It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
Luke 23:44-46
The Heidelberg Catechism, part of the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Book of Confessions, begins this way:
Q. 1. What is your only comfort, in life and in death?
A. That I belong—body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
At his death, Jesus commends himself to God's care. He commends not just the moment of his death but the fullness of his life: the joy of raising his friend Lazarus from the dead, the sorrow of feeling abandoned at his own death; the joy of being surrounded by his disciples, the frustration he felt when they didn't understand him; the comfort and strength of being surrounded by God's presence and the grief and loneliness of feeling forsaken by God on the cross.
In our prayers we are tempted to bargain with God, especially in times of need and distress. "If I survive this illness, I promise I'll be a better person," "If this plane lands safely I'll go to church on Sunday," "If I get this promotion I'll be more charitable with my money." We think if we give God something he wants – a moral life, church attendance, money to church or charity – we can be assured of a safe and prosperous life. This is what we tend to think of when we commend our lives to God.
But the promise of the Gospel is not that if we give God something God values then God will give us what we value – often safety, health or prosperity, whether for us or for others. The promise is that we belong to God – body and soul, in life and in death – and that nothing in heaven or on earth can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. This is not a promise that we will never know suffering, hardship or grief. It is the promise that by the grace of God in Jesus Christ that none of these things, no matter how difficult, will be our undoing. The promise of the Gospel is not a successful life where tomorrow will be better than today. The promise is resurrection, that as we bear the cross and its sufferings we will be granted eternal life. The Gospel does not promise us freedom from suffering, but the strength to enter into suffering, both our own and that of others, because we are confident that suffering will not rob us of the life we have in Christ Jesus.
When we commend our life, our Spirit into God's hands we are not bargaining with God, but making ourselves available for God to work through us, even in the midst of hardship, fear and suffering, trusting that God does make everything fit God's purpose for our salvation and the salvation of the world.
What does it mean for us to commend our lives to God? You are invited to listen to these passages of Scripture as we commend our lives to God's hands:
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