First off, I’d like to say it’s great to give a sacrament talk on the day of Christmas Eve. I like to think it wasn’t just because I look so much like Santa Claus. But it does gives me a chance to say this:
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas, Germantown Ward! Peace on earth and goodwill to men!
Not only is Christmas a sacred day, but it’s great fun. Infact, we make it great fun just because it is so sacred. It’s a joyous celebration and observance. Many families have Christmas traditions that cause delight and reflection on the meaning of this great day.
Many of the traditions include choosing and decorating the tree. Shopping for gifts to give to family or friends. Enjoying Christmas-themed songs and tv specials. Decorating the home with art celebrating that special event. Did I mention the food? Soooo many cookies and candies…
Well, I could go on, but I wanted to talk a bit more about the art: one picture in particular that I first saw in the Washington DC temple.
Long ago, when I was a young father, I would visit the temple to do work for my ancestors. Every time I was there, in between ordinances, I was fascinated by a certain painting that hung in two very prominent places, one outside the endowment rooms and also in the hall by the sealing rooms. It was a depiction of baby Jesus being blessed at the temple. Joseph and Mary are holding up the baby for Simeon and Anna to see. I would stare at that picture, my mind pondering the beauty and sacredness of it.
There were two main things that very much struck me about it. First of all, Jesus as a helpless baby, wholly dependent on his parents for nourishment and protection. Wasn’t he also the creator of our world and everything in it? Why did He come here as a helpless baby? I would think about this and how he came into our world to live like any other man. He received no special treatment even though it seems to me he could have, maybe even should of.
What struck me in particular was how similar Jesus was to us and us to Him. He lived in a very typical fashion, was brought up in a humble Jewish home, not in the Pharoh’s palace as Moses was. He wasn’t the son of a great warrior, a leader of nations or a hero of any kind in the eyes of the world. In the home of Joseph and Mary, He set the example of a Man humble before his Heavenly Father.
The other thing I thought of (a lot!) was how his Father, Joseph was going to make it through this…I dunno…certainly a test! He must have known that this baby was at least…highly favored of the Lord. He might not have known that this baby was the Lord! I’d be worried to death! What if I even fed him late or failed to comfort him when He was crying. That’s a lot of responsibility! How did Joseph manage? Joseph’s story has never been told.
It also made me ponder the question of who are these souls Heavenly Father was sending me to raise?
Part of Nephi’s vision regarding the Tree of Life and the Iron Rod describes the birth of Christ. The angel asks Nephi, “Knowest thou the condescension of God?” and later, “Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.”
And with one short sentence, the angel confirmed the love of God and the place of the family in the plan of redemption. The angel continues to describe Christ’s ministry of teaching and healing, His ultimate sacrifice and the apostacy that sadly followed.
I still really love this picture even after its familiarity wore out its initial impact. It makes me think about my role as a father, my stewardship over the souls I fathered and how not up to the task required we ever are. Like marriage, the decision to become a parent is a leap of faith. We enter into it with high hopes but no guarantees. But for those that overcome all things, the Father has promised us that we will eat of the tree of life, we will not be hurt by the second death, that we will have power over the nations and that we will share His throne. Promises to be fulfilled by that newborn baby.
