He is the Gift

Today was an exquisite sacrament meeting. The music was extraordinary. I can't believe the beautiful talent of so many individuals in our ward. I was asked to speak on the significance of Christ's birth. My mind immediately went to Nephi 11, which talks about the condescension of God, and the video Share the Gift, on LDS.org. I found the best talk by Bishop Edgley that spoke on the subject.

I unfortunately read the majority of my short message today. I wish I had the dynamic speaking power to elaborate my feelings without reading as well as share meaningful stories from my own life, but I don't seem to have the insight and talent to do that yet. I wanted to include a portion of my talk, just for record's sake. It's something I hope to remember not just during Christmas, but all the year.

"As the angel taught Nephi, he may have been speaking of two condescensions—one of God the Father and one of the Son, Jesus Christ. Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles elaborates, “‘The condescension of God,’ of which the scriptures speak, means that the Immortal Father—the glorified, exalted, enthroned ruler of the universe—came down from his station of dominion and power to become the Father of a Son who would be born of Mary, ‘after the manner of the flesh.’” God the Father also condescended by sending His Only Begotten Son to suffer the sins of the world. The Savior is God’s gift to us.

While God the Father’s condescension reflects His great love for all mankind by permitting His Only Begotten to be sacrificed for even the humblest and lowliest of His children, Christ’s condescension was more personal and visible—for He was the sacrifice. His condescension was manifest by who He was and the way He lived. His condescension can be seen in almost every recorded act of His 33 years of mortality.”

 Bishop Edgley goes on to explain that in His life:

 "Jesus Christ descended to be born of mortal woman, even though He was glorified and exalted.

·     He descended to be baptized of man, even though He was perfect and sinless.

·     He descended to minister to the humblest of the humble, even though He was exalted.

·     He descended to subject Himself to the will of the Father, suffering Himself to be tempted, mocked, scourged, cast out, and disowned, even though He was all-powerful.

·     He descended to be judged of the world, even though He was the Judge of the world.

·     He descended to be lifted on the cross and slain for the sins of the world, even though no man could take away His life.

The magnitude of God’s work is incomprehensible. It is infinite. From His magnificent throne, Jesus Christ, the God of this world, all-knowledgeable and all-powerful, descended. Indeed, it is sobering to ponder that He alone would come down from this glorified throne to face the most extreme humiliation and suffering that mortality could inflict.”

I read once of a woman experiencing a grueling battle she called a thorn in her flesh. We all have thorns—nagging, sometimes agonizing reminders of our fallen state. They could be depression, anxiety, or mental illness. Sins and temptations we can’t seem to shake. Addictions. Difficult childhoods. Physical impairments or ailments.

For her it was an obsessive compulsive disorder she found so overpowering.

Then one Christmas the Lord gave her an insight that brought her some peace.

He reminded her of Nephi’s vision of the Tree of Life and the angels’s explanation of God’s condescension. She realized that the love of God isn’t best manifest in His might and glory and creation and dominion – though it is expressed there, too, of course – but in His humility, His empathy, His willingness to, what she called, “get down in the dirt with me,  from a place infinitely higher to my lower and lesser place.”

After discovering this, she recorded some of her thoughts and feelings.  This is a portion of what she wrote…

 For all the lights and tinsel, for all the sparkling packages and clanking bells, for all the Hallelujah choruses, the decadent food, the elaborate parties, the ugly sweaters with sequins and snowmen and swirls — we are honoring the birth of a God who, ultimately, came to suffer; and in His sufferings, triumph.

That is not to say the triumph doesn’t deserve the joy and gaiety we lavish upon it; merely that this year I need to focus on the humility of His beginning and the depth of His condescension — so lowly, so meek, that He came to meet me where I am.

O Come, all ye faithful.  O Come, all ye doubtful. Come, all ye sorrowful and shameful and prideful and sinful.

Come lay your burdens at His feet.  Come take part of the condescension of Christ.  You are never so low, but that He has gone lower.  You are never so lost but that He will seek you out.

As we embrace this beautiful gift, even the gift of  the Savior of all the world, let us learn of Him, testify of Him, and emulate Him in mercy, in compassion, in humility, in obedience, in service, in sacrifice and in love. 

I also shared the words to this video at the beginning of my talk. It's so beautiful and tied in perfectly with Bishops Edgley's words.

The first gift

Was not wrapped

Had no bow

Wasn’t purchased online

 Or in a store

The first gift of Christmas

Was a simple gift

A sacred trust

It wasn’t gold

Or frankincense

Or myrrh

It was a gift of love

And life

And peace

And hope

Given by a Father

To all his children

“for God so loved the world”

And so loved you

And you

And you

And every single one of us

He gave his Son

He is the Christ

He is Christmas

He is the gift

This Christmas season

Discover the gift

Embrace the gift

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Begotten Son that in him all should not perish, but have everlasting life.