Praise to the Men

I always love this time of year.  There is nothing quite like the Christmas season in terms of its ability to soften hearts and produce a sense of true joy.  As a student, it affords me an opportunity to come home for a few weeks, enjoying the company of family and friends.  I can truly say that there is nothing quite like the experience of coming home after being away for awhile.  There is just something special about being able to spend time with family and friends during the holidays.  This past week has only reaffirmed that feeling, as it has given me opportunities to see familiar faces and old friends.

As Latter-day Saints, this season is doubly important.  In addition to celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, we also get to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith on the 23rd.  Thus this season gives us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the principles of the restored gospel and the plan of salvation.

Somewhere close to 2000 years ago, an angel informed a group of shepherds, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).  That announcement was the culmination of thousands of prophecies uttered between that day and the pre-mortal day when the Savior responded, "Here am I, send me" to the Father's question, "Whom shall I send?" (Abraham 3:27), promising to offer His life and blood as a ransom for the sins of all mankind.  While we tend to focus upon the Savior's birth at this happy season, Elder Holland has reminded us that we "can't separate Bethlehem from Gethsemane or the hasty flight into Egypt from the slow journey to the summit of Calvary....It is a single plan" that "considers 'the fall and rising again of many in Israel.'"  (Jeffrey R. Holland, Shepherds Why This Jubilee?, 68).  Indeed, "Lying among those gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were also a crown of thorns, a makeshift royal robe, and a Roman spear" (Holland, Shepherds Why This Jubilee?, 58).  It is the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Savior that give true meaning to this season, allowing us to rejoice at Christmas-time.

Equally important to our joy at this season is the message we proclaim that the gospel has been restored and that we once again have full access to the redemptive power of the Savior's atonement.  While "we do not worship the Prophet [Joseph Smith]....we acknowledge him, we proclaim him, we respect him, [and] we reverence him as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty in restoring to the earth the ancient truths of the divine gospel, together with the priesthood through which the authority of God is exercised in the affairs of his church and for the blessing of his people" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 1977, 55).  We proclaim with that Prophet that "The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it" (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 121).

At this glorious season, we testify that the Prophet Joseph Smith was indeed called of God to be that chosen vessel through whom the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored, once again making available unto all of the children of God, all of the rights, privileges, powers, and blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  Thus at this season, we sing with fervor, "Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah," and "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation!"  Truly, this is a season to be merry, considering both our blessings and the accompanying responsibilities to proclaim these truths unto all men.

Brett