Perspective

Last week I taught an Easter lesson on the Savior in our teacher's quorum.  Before realizing it was Easter Sunday, I had planned a lesson to introduce the new strength of youth booklet.  I ended up combining the two topics, but struggled to find a good way to communicate a couple of ideas that I wanted to share with the young men.  Part of my lesson follows:

One of the highlights of my life is an experience that I shared with my daughter Jessica a few summers ago.  We traveled down to Tucson, Arizona and spent a few days together.  One of our purposes was to visit Kitt Peak which is located on the top of a mountain about 50 miles outside of Tucson.   Kitt Peak is one of the world's premier astronomy research facility.  Jess had been taking an astronomy course in college and astronomy is always something that has interested me as well.  Kitt Peak has a program where you can experience a taste of an astronomer's life for an evening.  We showed up in the afternoon and took a tour of the telescopes and facilities.  After the tour, they put us up in the same dorms that the astronomer's live in during their stay.  We slept for part of the afternoon waiting for nightfall.  We had dinner in their cafeteria before dusk and then went with a guide to our telescope for the night.

We chose one that had a completely retractable dome which let us sit out under the stars all night long.  The weather was pleasant, perfectly clear, and far enough from the city that the milky way appeared to almost be a cloud of light across the sky.  The moon rose about 3:30 or 4:00 that morning, but from about 11 pm until then the sky was spectacular.  We took pictures of nebula, galaxies, and a comet.  Aiming the telescope even at an area of sky that appeared to be completely dark would reveal millions of stars.  It was an incredible experience.  I felt we were looking upon some of God's handiwork.

Astronomers have learned much about the universe.  There is much more we still don't understand.  But I used some examples of what we have learned to illustrate a point.

This illustration highlights the differences between the size of our earth and some of the other planets in our solar system.  Including the remaining planets, the scale shifts.

Notice how small the earth is in comparison with Jupiter and Saturn.  (Poor Pluto isn't even considered a planet any longer.)

Let's assume that these planets represent the lives of people in the world.  Some have greater capacity and greater talents than others.  Some accomplish much.  Others but little.  Some do great good.  Others do great evil and harm.  There are differences.

Now look at the size of our sun in comparison to the planets.  It dwarfs Jupiter.  I told the boys to let this represent what the Lord expected from their lives.  They have been given much and much is expected of them in return.  The Lord expects them to serve honorable missions, to make covenants and to marry in the temple, and to raise a righteous family.

Next compare the size of our sun with other local stars in our galaxy.

Sirius, the bright white one, is one of the brightest stars in our night sky.  At this scale, Jupiter is about 1 pixel in size and Earth is invisible.  Arcturus dwarfs our sun. 

Finally, let's consider one more scale.

This shows our sun in comparison with some of the great stars in our galaxy.  At this scale, our sun is 1 pixel in size.  Jupiter is invisible at this scale.  Even Sirius and Arcturus are miniscule in comparison with Antares.

The point I was trying to illustrate is simply this:  concerning our salvation, if the sun represents what the Lord expects of us (and indeed it represents our all) then Antares represents what the Savior does for us in comparison (his contribution towards our salvation).  My analogy is flawed though in that it still understates the Savior's contribution.

Our contribution, miniscule as it may be, is still crucially important.  (Without it, much of the Savior's work on our behalf is for naught.)  I hope that our discussion of covenants has helped you sense how serious our small portion is in the whole thing.  But we contribute a drop in a vast bucket.  To me this is what it means to be saved by grace.  King Benjamin is right--we are unprofitable servants!  Isaiah is also correct--our righteousness is as filthy rags by comparison.

I hoped that this illustration would help the boys glimpse how much they are loved and how precious they are to their Savior and to their Father in Heaven.

I hoped that it would help them feel a sense of humility.

I also hoped that it would help them feel love and compassion for others.  As we hold ourselves to high standards (and especially as we live them with some degree of success) it is easy to look down on others who may not be living the same standards. 

The Savior taught a parable to illustrate this point:

9 - And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 - Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 - The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 

12 - I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 - And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 - I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.

 (Luke 18:9-14)

  

There is so small a gap between the very best and the very worst of us when viewed from God's perspective.  Isn't one of the first lessons of the temple, as we all dress alike in white, that we are all equal before God?  Jacob counsels us to "think of our brethren like unto ourselves" (Jacob 2:17).  What a contrast to a world that is constantly ranking us, rating us, and comparing us one with another.

Most saints have a past, and sinners have a future.  Let us look upon others with charity, particularly those who are struggling.  Who knows but what they may be converted and the Lord may heal them.  May we also walk with deeper reverence for what the Savior has done for each of us.

The more I learn about it, the more it amazes me.  Isaiah prophesied that "as a sheep before her shearers is dumb so [Christ] opened not his mouth." (Mosiah 14:7).  This doesn't merely refer to the fact that he suffered nobly in silence, but rather that he endured it willingly.  He had but to speak at any time and he could have ended it or walked away.  Yet he did not!  The scripture records that when the time arrived, he "set [his] face like a flint" (2 Ne. 7:7).  He determined to do His father's will in all things.  He also knew what it meant for each of us.  "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me. Confused at the grace which so fully he proffers me."

"I believe that none of us can conceive the full import of what Christ did for us in Gethsemane, but I am grateful every day of my life for His atoning sacrifice in our behalf. At the last moment, He could have turned back. But He did not. He passed beneath all things that He might save all things. In doing so, He gave us life beyond this mortal existence. He reclaimed us from the Fall of Adam. To the depths of my very soul, I am grateful to [the Savior]. He taught us how to live. He taught us how to die. He secured our salvation."  –President Monson