The Light of the World

Let Your Light Shine

Luke 11: 33-36

No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.  If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

We are familiar with the premise here, every year for the last few years our hashtag for Christmas posts have been #LightTheWorld so the idea of being a light in the darkness is not new.  The question I am posing today is do you really understand how we are the light of the world? I can tell you my version and am happy to accept comments on what your version is.

As a light in the world our behavior and words need to match. If we say something is right then we must act on what we say. People notice behavior and they really notice when what you say doesn't match what you do. We are a light just by living our beliefs. Helping, forgiving, serving, reading and studying our scriptures, showing mercy, and even the simple act of following the word of wisdom. I have had people ask me if I am a Mormon just because they had realized I don't drink coffee (I work in a call center, I am absolutely in the minority regarding coffee).

Putting out light in a secret place or under a bushel (hiding who we are and what we believe) will not draw others to the light. Jesus goes on to say "Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness" I am open to corrections here but I take this to be a warning to those like the Pharisees - who flaunt their good deeds and prayer in public but its all a show and not what they really believe. Doing good deeds when they don't mean them but only to gather attention. Examine your testimony, be sincere in your beliefs, and live your talk and you will be a light unto the world. 

Faith and Worth

Lessons in Faith and Worth

For the week of March 4-10th then material to study was Matthew 8-9, Mark 2-5. I read though this twice before what I wanted to study hit me. This is the story in Matthew 8: 5-13 that I have heard mentioned but never really covered. And again I have pulled out the verse numbers to make it read more like the story of a miracle that it is.

Matthew 8:5-13
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,  And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy,grievously tormented.

And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only,and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no,not in Israel.  And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

Both before and after this story we see other stories of Jesus healing, the man with the withered hand, the woman who touched His hem and was healed. They are all miracles and worthy of study, but I find this one remarkable for what the centurion said to Jesus.

His servant is very sick with palsy - that is a paralysis, especially that which is accompanied by involuntary tremors (thank you Google Dictionary). He asks Jesus to come and heal his servant and Jesus agrees. So far very normal, then the centurion says, "Lord I am not worthy for you to come into my home: but speak the word only, and my servant will be healed" (converted from KJV language for clarity).  He then goes on to explain that he is a leader of men. When Jesus heard the He "marvelled" I don't think He was marveling at the centurions leadership position. I believe He was impressed by the mans faith, awareness, and assessment of his standing.

This centurion had enough faith to ask for healing, and enough awareness of his own life to essential say- I am not worth for you to come into my home, but please heal my servant. I have faith that you can do this from here by saying so. Jesus then tells him that He has not found anyone with such great faith, He talks about the outer darkness which is a topic we will have to get to later - I have not received understanding about this yet. Some knowledge, but no understanding :)
Finally, Jesus tells him that as he believes so it will be done; and the servant was healed in the same hour.

The centurion knew and admitted that there were things about his life and his home that made him and it not worthy for the Lord to be in his home. He also had great faith - what does that mean for us?

We can have faith, and still do wrong. We can take action to fix our sins and wrong choice through the atonement. But how about this...are we making sure we are worthy when we go into the Lords house as well? By worthy are we praying and repenting of sins before taking the communion and doing our duties in the church? Are we praying, repenting and assessing before going to the Temple? This centurion knew there were wrong things in his life, admitted them and still had the faith to ask for a miracle of the Lord.  Wrong things in our life don't keep us from prayer, that's when we should be speaking to our Father the most.

The Bible doesn't tell us what happened to the centurion, but I like to think that this meeting with the Jesus and this miracle encouraged him to change what he need to change in his life, he certainly possessed the faith to do so.

Wrath of the Rightous

Sin of Wrath versus Righteous Wrath

In the last blog post I covered temptation and sin in the temptation of Jesus in the desert. I also touched on the Seven Deadly Sins which are a teaching of the Catholic church and 3 of those sins were identifiable in the temptation of Jesus.

