The Greatest Sacrifice
Welcome to the Verbal Motivation podcast. Where we talk about the things that motivate our lives, our religion and our relationships. My name is Nathan Vail. If you would like to comment on this or other episodes, please leave me a voicemail at 530-876-4153 or you can send an email to verbalmotivation@gmail.com.
This is episode number 17 called The Greatest Sacrifice
Imagine standing in front of a scale in your bathroom. You want to lose weight but you haven’t made any particular effort this week to exercise or eat right. But before stepping on you say a quick word to the scale asking it to read a little bit lower than it did last week.
That’s sounds crazy, yet that is what many of us are doing in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday if we give no consideration to what we are doing and the sacred nature of how it came to be, until the moment we are presented with the emblems of Jesus Christ.
It’s not just ineffective, it could even be considered an insult.
Consider this example, I was driving home from the temple one day pondering what we learned about the creation of the world, the garden of eden and the fall of Adam and Eve. I wondered to myself, how long did Adam and Eve live in the garden of Eden before the fall and what did they do all that time?
In Genesis chapter 2 it says that Adam gave names to all the animals. Which I think speaks to the fact that they had a relationship, not unlike the way we do now with our furry family members. I know several people that don’t have kids and their animals are their kids. More than just a casual relationship.
I couldn’t help but think about how difficult it must have been for Adam and Eve when, after leaving the Garden of Eden, was commanded to sacrifice one of these precious animals on the altar. Just like when Abraham slowly made his way to the top of Mount Moriah to sacrifice his son Isaac. I wonder how slow they were to bring a perfect lamb to the altar. I can imagine a tear rolling down their cheeks as Adam raised the knife into the air. I don’t think we truly comprehend how hard that must have been.
This begs the question, why would the Lord ask him to do such a thing?
We know why. From Adam to Moses and from Moses until Jeusus Christ, this was required as a similitude of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The lamb of God. The only perfect person ever to live on earth was, lifted upon a cross and died for us.
I think Adam and Eve understood in that moment, more than any others, understood just how hard it must have been for our Father in Heaven to allow his only begotten son to be crucified.
As it happens, I was teaching the older young men that week who were priest age, about Sacrifice and Jesus Christ. I ran home right before class and got my Chocolate Lab Ginger. She is a service dog and the most lovable animal you can imagine. When I returned, all the young men had formed a circle with their chairs and were waiting for me. One of them happened to be my son Alex. As I walked in with Ginger, you can imagine the excitement that filled the room. I put Ginger in the middle of the circle and gave her the command to sit. All the boys smiled with anticipation. “This is a dog” I said. Shrugging my shoulders as indifferently as I could. “It is no different than any other dog. I could trade this animal for any other and it wouldn’t matter, really. In fact, I don’t know why we even bother giving it a name.” I let that hang for a moment and I could see disagreement forming on the faces of most of the boys; Alex in particular. I said, this is just a dog, right Alex? Everyone looked at him and he did know at first how to answer because my question was so absurd. I could just go and get any other dog and that would be just as good, don’t you think. I could see he was getting frustrated. As you can imagine, Alex loves our dog; maybe even more than the other kids. He gets upset at us at home if we don’t stop and greet Ginder and give her the attention she deserves. I invited Alex to come to the front of the class. I said Alex, is it true that you love this dog? He agreed with some enthusiasm. Is it true that I am also your father? He agreed again, but with less enthusiasm.
I told everyone that I had served a mission in Hungary and while there, I picked up several interesting trinkets, one of which was a Russian Bayonet knife. As I said that, I reached to the small of my back and pulled out the 6” knife. As I drew it from its sheath you could hear it sharpening itself against the inside of the housing.
I then explained to them the story of Adam and Eve and asked them to consider how hard it must have been for those two who loved their animals at least as much as we do today. Then I posed the same question to them. Why would God ask them to do such a thing?
I told Alex he could sit down and take Ginger with him, which did with a smile and after much petting, when regained the attention of the class I asked, “When we take the sacrament. Do we consider what sacrifice was made to make that moment possible?”
How important we must be as individuals, that our Heavenly Father would allow his son to do what had to be done, coming to earth and giving no offense yet being raised on a cross for all mankind.
Just as we name what we love, our Father in Heaven has given each of us a name. We are called under his name and we are his.
Being named, is a sign of being someone. When you are given a name YOU belong. Think of it. What is the first thing we do with our children when they are born, we give them a name, and once we have it feels more like they belong to us.
When we give our friends and loved ones nicknames that no one else uses, it is a sign that we belong to each other.
I was teaching a class years ago and a woman raised her hand and said that she felt at times that she had made too many mistakes to be forgiven. A sentiment that many of us have felt at different times in our lives.
Imagine meeting the Savior in the next left and as you embrace you say to him, that sacrifice you made was a really nice try. I mean it was a great effort and all but it wasn’t quite enough for me.
That is ridiculous, Yet that is exactly what we are saying any time we even think that we are too far gone, that your sins are too great to be forgiven.
In Luke 5 Jesus rebukes that idea saying,
"20 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him…thy sins are forgiven thee.
21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
25 And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.”
Jesus showed us by raising the dead and healing the sick that he has the power to wash away our sins.
I saw an interesting program recently that lends itself to this point.
It was about a personal trainer that goes around the country finding people who are morbidly overweight and helps them get back to a normal size.
The fascinating thing was that at the end of each program, when the person had done all the work and had lost all the fat, they were covered with giant folds of skin that will never return to normal size. At the end of each show, he introduced them to a special surgeon who removed all the skin that they could not remove themselves no matter how much work they put into it.
Similarly, Jesus is that surgeon. He is waiting patiently for us to change so he can remove the sins that we cannot remove ourselves. That sacrament that we take each week, came at great sacrifice but has the power to make us whole again and again and again.
If we “do it in remembrance of the blood…which was shed for [us]...and always remember him…”
My Name is Nathan Vail and this is the Verbal Motivation Podcast