THE SACRIFICE OF ALL THINGS

At the onset of the Saviour's ministry Jesus began to recruit his disciples who were converted by the ministry of John and were ready to follow the Master and learn from Him in order that they might begin to build Christ's church. As he journeyed through Galilee preaching, the Saviour came to the lake of Gennesaret where he found two empty ships that belonged to Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. The ships were empty as the two brothers were washing the nets following a fruitless night of fishing. The Saviour entered Simon's ship that he might preach to the crowds that were gathered on the shore. When he had finished speaking He told Simon to launch out into the deep and let down his nets once more. Simon reminded Him that they had been out fishing all night and had caught nothing but at His will, he would let the nets down one more time. Of course when the nets were pulled up, they were brimming with fish. Obviously, the Saviour made this happen to teach Simon and Andrew that He would make them fishers of men if they would leave everything and follow Him. The brothers did just that and the rest is history. One cannot help but wonder if there was an element of sacrifice in the call issued by the Saviour to these men. At this stage they were not even called to be apostles but only disciples. The element of sacrifice lay in the timing of the Saviour's call which was not issued when the nets were empty but when the nets were full. If He had invited them to follow Him before the biggest haul of their careers they might have chosen to follow Him because there was nothing much keeping them back. The call, however, was issued when the nets were brimming with fish and the fishermen stood to make a lot of money. How difficult it must have been for Simon and Andrew to leave those nets on the shore bulging and to walk away abandoning their all. 

Later when the brothers were called to the apostleship with the rest of the Twelve, the Saviour commissioned them to go and preach the Gospel to the whole world, He told them He was sending them 'forth as sheep in the midst of wolves' (Matthew 10:16), that they will be delivered up to the councils and be scourged in synagogues (vs 17) and that they shall be hated of all men for His name's sake (v 22).  What would have gone through the brothers' minds as they heard this bleak pronouncement? Might they not have cast their minds back on the fish they abandoned on the shores of Gaililee? The Saviour in return had promised them salvation (v 22) but this salvation born out of their sacrifice would blossom into eternal life. 

Contrast this successful story of sacrifice with another not so successful one. Just prior to preaching in Galilee and following his communion with God in the desert, the Saviour came to Nazareth and attended the local synagogue on the sabbath day. The scripture that He chose to read to the congregation would open the way for Him to proclaim himself as the Messiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18,19). This scripture has a strong reference to the Year of Jubilee, being the meaning of the 'acceptable year of the Lord'. This was a year appointed by Moses for ancient Israel to observe every 50 years (Lev 25:10), a year of significant sacrifice for those who were not 'poor' for during this whole year all debts were to be cancelled, all property reverted back to its original owners and all prisoners and slaves were freed. Observance of the Jubilee Year was to keep all Israel in remembrance of the Messiah who would come to set them at liberty spiritually. By the time the Saviour made His appearance in mortality, however, Israel had long ago abandoned observation of the Jubilee Year but they understood its' meaning. As the Saviour finished reading this scripture, He sat down and said: "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21).  Not only was He is claiming He was the Messiah but He was drawing their attention to the year of significant sacrifice which they were no longer observing for obviously this is not the way to do business, to pardon all debts and to give all property back to their original owners and to free the slaves. What an inconvenient Messiah He was. No wonder they could not accept his spiritual deliverance when they couldn't observe the law of the physical one.

Joseph Smith once said that "a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation". Perhaps no one would qualify better than Joseph Smith to issue such a statement for he truly had sacrificed all things during his mortal probation; his time, family, reputation, freedom, even his life. Joseph Smith also said that the sacrifice of all things was necessary in this dispensation so that the ancients will have nothing to laud over us. In other words, our sacrifices in this day have to equal the ones made by saints of old or they will outstrip us when it comes to qualifying for the kingdom at the judgment bar of God. No doubt Joseph was thinking of outstanding examples such as Abraham, Lehi, Joseph, Peter, Paul and many others who had sacrificed so much for the cause of truth. Certainly Joseph, emulating their examples, and the early saints of this dispensation, gave their all for the purpose of building up Christ's kingdom on earth once more.

