CHRISTMAS MESSAGE NOTES

• The True Spirit of Christmas. When I was a child I was told it was giving. But when you are kid, you know better. It's all about getting. The magic of Christmas morning, running down the stairs in my onesie pajamas with the feet in them. The Christmas morning mayhem. All of the presents, the ripping and tearing of wrapping paper, and oh the joy of finally getting what I had been asking for and anticipating for months. The new Lego set, the Nintendo game, a CD player. Receiving was so wonderful.

• As I got older, adults finally changed my mind. They kept telling me it was all about giving, and I did service projects, and bought my family members gifts, and felt the joy that came from that. And it was joyful, and I decided that giving was the true spirit of Christmas.

• But I've changed my mind again, I am reverting to my childish ways, and I have come to the conclusion that I had it right when I was a kid. I honestly believe that the true Spirit of Christmas is the Spirit of receiving or getting.

• But it's not about receiving presents, it's about receiving Christ

• On that very first Christmas night, there was a gift given, a gift from God.

• John 3:16

• And it didn't come wrapped in brightly colored paper, but in swaddling clothes.

• It wasn't laid under a Christmas tree, but in a manger.

• It wasn't delivered by UPS or Fedex, but by a young woman named Mary

• It wasn't purchased or bought, but freely given

• And it wasn't a toy, jewelry, or the latest gadget, but a baby, who would save us all.

• A gift doesn't only need to be given though, it also has to be received.

• So my message and invitation is to receive Him. Have you received your king?

• How can we receive him? Well, there are some excellent examples in the Christmas story itself. Some good, some bad.

• We can receive him like Herod received him, suspicious and threatened.

• Do we ever feel threatened by the doctrine of Christ? Do we feel that He will threaten our time or ease. Are we afraid he will ask us to something hard. Which he most certainly will.

• We could receive him like the innkeepers, who had no room for them in the inns.

• Now we don't know why they didn't let them in. I think it's interesting that it doesn't just say that they had no room in the inns, but no room "for them" in the inns. Perhaps Joseph and Mary didn't have enough money, or they were rejected because they were Galileans.

• Do we not receive him because of our own pride, or prejudices.

• Or perhaps that was simply it, there was no room.

• Are our lives so busy that we don't have room for Christ in it? Are we too busy for prayer, scripture study, or church?

• We could receive him like the Shepherds, who after hearing the angels announcement, came with haste to the stable.

• We too can come with haste to the Savior. That word suggests willingness and eagerness to let him into our lives. Are we eager and willing to pray, study, attend the church or temple, or serve in our callings?

• We could receive him like the wise men.

• We always picture them as 3 but the scriptures don't say how many there were. It could have been 2 or 10.

• We also always picture them as rich, but the scriptures don't tell us that either, perhaps they were poor, and they had to make incredible sacrifices to bring the valuable gifts they did.

• We know that they found the Christ child by following a star.

• We too, can find Christ if we just look heavenward.

• We know that they rejoiced when they sought him

• We too, can rejoice in our efforts to seek Christ and a testimony of his gospel

• They worshipped

• We too can worship him personally and publicly

• They presented unto him valuable gifts.

• We too can bring him a gift. I like Elder Neal A Maxwells gift suggestion:

• “. . . the submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!" (CR October 1995)

• Most of all, we know they were wise. Why were they wise? Because they sought Christ.

• We too can be wise men, and wise women. The wise seek Him still.

• We could receive him like Mary, who kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

• We too, can keep these things sacred and ponder His meaning to us in our hearts.

• Or we could receive Him like we did once before. People are sometimes surprised to learn that they are literally in the Christmas story. The scriptures tell us that suddenly there was a multitude of the Heavenly host praising God and saying "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will towards men. Who else could that be? Perhaps and likely it was us. All that were still in a pre-mortal existence with God. We couldn't help but break forth into joy that our Savior had begun his mortal journey.

• Do we still feel that same pre-mortal joy?

