For a boy who would someday become prophet, young Nephi had remarkably simple faith.
Going into the beginning of the Book of Mormon, all he really knows it that God exists and that he loves us (1 Nephi 11:17). Nephi didn't know really anything about Jesus Christ, His future sacrifice, the plan of salvation, the doctrine of baptism... and yet, Nephi's simple faith was enough to carry him through some of the toughest trials of his life. As Nephi exercised his simple faith and expressed his desire to gain more knowledge, God revealed more to him about the future, the gospel, and even helped Nephi understand Lehi's vision. That's a great example to me: gospel knowledge does not equal gospel faith. And sometimes, especially when we're struggling, knowing that God "loveth his children" can be enough for us.
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About a year ago today, I had an experience in Taiwan that impacted me profoundly. Since I've been reflecting a lot on my missionary service with my SMART project, I figured I'd share a piece of that here:
"A very financially struggling member insisted on buying dinner for us. It was so simple. A single spicy McChicken from McD's and some juice. But it meant the world to me. It was all she could afford, and like the widow and her two mites, it was all she had. We tried to politely say no (because we knew about her situation) but she insisted, and said she would always be good to the missionaries. We said a prayer over the food and I was struck powerfully by the spirit. What have I ever done, in my whole life, to merit the kindness and selflessness of a total stranger? What have I done to deserve such sacrifice? I couldn't keep the tears in. This member sacrificed what little she had out of pure love for God and gratitude towards the missionaries. I now better understand Christ's sacrifice for us, and his complete unselfish willingness to give it all away for the people he loved." One of my favorite lessons in this class this semester was when Brother Griffin asked us all to look up "earn" in the topical guide. Then "deserve." I flipped through my scriptures at light-speed like an idiot only to discover... obviously, there's no entry for either of those words. Why would there be? Then I turned to "merit." 2 Nephi 31:19 "And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save." Rely wholly upon His merits. We are 100% leaning on him. It is perhaps the greatest injustice of all that there is nothing you or I can ever do to repay Christ for what he did. In our modern, balance-obsessed society, people get shaky if they aren't immediately Venmoed back the $2 they spent for you at In-N-Out. It feels weird just accepting such a large gift without any expectation of repayment, but not only is it impossible to repay Christ, he doesn't even expect it. All he asks is that we keep His commandments, and treat others with love. The more I read the post-gospels part of the New Testament, the more I become aware of the dangers of proof-texting. In Romans alone, there are singular verses highlighting faith, works, and grace. Without looking at the whole picture, it would be impossible to figure out what the Bible is actually trying to teach. Bible bashing is so useless and counterproductive. It looks at such a narrow view of the beautiful doctrines contained in the New Testament.
Realizing this has inspired me to be more active in how I study the scriptures and contextualize the verses. It's even caused me to revisit some of my favorite scriptures (specifically John 16:33) looking at the full context of the story instead of just a "soundbite." Secret time. For most of my life, I've kind of skimmed over any part of the New Testament between John and Revelations (shhhhhh). Those chapters all seemed really obfuscated, unclearly written, and largely irrelevant to the message of the New Testament as a whole.
Oh how wrong I was! All of the letters and epistles deal with the struggles the early Christians faced setting up a church, confusing culture and tradition with doctrine, accepting outsiders, missionary work, and seeking revelation to grow the young church. Sound familiar? The second half of the NT is about our church today. Reading it through that lens has given me so much sympathy for the early church and for the struggles in our church today. Most importantly, though, the focus of those chapters doesn't shift away from Christ. 8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. Praising God, not Peter! I'm excited to be able to continue studying these chapters for the rest of the semester, and applying this new outlook as I continue as a lifelong learner. I noticed something in our readings this week that was small, but mattered to me. For years I've wondered how in John 13 none of the disciples knew that Judas was the one who would betray Jesus. It seemed so obvious to me. Jesus literally says:
"He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. Um, if this were a normal dinner table, literally every guest would have seen and heard that! What's the point of including that in the story, John? How on earth did "no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him?" Well, after Brother Griffin explained the "U" shape of the dinner tables and seating arrangements of the guests, it all made sense to me. John knew, and Peter knew too, probably. Nobody knew why Judas was leaving because when Jesus said the bit about the sop, it was directed to John only. Anyway. Small detail, big revelation. This week, we covered one of my favorite stories from the New Testament in class: Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
I hope this doesn't seem irreverent, but I have always visualized this scene kind of like a WWE wrestler approaching the ring. The crowd is going wild. Flames are shooting up behind the wrestler. Their walk-on music is LOUD, and the speakers are shaking the room. Every moment of Jesus' final approach into the holy city was deliberate. He knew exactly what he was doing. The timing, the donkey he was riding on, the direction he approached from, all of it pointed towards a fulfillment of ancient prophecy -- the Messiah had come. As a storyteller, I love this part of Christ's story arc. As he grows closer to his great and final sacrifice, he becomes more confident using his power. As a contrast to John chapter 2 when Christ says, "My hour is not yet come," His hour has now come. Jesus is no longer holding anything back. He is telling everyone who he is and reminding everyone that he is in fact God's only begotten. These stories near the end of His life more wonderfully round out the character of Jesus Christ. Earlier in the gospels, we have many opportunities to see examples of Jesus' mercy, love, kindness, attention to detail, respect for others, intelligence, leadership and counseling skills, and sense of morality and righteousness. Stories like the triumphal entry allow us to see Jesus in royal majesty, descending upon Jerusalem like the king He is. "And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." The lawyer in Luke 10 is like a biblical Vizzini from "The Princess Bride." Christ's reaction to the lawyer's attempts at entrapping Him, although not as sarcastic, reminds one of Wesley's classic line from the duel of wits scene, "Truly, you have a dizzying intellect."
