Yom Kippur and the fellowship of Christ's sufferings

It was on a Monday this year, two weeks ago today - the 10th day of Tishrei. Tradition holds that the original Yom Kippur or "day of Atonement" took place on Moses' second visit to Mt. Sinai (see Exodus 32). He had been up on the mount communing with the Lord long enough for the Israelites, who had come with him this time, to have given up on him. Their rebellion went far enough to include both building and worshipping a golden calf. The Lord, who had just miraculously delivered them from bondage in Egypt and their pagan gods, had this suggestion for Moses: "Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation." (v 10)

If Moses had wanted an out, this was his shot. These people that had abandoned, reviled and murmured against him over and over - a simple "ok" is all it would have taken. Moses' seed could then have been the Lord's chosen people to inherit the promised land all by themselves. Was it tempting? Would it have been for you or I? 

Moses is up to the test though. Instead of the proposed annihilation, he advocates for the people and heads down the mount knowing that for them repentance is now a matter of life and death. With a decent's worth of planning Moses comes upon the camp in this way. He "cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it." (v 19-20) He asks "Who is on the Lord's side?" and before nightfall 3000 of the Israelites on the other side have been slain. This is what his advocacy looks like that day.  

Then the morning comes. Before departing to the mountain again, Moses says, "Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. 

And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." (v 30-32)

WHAT! Did Moses really just offer his own salvation as a potential sacrifice for the lives of this rebellious people?! This is a complete reversal from the previous "not them but me" scenario the Lord had offered. This one is "not me but them." This unlikely proposition had to have warmed the Lord's own heart. Moses really loved them. He had learned to love them wholly, fully, and deeply - despite their weaknesses and even despite their rebellions. In likeness of the ultimate sacrifice the Lord himself would offer for a world in sin - Moses was now willing - asking even - to be made a sacrifice for the repentant, but ultimately incredibly unworthy Israelites.  They are his people. He's not abandoning this ship. 

Is this not an Abrahamic like test? Moses came to know by experience a little bit of the heart and mind of the Lord through this experience. Is this not the "fellowship of his sufferings" (3:10) that Paul writes to the Philippian saints of. 

Ironically, this year's Yom Kippur happened just shortly after the 200th anniversary of young Joseph Smith's first trip up the Hill Cumorah to retrieve the plates. Joseph likely understood little about the firestorm of suffering that the opening of that stone box would unleash. Ultimately betrayed by some of those closest to him - some of those who he had given most for. He stayed the course. Welcome to the fellowship Joseph.  

What about the invitations each of us receives to such a fellowship within our own circumstances? Will we accept them? Will we join the fellowship? 

The Justification for the Singlet

I bought a singlet online a few months ago because of the direction that a scripture study took for me. Kind of strange, I know. It marries two great loves of mine however. Two admissions should be noted right off the bat. First, it doesn't take too much to get me excited about wrestling, and second, this singlet was purchased for display - not to be worn (except for maybe once when it arrived out of excitement 😬).  Here's the story and the reason it hangs in my seminary office now.

Luke, speaking of the Savior suffering in Gethsemane, records, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly…” (22:44). It’s interesting here that it’s “an” agony – used as a noun. In a quick search for the etymology of the word “agony” I found the following in an illustrated etymology dictionary.     

What contest could Luke 22 be referring to then? It’s description is found in the Savior’s prayer only a couple of verses earlier: “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done (vs. 42). The Lord describes this contest of wills to Joseph Smith almost 1800 years later saying “[This] suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might drink the bitter cup and shrink—Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men” (D&C 19:18-19). Certainly there is suffering and pain in his description, but also an internal contest between His will and the will of the Father. He prevails by letting God’s will prevail.

President Nelson taught that "[O]ne of the Hebraic meanings of the word Israel is 'let God prevail.' Thus the very name of Israel refers to a person who is willing to let God prevail in his or her life" ("Let God Prevail," GC Oct 2020). Israel is the name Jacob is given as a result of a great wrestling match also. In the 32nd chapter of Genesis we have the scant account. In verses 9-12 jacob pleads with the Lord to protect him from his brother's wrath. After preparing a gift for his brother, "Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day... And [the man] said, let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me... And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." (v. 24, 26, 28) Jacob wins like Jesus won in Gethsemane, by letting God prevail. Elder Maxwell taught about such a contest of will saying, "Consecration thus constitutes the only unconditional surrender which is also a total victory" ("Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father," GC Oct 1995).

We're all in that wrestling match too. As the Savior explained the purpose of the creation of the earth He said: "And we will prove [mankind] herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them" (Abraham 3:25). The singlet is a reminder to me of the team we're all all on, the very real contest we're in, how we can win, and Who showed us how.

I love how the Lord allows things that are important to me to point powerfully to Him! 

Only good things

I realize that this one likely stood out to me so I could prepare myself for some chastening. :/ I’m still working on being altogether happy about that. :) Laman and Lemuel famously, and perhaps even humbly, said to their brother, "Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear.” (1 Nephi 16:1) That might sound something like, “Dude?! That’s harsh!” or even “You can’t say that!” today. 

