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NOTE
Now you’re going to notice that this week in Come Follow Me is not a “story” week this time. It’s a teachings week. It’s focused on some of the teachings of Jesus Christ. And it contains some that we’ve already covered together—Jesus’s tribute to John the Baptist, a house divided against itself cannot stand, whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother, the Lord’s prayer, and no man when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick. We’ve talked about all of those statements. But there are also some teachings here that we haven’t taken a look at yet.
MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT (Matthew 11:28-30)
ICEBREAKER
So first, Matthew 11:28-30 and there is a lot of meaning packed into those three short verses. For an icebreaker, I like to talk about backpacking. Now I’m an avid backpacker and so I have all the gear and would probably bring a bunch of it in as a bit of an object lesson. In one of the backpacks I put all of my heaviest and biggest gear. Some of my older gear that I used to carry when I was younger. But then I’ll load up the other backpack a little differently. About 10 years ago I stumbled upon the world of what’s called ultralight backpacking. And it changed everything. I used to carry a 50-to-60-pound backpack on my trips. But not anymore. Now, my backpacks typically weigh less than half of what they used to. I realized that there were things I was packing that I didn’t need and never used. I found lightweight alternatives to basic gear. And I learned strategies and techniques that required me to bring and use less. And with that, I found that the experience of backpacking improved tremendously. It was so much easier. I could go further, see more, and definitely more enjoyable. I still had a burden to carry, but it was light, and I still had everything that I needed to not only survive but to thrive in the outdoors. And as I display those two backpacks it is obvious that they are visibly different in size and weight. I might even invite one of my students to come forward and try on the two backpacks and ask them which of the two they would prefer to carry on a 50-mile backpacking trip. The choice is easy.
Now you may not have a bunch of backpacking gear to display as a teacher. But you could basically use the same idea as long as you had two backpacks you could bring in. And you could make one heavy, and the other light. And instead of heavy and light backpacking gear, you could talk about how heavy school backpacks used to be with all the textbooks we had to carry around compared to the backpacks most students carry nowadays where so much is done digitally and with school laptops. Heavy textbooks are a bit of a thing of the past.
TRANSITION
Jesus had something to say about the kinds of spiritual burdens we choose to place upon our backs in this life. We all have burdens to carry—all mortals do. And the backpacks here represent different ways people choose to live their lives. Different approaches to life. They are the backpacks of mortality. And we’re given a choice as to which we want to carry throughout it. Nobody goes through life without shouldering responsibilities, duties, expectations, and trials. Which of the two backpacks do you feel best represents the burden Christ’s gospel places upon our backs? And which do you feel is the backpack that the world, or Babylon places there? Which is the backpack of discipleship? Now be honest here. Don’t just pick the one you think is the right answer. Which one do YOU feel represents discipleship? How do YOU see it? If somebody were to ask you, “What’s it like being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?” How would you honestly describe it? The responsibilities, expectations, and duties that Christ’s church places upon us compared to the one’s the world places upon the shoulders of its disciples.
Now turn to Matthew 11:28-30 to see if you got it right.
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And there it says:
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Now. Do you believe that? Because that is a very challenging set of verses. In your soul. In your heart of hearts, do you believe it? Sometimes I feel that the scriptures take us by the lapels and hold us up against the wall of our own thoughts and demand an answer of us. This is one of those passages. Do you believe this? When someone asks you what it’s like being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, would you use the words Christ does here in your answer. Would you say, “It’s easy. It’s restful. The burdens the Church places upon my shoulders are light.” I’m not so sure we’d all answer in that way. In fact, we may be tempted to feel the exact opposite. As we look at the way those that have chosen the backpack of the world live, we may start to think how much easier it must be to not have to worry about things like paying 10% of our income to tithing, attending frequent church meetings, serving in time-consuming callings without pay, being subject to high standards of conduct and commandments like honesty, modesty, patience, integrity, and self-sacrifice. We could just jump into bed every night without feeling the need to pray or study scripture. If we could just live a life that caters to the natural man rather than subjugating it, ahhhh, that must be such an easier way to approach life.
