talk
We are the Budge's and we have been in the ward about 7 years. We are one of the oldest, non-Cheerio sacrament families in the ward, meaning we no longer have to resort to bribery to get our kids to seat quiet in sacrament meeting. Don't get me wrong, we had plenty of those kinds of days. In our first married ward in SLC there was even a big glass partition behind the back row in the chapel. It was kind of a cool cry room where you could still see and hear the speakers in sacrament meeting. Inevitably we were in that room every week. I remember Dave even telling his friend Brett Belliston, "I won't judge you by your baby if you don't judge me by mine." Needless to say those early years of parenting were some of the toughest of our lives. One day my husband told me. "I think they are just getting it out of their systems early. I really think we are going to have the world's best teenagers". For some reason I really believed him and you know what? He was right! We really have had the sweetest teens.
We have been asked to speak on how we have been sustained through times of trial and also about the atonement and the resurrection. Believe it or not, these two topics can be intertwined. Easter and the resurrection signify new life and new beginnings. If there is one thing I have learned over the years it is that the rise of every sunrise signifies a chance to start anew. revelation 21-23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
revelation 22-5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
This mentions that in the New Jerusalem , we will have no need of a sun or moon or even night time as the Lord God will shine his light always upon us. When I realized this I wondered why we had to have night and day on earth. Beyond the apparent reminder that there is opposition in all things including the day from the night, I realized that this condition was given to us exclusively to remind us each day is a new time and a new chance to repent.
On a personal note, some of you know we have dealt with health issues the greater of 13 years. Our family has a faulty gene in the processing of the vitamin folate. that may not sound like a big deal, after all there are plenty more vitamins available, but folate is involved in almost every metabolic function of the body. We have seen the Lord bear his very arm in our behalf and have had many trials but many blessings in seeking healing. I want to thank all of you for your patience and perseverance with me. Recently one of our daughters became sick again. I want to thank you all for all your thoughts and prayers. Not only is she doing better and better, but I feel myself getting over an illness that has been with me for a few years. They say Trigeminal neuralgia is the suicide disease as it is so painful. I feel like it was only through the grace of God that I was able to continue working and mainly be sick on my days off. That may sound strange, but it really was a blessing. They finally discovered the varicella virus had attacked my spinal cord and was irritating my trigeminal nerve. The whole left side of my body was in pain. I have been really pain-free since February. I just have to take an anti-viral the rest of my life, but I am telling you now I would eat a cow-pie everyday if someone told me it would keep the pain from coming back.
I was working the day of the ward fast for our daughter. i was very touched when Dave and the kids told me people were praying for her even at church. I just want to tell you a little about the day after your fast. I was not doing well. Just as our daughter was beginning to do better, I realized with horror, that her prescription had completely disappeared. Clozapine happens to be the most tightly controlled medicine in the Untied States. We literally tore the house apart looking for the bottle. Again I said another prayer "Heavenly Father, even if we went to the ER they would not give a prescription for clozapine. The pharmacy will not release more pills. Heavenly father there is just no choice, I have got to find those pills". I had another moment of calm come over me and I felt like, in time, I would find them. My husband is a very polite man. He always leaves me the car with the fullest tank of gas. I should have thought more of it when he left me his yellow sports car with just a quarter of a tank and stole my car instead. I was even kind of annoyed when I had to try to fit all my groceries in the trunk. In fact, I ended up having to place the dogfood and waters in the backseat. After I unloaded the car and found out my daughter's pills were missing, I had a strange impression I needed to bring in the dogfood. "This is really stupid', I thought. "I have a lot more important things to do than worry about dogfood." The thought would not leave me so I headed out to get the dogfood. As I lifted up the bag, I suddenly knew the pills were under the pile of junk in the backseat. I picked up some papers and my daughter's lunch bag and a rounded, white label caught my eye. "This is because of the people praying for you too", I collapsed into tears now, just so very grateful that the clozapine that I had been so neglectful in keeping track of had materialized.
In spite of all our efforts , and the cycles of new days and old days, sicknesses and healings, the day will come when we all pass from this life to a new one. This is what makes the story of Easter and resurrection that much more powerful. I want to talk about what we can do right now to get the significance of the atonement and of new beginnings with us all year not just on Easter. For this we will have to travel back in time to the Savior's last night on this earth. On the evening before he was crucified, Jesus partook of the Last supper with His disciples. The Last supper was a Passover Seder. As I have studied the last supper in depth, the symbolic beauty of the Jewish Passover, and the intercessory prayer, my understanding of Christ’s love for us and how we are to serve one another has grown immensely. A lot of my information I found on some old cassette tapes I purchased by Truman Madsen called Jesus of Nazareth and from a book Celebrating Passover by Marianne Monson-Burton.
As they began the meal everything started out normal, but
then Christ passed around
the communal bowl of charoseth sauce and revealed that the
disciple that dipped
unleavened
bread with him in the sauce would betray him. That was the
first shock.
Jesus took the first
cup of wine and gave thanks which was according to tradition.
Then when Jesus took
the unleavened
bread and broke it the disciples expected to hear about the
exodus story of how this was
the bread
their ancestors ate. Instead Christ said “This is my body
which is given for you.
