Just so everyone knows, the stuff that is underlined was not in my talk, but is background stuff that I thought I might include. Some underlined statements are shrunken down, and if you really want to read them, you have to copy and paste them somewhere so you can read them. Enjoy!
Missionary Work and
the Atonement
So, I gave my very first 15 minute talk in Church last week.
Also, it was the first time I used notes instead of writing down every word
that I would say. Terrifying. Well, I have to do it again, and I don’t think it
will be any less terrifying. Wish me luck! My name is Cache Staheli, and, being
called to serve a mission, I have been asked to speak in church. For those of
you who don’t know me, I was called to serve in the New Zealand, Auckland
mission. I will report to the MTC exactly one month from today. I have been
asked to speak on the topic of Missionary Work and the Atonement. Specifically
from an address Elder Holland gave to missionaries in the MTC in 2000.
·
The Atonement is central fact, crucial
foundation, and the chief doctrine of the plan of salvation.
·
All members (every member a missionary) and
missionaries are called to teach the atonement.
·
Elder Holland said:
The Prophet Joseph Smith once declared that all things “which pertain to our religion are
only appendages” to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 1 In like manner and for the same reasons, every truth that a
missionary or member teaches is only an appendage to the central message of all
time—that Jesus is the Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God,
the Holy Messiah, the Promised One, the Savior and Redeemer of the world; that
He alone burst the bands of death and triumphed over the captivity of hell;
that no one of us could ever have those same blessings without His intervention
in our behalf; and that there never shall be any “other name given nor any
other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men,
[except] in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.” 2
·
Everything that we do
in all aspects of the gospel: The prayers, the hymns, the talks that are
given—all ought to be focused on the significance of the Atonement of Christ.
·
To explain the
atonement a little (background):
·
When we were created,
God built mortal limits in our bodies.
o
This is so that when
our bodies were taxed beyond what they could endure, something would intervene.
o
This merciful release can take the form of
death, unconsciousness, emotional breakdown, and other things.
o
Christ, being part God, had the ability to push
past this limit.
o
Atonement: Infinite = reach, all-encompassing
scope, power, but also of the infinite pain Christ suffered and the infinite
time it took take upon Himself the sins of the world.
o
Christ-push infinitely beyond this limit
·
As a wrestler, I have felt total and utter
exhaustion. Workouts are designed to push you past the point that you ever
wanted to go. The actual matches are worse though. For all of 2 minutes per
round, you are working your absolute hardest. I heard it once said that out of
all sports, wrestling is one of the absolute hardest. If you make it all three
rounds, all you want to do is fall over and die. However, this is like
comparing an atom to the size of the solar system.
·
We cannot possibly understand the suffering
Christ went through.
o
As He described in his own words, from D&C
19:
“…how sore you know
not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. For
behold, I, God, have asuffered
these things for all, that they might not bsuffer
if they would crepent;
But if they would not repent they must asuffer
even as I; Which asuffering
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 bnot
drink the bitter cup, and shrink— Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I
partook and afinished
my preparations unto the children of men.
·
The amount of suffering that would be required
to bleed from even a single pore would be so great that a mortal man would
almost certainly pass the limit of mortal endurance.
o
Christ would’ve died from the weight of the sins
He placed on Himself, the guilt he felt, and the horrible stress that this
placed upon His body.
o
He took on every individual feeling that every
individual has ever felt. He felt absolutely everything that we will ever feel.
It was extremely hard for him.
o
Although given help from an angel during it, ultimately,
He needed to do it alone.
o
Possibly the most excruciating experience was
being denied the Holy Spirit because of the sins He carried.
§
Not being able to commune with the Father—Never
happened to him before.
§
Prophets believe that this caused His heart to
break—ceasing to work.
§
Every fiber of being taxed more than we can
possibly imagine.
o
He spent the rest of His life: His betrayal,
trial, and finally, His crucifixion, without the companionship of the Holy
Ghost, a thing which he had never experienced before. He wished the cup to pass
from before him, but, He submitted to the will of His Father.
o
Ultimately alone in the Garden, He began the
process in which he would die. The only thing that kept Him alive when He
should be dead was His divine son-ship.
o
When his side was pierced by a spear on the
cross, Water, mingled with blood came forth. For this to happen, his heart had
to have critically failed hours before, in the Garden, because of the immense
suffering he went through, particularly from His being denied the Holy Spirit.
