The Atonement
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Brightly beams our Father’s mercy
From his lighthouse evermore,
But to us he gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning;
Send a gleam across the wave.
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.
Dark the night of sin has settled;
Loud the angry billows roar.
Eager eyes are watching, longing,
For the lights along the shore.
Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;
Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor,
In the darkness may be lost.1
“My message is directed to those among us who are suffering, burdened down
with guilt and weakness and failure, sorrow, and despair.”
Q. Does this apply to any of you? Then this
lesson is for YOU today. I stress YOU
because this lesson is individual and it comes from a talk entitled “The
Atonement”, given by President Packer, during the Sunday morning general
session in October 2012.
Pres. Packer shares this hymn I just read, a hymn “seldom sung
in our hymn books,” but one of his favorites because he once experienced, first
hand, the need to be guided by this lower light to safety when he was visiting
Western Samoa.
This story provides a great metaphor of the atonement so we
are going to go ahead and read it.
HANDOUT #1
In
1971, I was assigned to stake conferences in Western Samoa, including the
organization of a new stake on Upolu island. After interviews we chartered a
small plane to Savai‘i island to hold a stake conference there. The plane
landed on a grassy field at Faala and was to return the next afternoon to take
us back to Upolu island.
The
day we were to return from Savai‘i, it was raining. Knowing the plane could not
land on the wet field, we drove to the west end of the island, where there was
a runway of sorts atop a coral break. We waited until dark, but no plane
arrived. Finally, we learned by radio that there was a storm, and the plane
could not take off. We radioed back that we would come by boat. Someone was to
meet us at Mulifanua.
As
we pulled out of port on Savai‘i, the captain of the 40-foot (12 m) boat
asked the mission president if he had a flashlight. Fortunately, he did and
made a present of it to the captain. We made the 13-mile (21 km) crossing
to Upolu island on very rough seas. None of us realized that a ferocious
tropical storm had hit the island, and we were heading straight into it.
We
arrived in the harbor at Mulifanua. There was one narrow passage we were to go
through along the reef. A light on the hill above the beach and a second lower
light marked the narrow passage. When a boat was maneuvered so that the two
lights were one above the other, the boat would be lined up properly to pass
through the dangerous rocks that lined the passage.
But
that night there was only one light. Two elders were waiting on the landing to
meet us, but the crossing took much longer than usual. After watching for hours
for signs of our boat, the elders tired and fell asleep, neglecting to turn on
the second light, the lower light. As a result, the passage through the reef
was not clear.
HANDOUT #2 (story continued)
The
captain maneuvered the boat as best he could toward the one upper light on
shore while a crewman held the borrowed flashlight over the bow, searching for
rocks ahead. We could hear the breakers crashing over the reef. When we were
close enough to see them with the flashlight, the captain frantically shouted reverse
and backed away to try again to locate the passage.
After
many attempts, he knew it would be impossible to find the passage. All we could
do was try to reach the harbor at Apia 40 miles (64 km) away. We were
helpless against the ferocious power of the elements. I do not remember ever
being where it was so dark.
We
made no progress for the first hour, even though the engine was at full
throttle. The boat would struggle up a mountainous wave and then pause in
exhaustion at the top of the crest with the propellers out of the water. The
vibration of the propellers would shake the boat almost to pieces before it
slid down the other side.
We
were lying spread-eagled on the cover of the cargo hold, holding on with our
hands on one side and with our toes locked on the other to keep from being
washed overboard. Brother Mark Littleford lost hold and was thrown against the
low iron rail. His head was cut, but the rail kept him from being washed away.
Eventually,
we moved ahead and near daylight finally pulled into the harbor at Apia. Boats
were lashed to one another for safety. They were several deep at the pier. We
crawled across them, trying not to disturb those sleeping on deck. We made our
way to Pesega, dried our clothing, and headed for Vailuutai to organize the new
stake.
I do not know who had been waiting for
us at the beach at Mulifanua. I refused to let them tell me. But it is true
that without that lower light, we all might have been lost.
Pres Packer goes on to say “I speak today to those
who may be lost and are searching for that lower light to help guide them
back.It was understood from the beginning that in mortality we would fall short
of being perfect. It was not expected that we would live without transgressing
one law or another.”
WHAT
A RELIEF, we were never expected by our Father in Heaven to be perfect, for in
the scriptures we know that
“the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall
of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of
the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint
through the atonement of Christ the Lord.”2
So
it has been established that we aren’t expected to be perfect, thus an
atonement was made to rectify our daily imperfections. Let’s break down this BIG word: atonement.
BD Atonement:
“The word describes the setting “at one” of those who have been
estranged and denotes the reconciliation of man to God.”