But Jesus said that his backpack, that his burden is light, and easy and restful—that the lighter backpack is his and the heavier the backpack of the world. Except, he doesn’t use the image of a backpack in Matthew because they didn’t use them back then. What word in those verses is the Biblical equivalent of “backpack”. It’s “yoke”. Jesus talks about his yoke. What’s a yoke? It’s a farming tool, like this one in this picture here. Before the days of tractors and giant farming machines, people would use animals in their farm work. They would often yoke a pair of oxen together to pull their burdens behind them—like plows, or rakes, or wagons full of wheat and other goods. So Jesus is not suggesting that following him is like a life without work. What Jesus offers to those that labor and are heavy laden, is not a pillow, or a vacation, or a La-Z-boy recliner. It’s a yoke still. He invites us to take upon ourselves a different way of carrying our lives than the world. I’ve seen a picture floating around the internet and even posters at Deseret Book with an interesting message on it. It’s a picture of Jesus Christ with the words “I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it” as the caption. I’m afraid that’s not a true statement. Jesus did say it would be easy. Right here in Matthew 11:30. But why would he say that. We may be tempted to argue with that verse. No, Jesus, the path of discipleship is difficult. It’s challenging. You yourself often speak of trials of faith, great sacrifices to be made, crosses to bear, persecution to endure and perhaps even laying down our lives for the gospel’s sake? How in the world can you describe the path of discipleship as easy?
And I want to be clear about something here before we proceed. I’ve often seen these verses used as a vehicle to teach the principle that Christ can help carry my burdens for me. That he can lighten my load through his love, grace, and atonement. And I have no problem with that because it’s a TRUE principle. But I just don’t think that’s the message here. I’d teach that principle from Mosiah 24 where the burdens that Alma’s people are suffering under are made lighter because of their faith and prayers. But here, I believe that Jesus is inviting us to compare the way of life his gospel offers us to the way of the world.
So the real question here is, “Why would he say that?” How is Jesus Christ’s yoke easier, lighter, and more restful? And I’d let me students wrestle with that one for a bit.
My thoughts? The burdens of living as a disciple of Jesus Christ are lighter and easier when compared with the burdens the alternative offers. It’s light in comparison. Yes, his yoke requires obedience and sacrifice and service. BUT, it removes the far heavier burdens of sin, and ignorance, and darkness. The weights of regret, addiction, and aimlessness are considerably more weighty than the exertion required to endure trials of faith or persecution.
It's like in school. The student that pays close attention to the teacher’s lecture on how to solve the math problem and takes notes and exerts himself to really understand the concept behind the problem may appear to be working much harder than the student who lazily memorizes the answer to get the teacher off his back and then leans back to play on his phone or daydream or that copies all the answers to the homework off of a friend’s paper. That appears, at first, to be the easier path. But, observe those same two students later in the semester the night before the big test that they both must pass in order to graduate. The student who took the time to understand sleeps easy and restfully, confident in his ability to solve the problems. The other may stay up all night, spending hours trying to figure out how to do it on his own. Or he may despair and give up entirely, fail the test, and end up repeating the grade. That hardship, I feel, is far harder than the hardness the first student experienced at the beginning exerting the effort to learn. Or in a war, the country with the army that attacks the enemy head on, may suffer casualties and make huge sacrifices in order to preserve their freedom and way of life. But that difficulty leads to a far better and easier future for that nation for generations to come. And the country that surrenders and gives in at first notice may seem to have it easier than the one that fought. But their lives in bondage to the occupying force makes their lives much harder and even downright miserable. It’s much harder for that nation in the long run than the country that decided to resist. I believe that living as a disciple of Jesus Christ is kind of like that.
And can you think of any examples of that principle when it comes to your discipleship? Examples of how being a member of Christ’s Church makes life easier and more restful than those who choose not to bear that yoke? Here’s a few of my own.
I imagine trying to cope with the tragic death of a loved one without my belief in a glorious resurrection through Jesus Christ. That burden would seem almost unbearable to me. Imagine trying to navigate your life without a knowledge of the plan of salvation—never understanding your purpose, your potential, and your identity as a son or daughter of God. Life would be much harder. I believe that all throughout my youth I took that knowledge for granted because I’d been it since primary. But when I got out into the mission field and met people who had no idea where they came from, why they were here on earth, and what was going to happen to them when they died. And to see the lights come on in their eyes and the gratitude they felt for those answers made me so much more grateful myself that I had that gift. That knowledge makes life easier, lighter, and more restful. Imagine the burden of trying to face life’s problems without the help of your ward, your leaders, and the community of Christ that surrounds you. And if we feel that living commandments and standards and the counsels of prophets is hard, maybe we should try living the alternative—going through life attempting to figure those things out on our own by trial and error. By the time we figure out which choices are the good ones and bad ones, it may be too late. Without those protective guardrails, we may not get it until we’ve fallen off the cliff and are plummeting to the sharp rocks below.
