Author's note: This is the talk I delivered last Sunday; I was asked by the Bishopric to speak about a talk from General Conference that impressed me. As will become abundantly clear, I chose to speak about Russell M. Nelson's talk, "Joy and Spiritual Survival."
Joy to the World, the Lord
is Come
Austin Lynn
I hope that the Holy Ghost will be present in
our minds and hearts as I discuss one of my favorite messages from last
October’s General Conference. I was impressed with the powerful message that President
Russell M. Nelson delivered. His remarks, entitled “Joy and Spiritual Survival,”
taught with crystal clarity that joy is not only for those sunny days when
finals have passed like distant storm clouds and dating is a pleasant breeze,
but also for those times when anxiety is a thundering rainstorm and our
umbrella of friends seems to be broken.
Indeed, President Nelson stated that “as the
tragedies and travesties around us increase” the principle of joy will become
more and more important to our spiritual survival, and, I would add, our
spiritual growth.
I’ve noticed that lately it’s in vogue to be
sad and helpless. It’s almost like Edgar Allen Poe is in charge of telling
people what to think and what to feel. For instance, one popular Tumblr user
said that “it became cool to define yourself by mental illness… Like, in order
to be interesting or valid, you had to have some kind of it.” A Swedish film
student mentioned that “this is exactly the kind of romanticizing … that a huge
part of [social media] is doing. Just making it seem like – depression,
suicide, this is cool. If you want to be part of the club, you gotta be
insecure and unstable in some way. I’m not a fan.” Neither am I.
M ental illness is a serious topic that needs
to be considered with charity and thoughtfulness, not something we should seek
out and revel in. It is a disservice to those we love when we romanticize it
and we fail to fully comprehend the glory of the gospel and the love of God
when we believe we are unable to feel joy. In fact, some might begin to believe
that it’s not right for them to feel joy in some circumstances. This is one of
the Adversary’s most popular deceptions, crafted to trick is into being
downtrodden, and, even more dangerously, apathetic to change.
There are those, including our common enemy, Lucifer,
who would have us believe that there is no real choice involved with joy and
despair. Rather, they’re just a part of who we are. You have brown hair, blue
eyes, and a healthy heaping of joy just gushing out of your liver. You have blonde
hair, green eyes, and nothing but cold despair pumping through your veins.
Is that really how it is? Does the world, or Satan,
for that matter, ever tell it like it is?
The Gospel of Jesus Christ opposes these traditions of men, with
the declaration that echoes throughout eternity, and throughout each of our
lives here on earth: we are that we might have joy. It is my testimony today
that we can experience joy in spite of – even perhaps, to spite our circumstances.
Question from President Nelson: “How is that
possible? And what must we do to claim the joy that Heavenly Father has in
store for us?”
Answer, also from President Nelson, our resident
joy-genius: “The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of
our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.” (emphasis
added)
President Nelson continues, “When the focus of
our lives is on God’s plan of salvation . . . and Jesus Christ and His gospel,
we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives.”
I was intrigued by the inclusion of whatever
is not happening in our lives as a barrier to joy, and was reminded of
an exchange in one of my favorite musicals. One character, Penny, is trying to
comfort her friend, a fine young man named Billy. She begins to say,
“Everything happens,” but is cut off by Billy, who is tired of trite phrases
and greeting card motivationals. “Please, don’t say, 'everything happens for a
reason',” he begs. Penny, taken aback, instead tells him, “No! No, I’m just
saying everything happens.” Billy dejectedly responds, “Not to me.”
Sometimes we might feel like Billy -
everything happens, but not to us, as individuals. Certainly I’ve had those
kinds of thoughts when it comes to scholastic awards, romantic endeavors, and
creative attempts. However, just as President Nelson cautioned us, that sense
of dejection comes from focusing on ourselves, and comparing ourselves to
others.
When I remind myself of the splendour of God,
the majesty of the Atonement – in other words, when I focus on the Lord Jesus
Christ- I’m reminded of a singular truth, that President Nelson so eloquently
explained: “Joy comes from and because of [Jesus Christ]. He is the source of
all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord
is come.” And we can feel it all year-round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus
Christ is joy!” Everything happens - and Jesus Christ’s Atonement is one thing
that happened to everything single one of us. Paul taught us that “for the joy
that was set before him,” Jesus “endured the cross.” (Hebrews 12:2)
In order to endure the greatest of all trials,
something far beyond anything we will ever be called upon to face, Jesus Christ
focused on joy. We might well ask, as President Nelson does, “what was
the joy that was set before Him? Surely it included the joy of cleansing,
healing, and strengthening us; the joy of paying for the sins of all who would
repent; the joy of making it possible for you and me to return home—clean and
worthy—to live with our Heavenly Parents and families.”
