Sam's Sacrament Meeting Talk - February 2017

Sam’s Sacrament Meeting Talk in Droubay Ward February 19, 2017

“Striving to know the Savior Jesus Christ, my conversion is impacted by applying the gift of repentance.”

          This is my second speaking assignment as a stake leader. It’s also my second time speaking to your ward as a stake leader. So I’m not sure if this is my encore or a redo. Either way, I’m happy to be among you, the members of the Droubay ward again.

          Today I’d like to talk about a gift. It’s one of the most amazing gifts imaginable. And I have great news; this gift has been given to all of us! This gift has been given to us all out of love and it brings happiness and leads to more blessings than we can imagine. This gift was given to us by our older brother, our Savior, Jesus Christ. This gift is repentance.

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          I’m a youth leader, so when I started preparing for this talk, the first places that I looked were some of the resources given to the youth. The first one was “For the Strength of Youth.” Under the section “Repentance” we learn:

“The Savior gave His life for us and suffered for our sins. This great sacrifice is called the Atonement. Through the Atonement, you can receive forgiveness and be cleansed from your sins when you repent. When you do what is necessary to receive forgiveness, you will know for yourself the power of the Atonement and the love God has for you. You will feel the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ, which will bring you great strength.

“Satan wants you to think that you cannot repent, but that is absolutely not true. The Savior has promised you forgiveness if you will do what is required. The sooner you repent, the sooner you will find the blessings that come from forgiveness.

“Some people knowingly break God’s commandments, expecting to repent before they go to the temple or serve a mission. Such deliberate sin mocks the Savior’s Atonement and invites Satan to influence your life. Repentance for such behavior is difficult and can take a long time. If you sin in this way, you may lose years of blessings and spiritual guidance. You may become trapped in the sinful behavior, making it difficult to find your way back.”

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And in “True to the Faith”, we read, “Repentance is one of the first principles of the gospel. It is essential to your happiness in this life and throughout eternity. Repentance is much more than just acknowledging wrongdoings. It is a change of mind and heart that gives you a fresh view about God, about yourself, and about the world. It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. It is motivated by love for God and the sincere desire to obey His commandments.”

The three things that really stood out to me from the definition are 1) repentance is essential for happiness 2) repentance is a change of mind and heart and 3) our desire to repent is motivated by our love of God.

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In his most recent conference address, “Repentance: A Joyful Choice,” Elder Dale G. Renlund teaches, “Joy is one of the inherent results of repentance. The word repent …implies “change.”

C. S. Lewis wrote about the need and the method for change. He noted that repentance involves “being put back on the right road. A wrong sum can be put right,” he said, “but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on.”

Elder Renlund teaches that “changing our behavior and returning to the “right road” are part of repentance, but only part. Real repentance also includes a turning of our heart and will to God and a [rejection] of sin.

Elder Renlund states that this is an incomplete description though “because it does not properly identify the power that makes repentance possible, the atoning sacrifice of our Savior. Real repentance must involve faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith that He can change us, faith that He can forgive us, and faith that He will help us avoid more mistakes. This kind of faith makes His Atonement effective in our lives. When we… “turn around” with the Savior’s help, we can feel hope in His promises and the joy of forgiveness. Without the Redeemer, the inherent hope and joy evaporate, and repentance becomes simply miserable behavior modification.”

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In his October 2011 conference address, “The Divine Gift of Repentance,” Elder D. Todd Christofferson testifies that “without repentance, there is no real progress or improvement in life.

“Pretending there is no sin does not lessen its burden and pain. Suffering for sin does not by itself change anything for the better. Only repentance leads to the sunlit uplands of a better life. And, of course, only through repentance do we gain access to the atoning grace of Jesus Christ and salvation.

“Repentance is a divine gift, and there should be a smile on our faces when we speak of it. It points us to freedom, confidence, and peace. Rather than interrupting the celebration, the gift of repentance is the cause for true celebration.”

“Repentance exists as an option only because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”

Elder Christofferson mentioned five aspects of repentance in his conference address. I’d like to share those.

“First, the invitation to repent is an expression of love. When the Savior “began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17), it was a message of love, inviting all who would to qualify to join Him “and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life [itself] in the world to come” (Moses 6:59).

          “Second, repentance means striving to change. It would mock the Savior’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross for us to expect that He should transform us into angelic beings with no real effort on our part. Rather, we seek His grace to complement and reward our most diligent efforts (see 2 Nephi 25:23).

“Third, repentance means not only abandoning sin but also committing to obedience. The Bible Dictionary states, “Repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, [as well as] a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined. For our turning to the Lord to be complete, it must include nothing less than a covenant of obedience to Him.

Fourth, repentance requires a seriousness of purpose and a willingness to persevere, even through pain. Attempts to create a list of specific steps of repentance may be helpful to some, but it may also lead to a mechanical, check-off-the-boxes approach with no real feeling or change. True repentance is not superficial. The Lord gives two overarching requirements: “By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them” (D&C 58:43).

“With faith in the merciful Redeemer and His power, potential despair turns to hope. One’s very heart and desires change, and the once-appealing sin becomes increasingly abhorrent. A resolve to abandon and forsake the sin and to repair, as fully as one possibly can, the damage he or she has caused now forms in that new heart. This resolve soon matures into a covenant of obedience to God. With that covenant in place, the Holy Ghost, the messenger of divine grace, will bring relief and forgiveness.

Any pain entailed in repentance will always be far less than the suffering required to satisfy justice for unresolved transgression.

And “fifth, whatever the cost of repentance, it is swallowed up in the joy of forgiveness.