TRUTH
Choosing to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ is easier, lighter, and more restful than anything the world has to offer.
Now, of course, if you wanted to make the point that living as a disciple of Christ is easier because Christ is there to help shoulder our burdens, you could certainly do that here. That truth is perhaps implied by the image of the yoke. Because a yoke was often used to pair the strength of two animals together to pull the load. So, the yoke of Christ is easier because he helps to bear the burdens of life with us. But to me, the true power of these verses is in its implication of choosing the lighter backpack of discipleship to Christ.
But what are the three things that we must do in order to experience that? Look closely at the verses. Do you see our three verb phrases? We must . . .
Come unto him,
Take his yoke upon us,
AND learn of him.
What does that look like? Commit yourself to Christ and his church, make a covenant to follow his gospel, and then spend the rest of your life learning of him—striving to live as he did. Seek to tame and overcome your natural man and hand yourself over to Christ completely.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
What aspects of living as a disciple of Christ do you find restful, easy, and light?
CONCLUSION
And in conclusion here, my friends, my fellow disciples of Christ. I want to express my gratitude for the backpack that Christ has given me to wear—the yoke and burden that he’s provided for me. Though, there is weight to it, though it requires effort, and sacrifice, and labor to carry. That weight is, as Paul puts it, “A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”. It’s a glorious weight. Like when I go backpacking with my ultralight gear, I often almost don’t even notice that it’s there. The journey becomes my focus. The beauty of the world around me takes center stage in my mind, and not the weight that I’m carrying. I testify to you with full conviction that living as a disciple of Christ is restful. It’s easy. The burdens that membership in Christ’s church has placed upon our shoulders are light. I hope that we would answer like that the next time we’re asked what it’s like to be a member of Christ’s church. He did say it would be easy, AND that it would be worth it. And at that moment, as a teacher in my class, I would pick up my ultralight backpack and say, “Now let’s go enjoy the journey with the right backpack. The lighter backpack of Christ’s yoke”.
And that, by far, is my favorite teaching from this week’s assigned chapters. It’s an all-encompassing type of principle. But there are some other great principles you could also teach this week. For one, you could highlight Jesus’s teachings about the Sabbath day.
SABBATH DAY (Matthew 12:1-13)
ICEBREAKER
As an icebreaker, I like to tell a little story about something that happened to me while I was visiting Jerusalem on a trip once. We were staying in a high-rise hotel in the city, and my room just happened to be on one of the top floors. One morning, as I was going down to the lobby to get breakfast, I hit the button for the elevator, and, as you would expect, the doors opened, and I hopped on. Well, the elevator doors closed and descended exactly one floor, and opened up again—and there was nobody there. Nobody got on. I thought that was strange. The doors closed, and descended another floor, and opened again. Again, nobody was there. I looked at the buttons inside the elevator. They weren’t lit up. I was baffled. What was going on? My frustration and perplexity only grew as that elevator stopped at every floor on the way down. I thought to myself, “Somebody is playing a prank on me. They’re running down the stairs and hitting the button on every floor before I get there.” Well when I got to breakfast I told my parents about my experience and my Dad, “Oh, I know what was happening. You got on the Shabat-a-vator. The Shabat-a-what? The Shabat-a-vator. See, today is the Jewish Sabbath. And on that day, Orthodox Jews believe in strict standards of not working. Pushing the elevator button is considered work. And the Sabbath is a day of rest. So at least one of the elevators in buildings like this is set to just go up and down stopping at every floor all Sabbath long.” Now I don’t tell you this story as a means of criticizing Orthodox Judaism or to make fun or demean that belief. It’s just a modern-day example of the extent of Sabbath laws in that faith. And this was the kind of thing that Jesus encountered in his day.
In fact, if you wanted to see what things were specifically prohibited by Jewish law in Jesus’s day, you could show them the following slide to give them an idea. There were 39 specific types of work Jews were not to engage in during the Sabbath. And these are just the general categories. Each one had numerous clarifying laws as how that principle was to be applied. I won’t read through all of these here, but you get the point. It’s very restrictive and detailed.
