We talked about feet in class this week. Yup...feet.
When you think about feet, you typically think about nastiness. Something you would not want to touch. Something that's not clean and nice-smelling. Right? That's how I feel, anyways.
Now think back to when Jesus Christ was alive. People walked for transportation, and they typically wore some sort of sandals that didn't cover their feet completely. They were also walking through sewage, trash, and whatever else people put into the streets. I'm sure that their feet were way nastier than the typical American who wears shoes all day. The worst we might have to deal with today is sweaty feet.
It was the job of lower servants to wash people's feet.
In John chapter 13, Jesus Christ, the master, begins to wash his followers' feet.
5 After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
Some of the disciples are okay with it, but Simon Peter isn't about to let the Lord near his nasty feet. He thinks that would be too commonplace and lowly a job for the Son of God.
6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
Jesus gives us everything. He loves us from what He gives us, not what He gets from us. We have to be willing to bare our soul to Jesus and let Him engage with our innermost, dirtiest parts. Because He descended below all things, He is humble and understanding enough to see us at our worst and still love us because He has given us everything.
CS Lewis said: "Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the life of Christ. If we do, we shall then be sharing a life which was begotten, not made, which always existed and always will exist. Christ is the Son of God. If we share in this kind of life we also shall be sons of God. We shall love the Father as He does and the Holy Ghost will arise in us. He came to this world and became a man in order to spread to other men the kind of life He has — by what I call "good infection." Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else."
The Gift has already been given, and if we accept it, we can become a little Christ.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Sunday, March 11, 2018
"he that heareth the word, understandeth the word, which also beareth fruit..."
I want to compare two parables that we learned about this week in class. They are both from Matthew 13.
In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus Christ speaks of a seed being planted. If you've ever read Alma 32, you'll know that the seed is an important symbol of a testimony of the Savior that can grow within our heart. There were seeds that "fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up." There were seeds that "fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away." There were seeds that "fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked them." And there were many seeds that "fell into good ground and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold."
In the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, the tares represent barren seeds of apostasy, while the wheat represents the fruits of the Kingdom of Heaven. Tares grow up to look very similar to wheat, but they cannot be harvested. They don't stop the regular wheat from growing.
I would like to draw a comparison between the thorns that choked some of the seeds in the parable of the sower and the tares in the second parable. The thorns stop the testimony from growing. I think of them as sins of omission. When we allow the world to get in the way of nourishing our testimonies, we aren't necessarily committing sins, but we are forgetting to keep the commandments that will keep the seed growing and strong. Tares are more like trial in our lives. Just because we have tares in our field, it doesn't mean that we are sinful or barren, it just means that we are going to have some hard times intermingles with the good times.
Interestingly, in Matthew 13:27-29, it says " The servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, an enemy hath done this. the servants aid unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them."
Heavenly Father knows that if our lives were perfect, they would be pointless. If someone were to take away all of our trials, our successes wouldn't be as strong. We would have a shallow earthly experience. We wouldn't have the opportunity to defend our testimony against the falsehoods and temptations that oppress. The wheat is stronger because of the tares. We are stronger because of our trials.
In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus Christ speaks of a seed being planted. If you've ever read Alma 32, you'll know that the seed is an important symbol of a testimony of the Savior that can grow within our heart. There were seeds that "fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up." There were seeds that "fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away." There were seeds that "fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked them." And there were many seeds that "fell into good ground and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold."
In the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, the tares represent barren seeds of apostasy, while the wheat represents the fruits of the Kingdom of Heaven. Tares grow up to look very similar to wheat, but they cannot be harvested. They don't stop the regular wheat from growing.
I would like to draw a comparison between the thorns that choked some of the seeds in the parable of the sower and the tares in the second parable. The thorns stop the testimony from growing. I think of them as sins of omission. When we allow the world to get in the way of nourishing our testimonies, we aren't necessarily committing sins, but we are forgetting to keep the commandments that will keep the seed growing and strong. Tares are more like trial in our lives. Just because we have tares in our field, it doesn't mean that we are sinful or barren, it just means that we are going to have some hard times intermingles with the good times.
Interestingly, in Matthew 13:27-29, it says " The servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, an enemy hath done this. the servants aid unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them."
Heavenly Father knows that if our lives were perfect, they would be pointless. If someone were to take away all of our trials, our successes wouldn't be as strong. We would have a shallow earthly experience. We wouldn't have the opportunity to defend our testimony against the falsehoods and temptations that oppress. The wheat is stronger because of the tares. We are stronger because of our trials.
