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Christmas Message 2013

13 minutes

Hello brothers and sisters. A Merry Christmas to us. Imagine for a moment that Jesus Christ were here with us today. What do you think he would he look like? Would he be sitting on the stand next to the bishop dressed in the robes and sandals of ancient Israel? Or would he be dressed in a suit and tie like the brethren sitting on the stand? Whatever he was wearing Im betting he would have the same friendly manner about him that they have. Do you think hed be singing the hymns? Of course he would. Jesus delights in the hymns and considers them prayers unto God. If Jesus Christ were here with us in our worship service today I believe he would be in good spirits. While none of us are perfect, every person in this room and every person you will ever meet or read about proved themselves loyal to him and the Father in choosing to come here to earth under the plan of salvation. Furthermore, we are obeying Jesus commandment to meet together on the Sabbath in his name, to be taught by the spirit and to renew our covenants of baptism through the holy ordinance of the sacrament. I love the words in the gospel of John where Jesus is teaching his disciples and says, Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. I believe Jesus would be in good spirits because he would consider himself among friends! Are we doing what he commands us? To the extent that we are, he considers us his friends. And what is the evidence that we are his friends instead of being his servants? All things that he has heard of the father he has made known to us through his restored gospel. If you have ever wondered if you matter, if you are someone of value, feast upon Jesus clarification that we have not chosen him but that he has chosen us and authorized us to bring forth the fruit of his gospel which will change us and change the world.

If he were here with us today theres a good chance Jesus would invite us to be of good cheer. In the face of troubles and sorrows of every sort he invites his followers to be of good cheer. Its one of his trademarks. To the paralyzed man lying helpless on a bed, Jesus proclaimed, Be of good cheer. To the disciples panicing on their boat in the middle of a storm Jesus appeared on the water declaring, Be of good cheer. To Joseph Smith meeting with ten apostles about to go on missions under extreme circumstances the Lord announced, Be of good cheer. To a prophet in ancient America praying throughout the day that the faithful members of the church would not be murdered enmass the following day, Jesus rejoiced, Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. Why would Jesus invite us to be of good cheer at Christmastime? Because Santa Claus is coming to town? Because theres an expectation of candy, toys, clothing, jewelry, books, iPads, cars, houses or a hundred other gifts? Or is it because were inclined to reach out to others in thoughtfulness and compassion? Because we gather with our families and friends in celebration of the holy birth? Because we sing Christmas carols remembering his birth? To the extent that we focus on Jesus and his work I think he rejoices with us. To the extent we work ourselves into a frenzy over the holiday or spend more money that we can afford he probably wishes wed be kinder to ourselves. I like to think of our savior, Jesus Christ, as the ultimate gift of Christmas, and our traditions of Christmas trees, Santa Claus and gifts as the wrapping paper for that gift. The tradition of Christmas began as an ingenious overlaying by the early Catholic fathers of Christian symbols and beliefs on top of similar pagan symbols and beliefs in an effort to focus the peoples hearts on Jesus Christ. To be clear, the pagans werent bad peoplethey were our ancestors after allthey just didnt believe in God and Jesus Christ. While most of the pagan traditions are benign, Im glad that I didnt grow up with the old Nordic and Germanic tradition of Krampus. We had a chuckle recently when my nephews wife asked him to tell the children about the Christmas traditions of Sweden where he had served his mission. Being a bit of prankster, instead of describing events like the beautiful St. Lucia ceremony, Nathan told

them about Krampus, the demon of Christmas from the Middle Ages. Described looking a lot like the old tradition of Satan with horns, hoofs and a long forked tongue, Krampus supposedly made house calls with St. Nicholas for an accounting of the children. Good children received gifts from St. Nick while Krampus would stuff the naughty children into his sack and haul them off to his lair. Later that night Nathan and Emilys children woke up to nightmares and went and crawled into bed with their parents. Years ago one of my dear family members [Dad] would feel annoyed, even grumpy at all of the energy and money our culture pours into the outer expressions of Christmas. Why couldnt we just focus on the holy gift at the heart of the season? Well, despite the good intentions of the Catholic fathers, Christmas has always been something of a marriage of convenience, a holiday that never belonged entirely to Jesus Christ. Christmas turns out to be what we make of it and as long as we dont confuse the charming outer layers of Christmas with the gift inside, I think Jesus delights in it with us. And there is so much to celebrate about the gift of Jesus! Many of us organize our Christmas gift giving with gift exchanges where this person gives to that person and that person gives to another. In the world of gift exchanges, however, our relationship with Jesus Christ is the most lopsided gift exchange in the history of creation. What do you give the older brother who literally has everything, who already is everything youd ever hope to become? His requests are few but profound: he asks of us a broken heart and a contrite spirit that we might learn to love God above all else and to love our neighbors as our selves. I recently was introduced to a marvelous Christmas carol, In the Bleak Midwinter. The last stanza goes, What can I give Him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb, If I were a wise man I would do my part, Yet what I can I give Him, Give my heart. The savior asks that we be his hands and his angels in caring for one another. He asks for our faith in him in during a remarkably confusing and messy mortality, that we might follow him back home to our father in heaven and take as many with us as we can. I like President Eyrings counsel that being good examples to our friends, inviting them to learn about the gospel and researching and performing the saving temple ordinances for our ancestors, are marvelous gifts, not only to our friends and ancestors, but also to he who gave them to us so we could share

them forward. Finally, Jesus invites us to unload our our weaknesses, sins and sorrows onto himwhich he understands even better than we dothat we might not suffer as he did on our behalf. Jesus gifts to us are truly astonishing. Only through the Holy Ghost can we even begin to perceive their power and beauty. Through his atonement he paid for our sins if we will choose to repent of them. Through his ressurection he opened the way for us to evade death and live forever. Through his saving grace he nurtures and empowers us not only to return home to God but to one day inherit eternal life with God if we choose to do so. Through his example Jesus models how a Zion people think and live. I like how Elder L. Tom Perry expressed it when he said, If the master served, we should serve. If He taught, we should teach. If He prayed, we should also pray. He knew that if we would catch the spirit of His ministry, our hearts and our souls would be so full of that which we had received that we could not be content unless we were sharing, serving, teaching and praying together. Wisdom persuades us to consider the gifts of Jesus from a godly perspective. They are not evidence that were better than anyone else but rather evidence that he trusts us enough to share the wealth with our brothers and sisters who dont yet posses it. For this reason he calls us friends. For this reason he prays to the father on our behalf. For this reason he bids us to be of good cheer. I testify that Jesus Christ lives and because he lives we have abundant cause to be of good cheer. Jesus brought the ultimate gifts of the atonement, ressurection and the possibility of eternal life to the human family. For someone of his power and stature his requests of us are modest and invitingto give up our sins and burdens to him, to humble ourselves that we might learn to become like him and to bring our fellow travelers to him. May we grow to recognize him in everyone we meet and treat them accordingly. Weve experienced him in the generousity shown to our family. We want to be like you. May we submit our wills to God like Mary did when the Angel Gabriel announced the earthshattering news that she would be the mother of Jesus and she said simply and elegantly, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. May we join with the angels in our worship and praise and proclaim, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men that Jesus Christ lives. If Jesus were here with us today I believe that he would rejoice with us and give God the glory. In the holy name of Jesus Christ, amen.