QUOTE:
Jewish law in Jesus' day forbade thirty-nine chief or principal types of work. These were: (1) sowing, (2) ploughing, (3) reaping (4) binding sheaves, (5) threshing, (6) winnowing, (7) sifting (selecting), (8) grinding, (9) sifting in a sieve, (10) kneading, (11) baking—all of which restrictions had to do with the preparation of bread; (12) shearing the wool, (13) washing it, (14) beating it, (15) dyeing it, (16) spinning, (17) putting it on the weaver's beam, (18) making two thrum threads, (19) weaving two threads, (20) separating two threads, (21) making a knot, (22) undoing a knot, (23) sewing two stitches, (24) tearing in order to sew two stitches—all of which restrictions had to do with dress; (25) catching deer, (26) killing, (27) skinning, (28) salting it, (29) preparing its skin, (30) scraping off its hair, (31) cutting it up, (32) writing two letters, (33) scraping in order to write two letters—all of which are connected with hunting and writing; (34) building, (35) pulling down, (36) extinguishing fire, (37) lighting fire, (38) beating with the hammer, and (39) carrying from one possession into the other all of which appertain to the work necessary for a private house. Each of these thirty-nine principal prohibitions contained within itself numerous related items that were banned on the Sabbath day (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, Vol.1, p.206).
And here’s the point. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with a person holding themselves to a higher standard of living or obedience because it helps THEM feel closer to God. I wouldn’t use this example as a way of saying, “Look how silly these people were!” I don’t think that Jesus had a problem with people striving to live the rules of the oral or rabbinic laws. The problem with the Pharisees of Jesus’s day was in their judgment and condemnation of others who did not live up to THEIR interpretation of the commandment to “Keep the Sabbath day holy”. As Jacob in the Book of Mormon says, they were guilty of “looking beyond the mark” (Jacob 4:14) and condemning those who didn’t LOOK as they did.
So because of this, Jesus often challenged the Pharisees and the critical eye that they turned on everyone who didn’t live up to their high standard. The conversation between them and Jesus in Matthew 12:1-8 is a good example of this.
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And I would read these verses together as a class and explain their meaning as a teacher.
At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.
2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
A couple of observations here. One, Jesus was so good at countering their objections. He knew his scriptures backwards and forwards and exactly how to apply them. So in defense of his disciples he says, “David did something that you would consider breaking the sabbath day and you still venerate him! Because he was the King and the circumstance demanded it. Priests do something that your law prohibits on the sabbath day for the sake of temple work.” So in both cases, Jesus is saying that these practices were acceptable because a higher authority superseded the demands of the oral law. And Jesus was a greater authority than any king and the temple. He was the King of Kings, and the temple was his own house. And so it’s like he’s saying, “I was the one who gave the law to keep the sabbath day holy in the first place. Don’t presume to tell Me how to live it!”
Jesus is the Lord of the sabbath day and the final authority on the rules that govern it. And, in this case, he felt the Pharisees had taken it much too far. They had picked up a burden that the Lord never intended them to carry. And then they’re taking it a step further and beating other people down with their standard. So how does Jesus really feel about keeping the sabbath day holy and what that looks like?
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To help my students understand this better, I would divide them up into groups of four and assign each to take one of the following statements to ponder. They should ask themselves, “How could this statement guide me in keeping the Sabbath Day holy?” And for some of the more difficult phrases to interpret, I provide them with a short clarifying statement. I’ll make a template available for anyone interested in approaching this as a handout.
1. Matthew 12:7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. Or in other words. People and their needs must take precedence over ritual and rules.
2. Matthew 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. Or in other words, “Jesus is the leader of the sabbath and the final authority on what should be done on it.”
3. Matthew 12:12 “Wherefore, it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.”
4. Mark 2:27 And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
And after you’ve given your students sufficient time to ponder these phrases, encourage them to share their ponderings with the other three individuals in their group. After that, you could invite some of them to share their findings with the entire class.
And allow me to share a few brief thoughts of my own on these statements. For our first statement: But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. What’s the point Jesus is making here? There is no doubt that rules and policies and standards are important. I believe Jesus would agree with that idea. But, sometimes, in our overzealousness to keep those rules and the rituals, we may begin to be blinded to the needs of the people that those standards are intended to bless. The purpose of commandments and standards and policies is to lead us to God—to bless us. But when those things begin to become an end unto themselves, instead of a means to that end. When they become a rod with which to beat others down with. When the policy become more important than the person, then we’ve looked beyond the mark. And it may be good to ask ourselves if we have we ever found ourselves falling into this trap of offering sacrifice but neglecting mercy? As members of the church, I think we do this when we neglect or judge or ostracize those who we feel aren’t “keeping the rules” as they should, rather than extending a loving, non-judgmental, and inviting spirit to all. As teachers, I think we do this when we allow “the lesson” to become more important than the needs of the people that are listening to the lesson. As parents or leaders, I think we do this when we rebuke or chastise or correct without love or seeking to understand the person behind the problem. President Thomas S. Monson once encouraged us, “Never let a problem to be solved, become more important than a person to be loved.” (Conference Report, October 2008). Sabbath day standards is one area where we must be cautious not to do this. When our emphasis on Sunday changes from resting from our labors and worshipping God to showing others our righteousness or propping up our pride, then we have looked beyond the mark. So let’s hold ourselves to as high of a standard as we please on the sabbath day, but let’s also be careful not to judge or condemn those who perhaps don’t see it the way we do.