• Or we could receive him like the faithful Nephites of 3 Nephi chapter 1. At Christmas time we tend to focus on the Christmas story of Luke 2, as we should, but we may forget that there is another Christmas story in the scriptures also. The Book of Mormon Christmas story. When Christ was born in the Old World, amazing things were happening here in the New World as well. And since this next year we will be studying the Book of Mormon, I felt that it would be appropriate to share this here. And I’d like to share this story the way that I’ve heard my Father do it. He could do it much better than I can, but approaching it in this way has always helped me connect with and understand this story on a deeper more personal level.

• You’ll get more from this story if you put yourselves in their shoes, or sandals. I want you to imagine that you are a faithful Nephite, living in Zarahemla in the year 6 B.C. It’s an extraordinary time to be alive. Relations between Nephites and Lamanites are surprisingly good. Due to the incredible teaching of Nephi and his brother Lehi, the entire Lamanite nation has been converted and it is a time of peace between the normally contentious groups. Unfortunately, among the Nephites a new faction has begun to spring up. The Gadianton robbers have successfully infiltrated Nephite society and have influenced many with their unbelief and skepticism. Still, a number of faithful believers continue to uphold the church and a belief in a Savior that will one day come to earth.

• So lets say you go to the market. There is commotion next to one of the walls. People are shouting. You look up and there is a man. You recognize him. It’s Samuel, he is preaching about a coming Savior that will be born in the old world who will come and overcome death and sin for all mankind.

• Just at that moment, you neighbor walks up to you. And for arguments sake, lets say he is a Gadianton robber, an unbeliever and he says "You Christians have a convenient faith, your messiah will be born on the other side of the world so that we can't even verify if it's true" . You explain that we have to accept some things on faith.

• But then Samuel says something that stops you in your tracks. He says that there will be a sign here in the New World of his birth. An unmistakeable sign. The crowd goes quiet as they listen intently to what Samuel says next. And the most amazing words come from his mouth, he says that in five years, on the night that the Savior is born in the Old World, that here there will be a day and a night and a day of light. In other words, on that sacred night, the sun will go down, but it won’t get dark. At that everybody pauses.

• Your neighbor looks at you and says, "Now you don’t believe that do you?"

• And now your faith is going to be tested.

• Because of all the unmistakeable truths and facts about living on this planet, one of the foremost is that when the sun goes down, it gets dark. You may start to think, Samuel, couldn’t we have picked a more subtle sign? Why something so incredible?

• But you have faith. And as hard as it is to accept, you look back at your neighbor and say, with a little tremor in your voice, "Yes. Samuel is a prophet, he would never say anything untrue, so yes, if he says it will happen, it will happen."

• The crowd becomes more and more restless. Some start to shout for him to leave. Finally somebody picks up a rocks and throws it directly at Samuel, but misses. Others get the same idea and pretty soon before you know it rocks and arrows are flying at Samuel from every direction. But miraculously, none can hit him. And here your faith is strengthened, but when Samuel finishes his message he jumps down from the wall, flees and is never heard from again.

• To this your Gadianton robber neighbor accuses. "See, your prophet is a coward, he has the nerve to come here and fill your minds full of lies, and then runs off to abandon you to your foolishness."

• But you maintain your faith. Plus, you have Nephi, the great prophet. He is still there in Zarahemla and he confirms the truthfulness of Samuel's words.

