Sister Collins and I hosted the Elders for a zone training meeting and lunch today. We have offered to do this once each transfer in order to provide a more intimate setting for this meeting and also to give us some time to address issues we feel are pertinent. It is a treat to have the Elders in our home. Their enthusiasm and love for the work abounds, and they so much enjoy being around each other! One can’t help but be uplifted when in their presence.

I shared a lesson regarding sacrifice and used Matthew 19:16-22 as my reference. Often, and rightly so, this section of scripture and its variations found in Mark and Luke is used to exemplify the difficulties that people of means have when it comes to accepting and living the gospel of Jesus Christ. In order to become like the Savior, we must be willing to give up all that we have, and this is a challenge, particularly if we are caught up in acquiring and holding on to material riches. But to focus primarily on material possessions misses the mark, as the Savior’s teaching has far greater depth. To appreciate a deeper meaning to this teaching requires us to understand what the word sacrifice means within the context of our religious beliefs. It means giving up something that we like and value for something that God wants us to do or have. And giving up something we like and value is never easy, and it certainly entails a greater breadth than just material possessions. A more practical way to define sacrifice might be this, “the giving up of something that takes us out of our comfort zone for something that God wants us to do or have.” And “comfort zone” refers to anything that would cause us to feel uncomfortable if we gave it up either because we are too strongly attached to it or because we believe we are incapable of changing. And that could include anything. 

When the Savior tells the rich ruler the commandments he should follow, the man responds that he has followed all of them since his youth. That is a remarkable answer considering how encompassing these commandments are and how difficult it is for most people to follow them consistently and completely. But this exchange sets up a critical point in the story as captured in Mark 10:21: ”Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest; go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me.” Here, Jesus beholds the man, loves him, and knows him. He sees into his heart and recognizes what his real sacrifice would be, his riches. And with this, the man is moved outside his comfort zone and turns away from the task. This is us: we are always ready to give up that which is easy, but the hard things, the things we believe are burned into our DNA, the things that we believe define who we are, these make up the true sacrifices that we all too often turn away from. And it is these kinds of sacrifices that Christ invites us to make and will help us achieve. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11: 28)    

Fortunately, we are not expected to give up everything at once, but God does expect us to sacrifice, and this is one of the fundamental laws of the gospel. Sacrifice is critical for our eternal progress because without it we will not be able to develop the faith necessary to achieve salvation. This is precisely what the Prophet Joseph Smith stated in the early years of the church: “Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation” (Lectures on Faith, 6:7). It is only through sacrifice that we enter the unknown and truly put our “hope in things believed in but unseen” to the test. Here, through our trust in Christ, we open ourselves to that which we normally would recoil from or wish to keep buried. To expose ourselves thus, we must reach out and allow Christ to provide that which we lack. In doing so, his power and his grace provide the means by which we overcome that which we thought was impossible to do on our own. And in so doing, we learn that Christ is indeed who he says he is and will do all that he says he will do. It is through this understanding that our faith grows. And as our faith grows, so too will our capacity and desire to sacrifice. Our mortal lives then become an ongoing repetition of this cycle until we reach the end, when we “give up our lives” finally and willingly for Christ and are reborn into his presence. That will be a meeting to look forward to.