Christmas Letter: The Character of Christ
Elder Josh Banner
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I cannot believe that it is already
Christmas again! I swear that it has not yet been a year since the last time I
wrote a Christmas letter! That was soooooo fast! But I am excited for the
opportunity I have to, once again, be writing a Christmas letter to you. I know
that if each of you decide to read, study, and (most importantly) pray to get
what you need out of these scriptures and experiences it will benefit you. But
I know you are thinking, “Well Elder Banner was long winded and liked the sound
of his voice before the mission. Now he has been living with a deaf person for
4 months, this will be long...” That might be true..... I apologize! Ha ha
Like last year I decide that, though severely limited
by budget, I can still share with you that which is my most valuable
possession, my knowledge and testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we now
celebrate Christmas; which is a wonderful time to remember His birth, His life,
and the wonderful gifts He provided for us; I will try and explain things I
have learned of Him. I will try to be brief but this is a subject that is
complex and detailed. I may ramble on for more than I intend and for that I
apologize.
I want to start this with a quote from Elder David A.
Bednar. He said, “Learn of Christ, not just about Him.” It is
very important to note that distinction. We are all familiar with what
Christ did, but who of us is familiar with who Christ is? What is He
like? What is His Character? Only through knowing who Christ is and why He did
what He did can we begin to emulate and live like Him. That is the subject of
our study today.
We start this more specific study with a quote from
Elder Neil A. Maxwell who said, “There would have been no Atonement except for
the character of Christ”. Now, that is an interesting statement. Why? Why would
the Atonement be impossible “except for the character of Christ”? The answer is
that without constantly living in accordance with this character, Christ would
not have been sufficiently prepared to take upon Him the infinite burden of the
Atonement. But, again, why? What is this character and why is it so important?
What is Character?
In the Oxford English dictionary it explains character
as “...the sum of the moral and mental qualities which distinguish an
individual or race; mental or moral constitution; moral qualities strongly
developed or strikingly displayed”. Brigham Young, when testifying of the
truthfulness of the Bible, emphasized the importance of the charterer of Christ
by saying,
“...the Bible is true. It
may not all have been translated aright, and many precious things may have been
rejected in the compilation and translation of the Bible; but we understand,
from the writings of one of the Apostles, that if all the sayings and doings of
the Savior had been written, the world could not contain them. I will say that
the world could not understand them. They do not understand what we have on
record, nor the character of the Savior, as
delineated in the Scriptures; and yet it is one of the simplest things in the
world, and the Bible, when it is understood, is one of the simplest books in
the world, for, as far as it is translated correctly, it is nothing but truth,
and in truth there is no mystery save to the ignorant. The revelations of the
Lord to his creatures are adapted to the lowest capacity, and they bring life
and salvation to all who are willing to receive them.” (Discourses of
Brigham Young, p. 124)
So Brigham Young said that the
Character of Christ is one of the simplest things in the world. Why then is it
not more commonly known? This is not a new question. Joseph Smith spoke of this
in his famous King Follett discourse. He asked the audience, “What kind of a
being is God? Does any man or woman know? Have any of you seen Him, heard Him,
and communed with Him? Here is the question, perhaps, that will from this time
forth occupy your attention. The apostle John says, 'this is life eternal' – to
know God and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent.” (See John 17:3 and King Follet
Discourse [HC 6: 302-303]) If our purpose in life or 'life eternal' is to know
God and Jesus Christ and if that is the only way we can rightly 'take upon us
the name of Christ' and be like Him, then what is His Character? Who is He?
What is the Character of Christ?
The Character
of Christ
Elder Maxwell commented, “Jesus'
character necessarily underwrote His remarkable atonement. Without Jesus' sublime
character there could have been no sublime atonement! His character is such
that He "[suffered] temptations of every kind" (Alma 7:11), yet He
gave temptations "no heed" (Doctrine and Covenants 20:22).
Someone has said only those who
resist temptation really understand the power of temptation. Because Jesus
resisted it perfectly, He understood temptation perfectly, hence He can help
us. The fact that He was dismissive of temptation and gave it "no
heed," reveals His marvelous character, which we are to emulate (see
Doctrine and Covenants 20:22; 3 Nephi 12:48; 27:27).”
Elder Bednar shows us more
clearly by saying, “Perhaps the greatest indicator of character is the capacity
to recognize and appropriately respond to other people who are experiencing the
very challenge or adversity that is most immediately and forcefully pressing
upon us. Character is revealed, for example, in the power to discern the
suffering of other people when we ourselves are suffering; in the ability to
detect the hunger of others when we are hungry; and in the power to reach out
and extend compassion for the spiritual agony of others when we are in the
midst of our own spiritual distress.” And thus we come to realize that
character is shown, demonstrated, and exemplified by looking, reaching, and
turning outward when the natural and instinctive response is to be
self-absorbed and turn inward. That is the Character of Christ.