Monday, March 5, 2018
"Be of good cheer; it is I..."
In Matthew 14: 25, it says that the disciples' sailing trip wasn't going so well. "The ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the sea was contrary." I've never actually gone sailing before, but I imagine that it's a lot easier if the wind is not blowing contrary to the direction you are trying to go. Jesus knew that they were tired.
He's the commander of all the elements of the entire earth. You'd think He could bother to make the wind softly blow his friends to shore, without any trouble.
He doesn't do that. Instead, he waited until they have labored all night long, until somewhere between 3-6AM. They were rowing and toiling from sundown until about 3 in the morning, at best.
Plus, this was a pretty crazy storm. Peter was a professional fisherman, and he was still afraid for his life.
So the question is "why." Why didn't Jesus Christ exert his powers to calm the storm for his disciples. These men were dedicated to following Him! Even if He wasn't going to save them right away, why did He wait 9 hours before doing so?
It reminds me of a story called "The Ricciardi Letters" that I read while I was on my mission. After struggling with little to no success in his mission, an Elder talks about his prayer: "That morning I had prayed for close to 45 minutes when I decided to cease praying, still not having formally closed the prayer, just quiet in my thoughts and tears. I was having thoughts of going home, giving up. Then I heard this message: “Elder Humphrey, I am here. I know who you are. I sent you to those neighborhoods, the very ones where you experienced nothing but rejection. I prompted your changes in direction to even more difficult neighborhoods. I know where each of the elect in your area resides. I know their names. I could send you to those addresses only, and save you the time and sacrifice looking for them. BUT ELDER HUMPHREY, WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT SERVE YOU? The mission experience is to do what you are told, when you are told, to go where you are asked, and know that the blessing comes from enduring what I ask of you. This is not about you; it is about opening your mouth at all times in all places. Doing my will without thought to the end result or consequence… this is what serving a mission is."
The Savior doesn't save us in every moment and keep us comfortable. We haven't earned that by being faithful. Instead, we've earned the comfort in knowing that Jesus Christ is in the boat with us. When the storm is raging, He's there and we can be calm on the inside. He wants us to know that we can't do it alone. He needs strong sons and daughters.
In every trial, we are learning something. He is humbling us so that we will listen to Him, rely on Him, and step out of our comfort zone to come unto Him.
He's the commander of all the elements of the entire earth. You'd think He could bother to make the wind softly blow his friends to shore, without any trouble.
He doesn't do that. Instead, he waited until they have labored all night long, until somewhere between 3-6AM. They were rowing and toiling from sundown until about 3 in the morning, at best.
Plus, this was a pretty crazy storm. Peter was a professional fisherman, and he was still afraid for his life.
So the question is "why." Why didn't Jesus Christ exert his powers to calm the storm for his disciples. These men were dedicated to following Him! Even if He wasn't going to save them right away, why did He wait 9 hours before doing so?
It reminds me of a story called "The Ricciardi Letters" that I read while I was on my mission. After struggling with little to no success in his mission, an Elder talks about his prayer: "That morning I had prayed for close to 45 minutes when I decided to cease praying, still not having formally closed the prayer, just quiet in my thoughts and tears. I was having thoughts of going home, giving up. Then I heard this message: “Elder Humphrey, I am here. I know who you are. I sent you to those neighborhoods, the very ones where you experienced nothing but rejection. I prompted your changes in direction to even more difficult neighborhoods. I know where each of the elect in your area resides. I know their names. I could send you to those addresses only, and save you the time and sacrifice looking for them. BUT ELDER HUMPHREY, WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT SERVE YOU? The mission experience is to do what you are told, when you are told, to go where you are asked, and know that the blessing comes from enduring what I ask of you. This is not about you; it is about opening your mouth at all times in all places. Doing my will without thought to the end result or consequence… this is what serving a mission is."
The Savior doesn't save us in every moment and keep us comfortable. We haven't earned that by being faithful. Instead, we've earned the comfort in knowing that Jesus Christ is in the boat with us. When the storm is raging, He's there and we can be calm on the inside. He wants us to know that we can't do it alone. He needs strong sons and daughters.
In every trial, we are learning something. He is humbling us so that we will listen to Him, rely on Him, and step out of our comfort zone to come unto Him.
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