·
Although it is impossible for us to truly
comprehend the suffering in the Garden, we can almost visualize what the cross
felt like, and as such, I won’t go into too much detail about the crucifixion.
o
Know that crucifixion was a form of torture, not
a speedy execution.
o
Designed to make the victim live as long as
possible before they died.
o
Nerves pierced-constant excruciating pain.
o
Unable to take deep breaths—arms above head. Only way to satisfy desire
for breath was to push up on nailed-in feet, crushing nerves, so that you could
intake air.
o
Couldn’t stay up, pain would make you collapse back into unsatisfying,
ragged breaths.
o
The sufferer would live, usually, for days
without finally dying, and usually, not before their legs were broken, causing
them to be unable to push up,
therefore the victim would suffocate and die.
o
Christ could have endured as much pain as could
be inflicted, but His work had been completed, and, after hours, as recorded in
the gospels, He uttered: “It is finished. Father, thy will is done, into Thy
hands I commend my spirit.” And then he gave up the Ghost. He had accomplished
the Father’s work of redeeming us from spiritual death.
·
As we know, the story doesn’t end here, and so
that physical death could not claim us, after He was taken down and buried, He
rose up and was resurrected on the third day.
o
Written in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22: But now is aChrist brisen from the
dead, and become the cfirstfruits of
them that slept. For since by man came adeath, by man came also the bresurrection
of the dead. For as in aAdam all bdie, even so
in cChrist
shall all be made dalive.
o
We are all made alive through the atoning blood
of Christ. Without His mediation, it would be impossible for us to enter into
heaven, for no unclean thing can enter into His kingdom (3 Ne. 27:19)
·
Christ was the only one that could atone for our
sins. He was the only perfect person ever to be born down into earth. As such,
he was the only person that could sacrifice Himself for us.
·
As Isaiah says throughout Isaiah 53:
He is adespised and
rejected of men; a man of bsorrows, and
acquainted with grief…Surely he hath aborne our bgriefs, and
carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted. But he was awounded for our btransgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities… and with his cstripes we are dhealed… He was aoppressed, and he
was bafflicted,
yet he copened
not his mouth: he is brought as a dlamb to the eslaughter, and as
a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth…for the btransgression of
my people was he stricken And he made his grave with the awicked, and with
the rich in his bdeath; cbecause he had
done no dviolence,
neither was any edeceit in his
mouth…his soul an boffering for sin…
my righteous bservant cjustify many; for
he shall dbear their
iniquities…he hath poured out his soul unto adeath: and he was
numbered with the btransgressors;
and he bare the sin of many, and made cintercession for
the transgressors.
·
Christ felt everything that we have felt. Every
pain, sickness, sorrow, pang of guilt, every moment of nervousness, even our
joys: everything. He knew everything about us. He saw us individually, our
faces, etc.
o
He can empathize perfectly with us. He knows us
perfectly, and He knows exactly what we are going through. This is our message
of the Gospel. It is not of the pain he felt, but that we can return to our
Heavenly Father through his saving grace. Christ made it possible for all of
us. This is our gospel.
§ As
Holland said: “The word
gospel [means] literally “good news”
or sometimes “glad tidings.” The “good news” was that death and hell could be escaped,
that mistakes and sins could be overcome, that there was hope, that there was
help, that the insolvable was solved, that the enemy had been conquered. The
good news was that everyone’s tomb
could one day be empty, that everyone’s
soul could again be pure, that every
child of God could again return to the Father who gave them life.”
·
This is the message
that we are taught, and that we in turn need to teach to those who do not know
the good news!
o
It’s not going to be
easy. There will be trials and challenged. That is part of life. As Elder
Holland said:
Anyone who does any kind of missionary work
will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why
can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the
Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t
people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that
of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?
·
Elder Holland goes on
to suggest that it is because salvation is not a cheap experience. It never was
easy. There is this picture of Christ that my mother had put in the basement.
It had an inscription that read as follows: I never said it would be easy. I
only said that it would be worth it.
·
How could we, as the
Church of Jesus Christ expect or
believe it to be easy if it was never easy for Him? God cannot look on sin with any degree of allowance.
·
Those who preach and
teach the gospel have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. They have
to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.
·
Don’t give up hope
though; although salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing for us, remember: we
are not the first one to ask why there isn’t an easier way. If you wonder why’s
there’s not, someone a lot greater and a lot grander a long time ago wondered
the same thing.
·
Now don’t get all
downhearted and depressed. It is not impossible. As it says in Preach my Gospel:
As we rely on the Atonement of Jesus
Christ, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filed
with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made
right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As Christ says: Come unto me,
for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Life is easier than it would’ve
been had Christ not suffered and atoned for our sins. Also, much easier than if
we were doing something bad. Wickedness might seem more fun at the time, but in
the long run, Wickedness never is happiness. It is only through righteousness
that we can be truly happy. Only through
the gift of the Atonement can we return to live with God.
After my talk, we had a luncheon type thing at my house. It was pretty well attended, and It went pretty well. Thanks to everyone that came! The food was great, and if you didn't come, you missed out on really good food!
After my talk, we had a luncheon type thing at my house. It was pretty well attended, and It went pretty well. Thanks to everyone that came! The food was great, and if you didn't come, you missed out on really good food!