Examples of the
Character of Christ
If that is the Character of Christ, where can we find
examples of it? Let's turn in the New Testament to Matthew chapter 4 to start.
In verse 1-9 we read about Jesus, having concluded His forty days of fasting in
preparation for His ministry, being tempted of the devil. The devil tempts
Jesus three different times in succession and Jesus resists the temptation
every time. Now following a forty day fast the Savior was probably more than a
little bit weak, and after each successive confrontation with the devil the
Redeemer must have been emotionally and spiritually drained. With that in mind,
please read verse 11 which says: “Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold,
angels came and ministered unto him.” Now that is great, following these
experiences angels came to strengthen Christ. I know I would have appreciated
that as Christ must have. But is that how it happened? Now, with the help of
modern revelation, we can see a better example of the Character of Christ. The
Joseph Smith translation of verse 11 says: “Then the devil leaveth him, and now
Jesus knew that John [the Baptist] was cast into prison, and he [Jesus] sent
angels, and behold, they came and ministered unto him [John]”. What a
remarkable example of the Character of Christ. Christ, in the midst of trials
Himself, turned outward in compassion and thought of John and sent angels to
comfort him.
Another example is found in 3 Nephi where it explains
Christ coming to visit His “other sheep” (John 10:16) here in the Americas
shortly after His resurrection. He came to them, established His church, called
the 12 apostles, and taught how to perform ordinances such as baptism, explains
the doctrine of Christ, delivers the Sermon on the Mount, and then explains
many other things. He then tells them that He has to leave them. At this point
we are in chapter 17. He [Jesus] “perceives that [they] are weak” or in other
words tired or overwhelmed by all of His teachings. They needed some time
before they could learn again. Christ notices that, advices them to go to their
homes so they can ponder and ask God for understanding to prepare themselves
for His [Christ's] next visit. He then explains a little of what He is going to
do. He is to go back to his Father and then to the lost ten tribes of Israel
along with more of His “other sheep”.
We then read in verse 5-8: “and it came to pass that
when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the
multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as
if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them. And he said unto
them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you. Have ye
any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or
blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf,
or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them
for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy. For I
perceive that ye desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your
brethren at Jerusalem, for I see that your faith is sufficient that I should
heal you.”
Instantly Christ turns outward in compassion and love
to those who merely “desired Him to stay”. They didn't say anything. They
didn't have to. The Master was able to perceive their desires and instantly
turned out to help and heal them. He didn't think of all He still needed to do,
He still had a full plate. He had already spent hours of His time teaching
these people but was willing to stay longer. There was no turning inward and
thinking what He wanted, he immediately turned outward to help, to love, and to
be an example for the multitude and the record says, “and He did heal them
every one”. For even greater examples of this Character I would encourage you
to read the last half of 3 Nephi Chapter 17.
But one of my favorite examples occurred following
that which took place in Gethsemane. Having just sweat great gouts of blood
while taking upon Him the sins, pains, and suffering of the world. Christ
returns to find His apostles asleep. They couldn't wait with Him “one hour”. He
gently rouses them just in time for another of His apostles, who had betrayed
Him, lead soldiers to arrest Him with a servant of the High Priest. Peter, in
an attempt to avoid the inevitable, cuts off the ear of the servant of the High
Priest. What is the pain of losing an ear compared to all the pain from sin and
all of the pain the whole world would eventually feel? Nothing right? Yet
Christ, in the midst of the most terrible agony that He would ever bear and
more than any of us could even imagine to bear, reaches down to lift the
servant and then heals his ear.
That is the Character of Christ! That is who He is!
That is what He does, every time! He will always turn outward in love and
compassion to help those are in need! Especially when it is hardest for Him, it
doesn't matter what is happening to Him, what pain He may be experiencing, He
will always turn outward. Now, imagine this, when we accepted our baptismal
covenant we agreed and promised to take upon ourselves His Name. That means to
be like Him! Now, is that even possible? With what we have learned about the
Character of our Savior, can we accomplish that? The answer is we can! But it
takes a little bit of work and desire.
How to emulate the
Character of Christ
It is interesting to note that the core, the root, of
the word character is the word ACT. That is fundamentally important! As
we have seen through our Great Exemplar, the nature and consistency of how one acts
reveals in a powerful way his or her character. With Christ, we know
that He is one that “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). The key to building,
developing, and cultivating a Christ-like character is consistently turning
outward in love and compassion to help and lift others, to go about
consistently “doing good”.
