2007-02-25 Mindy's sermon on humility

Introduction: Met at BYU, married eleven years in May, Jonathan 9, Abby 6, Will 3, Sarah 10 months.
Moved in the ward the day it split in November. Figured we would be safe from speaking since nobody knew who we were. But we were called to speak on humility which didn’t surprise me at all because I am the perfect example of humility and no one else could give a better talk on it than I could. Actually humility is one of those traits that if you think you have it you don’t so you need to try to develop it without ever thinking you developed it. This talk, as in all the talks I have been assigned, have taught me what I needed to learn at that time in my life. I am thankful to a Heavenly Father who knows me better than I know myself and who wants me to become better than what I am.
At this time in my life I am doing children. They take all my time, energy and emotional strength. On a lot of days I feel like almost anyone could do a better job with my kids than I am doing. My tendency is to surrender and say my best just isn’t good enough, I can’t do it. And I think that has to be humility right. There is no pride in thinking I am doing a mediocre job as a mom. But from this talk I have learned I need to work on my humility. I was putting my role as a mother higher than God’s role as a Heavenly Father. I was thinking I should be able to give and do everything for my children that they needed. In reality I don’t have what they need most. They need a Savior; they need the Atonement. I need to be more humble and recognize my dependence on my Savior not only for my salvation but also for my children’s. Of course I can’t do everything. I can only do my best and my Savior will make up the difference.
So I have started working on becoming more humble. To be humble is to recognize gratefully my dependence on the Lord—to understand that I have constant need for His support. There will never be a time in my life when I will be beyond the need of protection and care of God. I need to recognize my dependence on God, but I need more than just a knowledge and testimony of my dependence on God and my need for a Savior. I need to learn to subject my will to His will. I need to recognize that God’s ways are infinitely superior to my ways and learn to allow Him to mold me into what He wants me to become not what I want to become.
I think we all want to be good and faithful servants. We all want to be saved. Elder Oaks said that the Final Judgment is more than what we have done. It is what we have become. Elder Eyring said “the things we do are the means, not the end we seek. What we do allows the Atonement of Jesus Christ to change us into what we must be.” The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become. Part of that plan is agency. God will not force us into the people He wants us to be. He desires to preserve our agency. We must be teachable enough to allow Him to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life. That is why humility and meekness are crucial. They offset our agency.
Elder Maxwell said “The Father and our Savior desire to lead us through love, for if we were merely driven where They wish us to go, we would not be worthy to be there, and, surely, we could not stay there. They are Shepherds, not sheepherders.” Compare that with Satan’s plan where we had no agency. Our agency is essential to becoming perfect, so our humility is essential to complement our agency. We need to be humble enough to follow where they lead.
Reaching our potential and becoming perfect is often achieved more readily by suffering and adversity than by comfort and tranquility. When Joseph Smith was in Liberty jail he pleads with the Lord for peace and protection from his suffering. He was promised that “thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high” (D&C 121:7–8).
Though maybe not to the same extent as Joseph, all of us experience some measure of the refiners fire. A truly humble person would accept the Lord’s will for our lives. Instead of shrugging our shoulders in surrender and complaining or wishing it away, we would square our shoulders. We would ask what we should learn, what we are being taught. Then, through the justice and mercy of a loving Father in Heaven, the refinement and sanctification possible through such experiences can help us reach what God desires us to become.
Jesus Christ is our greatest example of humility. In that premortal council Jesus meekly and humbly volunteered to aid the Father’s plan, He said, “Here am I, send me.” (Abr. 3:27.) Elder Maxwell said, “Never has one individual offered… to do so much for so many, as did Jesus, when He meekly proffered Himself as ransom for all of us, billions upon billions of us!” Jesus said to the Father, “thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.” Contrast that with Satan who said, “I will do it, wherefore give me thine honor.” Satan wanted to rule and Christ wanted to serve. Jesus wanted men to come to Him and Satan wanted to be above men.