Statement #2- For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
How does this statement help me? It helps me to remember the purpose of the Sabbath. It’s to focus us on Christ. He is the Lord of it. So in making decisions on how I should live that day, without giving you a bunch of should’s and shouldnt’s, I could just give you that question. “Does this thing focus me on Christ OR the things of his gospel? Does attending church do this? Yes! What a great activity to take part in on Sunday then. Does enjoying a meal with extended family accomplish this? Yes! Family bonds are important to Christ. What a great thing to do on Sunday. Perhaps we could use that question as a guide in deciding how we’ll spend our time on the sabbath day.
Statement 3-“Wherefore, it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.” This was said in response to the Pharisees who were upset that Jesus had healed a man with a withered hand on the sabbath day—looking beyond the mark indeed! That’s another good standard in determining what we do on God’s holy day. Because it IS intended to be different than other days. If we treat the Sabbath just like any other day, then perhaps we’re not making the mistake of looking beyond the mark, but we’re still missing the mark. So we should “do well” on the Sabbath. And by “doing well” I think he means service. Doing well for others. That’s why Jesus had no problem with healing people on the sabbath. Taking away someone’s pain and suffering is a good thing, therefore, completely appropriate. I don’t think Jesus is just saying that if something is good, that it’s ok to do on his holy day of rest. There are plenty of things out there that are good that would still probably be better left to the other days of the week. But “doing well” to others is always an appropriate act. So, on the sabbath, look for things that you could do to bless others.
And statement #4—The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. It’s important for us to remember that the sabbath is a gift to us from God. He created it to benefit us. He didn’t set it up as a day that was to be selfishly focused on him, but a day that would bless and lift us. How does it do that? By giving us “rest”. We all need a day of rest each week. It’s healthy for our spirits and our bodies. And I think that “rest” can have a few different implications here. I think it's more than just a day of physical rest. It certainly can be, and I for one do enjoy taking a quick nap on Sundays. But I know that many callings carry heavy Sunday responsibilities, and that Sundays may be days when family gatherings cause us to be somewhat busy. And it may not always seem like a day of rest. But rest could be defined as a rest from worldly labors and concerns. It is good for our souls to take at least one day in the week to get away from the labors, and diversions, and temporal concerns of everyday life and devote our time to more spiritual matters. It's a day of rest from the world. When I look at it that way, it totally changes the nature of the so called shouldnt's of the Sabbath. We're not looking for a list of things that we can't do on Sunday, but things that we get to rest from for just one day. We get to rest from professional concerns, from shopping and errands, and from temporal needs. And instead, we get to turn our focus towards God and recharge our spiritual batteries. We get to learn about the things that really matter. Focus on Christ. Be unified with others who share the same beliefs and feelings as we do. It's all there for US!
TRUTH
So for our truth, I’ve decided to list some of the things that I found here, but your students may interpret those verses completely differently. Go with the things that they discovered and testify of their truth. Perhaps list them on the board as you go.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
What “good” things do you enjoy doing on the Sabbath?
How has the Sabbath day blessed you?
CONCLUSION
I’m very grateful for the Sabbath day. There is so much wisdom in it. The sabbath was made for us and not us for the sabbath. I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who understands the importance of a day of rest and spiritual renewal in our lives. I like how Isaiah put it in chapter 58:13, that the Sabbath can be a delight for us. I know that as I was growing up, my parents did some things to help make the Sabbath a delight for us. They always had a positive attitude towards going to church, or having the home teachers over, or enjoying a family gospel lesson together. Sometimes we would play board games together or do puzzles. Then, we always had the three D's in the evening. Dinner, Disney, and dessert. My mother would always make a big special meal on that day, then we would sit down and watch a Disney movie together and eat ice cream. It helped to make the Sabbath a delight for us. A day we looked forward to. A day of family and faith. My wife and I have sought to implement these same things into our Sabbath day worship for our own children. The Sabbath was made for man!