This do in remembrance
of me.”There are four cups of wine at the Seder table that
are poured and blessed.
Most scholars believe
that Jesus used the 3rd cup and said “Drink ye all of it;
for this is my blood of the New
Testament.
The disciples must have been shocked just as if someone changed
our sacrament prayer. What was Christ
doing? Actually it is crucial to realize Christ was not changing
Jewish symbolism to
apply to him. Jesus
was the premortal Jehovah who instituted the feast AS A SHADOW AND A TYPE
OF HIS SACRIFICE.
W. Cleon Skousen said, “Jesus did not initiate Christianity after all.
He simply restored
the rich religious
culture that God had shared with mankind from the earliest times.
(time in Chicago)
As the apostle Paul explains, the law of Moses was ‘our schoolmaster
to bring us unto
Christ,” providing
“a shadow of good things to come.”The word sacrament means “to
remember that
which made us holy.”
To truly understand this, we must remember that blood sacrifices would
no longer be
effective after his death.
What would the saints be left with? Actually a higher law…we come to the sacrament
altar to “offer up our
sacrifice---our sins, our commitment, our will, a broken heart, and a contrite spirit.
From CS Lewis mere Christianity “And let me make it quite clear that when Christians
say the Christ-life
is in them, they do not mean simply something mental or
moral. When they
speak of being "in Christ" or of Christ being
"in them," this is not simply
a way of saying that they are thinking about Christ or
copying Him. They
mean that Christ is actually operating through them; that
the whole mass of
Christians are the physical organism through which Christ
acts-that we are.
His fingers and muscles, the cells of His body. And perhaps
that explains
one or two things. It explains why this new life is spread
not only by
purely mental acts like belief, but by bodily acts like
baptism and Holy
Communion. It is not
merely the spreading of an idea; it is more like
evolution-a biological or super-biological fact. There is no
good trying to
be more spiritual than God.
God never meant man to be a purely spiritual
creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and
wine to put the
new life into us. We may think this rather crude and
unspiritual. God does
not: He invented eating.
We
live in the perilous times prophesied by the Apostle Paul (see 2 Timothy 3:1). Those who try to walk the straight and narrow path
see inviting detours on every hand. We can be distracted, degraded,
downhearted, or depressed. How can we have the Spirit of the Lord to guide our
choices and keep us on the path?
In
modern revelation the Lord gave the answer in this commandment:
“And
that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt
go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;
“For
verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors and to pay thy
devotions unto the Most High” (D&C 59:9–10).
This
is a commandment with a promise. By participating weekly and appropriately in
the ordinance of the sacrament we qualify for the promise that we will “always
have his Spirit to be with [us]” (D&C 20:77). That Spirit is the foundation of our testimony. It
testifies of the Father and the Son, brings all things to our remembrance, and
leads us into truth. It is the compass to guide us on our path. This gift of
the Holy Ghost, President Wilford Woodruff taught, “is the greatest gift that
can be bestowed upon man”
The
ordinance of the sacrament makes the sacrament meeting the most sacred and
important meeting in the Church.
I
found this quote in my brother’s manual from his Old Testament class .It was
from a handout entitled “The tabernacle IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES” which was a
portable temple of sorts. It compared the blessing of the sacrament in the old
testament times with the table of ‘shewbread’ with our now current
sacrament. It states the members now
have the blessing of the sacrament (the table of shewbread) which acts as a
cleansing ordinance of the Church. During the sacrament prayer, a priest in the
Aaronic priesthood kneels, as did the priests of old, and implores God to bless
and sanctify (cleanse by the power of the Holy ghost) the souls of those who
partake of the sacrament. The cleansing is sure to come to those who—A.
remember the body of Christ. B. Are willing to take upon them the name of
Christ. C. always remember Christ. D. Keep the commandments. Added to the cleansing is the promise that
Christ’s spirit will always be with them.
It seems that the priest is not only asking for sanctification of the congregation,
but that they will always have a conscience. Compare what happens to the saints
with what is happening in the world. The
world is losing its conscience. What
greater blessing could the saints have than the cleansing of their sins thru
the sacrament, THE GIFT OF A CONSCIENCE, AND PEACE, AS THE WORLD AROUND THEM
SPIRALS DOWN? What better way to keep thoughts of the resurrection and the atonement with us all year then to strengthen our reverence for the sacrament?
·
In the final
hours of his mortal ministry, Jesus taught and strengthened his Apostles. Remember these are words meant for all the
followers of Christ. Never in my life have I felt so strongly that these
scriptures relate to all souls everywhere.
It is not hard to imagine that Christ is talking directly to you in the
following verses…because in all actuality…that is how he meant it.
·
John chapter 14:1
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2. In
my father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also.
o • The Savior told the Apostles that he would send the
Comforter (the Holy Ghost) to them (John 16:7).
·
What is meant by
the second comforter Christ spoke of during this time? From the book “Spiritual Lightening” by M.