In verse 26, Jesus says "What is written in the law? how readest thou?" and turns the conversation around on the lawyer. Jesus then delivers the parable of the good samaritan. Our professor had a really wonderful explanation of the parable. He unpacked every piece, and drew parallels to the Plan of Salvation, the temple, and Christ's mission. Although I really enjoyed hearing the professor's explanation, what hit me the hardest was realizing that my own interpretation of the parable had been very shallow. Professor Griffin is a master at expounding on the scriptures. He'll take a well-known scripture story and fill it with meaning that goes way beyond the surface layer. My reading of the scriptures rarely ventures deeper than the surface. Maybe I don't spend enough time pondering, or likening the stories to myself. But I definitely need to change something about the way I study so that I, too, can find hidden treasures in the scriptures. This week, my eyes were opened to one of my new favorite stories in the New Testament. It starts in Mark 5:22.
Christ is headed into town when a man, desperate for help, stops Jesus and tells him of his plight. This man is a local leader in the synagogues, and had no doubt heard the stories of Jesus' miraculous healings. Mark's account is special because he says that his daughter "My little daughter lieth at the point of death." What I hear in this is, "Please come before it's too late. Hurry. My daughter is dying, but I know you can save her." When Jesus is on the way, he's crowded by the huge masses of people, and there's even a woman who stops him to touch His robe. The woman is immediately healed. But Jesus takes a minute to stop, teach the woman, make her feel important, then send her on her way. In the meantime, the ruler's daughter has died. Can you imagine how you'd feel? I'd be tempted to blame Jesus for stopping. "If you hadn't stopped, maybe you could have made it to save my daughter in time." But Jesus said to the man, "Be not afraid, only believe." They eventually made it to the man's house, and his daughter was healed. As a 21st century man who often finds himself "too busy," this story was a helpful reminder to me that when we're on the Lord's errand, he'll take care of the timing. It doesn't do anyone well to be hurried and worried, and Jesus shows here that even when he was in a rush he was still able to take time out of his day to minister to one person. I will keep working on becoming the type of person that devotes care and energy to people in need, even when I'm in a hurry. There were so many delicious gospel nuggets in class this week. The two that left me the most flavor blasted were the breakdown of the beatitudes and the quote from C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity."
We all know the beatitudes. Blessed are the ____, for they shall ____. Brother Griffin's interpretation goes so much farther than the pretty poetry of the original text. He says that what Christ was teaching us here is step-by-step guide for repenting (or improving any part of our lives, for that matter). Take the first beatitude, for example. "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." When we realize that we are poor in spirit, or in other words lacking something, it is only then when we can make the necessary changes to become better. I love this view of the beatitudes so much. It strengthens my testimony of the Doctrine of Christ knowing that even from His first public sermons, He was teaching about repentance. And when you break it down, repentance is just a fancy word for change. John The Baptist is one of the coolest characters in the Bible. He knows what he's about, and doesn't let anything get in his way. He never loses sight of his main goals.
From even before John was born, he was testifying of Jesus Christ. Luke 1 says, "41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:" How cool is that? From womb to tomb, John spent every moment of his life helping people see how amazing the Savior was. He never gave up, he never rested! What a guy. I hope that in my career, future relationships, and positions of influence, I can be like John, and point everyone towards Christ, |