If we, in our individual lives, are able to “[put] off
the natural man” meaning resist the impulse to turn inwards and think only of
self, and “[become] a saint through the Atonement of [Him who we are trying to
emulate]” (Mosiah 3:19) which means turning outward in love and compassion to help
and lift others, then we can take upon ourselves the very character of Christ.
This is not a big thing or one single event. These are not horrible experiences
every time. These are the little things. This is helping others through the
midst of our own trials. This is going and tucking in your children after a
long day when you are ready to sleep. This is helping someone on the side of
the road when you had a long day at work. This is helping a friend feel better
when you are personally struggling with something they don't know about or
don't care to see. This is saying yes to that person that asked you to a dance
when you would rather go with someone else, but you know how much it would mean
to them who asked you. This is that missionary going to teach the gospel and
serve others even though he or she is homesick and knows all the help they
could give at home. This is visiting those who don't get many visitors when you
feel you don’t have time. This is stopping what you're doing to give someone a
hug that needs it. This is pausing your conversation to say hi to someone who
looks like they are having a bad day. That is the Character of Christ!
We do not need to take upon us the agony of sins and
remorse and pain of the world to follow the Savior. We do not need to be
punished, hated, and abused to follow the Savior. We do not need to travel
half-way round the world to follow the Savior. We can lift where we stand and
help those in need as the situation arises. We can emulate the Character of
Christ merely by consistently acting in the way that He would.
Now can you imagine what this world would be like if
everyone tried this? There would be no war, there would be no regret, there
would be no murder, no thievery, no lying, no inequality, and there would be no
situation wherein any of us would ever feel alone or unloved. That is one
solution to all the world's problems.
Here is an experience that was shared by Elder Bednar
that describes the type of person we could become through constantly living and
acting in accordance with these principals.
“Let me now briefly share
with you two memorable experiences from my service as a stake president that
highlight the relationship between our actions
and a Christ like character.
Early one summer morning I was
showering. My wife called to me in the middle of my shower and indicated that I
was needed immediately on the telephone. (This was before the day of cell and
cordless phones). I quickly put on my robe and hurried to the phone. I next
heard the voice of a dear sister and friend informing me of a tragic automobile
accident that had just occurred in a remote area involving three teenage young
women from our stake. Our friend indicated one of the young women had already
been pronounced dead at the scene of the accident and that the two other young
women were badly injured and presently were being transported to the regional
medical center in Fayetteville. She further reported that the identity of the
deceased young woman was not yet known. There was urgency in her voice, but
there was no panic or excessive alarm. She then asked if I could go to the
hospital, meet the ambulance when it arrived, and assist in identifying the
young women. I answered that I would leave immediately.
During the course of our
telephone conversation and as I listened to both the information being conveyed
and the voice of our friend, I gradually became aware of two important things.
First, this friend's daughter was one of the young women involved in the
accident. Our friend lived approximately 35 miles from the hospital and
therefore needed the assistance of someone who lived closer to the city.
Second, I detected that the mother simultaneously was using two telephone
handsets--with one in each hand pressed to each of her ears. I became aware that
as she was talking with me, she was also talking with a nurse at a small rural
hospital who had initially attended to the three accident victims. Our friend
was receiving updated information about the condition of the young women in the
very moment she was informing me about the accident and requesting my help. I
then heard one of the most remarkable things I have ever heard in my life.
I faintly heard the nurse telling
this faithful mother and friend that the young woman pronounced dead at the
scene of the accident had been positively identified as her daughter. I could
not believe what I was hearing. I was listening to this good woman in the very
moment that she learned of the death of her precious daughter. Without
hesitation, and with a calm and most deliberate voice, our friend next said,
"President Bednar, we must get in contact with the two other mothers. We
must let them know as much as we can about the condition of their daughters and
that they will soon be in the hospital in Fayetteville." There was no
self-pity; there was no self-absorption; there was no turning inward. The
Christ like character of this devoted woman was manifested in her immediate and
almost instinctive turning outward to attend to the needs of other suffering
mothers. It was a moment and a lesson that I have never forgotten. In a moment
of ultimate grief, this dear friend reached outward when I likely would have
turned inward.
I then drove to the hospital with
a concern in my heart for the well-being of the two other beautiful young women
who had been involved in the accident. Little did I realize that the lessons I
would learn about Christ like character--lessons taught by seemingly ordinary
disciples--were just beginning.