• And the years begin to pass, you may not be too worried the first, second, third, and fourth years, and they come and go. But then the fifth year comes, and something interesting happens in that 5th year. Something happens to Nephi. One day, he just up and leaves, he walks out of Zarahemla, into the forest, and is never heard from again. Now the rumor amongst the believers is that he has been translated. But what is your neighbor going to do with that? Lets say he comes over to your house and casually asks. So, where’s your great prophet Nephi? And you say, well, uh, he left. "Really?Where’d he go?" Umm, we believe that he, uh, well, uh, he was translated. "Translated? You mean, taken up into heaven?" Yes. "Really. Wow, you sure about that, did anybody see that happen?" No. And then he gets serious and he says. "You know, Nephi wasn’t translated. I’ll tell you what happened to him. He got out of Zarahemla before things get bad. He know that the sign is a big hoax and doesn’t want to stick around for the consequences. I bet you anything he’s out there in the wilderness roasting hot dogs with Samuel the Lamanite laughing at you people for being so gullible. Give up this silly belief." There is no way that the sun is going to go down and it not get dark. Again, your faith is being tested. What would you say? And lets say that you stay firm. No, I believe in Nephi, and now his son 3 Nephi is the prophet and confirms the truthfulness of the sign. I believe the sign will come. And your neighbor gives you a bit of a half smile and says. "Hmmm, well I hope it does, for your sake." And there is just a hint of a threat in his voice.

• Well the fifth year comes and goes and now the question is, where is the sign? Samuel said five years. But what did he mean by that? Did he mean within five years or five years would pass and it would happen in the 6th? Well, that’s how you have to interpret it because five years have passed. But the unbelievers around you are starting to get restless.They are saying the sign has passed. Samuel was lying, it’s not true. And many people do begin to lose their faith. In fact it gets so bad, the unbelievers become fed up with the foolishness of these silly Christians and their belief in a day and a night, and a day of light. So they make a decree. They set a date. They say that if the sign doesn’t occur by a certain date, then all those who believe will be round up and killed.

• Now what do you do. It's not just a matter of your faith and reputation, but your life, and the life of your family. Would you stay faithful in those circumstances? Lets say you do.

• And now, what do you do every night besides pray. You watch sunsets. And every night, you hope that it will happen, and you watch steadfastly the sun going down behind the horizon, and what happens every night. It gets dark! Of course it gets dark, what else would it do? And do any of you know what that is like? To have your hopes raised and dashed, raised and dashed, raised and dashed over and over again?

• I can’t think of any other people in the scriptures whose faith was tested more sorely then the Nephite believers at this time. And when do you think the Lord is finally going to send the sign? Months before the day set by the unbelievers for their death, weeks, days? It comes to the last day. The final night. You neighbor comes over and says: "Ok, you know I’ve always kind of liked you even though I think you’re a fool. I can save you and your family. Just deny, deny your belief in this Christ, admit that the sign as a fraud, and I’ll make sure nothing happens to you." Would you keep your faith at that point? With you life on the line, and your spouse, and your children?

• And lets say that you do, perhaps you put your confidence in a God that will save you, or perhaps you say, "Well, if it isn’t true, than a world without Christ isn’t a world I want to live in anyway then." And we don’t know how it happened, but I picture the Gadianton robbers rounding up the believers and standing around them sharpening their swords and waiting for the sunset. And so there you are, hugging your family, praying, and looking to the horizon. And I wish I could see this moment, In the next life, I want to see the replay because this has to be one of the most dramatic moments of all scripture. Everybody’s watching. And the sun slowly dips below the horizon and there is that moment, where you’re not sure what is going to take place, and you wait, and slowly, it begins to dawn on you, it’s not getting dark, but lighter, and lighter, and all that fear, and tension, and doubt are instantly relieved in one miraculous moment. And you rejoice, and cry, and hug, not only because you realize that you are not going to die, but that the Savior of the world has just been born. And perhaps you would sit down with your children and explain to them the significance of a night without darkness.

• So how did the believing Nephites receive him? With incredible faith in the face of great opposition.

• * So, my friends, let's remember the true Spirit of Christmas, and find Joy in receiving our Savior, the greatest gift ever given.

• That’s what the hymn says, right, "Let earth receive her kingA" and I hope you will receive Him.

• So, Lets receive him with faith

• Lets receive him with haste

• Lets receive him with reverence

• Lets receive him with ponderings

• Lets receive him with joy

• And lets not just receive him on December 25, but January 25th, and April 25th, and July 25th, and September 25th and every single day in between.

• But above all, let's receive him and have a very Merry Christmas.