What would you do if you were told that the Savior Jesus
Christ was going to come visit you in your home later today? Would you run home
and clean the house and mow the lawn? Ross Baron speaking at a BYU-Idaho
Education week posed that question. He was talking about the experience in the
scriptures with Mary and Martha when the Savior came to their home:
“Now it came to pass, as they
went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha
received him into her house.
And she had a sister
called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
But Martha was
cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care
that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
And Jesus answered and
said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
But one thing is
needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away
from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)
Martha and Mary
Which one would you be – Martha or Mary? Brother Baron asked
the question to the audience:
“If the First
Presidency called and said they would be at your home in an hour what would you
do? Would you go home and clean the house and vacuum, or would you just push
the Cheetos off the sofa and say ‘come on in and sit down’”? (The
Savior’s Interaction with Women in the New Testament)
In the old testament time, women were the ones that were
responsible for taking care of the guests when they visit. Martha took that
responsibility seriously, but Mary chose to go against that tradition and sat
at the Lord’s feet to hear him teach. The Savior did not condemn the activities
of Martha, but Martha’s judgement of Mary’s activity. Jesus would have honored
Martha’s choice to serve and provide a meal if she had not complained about
Mary’s choice. The moment that Martha judges Mary’s choice was when the Savior
got involved. There is a time and a place for all things. There is a time for
service and there is a time for worship. We don’t go to church for our Sunday
worship services and in the middle of that service we have someone come in to
vacuum the chapel.
In a world of constant choices, we must have balance and
make sure we are not out mowing the lawn, that we choose the “good part” to
worship at the Savior’s feet when we are given the opportunity.
Serving here in Indiana as a senior missionary I enjoy
listening to the younger missionaries relate the experiences they are having as
they teach families about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it changes their lives,
both the missionaries and the families they teach. I love hearing their
testimony of how the individuals they are teaching learn to apply the atonement
of Jesus Christ in their lives, enter the waters of baptism and then receive
the Holy Ghost.
I am reminded of a young man that I taught when I was a
young missionary in the Alaska British Columbia Mission. It was so long ago that
Parley P. Pratt was my companion, LOL! It seems a long time ago, but it was
only 44 years ago. This young man had no problem believing in the restoration
of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith. He loved reading the Book of Mormon
and had a testimony that it was true, but he would not be baptized.
After many visits and questions on why he did not want to be
baptized he finally said that he could not be baptized because his sins were so
bad that he would never be forgiven. It was too late for him and there was no
way back. We had a discussion about the atonement of Jesus Christ and he said
that he believed in Jesus Christ but just felt that he was past redemption and beyond
Christ’s reach.
In an Ensign article titled “Believing
Christ”, Stephen E. Robinson said:
To have faith in Jesus
Christ is not merely to believe that he is who he says he is. Both as a bishop
and as a teacher, I have heard several variations on a theme of doubt. Some
have said, “Bishop, I’ve sinned too horribly. I’ll be active in the Church, and
I hope for some reward. But I couldn’t ever hope to be exalted after what I’ve
done.” Others have said, “I’m weak and imperfect. I don’t have all the talents
that Brother Jones (or Sister Smith) does. I’ll never be the bishop (or the
Relief Society president). I’m just average. I expect my reward in eternity
will be a little lower than theirs.”
“All of these are
variations on the same theme: “I do not believe Christ can do what he claims. I
have no faith in his ability to exalt me.”
“The great truth of
the gospel is that we have a Savior who can and will save us from ourselves,
from what we lack, from our imperfections, from the carnality within us, if we
seek his help.”
Brother Robinson then told of an experience he had with his daughter.
She wanted a bike and so he told her: “if she saved all her pennies, she would
eventually have enough to buy a bike”. Then he forgot about it until she came
to him with a jar of pennies and asked if they could go buy the bike. They went
and looked at bikes and she finally found the bike she wanted. When she saw the
price of the bike, she burst into tears saying she would never have enough
money.