Catherine Thomas. Recall the passages in
John where the Savior told the twelve that he would be with them only a little while
(John 13:33). Peter responded with “Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? Jesus, sensing their pain, almost their desperation,
at his leaving them, promised, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come
unto You. (John 14:18). The English word
COMFORTLESS translates the Greek word for orphans. “I will not leave you
orphaned”. The Savior continues, “If a
man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will
come unto him, and make our abode in him. My peace I give unto you: not as the
world giveth, give me unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
be afraid. John 14:27. Here we grasp the stunning insight that the
Lord Jesus Christ himself is that consolation, that compensation, designed from
the foundation of the world to comfort the human pain of fallenness, to
compensate men and women for their earthly reductions and sacrifices. Only the atonement, of the redeemer can heal
the pain of the fall. When we feel how
much he loves us, we cannot help but love him, “ John writes, “because he first loved us” His love is the consolation.
o
With a
perfect understanding of his mission and that the time of his atonement was “at
hand”, Jesus concluded the teaching portion with a prayer. It is a prayer sometimes referred to as the
high priestly prayer or great intercessory prayer. This is not incorrect. First Christ offered
himself as an offering: then, as Mediator, he interceded on behalf of worthy
members of his kingdom. The pattern had
been established in ancient Israel. Once
each year, the presiding high priest in ancient Israel entered into the holy of
holies, the most sacred place in the tabernacle. There he would perform certain rites in
connection with the Day of Atonement, a day set aside for national humiliation
and contrition. Having bathed himself
and dressed in white linen, he would present before the Lord a young bullock
and 2 young goats as sin offerings. And a ram as a burnt offering in behalf of
the sins of the people The high priests role was that of mediator, or one who
interceded with the Lord in behalf of the people His role, was a type of our
great mediator the savior. He did so as
our Intercessor, or Great high priest.
In
the first part of the intercessory prayer he offers himself as the great sacrifice. His hour
had come. the second part is was a reverent report of his mission. In the last part of his prayer, Jesus
interceded not only for the 11 apostles present, but for all those who would
believe. In order that all would come to
a perfect unity, which unity invested Christ in them as Christ is in the Father?
John
17:9
I
pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them that thou hast given me;
for they are thine. And all mine are thine
and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Verse 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
and I in thee, that they also may be one with us. That the world may believe
that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them;
that they may be one, even as we are one.
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in me and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved the, as thou hast
loved me. And I have declared unto them
thy name, and will declare if: that the love wherewith who hast loved may be in
them, and I in them.
What better way to keep thoughts of the resurrection and the atonement with us all year then to strengthen our reverence for the intercessory prayer and make the Holy Ghost forefront in our lives?
Another
surprise for the apostles occurred when the Savior performed a chore normally
only performed in those days by slaves.
I know I have heard this story before, but this time it really had a
profound effect on me. Even maybe more unusual than the
change in the bread and wine, Jesus girds himself with a towel, grabs a basin
of water and kneels down at Peter’s feet.
Peter immediately protests and says “oh, no, Lord…this is beneath
you. Then Jesus says that peter will
understand this later, but for now that if he doesn’t wash him that he would
have no part with him. Then Peter is
like “OK wash my hands and feet everything.”
So after he had washed their feet,
and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know yet
what I have done to you?
"Ye
call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
"If
I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one
another's feet.
"For
I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you.
"Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither had
he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
"If
ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John 13:12-17).
Marvin
J Ballard of the Twelve Apostles “states…In teaching His Apostles about the
Resurrection and the Judgment, the Savior made it clear that service to mankind
was among the critical factors in this process.
While
it is tempting to apply the parable specifically to Church service—especially
home teaching and visiting teaching, which seem to have such direct application
to ministering to those in need—I don't believe the Savior's scope was in any
way limited by ecclesiastical connection. He regards all of humanity with equal
love and tenderness, and I am confident He would have us extend our Christian
vision beyond the ward and the stake. The Church is extensively involved in
humanitarian service throughout the world, and the members of the Church are
becoming more aware of our obligation and opportunity to "the least of
these"—wherever and whoever they might be.
I’m
a little relieved that Christ did not bring the scales of justice or a gavel into
the last supper, but chose instead to bring a simple wash basin. Yes, sinners have to pay for their sins. Yes,
I am a sinner myself, but we have to be careful that justice does not rob mercy. In my half-blind, state…I’m afraid I wouldn’t
make much of a judge anyway. I’ll leave judgment to the Lord. I like the job he assigned us. Maybe it’s time to get out our own washbasins
and kneel before each other. To gird the cloak of charity around our shoulders
as we unabashedly wash the grime, the sweat, cigarette smoke, does it really
matter what it is? from each other’s weary souls.
Maybe
this type of charity is the type required to usher in the unity of spirit that
will welcome Christ back to the earth. And when he comes again revelations 21-23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
revelation 22-5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
…. from Revelations
21
And
I saw a new Heaven and a New earth for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away; and there was no more sea. And I john saw the city the new Jerusalem
coming down from God out of Heaven And I heard a great voice out of heaven
saying , Behold , the tabernacle of the Lord is with men, and he dwell with
them and they shall be his people , and God himself shall be with them, and be
their God. And God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor
crying, neither shall there be any more pain for all former things are passed
away.
The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
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