The law of sacrifice is the very first covenant we make in the temple. It goes hand in hand with the law of consecration for it asks us to consecrate our time, talents and money for the building up of the kingdom of God and for the establishment of Zion. Because we live in such affluence compared to the early saints, very often we interpret this covenant to mean we have to pay tithing and fulfill our callings. We tend to think only of the 'building up of the kingdom' and neglect to focus on 'the establishment of Zion'. It is comparatively easy to donate money for the building of chapels and temples compared to the not so obvious establishment of Zion for Zion is more than a place, it is a state of the heart. I don't know that we will ever be asked to walk away from our houses and our fine furnishings and life long achievements but I do know that we are asked to consecrate our hearts to the  Kingdom of God, being the Church. And what is the Church? The Church is us. To many of us this will be far fetched for the sacrifice of the heart means giving up judging, criticizing, back biting, resentment, jelousy and envy. It means rejoicing in each other's achievements, coming to the aid of the impoverished, wishing for our neighbour that what we want for ourselves, loving the less loveable, forgiving those who sin against us. It means a selfless existence denying worldly desires, our pride, our self importance and self focus. We live in a 'feel good' world where everybody is out to get for themselves what they can. The Roman Empire fell because they neglected their poor. We too can fall if we do not look after each other. We must be bound in love and duty for without it we cannot build Zion. We must do this because we cannot become like Christ if we don't. We must do this because we must prepare to be lifted up when He comes in all His glory to gather us home for if we don't we will not be found worthy to stand. And stand we must if we are called the saints of God.

TO LOVE AND BE LOVED

"A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said: 'Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.' The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said: 'You have seen Hell.'

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said: 'I don't understand.'  'It is simple', said the Lord, 'It requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other.'

- Author unknown

When the Saviour comes again, the saints who will be ready to meet Him will be a Zion people. They will be the people who have learnt to feed each other, care for each other, carry each other's burdens and who have shown and given love. In latter-day scripture the Lord admonishes the Church to  '......succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down and strengthen the feeble knees' (D&C 81:5). The fact that there are people in the Church who are weak and whose hands hang down and who have feeble knees would suggest that the Church is full of members who are struggling. It also suggests that the Church is not perfect for the Church is US. We, the members who make up the Church of Christ live at many different levels of moral development and spiritual awareness. Our tendency, however, is to act as though everyone has a common understanding of the gospel and an equal ability to live its principles. This leads us to criticism and judgment of our fellow brothers and sisters who we believe should live by our personal view of what the Church should be. This view tends to make us believe that we should exclude from our fellowship those we do not consider worthy of our elevated circle. Included in the group we deem 'unworthy' are also those we consider 'different' from 'normal' church members, those who do not fit the so called 'Mormon mould'.

I fear that instead of working together to make the Church a more charitable institution some of us are ostracizing and even persecuting those who are different and do not conform to our way of thinking, desiring to prove them wrong. I have heard of many such cases over the years, instances that have driven people away from the Church and that have left them expecting a higher level of Christian behaviour from its' members. Even though we are in the Church primarily because of the covenants which we have made with God, acceptance is something we all need to feel a part of the body of Christ. Even though some of us may have different opinions, passions or ideals "....the Church includes all of us who have taken upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ and given our allegiance to His restored gospel. The Church includes the limitations, weaknesses, and prejudices as well as the faith, hope and charity of all of us who call ourselves Mormon, from the apostles and prophets in Salt Lake City to the latest converts in New Guinea, Nigeria, and the Ukraine." (Robert A. Rees, Forgiving the Church and Loving the Saints: Spiritual Evolution and the Kingdom of God, Sunstone Magazine, February 1992)

