Two weeks before Easter I got a call at 11:00 at night. It was Wyatt, who was over at the church having Bishopric. He asked if I would talk on Easter.
I was asleep when he called, so the next morning I had to double check if I was dreaming or not, and find out what I said.
Anyhoo – so I was on for Easter.
And it wasn’t until the Thursday before Easter that I found out that I was the only speaker for the entire meeting (filled with musical numbers, but still . . . it certainly increased the pressure as mine would be the only spoken word . . . )
And so, here is a copy of my Easter talk. I’d like to thank my dad for his insights as he certainly helped in my preparation, as well as the church website. I watched/read/listened to a lot of Easter talks in preparation.
Easter is the day we celebrate the greatest miracle and gift given to us by God: The Atonement of Jesus Christ for the redemption of mankind.
The Savior taught Moses: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” — In just twenty words the Lord summarizes all of his power, all of his creations, all of his judgments, and all of his love.
To accomplish this work, the Lord sent a Savior, a Redeemer to the world, his first born in the spirit, and only begotten in the flesh, to atone for the fall and sins of his children.
And it is in this atonement of the Savior that we are given hope. The message of Easter is a message of hope.
Hope is one of the three pillars of the gospel: faith, hope & charity. Yet it seems to me to one of the less appreciated aspects of our salvation. Faith is the choice we exercise to believe on the word, and is a natural result of our righteous choices. Charity is exemplifying the pure love of Christ –extending Christ’s atoning love to our brothers and sisters. But hope is something that is given to us without merit – in fact, hope is the belief that in spite of all we do, Christ will make us more. We can merit justice through our righteousness, but the atonement and hope promised therein is that we will, through Christ, and not our own works, obtain mercy. It is this hope that eventually is the catalyst to change in our lives, and brings us full circle through all the teachings of the gospel back to Christ, and our need for Him.
The Church has had a beautiful social media message going this week, inviting the Children of our Heavenly Father to understand Christ, and what He did for them. The title of this message was “Because of Him” –
The Church outlined five sample reasons we can have hope through Christ. It also encouraged members to share their own feelings of how Christ gives them hope on their own social media accounts.
I’d like to share the reasons of given by the Church, and invite you to consider your own hope in Christ this day.
The five hopes include the hope that we will overcome death, the hope that we can have a second chance, the hope that we can leave the past behind, the hope that we can start over as many times as needed, and the hope that every day is a new beginning.
The first hope given to us through the atonement is stated: “Because of Him no goodbye will last forever.”
The Church published this narrative about the resurrection celebrated on Easter –
The sun rises up over the vast cityscape of Jerusalem, lighting the white limestone walls of the old city and creeping over buildings. Just north of the walls, a garden sits undisturbed.
Shortly, a throng of tourists will arrive and take their spots on the benches overlooking the garden. Some will descend the steps to the lowest point in the garden, quietly duck through a door carved in stone, and stare reverently into a hollowed portion of the rock where a body was laid to rest about two thousand years ago. As they leave, they will notice a sign on the door: “He is not here, for He is risen.”
The tourists don’t come to the Garden Tomb because this is where they hope Jesus was buried; they come because they hope this is where Jesus did what had never been done before—He lived again.
Separation from our loved ones is a real and painful trial of mortality. And death can be the beginning of a deep and abiding loneliness. Yet the Savior has given us freely the gift of living again, with those we love, and continuing those relationships in the eternity. If we can find courage to allow Christ into our hearts and lives, He will soften deaths sting in this mortal time as we look forward with hope to the day we will be reunited.
The second hope we are given through the Savior: Because of Him the world is filled with second chances.
In the February, 2007 Friend, Elder Richard G. Hinkley told a story of his childhood regret. He said that his father, Gordon B. Hinkley, during family prayer, would often utter “please bless us that we may live without regret” – Elder Richard Hinkley then told the story of stealing wood with his friends from a subdivision being built near his home. The stolen wood was to be used to build forts, but the guilt that accompanied him for the rest of that week was something that seared into his heart, especially when he was met by President David O. McKay outside his father’s office.
Regret is a very painful reality of mortality. We won’t always choose the best path, even when we have the best intentions. The Savior offers us a hope that we change our path that we can have a second chance and make things right, and find the joy that is promised to be our purpose.
The Third Hope provided by the Savior through his atonement: Because of Him, I can leave my past behind.
