The new global fad in recent years has been the quest for freedom from authority. The world’s new motto is the famous line from W. E. Henley’s poem Invictus: “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Ironic, isn’t it? The one thing the world wants is the thing that’s utterly impossible anyway! Human beings, by our very nature and design, are never autonomous; we always obey something! So it becomes a matter of utmost importance to be honest and aware of this truth, and then to obey something worth obeying. How do we decide who we obey?
Look to the blessed mother of Christ as an example. Mary was instructed to relinquish herself to the power of God and trust that the impossible would be done. She, an unmarried virgin, would become pregnant and then entrust her child, the Lord and Savior of the world, entirely to God. “I am the Lord’s servant; may your word to me be fulfilled” was her answer. Her life would never be the same. Any control she felt like she had would be wrenched from her. The Lord alone would be the master of her fate and the captain of her soul. But she was willing. She obeyed and held nothing back.
Why would she, or any of us, trust and obey God that much? Because as the angel reminds her, no word of God ever fails. God’s authority is holy, and wholly trustworthy. As the Psalms incessantly remind us, the hesed of God—that is, his steadfast, faithful, covenantal lovingkindness—endures forever. We can trust the authoritative will of God because it will always, eternally be best. The Lord and King is worth obeying.
The gospel of Luke opens by showing us that the Messiah was born through obedience. Moreover, he later lived with obedience, died in obedience, and then rightfully commanded our obedience. Our God is an authority worth fully obeying, matched by none other. As the hymn says, “trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.” Are we willing to relinquish our sense of autonomy and control to a holy God whose will is always better? Will we will that God’s will will be done?
