control the gospel’s spread before it captured him, and he surrendered. Peter can’t hear it.
There’s not much of anything over which we exercise complete control, but we tend to give up the illusion only when there’s no alternative. Jesus invites us to trust that those who relinquish their lives for his sake will find them.
This, of course, is what he did—surrendered all—so that we might live.
Prayer
Gracious One, you who offer abundant life, on this day, in this moment, may we surrender all we cling to and hold onto you instead. Amen.