What if we heard only good things though? What if no one corrected us; no one checked us as we tread dangerous paths? Is that really what we want?

Elder Holland said that some people at least think they do:  

"Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don't rock the boat but don't even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds." (GC April 2014 "The Cost and Blessings of Discipleship").

The ultimate sugar daddy, such a god would spoil his children rotten instead of grow them into gods themselves. Elder D. Todd Christofferson laments:

"[M]uch of of modern Christianity does not acknowledge that God makes any real demands on those who believe in Him, seeing Him rather as a butler "who meets their needs when summoned" or a therapist whose role it is to help people "feel good about themselves ." It is a religious outlook that makes no pretense at changing lives." "By contrast," as one author declares, "the God portrayed in both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures asks, not just for commitment, but for our very lives. The God of the bible traffics in life and death, not niceness, and calls for sacrificial love, not benign whatever-ism." (GC April 2011, "As many as I Love, I rebuke and chasten").

Joseph Smith taught: 

"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." (Lectures on Faith 6:7) 

One of the things we must sacrifice, Laman and Lemuel are learning, is the deception that we are doing just fine and don't need to change. Sometimes times its a mortal messenger our Father in Heaven uses to break the news to us too.  

Nephi teaches his brothers, "The guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center." (1 Nephi 16:2) Rigid things often cut more easily. Could hard hearts and fixed mindsets be a big part of their problem? Nephi continues:

"If ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed to it... then ye would not murmur because of the truth and say: Thou speakest hard things against" (1 Nephi 16:3).

The word "willing" sounds like a more patient, growth oriented mindset. That great sacramental word can bring a softness to our hearts that allows them to resist the the cutting of sharp correction and grow stronger because of it. Elder Christofferson challenges us not just to receive correction then, but even to seek it. He said: 

"Though it is often difficult to endure, truly we ought to rejoice that God considers us worth the time and trouble to correct" (GC April 2011, "As many as I Love, I rebuke and chasten").

How do you soften yourself to receive hard feedback? How do you seek and even invite correction in your work? How about those you teach - I'm sure sometimes you have to give correction. How do you make sure to give it with great love?

Retention?

The Lord wants Zoram to stay too. His grace is given to Nephi to help hold him and then convince him to stay. Will not the Lord also give us His grace as we seek to help others to come to Christ and stay? Zoram will learn over time that although it costs him his allegiance to Laban’s cause and household, his choice to remain with Lehi’s family spares him the destruction of Jerusalem and purchases his freedom from servitude - to say nothing of the spiritual effects.

Not the conventional pattern of things — is there a relevant modern parallel? Maybe just in the fact that to help someone stay requires personal and perhaps dramatic attention - something that could grasp them. One significant truth is that God empowers our efforts in those moments because He wants them to stay too. This reminds me of a rock climbing story told by Elder Holland.  

 Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet

God strengthened those little arms that day to catch and hold what they shouldn’t have been able to. Most have felt the heartbreak of watching someone we love leave. What lessons about retention can we learn from Nephi, Zoram, and Elder Holland?

 

Nephi as a young new leader

With his heart freshly softened to believe the words of his father, and after having spoken with Sam, Nephi prays for his hard hearted brothers Laman and Lemuel. The Lord tells him: "inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren" (1 Nephi 2:22). The youngest of the four, Nephi may have been inclined to let this go to his head. After all, "it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion" (D&C 121:39). It's no mystery then that the second and third chapters of this book of books, written for all of us in our weakness, are packed with lessons on righteous leadership. One of my favorites takes place on their trip to back Jerusalem. 

Nephi had a tall task. The Lord told him, "inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord" (1 Nephi 2:21). Nephi must lead his brothers in righteousness in a way that they will choose not to rebel against the leadership of their younger brother. His first test comes in the next chapter when they are less than excited about what the Lord has asked them to do through Lehi, their father. After accepting the task, we learn that "Nephi and [his] brethren took [their] journey in the wilderness... to go up to the land of Jerusalem" (1 Nephi 3:9). I wish we had more of the conversations that may have taken place among the brothers before they left. A good leader is gently persuasive.

The next two verses explain that: "[Nephi] and [his] brethren did consult one with another. And [they] did cast lots--who of us should go in unto the house of Laban" (1 Nephi 3:10-11). A good leader doesn't dictate, he knows that "the power of counseling in council is revelation... [it] is about inviting, receiving, and recognizing revelation" (David A. Bednar, Church News, 17 Nov 2021). He also knows that participation in such a counsel grows each person. I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've been given to counsel with the Lord and His servants on how best to do His work. It has stretched me and filled me. How can I invite more of my ward members, students, colleagues, and children, into the discussion so that we might hear the voice of the Lord more clearly and be drawn to Him in His work?  