How can we come to the point of total acceptance? The answer is simple: love. When Nephi wanted to know the interpretation of his father's dream of the tree of life the angel that came when summoned asked Nephi if he knew what the tree represented. Nephi said it was the love of God. The angel confirmed this truth and as soon as he did Nephi was given the vision of the Saviour's ministry among men. Why? Because Jesus is the embodiment of God's love for us. The Father cannot show his love for us in a greater way than to sacrifice His Only Begotten Son for the sake of the rest of us. Jesus is our mediator between us and the Father. We cannot go to the Father but through Him and so the exchange of love between us and the Father passes through Christ. How can we show the Father that we love Him as He has loved us? Jesus himself gave us the answer: "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15)  What is the very first commandment? To love God with all our might, mind and strength. And the second? Like unto it, to love our neighbour as ourselves. In other words, first love God and second, love that member in your Ward that you think is slightly weird. When we enter the Celestial Kingdom, we will not enter it alone. We will walk through those pearly gates with our families first and then with those we have saved. The trick is, we never know which member of our Ward needs saving because we are not in a position to completely know the heart of another. A former bishop came to realise after many years of counselling people that some of us due to some trauma or excessive hardship have an impaired ability to live certain commandments and are feeling it is beyond them to develop into morally responsible adults. Of the more stronger of us, it is expected to 'succor the weak', not drive them away by our judgment, criticism and intolerance. He recounts the following story:

"Two years ago an attractive woman moved into our ward. She dressed and carried herself in a provocative manner. She attracted men quickly and was openly flirtatious, even with me. Through a series of interviews her troubled history unfolded. I discovered that she had been born out of wedlock, abandoned by her mother at an early age, sexually abused by a grandfather and uncle while still a toddler. She was taken into several foster homes in which sexual abuse continued. She was promiscuous in her teens. She was taken in by an LDS family where the father made sexual advances toward her. Yet when she was twenty-one, she served a successful mission. One would have thought that her life had changed completely. Following her mission she became engaged to a fellow missionary with whom she later became intimate. Her self-esteem crumbled and the engagement was broken. Six months later she was working as a prostitute in Los Angeles. This woman was given a new beginning when she began to work with a psychotherapist. It was clear that it would be very difficult to overcome the burden of such an abusive and troubled past. Through long hours of counseling with me and with her therapist, loving attention from home and visiting teachers, financial assistance, and various other forms of fellowship, we supported her efforts to break the pattern of her desperate and self-destructive need for male attention. After some time, she made a carefully planned move to be near her mother in another state. Unfortunately, I learned recently that she was back in Los Angeles working as an escort for rich businessmen. While she was in our ward, this sister was the subject of criticism by other ward members who only saw the surface of her behaviour. Being aware of her history, I knew it was completely unjust to judge this woman by normal standards of morality, and yet I couldn't betray her confidence by telling others why she should be treated with greater patience and charity." (Robert A. Rees, Forgiving the Church and Loving the Saints: Spiritual Evolution and the Kingdom of God, Sunstone Magazine, February 1992)

To feel God's love, we must first experience love of other human beings. It is extremely difficult for people to feel the love of a person whom they cannot see when they do not feel loved by people that they can see. Those who doubt God's love are usually those who doubt the love of their parents and others. These are they who feel unlovable. It is our responsibility as fellow saints and disciples of Christ to make the Church fulfill its' central mission - to bring love to every human being by bringing them unto Christ. The Celestial Kingdom is reserved for those who have learnt to love God, themselves and their fellow beings. We cannot abide in the presence of Father's pure love if we have not learned to love purely ourselves. To live with Him, we have to be like Him. In the process of striving to be like Him we never know whom we can rescue from some dim corner of the chapel. 

It is true that no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of heaven (3 Nephi 27:19) and therefore we need to live righteous lives. However, keeping ourselves unspotted from sin alone will not ensure eternal life. The real deciding factor on judgment day will be whether we have learnt to love through our faith on Him who has beloved us. We who carry His name should be beacons of God's love. We are the light by which suffering hearts can find the shore. We must reach out to the unloveable, the different, the downtrodden, the weak. We must provide the shelter from the storm and put our loving arms around each other for we are all broken, afflicted, weary and tempest tossed. May we find the love of God in each other's arms and may we keep those arms ever open and our lights ever burning to light the way for those who are lost.

Brightly beams our Father's mercy

From His lighthouse evermore,

But to us He gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore.

Dark the night of sin has settled;

Loud the angry billows roar.

Eager eyes are watching, longing,

For the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;

Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,

Trying now to make the harbor,

In the darkness may be lost.

Let the lower lights be burning;

Send a gleam across the wave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

- Philip Paul Bliss, 1838-1876