The
verb "atone", from the adverbial phrase "at one" (M.E. at
oon), at
first meant to reconcile, or make "at one" with something; from this
the word came to denote the action by which such reconciliation was effected,
e.g. satisfaction for all offense or an injury.
I
like how it is described in Catholic theology: the Atonement is the Satisfaction
of Christ, whereby God and the world are
reconciled or made to be at one. "For God
indeed was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself" (2
Corinthians 5:19).So in our case the atonement
means to be satisfied, to be reconciled, to be “at one” with God.
Finish reading BD to bullet point.
·
The atonement is universally and individually applicable.
o
Universally the atonement is unconditional:
“All are covered unconditionally as pertaining to the Fall of
Adam. Hence, all shall rise from the dead with immortal bodies because of
Jesus’ Atonement. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive” (1 Cor.
15:22), and all little children are innocent at birth.”
So Adam fell and thus became a need
for the atonement. This atonement
then bestowed a gift to all mankind (no matter their religion)—that of eternal
life.
o
Individually, however, the atonement is conditional:
“The Atonement is conditional, however, so far as each person’s
individual sins are concerned, and touches every one to the degree that he has
faith in Jesus Christ, repents of his sins, and obeys the gospel.”
This is our also found in the 4th A of F:
“We believe that the first principles and aordinances of the Gospel
are: first, bFaith in the Lord
Jesus Christ; second, cRepentance; third, dBaptism by eimmersion for the fremission of sins;
fourth, Laying on of ghands for the hgift of the Holy
Ghost.”
** Now, I wanted to make this distinction because sometimes it
is easy to forget that the atonement is all-inclusive, even to those outside
of our church. We are all equally
blessed with the gift of eternal life because of this supernal act.
Also, I think it is important for us to be reminded about how individual
the atonement is.
Behind closed doors each of us sin, each of us experience our own
gethsemane’s, and the ONLY person that knows every ounce of pain, every
moment of discomfort or sorrow, is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ knows us by name
because experienced our pains individually.
EXAMPLE: I have asked my husband, Mike Moncur, to come
and share with us how he knew the Lord knew him personally, and how the
atonement changed his life.
Continuing on, and this may be a BIT of a tangent, but I felt
the need “ to go there” when preparing this lesson. It is also important for us to remember
the Savior’s atonement is individually applicable in order for us to cease
judging others.
We may think we know someone’s past, we may think
we know someone’s heart, but we don’t. And that is why it is wise to leave judgment’s to the ALL
KNOWING JUDGE, He who knows our weaknesses, the desires of our hearts, our
capabilities, our talents—our Savior, Jesus Christ.
HANDOUT # 3
President
Joseph F. Smith taught: “Men cannot forgive their own sins; they cannot
cleanse themselves from the consequences of their sins. Men can stop sinning
and can do right in the future, and so far [as] their acts are acceptable
before the Lord [become] worthy of consideration. But who shall repair the
wrongs they have done to themselves and to others, which it seems impossible
for them to repair themselves? By the atonement of Jesus Christ the sins of the
repentant shall be washed away; though they be crimson they shall be made white
as wool [see Isaiah 1:18].
This is the promise given to you.”8
*To me this knowledge is a great reminder and actually an
added blessing in my life because I don’t HAVE to worry or wonder if this or
that person has sincerely changed, if they have felt the atonement in their
life. I can allow the atonement
to make them accountable for what they have done and allow them to work out
what they need to with the Savior, while I do the same for my life.
EXAMPLE OF MY DAD
And now it is time for me to shed this skin and share a little
of what’s been going on underneath.
I am a little frightened to share such a personal example, and I didn’t
necessarily want to, but for some reason I felt the necessity to do so, so
maybe there is someone in here that needs to hear it.
I am actually going to read my story because if I don’t I will
probably get so flustered that I will just fumble through it.
I am actually pretty amazed that I was asked to give this lesson
and furthermore that it was on the atonement, because over the past year and
a half my family’s faith in the atonement has been tested and tried more than I
think any one of my 6 siblings thought it could be.
We came from a “strong” LDS family. I put “strong” in quotations because really
our upbringing was based on hypocrisy (some of which we knew of, and a lot of
which we didn’t).
I will not go into any detail because it is probably the most fantastical, unbelievable
story you’ve ever heard—straight out of a really messed up movie—in fact if any
of you have ever seen the movie “Catch Me If You Can?” Well, that is
only ½ the story my father lived.
In my home many things were hidden, and those
secrets didn’t come out till much later in our lives—now living as adults with
our own families. Accounts of
abuse, infidelity, embezzlement, fraud, problems with the government . . . the list
goes on and on.