Brother Robinson asked how much money she had and she said: “sixty-one
cents”. He told that if she would give him the money and a hug he would pay the
rest. She rode the bike home as he drove slowly. He then said:
“As I drove beside
her, I thought of the atonement of Christ. We all desperately want the
celestial kingdom. We want to be with our Father in Heaven. But no matter how
hard we try, we come up short. At some point all of us must realize, “I can’t
do this by myself. I need help.” Then it is that the Savior says, in effect,
All right, you’re not perfect. But what can you do? Give me all you have, and
I’ll do the rest.”
How many of us, like brother Robinson’s daughter think we
will never have enough to buy our bike or get into the celestial kingdom? Or
like the young man that would not be baptized, think that we are too far gone
for the Lord to forgive us?
I testify that we must not only have faith in Jesus Christ,
but we must believe him when he says:
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and
ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matthew
11:29) If we have the faith to cry as one father asked of Christ: “help thou
mine unbelief” (Mark
9:24), then we can all be saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.
As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints we believe in living prophets, just like Moses, Elijah and other Old
Testament prophets. Today that prophet is Russell M. Nelson. We believe that he
receives revelation in the same manner that all the Old Testament prophets did,
directly from God. In the past year that President Nelson has been the
president of The Church since January 14, 2018. Members of The Church have
witnessed the blessings of having a living prophet to guide us.
We have witnessed the change in home and visiting
teaching to “ministering”, a change in Melchizedek priesthood quorums, the
change in Sunday meeting times, a change to family centered gospel study, 19
new temples announced in one year, and a change in how young men and women
advance in the priesthood and the young women’s program. These changes are just
a few examples, there are others that this type of forum does not allow me to
discuss due to the sacredness of the topics. I understand that this is just the
beginning. President
Nelson just this past October said:
“We’re witnesses to a process of
restoration,” said the prophet. “If you think the Church has been fully
restored, you’re just seeing the beginning. There is
much more to come. … Wait till next year. And then the next year. Eat your
vitamin pills. Get your rest. It’s going to be exciting.” (Mormon
Newsroom)
I can’t wait to see what is next, we live in an
exciting time of growth for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But all members have
not accepted these changes with the faith that they should. As members of The
Church we are taught that we need to have our own testimonies of the
restoration of The Gospel of Jesus Christ and living prophets, we do not live
by blind faith alone. If we don’t have personal testimonies that President
Nelson is the Lord’s living prophet, when changes in policies and programs
happen those member’s faith can be challenged.
I know a bishop (not here in Indiana) whose members
are angry with him because he wants to have the 11-year-old be ordained
deacons, or their 11-year-old daughters leave primary and join the young
women’s program. They are also upset their older children are being encouraged
to be ordained to other priesthood offices in January instead of on their
birthday, the way it used to be before the changes. When they asked this bishop
what he thought, he said that they should follow the prophet’s counsel. They
were upset when he did not agree with their desire to not follow Lord’s
prophet.
It reminded me of something I read in a book called
“Boxing The Lord In: And Other Ways We Hinder Revelation” by Stephen K.
Hunsaker and Michelle K. Hunsaker. In his book, brother and sister Hunsaker
share several habits that we have that limit The Lord in giving us answers to
our prayers through revelation. One chapter is titled: “Casting Our Eyes
About”. They reminded us of Lehi’s dream of the Tree of Life in the Book of
Mormon (1 Nephi 8) where there were two distinct groups that made it to The
Tree of Life and were able to partake of the fruit. One group once they had
partaken of the fruit took their eyes off the tree and looked to those who were
mocking and making fun of them. This group felt ashamed and fell away. The
other group after partaking of the fruit kept their focus on The Tree (which
represents the Savior Jesus Christ) and did not pay attention to those mocking
and making fun of them. Because their focus was on the Savior, they were able
to stay strong and not fall away. I highly recommend this book for anyone that
would like to improve their relationship with the Savior and their prayers. You
can go here
to find more information.