Jesus teaching is most often identifiable with the themes of love, tolerance, and forgiveness which makes the scene in the second chapter of John versus 13-16 even more shocking to read. 

John 2:13-16

And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

This brings up the question of what does the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Prophets say about anger and wrath? I found a some teachings on anger and I these are the ones that I think answer the question the most.

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Wrath is something that God can and will express (see Garden of Eden, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Flood)

Lynn G. Robbins, General Conference April 1998 

"He damages and often destroys families within the walls of their own homes. His strategy is to stir up anger between family members. Satan is the “father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another” (3 Ne. 11:29; emphasis added). The verb stir sounds like a recipe for disaster: Put tempers on medium heat, stir in a few choice words, and bring to a boil; continue stirring until thick; cool off; let feelings chill for several days; serve cold; lots of leftovers.

A cunning part of his strategy is to dissociate anger from agency, making us believe that we are victims of an emotion that we cannot control. We hear, “I lost my temper.” Losing one’s temper is an interesting choice of words that has become a widely used idiom. To “lose something” implies “not meaning to,” “accidental,” “involuntary,” “not responsible”—careless perhaps but “not responsible.”

“He made me mad.” This is another phrase we hear, also implying lack of control or agency. This is a myth that must be debunked. No one makes us mad. Others don’t make us angry. There is no force involved. Becoming angry is a conscious choice, a decision; therefore, we can make the choice not to become angry. We choose!"

We can choose how we react, we can choose not to react in anger. We can choose to take a deep breath and react in love, we can choose to take a walk, go to the gym or any other way to get control and not say hateful things that we don't mean to people we love...or do even worse.

Matthew 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

We are commanded to forgive and to be slow to anger. That does not mean being an doormat and as Matthew says we should not be angry without a cause. There must be a valid reason to be angry..and even then we need to control our anger and not let it control us.

Gordon B Hinkley, General Conference October 2007

Anger may be justified in some circumstances. The scriptures tell us that Jesus drove the moneychangers from the temple, saying, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13).

But even this was spoken more as a rebuke than as an outburst of uncontrolled anger.

Finally, what started this topic. Jesus had a justified anger and the men who had turned his Fathers house into a marketplace populated by thieves. Jesus drove them out of the temple, but he did not chase them down, he did not swear vengeance. He just fixed the situation. He rebuked them.

Anger and wrath must be avoided when possible, controlled when not. I highly recommend reading both of these talks in full. Anger is an emotion, it is not a sin. Sin follows when we don't control it, when we let it control us. 

Creation and the numbering of verses

John 1

In the Bible, the creation story is told in Genesis, Hebrews, and here in a shorter form in John. In the Book of Mormon we find it in 1 Nephi, Mosiah, Doctrine and Covenants, Moses, and Abraham.
It is important to know that the John speaking in the Book of John is the man who becomes an apostle of Christ, not John the Baptist who most assuredly knew Jesus as they were cousins. This is important because John recognized Jesus as soon as he saw Him as the Light of the World. He testified of who Jesus was.
John went on to write the Gospel of John, three epistles and is the author of the book of Revelation. (www.lds.org).

Most of the time the way they number verses is helpful and makes it easier to find specific scriptures. It is important to remember that this was not always the case and I think these verses in John point it out. Lets take a look at the difference.

John 1:1-14 with numbers

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

6 ¶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to becomethe sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Same verses with out numbers

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness;  and the darkness comprehended it not.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Obviously, I chose the paragraph markers, but they are breaks that make sense with the content and for me, this format makes the verses clearer and easier to see what John is saying. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh and dwelt among us; in the beginning Jesus dwelt with God, we see repeatedly Jesus referred to as the Light, John states that he is not the light but the witness of the Light, and that the world was made by the Light. Taking this and rereading Genesis we understand that Jesus created the world under the direction of our Heavenly Father "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not".