This is a talk that I gave in sacrament meeting on August 11, 2019. I usually don't write out my talks word-for-word, but I did this time. Joseph also spoke, and there were about 250 in the congregation! My mind wasn't nervous, but my body seemed to think that I should be; I had those nervous feelings in my stomach, which just plain wasn't fair because it kept tricking my mind into thinking I was nervous!
Anyway, here it is :)
Anyway, here it is :)
The Gospel Principles manual defines sacrifice as “giving to
the Lord whatever He requires of our time, our earthly possessions, and our
energies to further His work.” To me, creating an eternal family is the thing
most worthy of sacrifice.
When I think of sacrifice, I always think of my dad. My dad
hadn’t even heard of the Church before meeting my mom. At the time they met, my
mom was a hardworking single mother of two little boys, and my dad was a nice,
cigarette-smoking, alcohol- and coffee-drinking Harley Davidson rider. But he didn’t
fail to notice his pretty neighbor taking her two- and four-year-old sons to
church every Sunday, a sacrifice of her own.
My parents married and had three more children. My
dad took the missionary lessons, and for years, he had known that the Church
was true. The only thing
holding him back from making the covenants he knew to be right was his
struggles with the Word of Wisdom—particularly his smoking addiction.
After a long and difficult fight, my dad was finally free of
the addiction which had bound him for years. When I was six years old, I sang
“I Am a Child of God” at his baptism. When I was seven years old, my family was
sealed in the Chicago, IL Temple. My little brother was born into the covenant
less than a month later. When I was eight years old, my dad baptized and
confirmed me a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He
was there for me when I went through the Mesa Temple almost exactly two years
ago, and he was a witness when Joseph and I were sealed in the Provo City
Center Temple on May 3, 2018. He has given me numerous priesthood blessings
throughout my growing-up years and in my adult life.
None of these blessings would have been possible without
sacrifice. Smoking, in particular, had been an important part of his life—a
physical need that his body craved. But he gave it up for something even more
important: eternal family.
Another example of sacrifice from my dad was his treatment
of my mom’s two sons, my oldest brothers. He adopted them, raised them, and loved them just as any good father loves
a son. He went from living the life of a single twenty-something-year-old to
being the father of two little boys.
Of course, I couldn’t speak of sons and sacrifice without
mentioning our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son. A primary song poignantly
illustrates sacrifice from three people. As I read the lyrics, listen and see if you can identify the people who sacrifice:
How could the Father tell the world
of love and tenderness?
He sent his Son, a newborn babe,
with peace and holiness.
How could the Father show the world
the pathway we should go?
He sent his Son to walk with men on
earth, that we may know.
How could the Father tell the world
of sacrifice, of death?
He sent his Son to die for us and
rise with living breath.
What does the Father ask of us?
What do the scriptures say?
Have faith, have hope, live like
his Son, help others on their way.
What does he ask? Live like his
Son.
To me, the three people
to sacrifice in this song are Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and
each of us individually.
First, Heavenly Father. In order for many, if not all, of
His children to return to live with Him, He sent His Son to this Earth, where
He knew, as recorded in Isaiah 53, His Son would be
“despised and rejected of men; a
man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;… stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted… wounded for our transgressions… bruised for our iniquities…
oppressed… taken from prison and from judgment… [and] cut off out of the land
of the living.”
Do you think that Jesus Christ’s health and well-being were
important to Heavenly Father? Of course. But “God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Heavenly Father sacrificed something
important for something even more important: eternal family.
The second to sacrifice in this song is the Savior Himself.
I’ve already described much of His sacrifice. Jesus Christ was born, lived,
died, and was resurrected for us. He atoned for us, “which suffering,” He said
Himself, “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 not drink the bitter cup, and shrink…”
Was comfort of spirit and body important to Jesus
Christ? Surely it was. But He sacrificed that for something more important:
eternal family. “Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and
finished my preparations unto the children of men” (D&C 19:18–19).
Finally, the primary song asks, “What does the Father ask of
us?” Each of us, individually, is the
final person to sacrifice in this song. I invite you to initiate an attitude of
righteous sacrifice in your own life. Perhaps begin by considering the
following questions:
What is important to me? What is more important to me? How can I show the Lord what is most important to me?
Perhaps the answers are obvious. In my dad’s case, the
promise of eternal family easily beat out smoking and drinking as the most
important thing in his life. But the answers aren’t always so clear. President
Oaks has said,
“More common are those choices
between one action or another. These include choices between good or evil, but
more frequently they are choices between two goods.”
Whether sacrifice in your life means giving up an addiction,
changing your work habits, putting your education on hold, pursuing your
education, paying a full tithe, going out of your comfort zone to share the
gospel, or simply choosing between two goods, I promise that Heavenly Father will see and know and
recognize your sacrifice. He will give you the strength you need to overcome
the pain and discomfort that inevitably accompanies sacrifice. When we give up
something important for something more important, Heavenly Father will reward
us more than we can imagine.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