I think it is interesting that the members of this
ward, instead of questioning the change in the programs, were angry with the
bishop for following the counsel of The Lord’s prophet. They were taking their
eyes off “the tree” and giving in to the mocking of the world and in their own
way letting go of the iron rod and falling away.
I must be careful in stating this that I do not
criticize the lack of faith of someone to the point that I think that I am
somehow better than them or more faithful. There is no place in the Gospel of
Jesus Christ for anyone to judge why someone, in our limited opinion, is not
following the prophet or other church leaders, including their local leaders.
We simply cannot expect to understand what causes a member to think or believe
the way they do. We can only love and encourage them to gain a greater
testimony of the inspiration that comes to those whom the Lord calls to preside
over us. We must accept everyone where they are and hope that we can all
progress on the Gospel path to the tree of life together and without letting go
of the iron rod as we go.
I am excited for the changes that have come and for
those that we anticipate coming. For those that have yet to gain a testimony of
the changes I challenge them to put it to the test. Go to the Lord in prayer
and find out for yourself “if these
things are not true” and I promise that you will know “by the power of the Holy Ghost that they are true” (Moroni 10:4)
The prophet Jeremiah described the people that do not
accept the Lord’s counsel as “foolish people, and without understanding; which
have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not” (Jeremiah
5:21). I hope that as members of the Lord’s Church we will follow
his prophet and have eyes that see and that we will keep our focus on the
Savior and not give heed to those who would distract us or cause us to fall
away.
Your questions and comments are welcome, and thank you for sharing this message with your social media friends.
Today members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints started the new Sunday schedule of worship and a new curriculum of study.
The three-hour block that began in 1980 was shortened to two hours; one hour
for sacrament meeting and fifty minutes for Sunday School and other priesthood
and auxiliary lessons. The new curriculum titled “Come Follow Me” will be used
for all Sunday School, Primary, Young Men and Women classes, as well as
priesthood and relief society instruction.
Elder Cook in his October General Conference address
that explained the changes were more than shortening the Sunday meeting times, but
included four purposes for the changes:
1.Deepening
conversion to Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthening faith
in Them.
2.Strengthening
individuals and families through home-centered, Church-supported curriculum
that contributes to joyful gospel living.
3.Honoring
the Sabbath day, with a focus on the ordinance of the sacrament.
4.Helping
all of Heavenly Father’s children on both sides of the veil through missionary
work and receiving ordinances and covenants and blessings of the temple.
As member of The Church we can come closer to the
Savior Jesus Christ by improving our individual and family gospel study program
and improving our Sabbath worship. The Church’s role in the salvation of its
members is more of a supportive role and places the major responsibility on
families and individuals.
This week my wife and I continued to have scripture
study together by reading the Book of Mormon. For our individual scripture
study program, we are now reading the “Come Follow Me for Individuals and
Families” lessons. Today when we came home from our Sunday meetings, we discussed
what we had learned from our individual study. It was a fun experience to be
able to discuss the scriptures we read during the week on our own and the
impressions we had received, and I know if we continue to do this each week our
testimony and understanding of the scriptures will deepen and our love for
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will increase.
When the rich young man came to Jesus and asked what
he needed to do to have eternal life, Jesus to him that he should keep the
commandments and then the young man said he had done that all his life. The
young man then asked, “what lack I yet?” Jesus told him to sell all he had and
then “come, follow me” (Luke
8:22). We have all been given the same invitation to come follow Jesus Christ.
We may not have to sell all we have, but we each have something that we
consider as precious as the young man’s wealth that we must be willing to “sell”.
Are we willing to sell whatever it is that is keeping us from coming closer to
the Savior or will we go a way sorrowing because we are not willing to sacrifice
our ‘wealth”?
My wife and I are excited about these changes and the
opportunity to accept the invitation to come follow our Savior. As we increase
our personal and family gospel study it will bring us closer to the Savior and
at the same time, we will grow closer as a couple.