Elder Amorim in an Ensign article spoke about Christ’s humilty. “From the moment of His birth, the Savior taught humility through His actions. The great Creator of all things (see John 1:3) condescended to be born into the humblest of circumstances. He entered mortality in a shelter for animals and was laid in a manger, a crib that was also used for the feeding of animals. His first visitors were humble shepherds (see Luke 2:7–20).
As Jesus began to perform miracles in Galilee, His fame spread throughout the region. Many people flocked to Him, some desiring to be healed, while others were simply curious. To the sick and afflicted He often said, “Thy faith hath made thee whole,” emphasizing the role of the healed, rather than that of the Healer, in the miracle of healing. 1 And when a leper came, saying, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean” (Mark 1:40), Jesus healed him, saying, “See thou say nothing to any man” (Mark 1:44). Jesus repeated this instruction after many of His miracles, reflecting a deeply held desire that His miracles be done and received in humility and primarily in private. 2
Following His miraculous feeding of the 5,000, some among the multitude wanted to make Him their king. Such popularity and power would have severely tempted or corrupted most people. But Jesus ignored the intoxicating influence of the praise of the world, departing into a mountain to be alone (see John 6:15). On another occasion of grand public acclamation, Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem. The crowds shouted words of praise, spreading before Him their cloaks and tree branches (see Matt. 21:8–9). However, Jesus chose on this occasion to ride upon a donkey, a recognized Messianic symbol of humility (see Zech. 9:9).
Service is always an opportunity to cultivate humility. Jesus demonstrated this when He knelt and washed the feet of the Apostles. “Know ye what I have done?” He asked them. “I have given you an example, that … the servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him” (John 13:12, 15–16).
Finally, in His hours of greatest suffering, Jesus subjected Himself to the Father. And in perhaps His greatest act of humility, He allowed Himself to be hung upon the cross. His last words in mortality typify His teachings on humility. After Jesus uttered the words “It is finished” (John 19:30), He also declared that His Father’s will had been done (see Joseph Smith Translation, Matt. 27:54). He then bowed His head and gave up the ghost.”
During His mortal ministry, He always acknowledged that His strength came because of His dependence on His Father. He said: "I can of mine own self do nothing. . . . I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" (John 5:30).
Though ever supernal in His achievements, Christ always, always gave the glory to the Father whether in the first, second, or now in the third estate. He was and is Lord of the universe, who under the direction of the Father created “worlds without number” (Moses 1:33). Yet He was willingly known as Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter’s son. He always knew who He was! He meekly partook of history’s most bitter cup without becoming bitter.
A joke Elder Maxwell used was if the meek were to inherit the earth, they would have to start being more aggressive about it. People think of meekness and humility and a weakness. It is not a respected character trait in the world. But humility is an acknowledgment that our talents and abilities are gifts from God. It is not a sign of weakness, timidity, or fear; it is an indication that we know where our true strength lies. We can be both humble and fearless. We can be both humble and courageous. Humility is self respect instead of self centeredness. In humility we can offer our talents and time and self with which we are blessed—to be at God’s and His children’s disposal. In fact that is all we have to offer him. He wants our hearts but He won’t take away our agency and so we have to offer them freely and willingly.
After Moses had a vision and beheld the world and the creation and then the presence of God withdrew¸ he said, “Now I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.” (Moses 1:10) He had felt the power of God and felt more keenly his own weakness and dependence. But he also knew he wanted to be near that power and glory. He knew he was a Son of God and that his dependence and trust in Jesus was where his own power would lie.
The Lord will strengthen us as we humble ourselves before Him. Bishop Edgley said, “Humbly submitting our will to the Father brings us the empowerment of God—the power of humility. It is the power to meet life’s adversities, the power of peace, the power of hope, the power of a heart throbbing with a love for and testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ, even the power of redemption. To this end, the Savior is our supreme example of the power of humility and submissiveness. After all, His submitting His will to the Father brought about the greatest, and even the most powerful, event in all of history. Perhaps some of the most sacred words in all the scriptures are simply, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).
I am thankful for my Savior. For his humility and strength in doing the Father’s will. For His sacrifice for me.
Testimony.



Mindy Christensen
February 25, 2007