I arrived at the hospital and
proceeded to the emergency room. After properly establishing who I was and my
relationship to the victims, I was invited into two different treatment areas
to identify the injured young women. It was obvious that their respective
wounds were serious and life threatening. And the lovely countenances and
physical features of these young women had been badly marred. Within a
relatively short period of time, the two remaining young women died. All three
of these virtuous, lovely, and engaging young women--who seemed to have so much
of life in front of them--suddenly had gone home to their Eternal Father. My
attention and the attention of the respective families now shifted to funeral
arrangements and logistics.
A day or so later, in the midst
of program planning and detail arranging for the three funerals, I received a
phone call from the Relief Society president of my home ward. Her daughter had
been one of the victims in the accident, and she and I had talked several times
about her desires for the funeral program. This faithful woman was a single
mother rearing her only child--her teenage daughter. I was especially close to
this woman and her daughter having served as both their bishop and stake
president. After reviewing and finalizing several details for the funeral of
her daughter, this good sister said to me, "President, I am sure it was
difficult for you to see my daughter in the emergency room the other day. She
was severely injured and disfigured. As you know, we will have a closed casket
at the funeral. I have just returned from the funeral home, and they have
helped my daughter to look so lovely again. I was just wondering ...why don't
we arrange a time when we can meet at the mortuary and you can have one last
look at her before she is buried. Then your final memories of my daughter will
not be the images you saw in the emergency room the other day." I listened
and marveled at the compassion and thoughtfulness this sister had for me. Her
only daughter had just been tragically killed, but she was concerned about the
potentially troublesome memories I might have given my experience in the
emergency room. In this good woman I detected no self-pity and no turning
inward. Sorrow, certainly. Sadness, absolutely. Nevertheless, she reached
outward when many or perhaps most of us would have turned inward with sorrow
and grief.
Let me describe one final episode
related to these three tragic deaths. On the day of her daughter's funeral,
this Relief Society president from my home ward received a phone call from an
irritated sister in our ward. The complaining sister had a cold and did not
feel well, and she basically chewed out the Relief Society president for not
being thoughtful or compassionate enough to arrange for meals to be delivered
to her home. Just hours before the funeral of her only child, this remarkable
Relief Society president prepared and delivered a meal to the murmuring sister.
We appropriately and rightly
speak with reverence and awe of young men who sacrificed their lives to rescue
stranded handcart pioneers and of other mighty men and women who repeatedly
gave their all to establish the Church in the early days of the Restoration. I
speak with equal reverence and awe of these two women--women of faith and
character and conversion--who taught me so much and instinctively reached
outward when most of us would have turned inward. Oh how I appreciate their
quiet and powerful examples.”
On my mission I have seen many
examples of people who have taken upon them the Character of Christ. Most are
not as dramatic as those above but they are just as important and
awe-inspiring. From those who say, “We can feed you whenever you don't have a
dinner” to one person who, after being in a car accident that was not his fault
but resulted in him breaking a few bones in his neck, turned around soon
thereafter to serve the members of our branch in ways too numerous to mention.
There is no thinking of self in either of these instances or anything in
between. In all those who emulate the Savior choose to self others without
thinking only of self.
We can all become like Jesus
Christ by doing these small things to help others. This has become one of my
main focuses and I hope I was able to present the information in a way that can
help you understand the importance of these principals. I love you all! I am so
thankful for the opportunity I have to know each of you! I am truly grateful
for that! I know this is possible. We can become like the Savior!
I love my Savior. He is real; He came here and was born of Mary more than 2,000
years ago. He grew up, went about doing good, and satisfied all that was asked
of Him, both by those here and His Father in heaven. He loves each of us and
took upon Him our sins and all that is not perfect in our lives and then died
for us. He suffered, bled, and died for me that I may be comforted and be able
to repent of all of my mistakes. As He has for all of you. He suffered for
everything that I have done wrong. He was buried and rose on the third day to
break the chains of death and Hell. He paved the way for us to become like Him
and live with Him, our Heavenly Father, our families, and all those whom we
love forever. I love Him. I know He lives. I have never seen Him but feel as if
I have. I know He loves me and would do anything to help me as He would for
you. I know this is His church once again established on the earth and nothing
gives me as much joy as being out here, serving Him. He is our Savior, our
Redeemer, our Judge, and our Advocate with the Father. He is Emmanuel, the
great I AM, Jehovah, the Way, and the Light. He is the Bread of Life and the
Water of Salvation. He is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. And it is
with His name I testify that these things herein are true. With His name, Jesus
even the Christ, Amen
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