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President Boyd K. Packer affirmed the hopeful promises of repentance in April 2015 at his last general conference. President Packer testified, “the Atonement leaves no tracks, no traces. What it fixes is fixed. … It just heals, and what it heals stays healed.”

He continued: “The Atonement, which can reclaim each one of us, bears no scars. That means that no matter what we have done or where we have been or how something happened, if we truly repent, [the Savior] has promised that He would atone. And when He atoned, that settled that… the Atonement … can wash clean every stain no matter how difficult or how long or how many times repeated.”

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But it’s important to note that repentance is a choice. It will never be imposed on us. As the prophet Lehi explained, after we “are instructed sufficiently” to “know good from evil,” we “are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death.”

I’d like to share a story with you that was shared with me when I was in Seminary. Over a decade later, I still remember this story and it still touches me. It’s called the Parable of the Push-Ups.

“Brother Christianson taught Seminary. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as they would abide by his rules. A boy named Steve was struggling in school. He been kicked out of several classes, but this kind seminary teacher allowed him into his sixth-period class. One day, the teacher planned a special lesson. He asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. The teacher asked, “How many push-ups can you do?”

Steve replied, “I do about two hundred every night.”

“Two hundred?” the teacher said. “That’s pretty good. Do you think you could do three hundred?”

Steve answered, “I don’t know—I’ve never done three hundred at a time.”

The teacher said, “Can you do three hundred in sets of ten?”

“Well, I think I can,” Steve answered. “Yeah, I can do it.”

“Good! I need you to do this on Friday.”

Well, Friday came, and Steve went to class early and sat in front. When class started, the teacher pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren’t the normal kinds of donuts. They were the big, extra-fancy kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was excited. It was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.

The teacher went to the first girl in the first row and asked, “Cynthia, do you want a donut?” Cynthia said yes.

He then turned to Steve and asked, “Would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?”

Steve said, “Sure,” and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve sat again at his desk. The teacher put a donut on Cynthia’s desk, then went to the next student and asked, “Joe, do you want a donut?” Joe said yes.

The teacher asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?”

And so it went, down the first aisle, and down the second aisle, until they came to Scott, the captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. When the teacher asked, “Scott, do you want a donut?” his reply was, “Well, can I do my own push-ups?”

The teacher said, “No, Steve has to do them.”

Scott replied, “Well, I don’t want one then.”

The teacher then turned to Steve and asked, “Would you do ten push-ups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?”

Steve started to do ten push-ups. Scott said, “Hey! I said I didn’t want one!”

The teacher said, “Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it,” and he put a donut on Scott’s desk.

Now, by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could see beads of perspiration on his brow. The teacher started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

The teacher asked Jenny, “Do you want a donut?” Jenny said no.

Then the teacher asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?” Steve did ten, and Jenny got a donut.

By now the students were beginning to say no regularly, and there were many uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also really putting forth a lot of effort to get these push-ups done for each donut. Sweat was dripping onto the floor beneath his face. His arms and face were red from the effort.

The teacher said he couldn’t bear to watch all of Steve’s work for those uneaten donuts, so he asked Robert to make sure Steve did the push-ups. The teacher started down the fourth row.

During his class, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters on the sides of the room. When the teacher realized this, he did a quick count and saw thirty-four students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

The teacher went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

A student named Jason came to the door and was about to come in when all the students yelled, “No! Don’t come in! Stay out!”

Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve looked up and said, “No, let him come in.”

The teacher said, “You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten push-ups for him.”

Steve said, “Yes, let him come in.”

The teacher said, “Okay, I’ll let you get Jason’s out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?”

“Yes.”

“Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?” Steve did ten push-ups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

The teacher finished the fourth row, then started among those seated on the heaters. Steve’s arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face, and by this time there was not a dry eye in the room.

The last two girls in the room were cheerleaders. The teacher went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, “Linda, do you want a donut?

Linda said, very sadly, “No, thank you.”

The teacher said, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn’t want?”

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow push-ups for Linda.

Then the teacher turned to the last girl. “Susan, do you want a donut?” Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, “Can I help him?”

The teacher, with tears of his own, said, “No, he has to do it alone. Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?”

As Steve very slowly finished his last push-up, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 push-ups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

The teacher turned to his class and said, “And so it was that our Savior, Jesus Christ, prayed, ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.’ With the understanding that Jesus had done everything that was required of Him, He collapsed on the cross and died—even for those that didn’t want His gift. And just like some of us, many choose not to accept the gift that was provided for them.”

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Our Savior loves us all so deeply that he atoned for everyone single one of us. He has already paid the price for our sins. And now we just have to decide if we will accept His offering.

I testify that the Savior loves us all. He has already pained the price for our sins. He has made it possible for us to be spotless from sin. We just have to turn to Him and accept His gift.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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Elder Renlund taught…

“We can—and sometimes do—make different choices. Such choices may not seem intrinsically wrong, but they prevent us from becoming truly penitent and thus preclude our pursuit of real repentance. For instance, we may choose to blame others… But blaming others, even if justified, allows us to excuse our behavior. By so doing, we shift responsibility for our actions to others. When the responsibility is shifted, we diminish both the need and our ability to act. We turn ourselves into hapless victims rather than agents capable of independent action.”

“Another choice that impedes repentance is minimizing our mistakes… But minimizing our mistakes, even if no immediate consequences are apparent, removes the motivation to change. This thinking prevents us from seeing that our mistakes and sins have eternal consequences.”

“Yet another way is to think that our sins do not matter because God loves us no matter what we do. But this seductive idea is false. God does love us. However, what we do matters to Him and to us. He has given clear directives about how we should behave. We call these commandments. His approbation and our eternal life depend on our behavior, including our willingness to humbly seek real repentance.”