’Twas
the night after Christmas when all through the house
Everyone
was posting, and clicking their mouse
The
Instagram filters were chosen with care,
In
hopes that each image would soon get a share.
The
children were all on the couch iPads and tablets in their hands
While
images of zombies and angry birds ate up the WiFi bands.
And
mamma with her Mini and I with my Android
Updated
our status and sent messages into the void.
I could go
on, but I’m sure you can guess the rest of the poem. In many ways Christmas has
become a time of getting lost in our gadgets, instead of spending time with
family, friends and service. What did you get for Christmas is the question the
children ask their friends as we spend time updating our status on Facebook and
sharing images on Pintrest and Instagram. How much time was spent talking about
the person whose birth we celebrate during this Christmas season? Thomas S.
Monson, once said:
“The gifts so acquired are
fleeting. Dolls break, dresses wear out, and fun games become boring.
Pocketknives are lost, trains do nothing but go in circles, and trucks are
abandoned when the batteries that power them dim and die.
“If we change but one word in our
Christmas question, the outcome is vastly different. “What did you give for
Christmas?” prompts stimulating thought and causes tender feelings to well up
and memory’s fires to glow ever brighter.
“Giving, not getting, brings to
full bloom the Christmas spirit. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and
God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul,
and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people
than things.” (“Christmas
Gifts, Christmas Blessings”, Ensign, December 1995).
Celtic Carol - Lindsey Stirling
As the
Christmas season ends and we look to the New Year, many of us will make
resolutions of the things we hope to be able to accomplish during the New Year.
Along with the diets, exercise, projects that we want to do I challenge each of
us to include service as one of our resolutions. What can we do to help our
neighbors, someone that is suffering, lost his or her job or a loved one, or
the young mother that is overwhelmed?
President
Monson in that same article tells of a family that lived in Star Valley,
Wyoming long ago where the father was away from home working trying to support
his family. One evening one of the boys overheard his mother praying:
‘Heavenly Father, there is no food
in our house. Please, Father, touch the heart of somebody so that my children
will not be hungry in the morning.’
“When she finished her prayer, she
looked around and saw her son had heard; and she said to me, somewhat
embarrassed, ‘Now, you run along, son. Everything will be all right.’ (“Christmas
Gifts, Christmas Blessings”).
The story
continues:
“(the boy) went to bed, assured by
Mother’s faith. The next morning, (the boy) was awakened by the sounds of pots
and pans in the kitchen and the aroma of cooking food. I went down to the
kitchen, and he said, ‘Mother, I thought you said there was no food.’
“All she said to me was, ‘Well, my
boy, didn’t you think the Lord would answer my prayer?’ I received no further
explanation than that.”
Years
later after the boy grew up, went to college and had a family he came home and
Bishop Gardner told him the rest of the story. He said:
“I
had finished my chores, and we had had supper. I was sitting by the fireplace
reading the newspaper. Suddenly, I heard a voice that said, “Sister Ballantyne
doesn’t have any food in her house.” I thought it was my wife speaking and
said, “What did you say, Mother?” She came in wiping her hands on her apron and
said, “Did you call me, Father?”
“‘“No,
I didn’t say anything to you, but I heard a voice which spoke to me.”
“‘“What
did it say?” she asked.
“‘“It
said that Sister Ballantyne didn’t have any food in her house.”
“‘“Well,
then,” said Mother, “you had better put on your shoes and your coat and take
some food to Sister Ballantyne.” In the dark of that winter’s night, I harnessed
the team and placed in the wagon bed a sack of flour, a quarter section of
beef, some bottled fruit, and loaves of newly baked bread. The weather was
cold, but a warm glow filled my soul as your mother welcomed me and I presented
her with the food. God had heard a mother’s prayer.’”
The scriptures tell the story of the wise men that came to
see the Christ child and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and
myrrh.Matthew tells the story:
Now when Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men
from the east to Jerusalem,
Saying, Where is he that is born
King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to
worship him.