These accounts were exposed by members of my own family, a few of which
did so out of anger, wanting justice and revenge, and some did it out of the honest
belief that they were helping my father clear up his misdeeds before passing
on into the next life.
All of these events eventually led to my father’s
excommunication. When this
happened a year ago, I was astounded to think that my dad—a true historical
and religious mastermind, THE scriptorian of all scriptorians, the law giver,
the patriarch in our home—was at the age of 65, being excommunicated.
I felt like my whole life had been a lie. I felt betrayed, poisoned, upset,
angered, bewildered, shocked . . . so many feelings that were not manageable, nor capable
of getting rid of on my own.
And here is the point of me deciding to share this: THE ONLY
PERSON that could manage these emotions, that could give me some sort of
peaceful remedy, was my Savior.
And you know what I came to realize? He was not only there to
remedy my pain, but my fathers as well. The Savior’s atonement was to provide retribution to the
sinner AND the persons affected by the sins of that sinner.
So here we all were, under one umbrella, so many of us
affected by one mans choices, yet ALL of us, even the sinner, was in need of
ONE Healer.
Now, some members in my family decided to turn to Christ to heal
their pain, while others grew further distant and bitter.
Those of us who turned to Christ learned to see my dad not as
this “untouchable father”, rather a common sinner amongst us, a man prone to
weakness, just like all of us.
And because of this, it has been easier for us to accept his Stake
Presidents recommendation that he be re-baptized. While those who have been hardened by the situation expressed
complete disdain over how quickly he went through the repentance process.
The problem with the latter is that they are only seeing things
with their natural eyes. It is
impossible for any of us to know the exchanges he’s made with his priesthood
leaders, the prayers he has had with the Lord behind closed
doors, the change he has felt and experienced inside of his own heart. Who are we—as fellow sinners (yes maybe
to a much lesser degree)— to judge whether or not the atonement has worked in
his life?
I want to read an entry my husband wrote in jail that is in
direct correlation with this thought:
*READ PRIDE ENTRY
For as Pres. Packer said:
“Throughout your life there may be times when you have gone
places you never should have gone and done things you never should have done.
If you will turn away from sin, you will be able one day to know the peace that
comes from following the pathway of complete repentance.
No
matter what our transgressions have been, no matter how much our actions may
have hurt others, that guilt can all be wiped out. To me, perhaps the most
beautiful phrase in all scripture is when the Lord said, “Behold, he who has
repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no
more.”11
And here is the
clause, even if my father did
all of this just to be seen of men, and didn’t truly repent, that’s his issue
with the Savior, not mine. For
remember we are all to have an INDIVIDUAL relationship with Christ. Even though my dad is my dad, he is
Heavenly Father’s son first;
even though Mike is my husband, he is Heavenly Father’s son first; even though Beckahm is my child, he is
Heavenly Father’s son first. Each
of us are 1st members of Christ before we are members of this mortal
family.
And that is why once we have
experienced the atonement in
our lives, we must then become that lower light guiding those we love and
care for back to Christ.
Reading that verse from that hymn once again:
Let the lower lights be burning;
Send a gleam across the wave.
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.
Pres. Packer
reiterates this by saying:
HANDOUT #4
“That
is the promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Atonement: to take anyone
who comes, anyone who will join, and put them through an experience so that at
the end of their life, they can go through the veil having repented of their
sins and having been washed clean through the blood of Christ.12
That
is what Latter-day Saints do around the world. That is the Light we offer to
those who are in darkness and have lost their way. Wherever our members and
missionaries may go, our message is one of faith and hope in the Savior Jesus
Christ.”
CONCULSION
When we have sinned, when we are discouraged, the atonement
is there to provide us with peace and to give us hope.
“President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote the lyrics to the hymn
“Does the Journey Seem Long?” This hymn contains encouragement and a promise to
those who seek to follow the teachings of the Savior:
Does the journey seem long,
The path rugged and steep?
Are there briars and thorns on the way?
Do sharp stones cut your feet
As you struggle to rise
To the heights thru the heat of the day?
Is your heart faint and sad,
Your soul weary within,
As you toil ’neath your burden of care?
Does the load heavy seem
You are forced now to lift?
Is there no one your burden to share?
Let your heart be not faint
Now the journey’s begun;
There is One who still beckons to you.
So look upward in joy
And take hold of his hand;
He will lead you to heights that are new—
A land holy and pure,
Where all trouble doth end,
And your life shall be free from all sin,
Where no tears shall be shed,
For no sorrows remain.
Take his hand and with him enter in.13
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
