Let me paint a little picture for you guys. Its Friday night
and I’m settling down to watch Arizona play UCLA in the Pac-12 basketball
championships, which I’m pretty excited about. I’m kind of a spaz when sports
are on, so I’m actively pacing back and forth behind the couch, not allowing Jenny
to cuddle with me, shushing everyone else in the room, turning up the volume when
shushing doesn’t work, and talking to the players in my loudest possible inside
voice just in case they might be able to hear me. Just the way I like it.
Complete business as usual… except for the fact that virtually every single one
of my mom’s neighbors comes through the house and introduces themselves to me
and my friends. It’s all I can do to look them in the eyes for a couple seconds
without glancing over at the game. What the heck is going on? Why are all these
people in my mom’s house? I mean I wouldn’t exactly call my mother a social
butterfly (I.E. she borderline hates talking to people), so I doubt she’s
throwing some impromptu block party with all our neighbors. So what gives?
Well, this is the exact situation I found myself in a couple
months ago while visiting my mom in Mesa. Do you want to know why all those
random people were in my mom’s house that night? Well, it definitely wasn’t her
idea, I can tell you that much! No, they were there because of a sweet, outgoing
young man who lives on the street who happens to have a disability. He was apparently
going door to door to every house on the street, retrieving the occupants of
each house, and then bringing them back to our home! I’m told he had done this
type of thing before, and he even came over the next day a few more times as
well. Honestly, it was harmless and even my mom admitted it was a great way for
all of the neighbors to get to know each other. It was the type of thing you
couldn’t get mad at!
I didn’t think about it too much at all until my Mom texted
me the following week. Tragedy had struck one of those “random” neighbor families
in the form of suicide. Horrible. One of the people we had just met was gone
and I couldn’t even begin to imagine the pain and suffering that family was
going to experience. To make matters worse, the family had just moved from
across the country and had no friends or family in Arizona. My heart hurt to
think of them enduring such a trial all by themselves. I did my best to keep
them in my thoughts and prayers, and as I did so I thought it may be prudent to
send some help with meals over the next few days. I knew the relief society
(the women’s organization in the LDS church) would probably be willing to help
out, but I also didn’t want to bombard the family with a slew of people they didn’t
even know, so I reached out to my mom with a different proposition. The relief
society could just bring meals to my mom, and then she could bring them over to
the family. It was a full proof plan. To my surprise, however, she simply told
me not to worry and that her and the other neighbors had it covered already. They
had started a meal train between them and the family would be taken care of. I was
pretty surprised, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of happiness. I felt that
the love and hope of God’s light was being instilled in the hearts of that
neighborhood, even amidst the horror of such a traumatic situation.
Now, I’m sure that there were numerous factors that solicited
such a response from the neighborhood, but can’t we see the hand of God working
in this situation? I choose to believe that young man was on the Lord’s errand
that night, helping bring together a community on the eve of one family’s worst
nightmare. This is how God often works, involving many in an elaborate web of compassion
and mercy in order to serve or alleviate the suffering of just a few. I’ve seen
and felt this type of miracle in my life on multiple occasions, and they are
the experiences that most strongly illuminate my mental image of our Heavenly
Father. They are a manifestation of God’s love and omnipotence in the highest
sense of those words.
As God orchestrates these miracles, and yes, they are miracles,
it is our sacred privilege and responsibility to assist him in his efforts. I use
the word “assist” almost with reservation because in reality, this is God’s
work, and he doesn’t need me, you, or anybody else to get it done. I’m brought
to think of the words Moses spoke when he saw the full glory of God’s creations:
God cares about us more than we could ever know, of course.
In this same chapter the Lord tells Moses that his only goals or purposes are “the
immortality and eternal life of man.” Truly, we are everything to our Heavenly
Father who loves us. No, Moses did not mean that we are unimportant or inconsequential
to God’s plan, but rather God is in charge, not us. As far as I know, no one
from my mom’s neighborhood was even a member of the LDS Church, much less did they
hold any type of high-profile calling in it. Hearts were simply open and ready to be
directed to help, specifically in the case of the young man. The pure in heart
will see God. I don’t believe there is a better explanation of his actions that
night.
Jesus called simple fisherman from the sea of Galilea to be
his apostles. He called Joseph Smith from a life of poverty and a culture
swirling in superstition to be the prophet of the Restoration. Paul, Alma, and
Amulek all led lives of sin and unbelief before God called them to be his messengers.
It is clear to see that God does not call those who are qualified, but instead
qualifies those whom he calls. If this is the case, then can we ever boast of our
status in the Church? No! I don’t think very many of us would ever blatantly brag
about spiritual accomplishments, but we might do it in more subtle ways. This
happens when we do things in the church simply for show or to check them off
our list, instead of having a true desire for doing them flow from our hearts.