Joy provides an enduring power, a cleansing
power, that mingles with our pain and sorrow, and consecrates it for our
benefit. It is through learning to feel joy that our experiences become benefits,
just as the Lord promised Joseph Smith in the Doctrine and Covenants’ 121st
section. When we transcend the natural man’s reaction to disappointment and
tragedy, that moment, that joy is what enables us to learn and move
forward, as it did for the Savior.
If we refuse to find joy in our trials, they
will never become “our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be
justified by faith,” as Paul asserted the Mosaic Law was in his day. It is joy
that lets us keep going, keep hoping, and keep loving. I believe Sterling W.
Sill would agree with me. He taught that the most successful lives are those
who have the most worthwhile experiences, and no experience is worthwhile if it
fails to increase our knowledge, or our light – in other words, if it doesn’t
contribute to our intelligence, as defined by God, it’s not too important.
Elder Sill said that, “The religion of Christ itself is not so much a set of
ideas as it is a set of activities. The purpose of the Church is to help us
translate the principles of the gospel of Christ into constructive, meaningful
human experience. And everyone should work toward this end by a daily practice
of thinking some uplifting thoughts, listening to some fine music, reading some
stimulating literature, doing some good deeds, and having some great
experiences every day.” Great experiences are experiences where joy has shown
us the silver lining that is in every cloud.
We can see many examples of this in the
scriptures. For instance, Alma declared that while on their mission to the
apostate Zoramites, the missionaries suffered “no manner of afflictions, save
it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ.” Afflictions were present, probably
many, but their trials were swallowed by joy, and thus became experiences that
taught and trained them, perhaps preparing them for even more diligent service
during the upcoming war.
Paul mentioned that “I have learned, in
whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” It is immediately following
this passage of scripture that Paul famously declares, “I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me.” "All things" doesn't just
mean moving mountains and raising the dead; God typically doesn't need too much
of that from you and me. "All things" means everything, including
growing from the worst moments of our lives and finding joy in both the darkest
and brightest of days. That's what Heavenly Father wants from us while we're
here on earth.
We come to that strengthening joy through the
Savior. Jesus Christ can become a true source of joy in our lives as He becomes
more than a philosopher, more than a sacrifice, more than a vehicle for our
salvation. President Nelson promised that, “As our Savior becomes more and more
real to us and as we plead for His joy to be given to us, our joy will
increase.”
What can we do to make Jesus Christ “more
real” in our lives? For me, this process has included several different
activities. Heartfelt prayer and earnest scripture study are, at this point,
givens. If you aren’t there yet, start today, with an honest prayer and sincere
effort to spend some time perusing the scriptures. You start where you are, and
the Lord will bless and lift you.
In addition to this, I have found that two
resources in particular have helped to make the Savior more real to me: these
are James E. Talmage’s Jesus the Christ, and the Church’s Bible Videos.
Learning about the world Jesus of Nazareth lived in makes Him more real to me.
I'd label this as the "by study" portion of learning.
The "by faith" part can include “by
service” and “by sacrifice.” Are those not Christ-like endeavors? By faith
should certainly involve pondering the Sacrament and the Sacrament Hymns.
Last week, I had a moment during the sacrament
where the Lord became more real to me.
As I broke bread, I was transported back almost 2,000 years ago to an
upper room in Jerusalem. It was an intimate gathering where the Son of God
watched His closest friends take the first sacrament. I felt that, more than
anything, he hoped that they would catch a glimpse of the sublime truths the wine
and bread taught about his impending sacrifice. Christ’s Apostles partook of
the same ordinance you and I partake of each week. Brothers and sisters, we are
part of a noble tradition. As I watched each of you take the sacrament, for a
moment I felt my heart fill with that same fervent desire, that my friends would
appreciate the sacrament. In that moment of empathy, the Savior became more
real to me.