REPLACE THE SPACE (Matthew 12:43-45)
ICEBREAKER
For an icebreaker, I like to have my students look at the following pictures and ask, “Is the problem solved?” You see, in each of these photos, these people started with a problem, and to their credit, they did something about it. But did they solve the problem? That’s the question.
This man, for example, had a problem. He had a flat tire. A flat tire is bad, right? And so he removed it. That’s good, right! Problem solved? Not really, right? He’s got a different problem now, doesn’t he? What might happen now?
This person had so many cavities in her teeth that all of them needed to be removed. Problem solved?
This person had a front door that wasn’t turning well on its hinges. So they ripped it out. Problem solved? But now what’s the problem?
There was a bad section of train tracks in this area. So they ripped them out. Problem solved? What might be the problem now? What might happen?
In each of these cases, what did these people fail to do? They failed to replace what was bad with something good. They only solved half of the problem. In fact, wouldn’t you say that they’ve created a far more dangerous situation than they began with! I guess that just removing the problem is not enough.
TRANSITION
In Matthew 12:43-45 we have a similar situation.
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And I might approach this section of scripture with the following personal study guide handout for my students. It encourages them to read those few verses and answer some questions. I’ll walk you through it here.
Question #1: What was the man’s problem?
Answer: He had an unclean spirit in him.
Question #2: What good things did the man do to try and solve that problem?
Answer: He kicked the unclean spirit out. He was able to cause it to go out of him. He swept the problem out and put things in order. That’s what “garnished” means. He cleaned up his house, took out all the trash, got rid of all that was bad or out of order in it.
Question #3: But what did he fail to do?
Answer: He failed to put something good back in its place. The key phrase here is that the unclean spirit “findeth it empty”. That’s what he failed to do. He left his house empty. So when the evil spirit returned, what was the result? It says, “Oh wow! There’s more room in here than there was before! I’m going to get go some of my friends now and throw a party!”
Question #4: What was the final result of that decision?
The scripture says that the last state of that man is worse than the first. Now he ends up with an even bigger problem.
TRUTH
Question #5 These verses are teaching us an important principle about repentance. What do you think that might be? If I wish to repent, I must . . .
Here’s one way you could complete that statement. If I wish to repent, then I must not only get rid of what is bad in my life but replace it with something good.
Let’s consider some examples of this principle. Help one of these people out. Pick one and be ready to share your thoughts. Using the principle you’ve discovered in these verses, what advice would you give them?
Swearing Sam has a nasty habit of putting people down and using offensive and vulgar language. He wants to change this about himself. What advice would you give him?
Mature Media Mike has realized that his choice of music, movies, and video games is having a profoundly negative effect on his spirituality and faith. He decides it’s time to clean up his act. What advice would you give him?
Internet Ian has developed a dependency on pornography when he gets stressed or discouraged in life. He knows this is wrong and wants to change. What advice would you give him?
Selfish Sara is feeling alone, empty, and unfulfilled in life. She feels that she spends all of her time and energy on herself and has neglected friends and family. She wants to change. What advice would you give her?
Make up one of your own examples of someone trying to change something about themselves.
Here are a few of my thoughts on these situations. If you have a bad language problem and you decide you need to remove that from your life you can’t just stop talking to people altogether. What’s a better solution to that problem? Replace the bad language with good language. Make a goal to give someone a sincere compliment every day. Instead of using offensive words in your language, replace them with positive, humorous, or kind words.
If you have a habit of listening to inappropriate music, watching filthy movies, or playing violent video games, don’t just stop at throwing those things out. Replace them—with good and uplifting music, wholesome movies, and family-friendly video games. I mean, I know that most of what Hollywood and the media puts out there these days is absolute garbage and downright harmful to the soul. But thank heavens, we also live in a time where there are plenty of good options out there too. There are “good movies” out there, there is a lot of “good music” to choose from. You might have to look a little harder, but it IS there!
If you’re trying to get rid of a pornography problem, you’ve got put a different interest in its place. You can’t just remove that temptation from your life and not replace it with something that is spiritually healthy to stimulate your mind with. Something else that draws you to it and gives you a feeling of excitement. A hobby or interest that you find fulfilling and interesting. Or try finding and building satisfying friendships and relationships with real people.
If selfishness is the problem, replace it with service. Replace anger with love, complaining with gratitude, toxic and spiritually damaging friendships with positive, spiritually uplifting ones.