Resolutions

 

So I saw a scripture a little different the other day. I think I stumbled onto the only time the word “resolution” is mentioned in the scriptures (at least Gospel Library search couldn’t find any others). I’d been thinking about resolutions and what mine were going to be this year – that’s probably why the word stuck out to me when I saw it. It’s in Alma 47:6, and it’s the first time that you really hear about Lamanite dissenters. Nephite dissenters (like Amalickiah’s band) you hear about all the time – but this is the first (maybe only) time you hear about a Lamanite split off. They have left because they refused to go to battle against the Nephites as their king had commanded. Now, they are not going to go join the Nephites, but they were serious enough about all this that they had appointed a king over themselves named Lehonti, and gathered together to prepare themselves to do battle. Verse 6 says that they were “fixed in their minds with a determined resolution that they would not be subjected to go against the Nephites.” This doesn’t sound like some whimsical, “I’m going to get in shape” type of resolution. They are serious enough about it that they are willing to put their lives on the line for it – they are preparing to do battle. 

So I got to thinking about how seriously I take my resolutions. There are obviously some that matter way more than others. That’s usually what has killed the lesser ones -- “it’s just not worth the effort” at some point. But that can’t be all of them, otherwise I’m stuck… and sinking – not conscientiously moving forward and making progress, just floating ang flowing wherever life and circumstance take me down the course of least resistance. Nobody ever became more like Christ that way. And a whole lot of people have become things they never wanted to be that way. I think everyone feels like they have got to take hold of the things they can control – the ones that really matter – and choose their course. 

After having made that decision, and being all in about it, things should be easier. But that’s not the story Alma 47 tells. In fact, by the very next chapter they are marching to battle against the Nephites – the one thing they were willing to risk their lives not to do. So I got to thinking about how they got there so quickly.  They may have wrongfully assumed that the only way they could be “subjected to go against the Nephites” was by force – so they gathered to “Onidah,… the place of arms” (47:5) and prepared their defense. You know the story though, Amalickiah’s cunning plan is much more subtle. A clever ruse, two deceptive murders, and a serious publicity campaign later and he has won their hearts and incited their anger – they have turned a full 180 degrees. He has united their hearts for his evil purpose even though it was originally decidedly against their own. By the time the story is over there has been mass carnage among these Lamanites. Wow – the one time the word “resolution” is used and they can’t even keep it a whole chapter. What can I learn from their story to avoid the same fate for my resolutions?      

Resolutions are nothing more or less than serious goals, right? It follows that the most important goals we can set are the ones move us forward in the most important ways. Nothing is more important, more central to the purpose of this life than walking the covenant path, preparing to meet our Father in Heaven by becoming more like His Son, Jesus Christ.  While it is a well-defined path, my next step on it is an individual and personal thing. The Church has effectively said with the Children and Youth Initiative: “God will tell you personally what you need to do to become more like Jesus.” And He does. Most of the time these promptings come in still small ways, though, and it is our responsibility to place the exclamation points behind them. We decide to fix our determination on following them or to let them blow by. Like Oliver had to, we must answer the question: “What greater witness can [we] have than from God?” (D&C 6:23)  

When our mind has been made up, when we’ve heard Heaven’s voice and fixed our resolve, that’s big. It really is! The story of Lehonti’s group (in Alma 47) says we’re still going to need to be on our toes though.

The most effective angle of attack is not usually head on. As a dedicated fan of high school wrestling, I’ve seen many great, full speed, committed attacks that were thwarted simply because they were head-on – straight into the power of an opponent’s defense. Amalickiah, and Satan, seem to know this too. Their carefully angled approach doesn’t meet the stern resistance of Lehonti’s force. They slide in undetected in this story and mass carnage results. How could these Lamanites have more carefully guarded the angles? “Pray always” the scriptures answer, “That ye may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work” (D&C 10:5). If Lehonti would have been a praying man he could have been alerted. If his people would have turned to God they could have been helped and ultimately spared. 

In an age when there are multiple billion dollar industries built up around siphoning away attention (cell phones, advertising, social media, etc..), focus is the hottest of commodities. Unaware or undisciplined, the carrot patch of our focus may daily be filled with enough rabbit holes that I am robbed of the yield I really desire and sometimes desperately need. “Yea, and I also exhort you, my brethren, that ye be watchful unto prayer continually, that ye may not be led away by the temptations of the devil, that he may not overpower you, that ye may not become his subjects at the last day: for behold, he rewardeth you no good thing” (Alma 34:39). Lehonti would definitely say so.  

His Son not sparing

 

I’ve been more anxious for his welfare than I thought I’d be. Despite my general even keel, I found myself wondering, worrying about, and praying for Isaac’s happiness multiple times each day as we waited for the report of his first week in Ghana. When it came it was literally like Christmas. Deana ran excitedly upstairs and read his message to us (She’s generally not known to move so quickly in the mornings:)) Joy and extreme gratitude filled our home and hearts. He’s doing so well! Our prayers had been answered!

On the drive to work I chose to give thanks. After a heartfelt prayer I sang aloud a favorite hymn: “How great Thou art.” The third verse caught me by surprise. I’d sung it many times before, but this time as I sang: “And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, I scarce can take it in,” I suddenly couldn’t. The truth that my son was doing so well and had been blessed so greatly this first time so far away from home was precisely because His Son wasn’t or didn’t - hit me like a ton of bricks. With His unlimited power, He didn’t spare His own Beloved Son out of love for mine. 

And though I couldn’t audibly for a few seconds, my soul sang.