In those moments when the Savior becomes “more
real” to me, my heart swells, and occasionally breaks. How could it not,
considering the immensity of love – charity – that Jesus Christ feels for us. When
I reflect on the other moments when my heart has been full, it's almost always
mixed with another emotion, usually sadness over parting or pride in somebody
else. That's how joy works. It rarely comes alone. I've had a heart full of joy
when saying goodbye to people I love, and I've had a heart full of joy while
crying over somebody who doesn't care for me anymore. In those moments, joy was
brought to me by understanding principles of the gospel. I found joy by
focusing on what I could become, thanks to Jesus Christ.
In the movie Inside Out, a similar
principle is taught. If you remember, at the end of the movie, Riley, the main
character, had emotions that weren't one-dimensional anymore. Among other
emotions, sadness, mingled with joy, was given prominent attention. It's the
realization that emotions can and often are intertwined with each other that
brings balance and dare I say - joy - more fully into Riley’s life and
each of our own. That’s one of the secrets to how we can always be joyful – joy
isn’t exclusive with happiness. It’s been known to hang out with grief, and I
have it on good authority that joy and tranquility are quite good pals. Joy’s a
bit of a social butterfly; it doesn’t pick and choose only a few friends.
In Psalms, it is written: “I have set the Lord
always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. … In [His]
presence is fullness of joy.” Wherever we may be, whether it’s the best of
times or the worst of times, we can place the Lord in our lives, and find joy
in His presence. Nephi promised us that “the saints. . . who have believed in
the Holy One of Israel. . . shall inherit the kingdom of God. . . and their joy
shall be full forever.”
On the topic of the Kingdom of God and joy, in
The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin passionately asserted that
"'the Kingdom of God is within man' - not one man nor a group of men, but
in all men! In you! You, the people have the power ... the power to create
happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and
beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure." We have the power to
find and spread joy, thanks to and through Jesus Christ.
The Roman philosopher Horace admonished,
"Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor
postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been,
you may say that you have lived happily."
This may be my favorite
invitation of all time, and it's one I need to constantly remember. Do not
postpone your joy. Nowhere are you required to be absolutely miserable
throughout your trials, and there's no fine print saying that life sans trials
can't be a wonderful adventure. You can be crushed with disappointment, and
still reach out to our big brother Jesus Christ, and he will teach you to find
the joy in your life. We can find joy in all of our experiences, by focusing on
others, on the Savior, and allowing Him to use our trials to lift us higher. President
Russell M. Nelson shared the following experience, recorded by Eliza Snow:
“Because of Missouri’s
infamous extermination order, issued at the onset of the grueling winter of 1838,
[Eliza R. Snow] and other Saints were forced to flee the state that very
winter. One evening, Eliza’s family spent the night in a small log cabin used
by refugee Saints. Much of the chinking between the logs had been extracted and
burned for firewood by those who preceded them, so there were holes between the
logs large enough for a cat to crawl through. It was bitter cold, and their
food was frozen solid.
That night some 80 people
huddled inside that small cabin, only 20 feet square (6.1 meters square). Most
sat or stood all night trying to keep warm. Outside, a group of men spent the
night gathered around a roaring fire, with some singing hymns and others
roasting frozen potatoes. Eliza recorded: “Not a complaint was heard—all were
cheerful, and judging from appearances, strangers would have taken us to be
pleasure excursionists rather than a band of gubernatorial exiles.”
Eliza’s report of that
exhausting, bone-chilling evening was strikingly optimistic. She declared:
“That was a very merry night. None but saints can be happy under every
circumstance.”
That’s it! Saints can be
happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a
bad week, or even a bad year!”
Don't postpone your joy;
it's yours for the taking. Joy to you, and to the world! The Lord has come. Let every heart prepare him, and his joy, room.
I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He was born in Bethlehem, raised in
Nazareth, and died on Calvary after suffering in Gethsemane. He rose from a
garden tomb, "the first fruits of them that slept," and He ascended
to the right hand of the Father. He's still there today, doing everything He
can to bring us joy. He's restored His gospel, He speaks to prophets, and we
have a promise that He will return, with justice and mercy for all. He will
wipe all tears from our eyes and we will receive a fullness of joy in His
presence.
Joy to the world, the
Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods
Rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat the sounding
joy
(Joy to the World)
Joy to the world, indeed - the
Lord will come again. It is my prayer that until that joyful day arrives, we
will remember to enjoy the joy He has already bought for each of us. Let us
never postpone our joy. I leave that invitation with you, in the sacred name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