If we have a desire to change, to repent, or to fix something we don’t like about our lives, then we’ve got to be careful about creating a vacuum that the adversary might seek to fill. I’m intrigued by what the Lord said to Cain after he failed to make a worthy and acceptable sacrifice to God in Moses 5:23. He said:
“If thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee.”
See, that was Cain’s problem. His sense of apathy towards the things of God left an empty space in his heart that Satan quickly sought to fill. Let’s not make the same mistake. We’ve got to fill our lives with “doing well” if we wish to be accepted. It’s when we stop “doing well” that we create that void. And sin and Satan are constantly checking to see if the door of our souls will open. Jesus is comparing our souls here to a room with a door that swings open to the inside. And sin and the unclean is there trying to push its way in. What’s a big part of the solution then? We’ve to fill up that room with so much good stuff that there’s no space left over for the bad. Fill it with boxes and boxes of service, and sacrifice, and righteousness and hard work. No wonder the Lord told is in Doctrine and Covenants 58:27
27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
So fill up that room to the brim with good causes. And when sin and Satan check to see if the door will open, all the pushing and shoving in the world will do them no good.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
The final questions on the handout are a personal application section. It asks:
What’s a “righteous replacement” you could make in your own life? What “bad” do you need to remove?
Then, What is something “good” that you could put in its place?
Invite your students to make a plan to do BOTH parts of the problem-solving process in their lives.
And then encourage them to follow through with that plan.
CONCLUSION
And I would encourage you to remember that principle the next time you feel inspired to change something about yourself. Don’t go halfway. Go in for the full treatment. To truly fix the problem, we’ve got to remember the principle that repentance without replacement is risky. Sin lieth at the door, ready to sneak in and bring seven other spirits more wicked than itself with it. Replace the space! Fill your life with good things! Be anxiously engaged in a good cause, always. And I believe that if we do that, we’ll find that it is much, much easier to keep the adversary away.
FRIEND AT MIDNIGHT (Luke 11:5-8)
One more principle. When we studied the Sermon on the Mount, we covered a whole section of principles that the Savior taught us about prayer. Well, here in Luke 11, you’ll see many of those same teachings. But, there is a specific principle of prayer that Luke includes that Matthew doesn’t. An additional powerful prayer principle.
ICEBREAKER
So for an icebreaker, I just like to tell a few of my favorite knock-knock jokes and ask if my students have any good ones of their own to share. And I know these are terrible, but I think you’ll find that your students still enjoy them.
Knock, knock. Who’s there? Nobel. Nobel who? No bell. That’s why I knocked.
Knock, knock. Who’s there? Hatch. Hatch who? Bless you.
Knock, knock. Who’s there? Cows go. Cows go who? No, silly. Cows go moo!
Knock knock. Who's there? Woo. Woo who? Don't get so excited, it's just a joke.
Knock knock. Who’s there? Dejav. Dejav who? Knock, knock.
TRANSITION
Anyway. In Luke chapter 11, Jesus tells a little parable about somebody knocking on someone else’s door. And as with any parable, we need to decide what each of the elements of the story represent.
SEARCH
So please read Luke 11:5-8 with the following questions in mind:
Who do you think the man sleeping represents?
Who does the man knocking on the door represent?
What does the knocking itself represent?
What point do you feel Jesus is trying to make by telling this parable?
Ok now, the man sleeping in the story would be God, right? Or maybe not, but let’s go ahead and look at it that way, for now. We’ll come back to a different idea later. But for our purposes now, let’s assume that the sleeping man represents God. The man knocking on the door would be who then? That would be us, right? We always want to seek to find ourselves in Jesus’s parables. What’s the knocking then? I believe that would be prayer. Seeking for God’s help in times of need. And I like the fact that what the man is asking for here is not a need for himself, but for a friend. He wants bread to provide for his friend, to be a good host. So this is a righteous desire.
Our most important question then. What point do you feel Jesus is making by telling this little parable? Well, why did the man get up and give bread to his friend? It says, because of the man’s importunity. Importunity means boldness and persistence. The sleeping man realizes that his neighbor is not going to just go away. He’s just going to keep knocking until his friend gives him an answer. So he gets up to help so that he can go back to bed. What’s a possible application of this parable then? When it comes to our own prayers and requests for help, we must be persistent in our efforts. We can’t expect God to just come and answer or grant all of our requests the very moment we desire them. He’s not a cosmic vending machine. So, if you don’t feel like God has given you an answer to a faithful, sincere prayer yet—then bruise your knuckles on heaven’s door until he comes. And I believe he will. He will rise and answer, although we may need to grant him some time to wake up, get out of bed and come to the door.