And they said unto him, In
Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet,
When they had heard the king, they
departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till
it came and stood over where the young child was.
When they saw the star, they
rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
¶And when they were come into the
house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and
worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto
him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:1-11)
I hope
that as the memories of this Christmas season fades that we will remember how
the wise men followed the star that led them to the Christ Child and when they
had found him, they presented him with their gifts. What gifts will we present
to him? I do not discount the gifts that the wise men gave, but I don’t believe
that Christ would have us give him material things, instead I think he would
like us to give gifts of love to others, charitable service to those in need
and gifts of comfort to those that need our help.
As we give
of ourselves in this way we well receive the greatest gift of all from him when
he says to us at the last day:
Well done, thou good and faithful
servant . . . enter thou into the joy of thy lord…Inasmuch as ye did it not to
one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. (Matthew 25: 21,
45)
I invite
you to watch this 3 minute video titled “Wise Men Still Seek Him”. Are we wise enough
to continue to seek him?
Wise Men Still Seek Him - Modern-day Story of the Wise Men
Your
comments and questions are welcome. I would
appreciate it if you would share this with your social media friends.
Today was our Christmas program in church and one of
the speakers, Silas Smith, told the story of how the song “O Holy Night” was written.
I loved it so much I want to share it as we celebrate the Savior’s birth. I don’t
know where Brother Smith found the story he told in church, but I found this
version of it at Beliefnet.com.
With the information from their source and a Wikipedia article I found,
here is the story of how “O Holy Night” has become one of the most sung
Christmas Carols along with some of my favorite versions of “O Holy Night”.
In 1847 a parish in France had just finished restoring
their organ and the Priest wanted to have a special musical number during the
midnight mass on Christmas eve that year. The Priest asked a local poet, Placide
Cappeau de Roquemaure, to write the words for a new song. Placide
Cappeau de Roquemaure was not only a poet, he was the commissionaire of
wines and more of an atheist than an active believer. He was honored by the
request and he went to work by studying the gospel of Luke’s story of the birth
of Jesus Christ and imagining what it would have been like to be present and
witnessing the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The Poem was titled “Cantique de
Noel”.
The poet asked a well know classical musician, Adolphe
Charles Adams, to write the music for the song. The request to write
music for a Christian song was and interesting request since he was Jewish and
did not believe that Jesus’ birth was divine, but he went to work on the
project and the result was performed for the first time by an opera singer,
Emily Laurey, on Christmas Eve 1847 in an obscure Parish in France.
The new Christmas carol was an instant hit among the French
people and was often performed in Catholic Christmas services until the heads
of the Catholic Church found out the words were written by an atheist and the
music by a Jew. It was banned from church services; however, the French people
loved it so much that they continued to sing it anyway.
O Holy Night found its way to America thanks to the
efforts of American Unitarian minister, John Sullivan Dwight, he loved the song
and wanted to bring it to America. He was also an abolitionist and thought that
the third verse was supportive of the importance of banning slavery: "Truly he taught us to love one another; his
law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is
our brother; and in his name all oppression shall cease." Dwight
translated “Cantique de Noel” and called it “O Holy Night”. The Christmas carol
was particularly popular in the North during the Civil War.
The Christmas carol has another first in its history
when on Christmas Eve 1906 Reginal Fessenden, a university professor and former
chief chemist for Thomas Edison, was the first to broadcast his voice over the radio
waves. Until that time the radio waves only carried the dots and dashes of Morse
code. On that night professor Fessenden spoke into a microphone the words from
Luke chapter 2 of the Savior’s birth and then he picked up his violin and
played “O Holy Night” which became the first song broadcast over the radio.
“Since that first rendition at a small
Christmas mass in 1847, "O Holy Night" has been sung millions of
times in churches in every corner of the world. And since the moment a handful
of people first heard it played over the radio, the carol has gone on to become
one of the entertainment industry's most recorded and played spiritual songs.