President Uchtdorf encouraged us, saying: “[Jesus Christ’s] Atonement allows us to leave the past behind and move forward with clean hands, a pure heart, and a determination to do better and especially to become better.”
Leaving our past behind can be a very real challenge when the natural man does not want us to move on. Self doubt can keep us from moving forward, and even when this is overcome, often times we find ourselves in the company of those who suppose they know who we are. They are not willing to let us move forward, leaving what we would forever in our trail.
But for the Lord the way to forgiveness is easy. The story of the woman taken in adultery illustrates how much the Lord wishes to give us his forgiveness, and his encouragement: The woman, taken in adultery is brought before the master, with her accusers pushing the Savior for some sort of condemnation. But when pressed, the Lord’s answer is clear: He instructs her accusers to consider their own conscience before condemning the woman. The He tells her that not only does he forgive her, but that she should move forward with her life, saying: Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Our fourth hope from the Savior: Because of Him we can start again and again. I loved that this hope is given not only that we can start again – but that even if that new start should fail, we can try, yet again. We don’t like to think of the gospel, and repentance, and change and all that are encompassed in becoming sanctified as a process of a revolving door, yet the Savior has offered us a chance to renew our covenants, to recommit to the gospel, to repentance and to sanctification on a weekly basis through the sacrament. He offers it to us because He knows that we need that repentance, and that renewed effort, at least that often. He wants to be near us, He wants us to keep trying, and to have compassion upon ourselves in our failures as we reach out with hope in His Atonement, and start again . . . and again . . . and again.
I’d like to share with you a few paragraphs from the Church’s Easter message about the atonement:
The night before His death, Jesus visited a garden called Gethsemane, just east of the walls of Jerusalem. Leaving His Apostles at the edge of the garden, He trod through the dewy grass and past gnarled olive trees, walking farther inward.
He had prepared His entire life for this moment, carefully following His Father’s commands in every step of His life, in every breath He took. Now the time had come. Even as He prayed, “Father, if it be thy will, remove this cup from me,” He accepted that this was His burden, and His alone, to bear. He was the only one who could free us from the awful consequences of our sins.
In the coolness of the night, He knelt and began to pray. Though we don’t fully understand how, He willingly took upon Himself our sins and sorrows, suffering in body and spirit for every sin, every sadness, every mistake and imperfection of every single one of us. The pain that came was crushing, exquisite and infinite. Blood oozed from His pores as this impossibly heavy weight caused Him to tremble with pain.
The miracle of the resurrection was the gift of immortality. The miracle of Gethsemane was the gift of our Eternal Life. These moments, in exquisite agony alone in the garden, and later, hung on the cross – would be the moments when Christ would overcome not our physical death, but our spiritual death. And all the pain, the suffering, the doubts of our mortality would be replaced with joy, love, peace and hope. As Christ atoned for our sins, He completed the Father’s work. With the utterance “It is finished” He pronounced the Atonement complete – the final part of God’s plan for our happiness – for our immortality and eternal life, completed. God now could finish His work, and His glory, and bring His children home to live with Him as celestial beings.
The final hope of the atonement: Because of Him, every day is a new beginning. We can have that peace and hope in Christ if we will but strive to develop a relationship with Him. He will whisper into our hearts the encouragement we need. He will balm our souls in our mortal trials. And He will continue as our ever faithful friend guiding us on the path to our Father in Heaven.
And so on this Easter Sunday I would invite each of you to consider your own hearts, your troubles and aches – and be willing to share that burden with the Lord, to give Him your heart and allow his hope to brighten and lighten your load. As we discuss faith, believing the word of the gospel, and charity, exemplifying the pure love of Christ, let us also have hope: a perfect brightness of that which will be.
In closing I’d like to share the lyrics of the hymn “I Stand All Amazed” – a description of the devotion the Savior has to each of us:
I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.
I’d like to share my testimony that the Savior did come to earth. He ministered, He performed miracles, He established the gospel. He also performed the Atonement. He did bleed from every pore in infinite pain because of His love for me, and for you, and for His Father. He died on the cross, giving up His life, when He had complete power to retain it. And on the third day He rose from the tomb, overcoming death, sin, and all heartache forever. I know that if we will but turn to Him, our lives can be changed. I know that hope is the catalyst for that change. And that hope is what I thank Him for this day.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Now you can read/listen/watch my favorite talk that watched as I prepared for this message. Check it out here.