Now a good discussion to have with your students would be to ask: Why do you think he does that? Is it because he’s unwilling to help us? Is it that God’s got to be coerced or pestered into blessing or helping us? No, I don’t think that’s it. Although, the parable does tell us that that’s the reason the man gets up and helps. It says that the reason he comes to the door is NOT because he’s his friend but because that pesky neighbor of his is so darn persistent. He’s just sitting there in bed thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s midnight for heaven’s sakes! I might as well get up now and give him what he wants so I can get back to sleep.”
But here’s another possible way of looking at this. The parable may not necessarily be comparing the sleeping man to God in kind but in contrast. I don’t believe that we’re required to batter at an unwilling God’s door over and over to finally convince or bother him enough to come and help us. On the other hand, I DO believe that persistence and sincerity and intensity in prayer are important.
I think a key to understanding this is found in verses 11-13. They’re verses that we already talked about where Jesus asks that if a son asks his father for bread would he give him a stone. And then in verse 13 says, “If ye then, being evil (or human) know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
I think we can apply the same pattern or idea with the parable of the friend at midnight too. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “If a perturbed, ordinary, petty man is willing to get up and help a friend just to get him to go away, then “how much more shall your heavenly Father” who truly cares about you and loves you, will provide you with what you need when you knock for it. If the evil or “human” man will do it, surely won’t God?
But that leads us back to our original question. Why the delay? Perhaps it’s because he knows we’ll value something far more when we’ve worked for it. Effort creates dearness. Now that may not be a requirement for all of our prayers. Like Jesus says in verse 9, sometimes he’s going to give us, “Ask and ye shall receive” kind of prayer experiences. But at other times, he’s going to give us “Seek, and ye shall find” experiences too. And that seeking or knocking may be weeks, months, or even years in the making. We may have to knock for some time before the answer comes. But I do believe it will come.
A caution here though. The principle here is NOT, “Be persistent in your prayers until you get the answer that YOU WANT”. It’s: Be persistent in your prayers until you get an answer. But if the answer isn’t the one that you wanted, be willing and ready to accept it. That’s the bread and stones, fish and serpents principle we talked about back in Matthew 7. We don’t want to run into a “Balaam” or “Joseph Smith and the 116 pages” type scenario. We don’t want to keep bothering God when he has already answered us. If he’s given you bread, take the kind of bread he’s offering you. The answer may be, “No”. The answer may be, “You’re asking for the wrong thing.” The answer may be, “I have something better for you here, although it’s not exactly what you’re asking for.” Can you imagine how the sleeping man would feel if he got up and gave multi-grain bread to his friend, and the guy started complaining by saying, “Ah, come on, don’t you have some white bread I can have. I don’t want this!” I’d be tempted to slam the door in his face.
TRUTH
If we persistently pray and seek Heavenly Father’s blessings in times of need, then he will answer our prayers in the ways and at the times that will bless us most.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Have you ever had a time when you feel God allowed you to learn by letting you pray with persistence?
CONCLUSION
And allow me to share a brief personal experience I’ve had with this principle myself. I remember praying to know if the Book of Mormon was true after reading it when I was 8 years old, and not feeling like I received an answer. I read the Book of Mormon again at age 12 and prayed that same prayer. Again, nothing. I remember praying again during my seminary years with great faith and desire and once again not feeling like I was receiving any kind of specific confirmation of its truth. Then, as my years of missionary service approached I desired more and more to have a strong conviction of its truthfulness and power. Now, a part of this I believe did stem from an immature understanding of the nature of testimony. I did have a testimony of the Book of Mormon at that point, and not all testimonies need to come with some kind of powerful spiritual manifestation to confirm the truth. But the Lord did do this for me. Every night as my mission approached I prayed for some kind of message or feeling or indication from heaven to strengthen my conviction and testimony. And on a night I wasn’t even expecting an answer, it came. And it was powerful. I had an incredibly meaningful answer to that prayer. I’m not sure why the Lord waited until then to send me that answer when he did, but I trust that it was right time in his omniscient and eternal perspective. And I am certain about one thing, that if I had received that same answer at age 8, or 12, or 16 that it wouldn’t have had the same impact or value that it has to me now. So please remember that Persistence in Prayer has Power.
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