Elder Uchtdorf related this to the “potempkin villages” When we do this, we present
ourselves to God with merely a hollow, fragile shell, while the real us is
hidden somewhere deep within its confines.
We need look no further than the first book of the bible for
an example of this. The first thing Satan told Adam and Eve to do after they
partook of the fruit was to hide their nakedness so that God didn’t see them,
so they went and grabbed some fig leaves to cover themselves. Umm…. What? God
literally made them! How are they going to “hide their nakedness” from him? He
made their nakedness! He knows their nakedness better than they do themselves,
and their trying to hide it from him? THAT’S THE DUMBEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD.
I can already see the eye roll Eve gave Adam as they walked up to God wearing
some twigs and leaves. Are you kidding me?
We might laugh at the symbolism in this story because we know
we would never be so foolish, but are we so sure that we wouldn’t be? How often
do we attempt to use our service in the Church as a tool to “cover our
nakedness?” Do we ever attempt to make others think we are better than we
really are by appearing hyper-active in the Church, while in reality we are
slowly drowning in a pool of guilt or pain caused by some unseen deed or suffering?
The answer is yes. We’ve all been guilty of this to some extent. Well, here is
my advice:
Let’s stop hiding our nakedness!!! To do so, let's consider this quote from Bishop Gerard Causse:
"My dear brothers and sisters, are we active in the gospel, or are we merely busy in the Church?"
Have you ever asked yourself what the difference is between
the Church of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The Church is the
vehicle which delivers the Gospel of Jesus Christ into our lives, and the
Gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to heal all human suffering. All of it.
The Church itself is not the power, but I feel that we sometimes funnel all our
energy into it without drawing on the true source of power, Jesus Christ. Jesus has nothing to heal, though, if a only bunch
of perfect people show up to church every week! So let’s stop coming to church
in fig leaves every week and come before God in our “nakedness.” He made us
that way and he can help us that way.
So come on down, let it all hang loose. Are you dealing with
an addiction? Drugs? Pornography? Bring it forward, let him heal you. Are you
gay? Are you struggling with coming to terms with your sexuality? I can’t think
of a lonelier path in the Church right now. Please, bring that forward and
allow God to guide you with personal revelation on how to navigate that
journey. Have you made poor life choices and are now drowning in debt? You don’t
have to pretend you’re doing okay. You can drive a less fancy car or wear
simpler outfits. Come forward, admit where you’re at and start to get out, by and
with the grace of Christ. Do you suffer with mental illness? He understands. He
knows why you are the way you are and he can help you heal. Are you struggling with
your testimony? Do you feel betrayed by church history facts you’ve never been
taught? Are you simply having trouble knowing if God is really there? That’s
okay! God will help you right where you are at with your testimony. You don’t
have to know everything right now, and you don’t have to pretend to know
either. Whatever your “nakedness” might be, God can help you right where you’re
at. The first step is simply being honest with yourself. Jesus Christ can help with anything we bring before him with humble and honest hearts. He willingly suffered so that he would no exactly how to help each of us individually. Isaiah saw this many years for Christ actually came:
"4 ¶ Surely he hath aborne our bgriefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was
awounded for our btransgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon him; and with his cstripes we are dhealed.
6 All we like asheep have gone bastray; we have turned every one to his cown way; and the Lord
hath laid on him the diniquity of us all.
7 He was aoppressed, and he was bafflicted, yet he copened not his mouth: he is brought as a dlamb to the eslaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall
declare his ageneration? for he was cut off out of the land of the
living: for the btransgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the awicked, and with the rich in his bdeath; cbecause he had done no dviolence, neither was
any edeceit in his mouth.
10 ¶ Yet it pleased the Lord
to abruise him; he hath put him
to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an boffering for sin, he shall see his cseed, he shall prolong his
days, and the dpleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by
his aknowledge shall my righteous bservant cjustify many; for he shall dbear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his
soul unto adeath: and he was numbered with the btransgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made cintercession for the transgressors." Isaiah 53:4-12
He gave everything for us, "he took the chastisement of our peace." Let's not take that for granted. The beauty of all of this is not only that God will heal us,
but that he will also use us to further his work and bless others even as we
falter and struggle with trials of our own. He just needs us to be real with Him, and then he can lead us and direct us through the Holy Ghost. It doesn’t
matter if you’re a brand new convert, a former stake president, or even a young disabled boy just showing love to his neighbors. If you’ll come forward in humility, not
afraid to show God your “nakedness,” he will use you to do great things in this
life. As the famous Nick Werber would say, our accomplishments will be LEGENDARY, we just have to give God the real us 😉