This incredible work--requested by a forgotten parish priest, written by a poet
who would later split from the church, given soaring music by a Jewish
composer, and brought to Americans to serve as much as a tool to spotlight the
sinful nature of slavery as tell the story of the birth of a Savior--has become
one of the most beautiful, inspired pieces of music ever created.”
I hope that we can all
pause in our rush to buy presents, wrap them, and put them under the CHRISTmas
tree that we will remember why we have this holiday. It is the birth of The
Only Begotten son of Heavenly Father in the flesh, Jesus Christ that we celebrate
Christmas. We celebrate his birth, his life, his atonement, and resurrection.
We celebrate the love that he has for us and for the gift of his life that he
gave to us that allows us to return to his presence and the presence of Heavenly
Father as families if we will only have faith in him, repent of our sins, are baptized
by those having authority to perform saving ordinances, make and keep covenants
in the Lord’s house that will bind us together as families.
In the words of Tiny Tim
from Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” “God bless us everyone”; and from that jolly
old elf himself: “Happy Christmas to all”.
Like many families, one our favorite Christmas traditions was telling
the nativity story by each family member, once they were old enough, acting in
one of the various parts of the story. I was usually the donkey (for more
reasons than being the dad – I fit the part!) that Mary rode to Bethlehem. Our only daughter, Michelle, was always Mary.
Whoever was the new born child was baby Jesus and Michael our oldest, was
normally Joseph. As our family grew or when we had visitors join us for
Christmas, we were able to add the shepherds, the inn keeper, the wise men, and
various animals. This was always one of the most memorable times during the
Christmas season and our children loved participating in the story. Now that
our children are grown and have children of their own, they are continuing the
tradition of having their own nativity stories with their children playing
various roles.
In addition to these basic roles in the nativity story, there are many
other participants including Zachariasand Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna in the
temple, the Angel Gabriel, King Herod, and many others. The nativity story also
includes all that parts of the ministry of Jesus including, the disciples who
followed Jesus, those who were curious, those who hated him, those who believed
his testimony, those who were healed or forgiven, the Roman soldiers, those who
betrayed him, and so many others.
In the Americas we have another group of people that showed great faith
and those who plotted against the believers. Each one that participated in the
events that lead up to the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ, through his
ministry, and eventually to the cross and his resurrection chose their
individual roles.
I hope that if I had lived during that time that I would have been one
of the supporting roles and not one of the detractors or one that rejected him.
Because of my faith and belief in Jesus Christ now believe I would have been
one of the wise men that knew of the prophecies and had come seeking to know
where the King of the Jews was and then finding the child I would kneel at his
feet and present him gifts. Maybe I would have been among the Shepherds tending
the temple flock of sheep that to whom the Angel announced the birth of the
baby and then they said: “let us go see”. I hope that I would have gone to see
and then having seen testified to everyone that the prophecies were fulfilled,
that the Messiah had come.
I could not see myself in the role of the detractors. I would hope that
I would not have been the Innkeeper that said there was no room for Christ in
his life, or those that rejected Christ because he was from Nazareth, Joseph’s
son, or because he taught hard doctrine. I definitely would not be among those
that threw stones at Christ, screamed that he should be crucified, or nailed
him to the cross.
I could see me being someone in the crowd that heard him and then chose
to follow him, that cried to him as he passed by to stop and heal me, to eat
with me, or to bless my child. There are so many ways that we allow the Savior
into our lives or shut him out. Do we cry out that we should not believe him because
he does not follow what we think is the “law of Moses” or are we looking for a
better way to love God and our fellow men?
My hope this Christmas season is that whatever role we choose, we
choose so that our actions testify to the world that Jesus Christ was born,
lived, served everyone, and was crucified so that everyone would have the
opportunity to be resurrected and live again. What nativity part would you
choose to play?
Your comments and questions are welcome, and I encourage you to share
this with your friends and family.
Home Free, Angels We Have Heard on High
The Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square – For Unto Us A Child Is Born
