Bishop Nunn - HOPE
For the past several weeks, I have tried to think of a topic
I should speak on. I have asked members of the Bishopric, the ward council,
members of Bishops Youth Council, and my good wife. I was given a wide range of
topics. If I was to use the lingo of our young people, my talk might sound
something like this given the topics suggested.
#testimony
#faith
#gossip
#datingbefore16
#chastity
#theGodhead
As I have pondered about the many things I could talk about,
I have had a number of experiences over the past few days that have led me to
what I wish to speak on today.
In the corner of our family’s living
room stands a ficus tree. This tree has
moved six times, lived in two states, and has been transported between two
countries. Through all this, the tree has remained healthy and looks beautiful.
This tree was given to me from my boss shortly after the death of my youngest
brother, 18 years ago. The tree stands in our living room and has become a
symbol of hope to me. Hope can be defined as the “confident expectation of and
longing for, the promised blessing of righteousness.” The scriptures often
speak of hope as anticipation of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.
Recently in the online newsfeed
UtahValley360.com was published an article titled, “15 New Year’s Resolutions
from the Prophets for 2015.” The
resolutions include topics such as, Avoid contention. Find more meaning in
temple service. Take care of your body. Learn more about the gospel. Improve
personal scripture study. Serve someone everyday. Have more meaningful prayer.
Increase your fast offering. Repent daily. Have family home evening. Forgive
quickly. Maintain a clear vision. Evaluate yourself honestly. Emulate Jesus
Christ.
As I read over the list, thoughts
such as, “I need to try harder to be better” crossed my mind. I then read a few
comments across the bottom of the article. One comment caught my eye, shocked
me, and then caused me to reflect. The comment said, “This list could be summed
up as ‘constantly evaluate yourself and seek perfection.’ No wonder so many
Utahns are on anti-depressants. This is the impossible gospel.” I was shocked by the comment and then
saddened. Do we not understand that this is a gospel of hope? Yes, we seek
personal growth, personal strength, a deeper understanding. But we do all of
this only because we hope “the best is yet to come.”
The Prophet Moroni wrote,
“Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be
hope; and if there must be hope, there must also be charity.”
Last month as our family traveled to
a rodeo in Claresholm, Kaylynn had us listen to talk presented at Time Out for
Women in Salt Lake. The speaker was Noelle Pikus Pace. You will remember Noelle
as an Olympic bronze medalist for the United States from the most recent winter
Olympics in the Women’s Skeleton event. As she received her medal, cameras caught a
glimpse of her Young Women medallion around her neck.
During her talk, she shared this
story. In 2005, she had qualified for the winter Olympics. She was at the top
of her game, prepared and ready for competition. She had trained and dedicated
her life to her sport. During her last training run, she stood at the end of
the track with her friends waiting for her teammates to complete their runs, when
what seemed as out of nowhere came a four-man bobsled. Standing at the end of
the track with no place to run, Noelle was struck by the sled. She was hurled
through the air about 20 feet landing on the asphalt. Her leg badly broken, she
was rushed to the hospital for surgery. As she lay in the recovery room crying,
the surgeon walked in and looked at Noelle and said, “Why are you crying?”
Shocked and unable to answer, the surgeon then asked again, “Why are you
crying?” The surgeon then stepped towards her and said, “You can either look
back and be miserable about what just happened to you, or you can move on. Your
leg is broken and feeling sorry for yourself won’t change that.” Noelle
reflected on that comment saying that was the best advice she was ever given.
President Gordon B. Hinckley said,
“I am asking that we stop seeking out the storms and more enjoy more fully the
sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life, we accentuate the
positive. I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good. Look for the
sunlight through the clouds.”
President Uchtdorf teaches that,
“Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity.
These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we
might encounter at times.”
Too often in our lives, we cave to
despair. We feel that all hope is lost, that we can’t go on. The road is too
rocky and rough. The river is too wide to cross. The hill is too steep to
climb. The race is too long and too fast to finish. The despair comes as the
adversary wishes us to fail. He blinds our hearts and minds and slowly leads us
down the path to destruction.
Rich Miller has recently shared his
story of how he lost his faith and then regained his faith in a Mormon message
titled Finding Your Purpose in Life. He states that a lesson he learned is that
cynicism creates a numbness towards life. Cynicism is an attitude of scornful
or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of integrity or professed
motives of others. Cynicism is the opposite of Hope. We must not allow
ourselves to have an attitude of scornfulness. We must love and forgive others.
The word hope is used every day in
our lives. We hope for a good day, we hope for health or we hope for good
weather. We hope our kids will be happy. We hope for a good job. The word
hope’s meaning changes as we grow and mature.
Nephi taught that, “we must press forward with a steadfastness
in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all
men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward feasting on the words of Christ and
endure to the end, behold thus saith the Father, Ye shall have eternal life.”
President Uchtdorf shared this
insight on hope: “Hope can be seen in two ways. Things we hope for and things
we hope in. Things we hope for are often future events. If only we could look beyond
the horizon of mortality into what awaits us, beyond this life. Is it possible
to imagine a more glorious future than the one prepared for us by our Heavenly
Father? Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we need not fear, for we will
live forever, never to taste of death again.
The things we hope in sustain us
during our daily walk. They uphold us through trials, temptation and sorrow.
Everyone has experienced discouragement and difficulty. Indeed there are times
when the darkness may seem unbearable. It is in these times that the divine
principles of the restored gospel we hope in, can uphold us and carry us until
once again we walk in the light.”
Brothers and sisters, if you are
struggling with a challenge, physically, emotionally, maybe a wayward child or
your own addiction, hold on to hope.
The Book of Mormon prophet Alma
shared his experience of being racked for three days even as the pains of a
damned soul. He then recounts these
feelings, “Now as my mind caught hold upon this thought I cried within my heart
: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness
and am encircled about by the everlasting chain of death. And now, behold when
I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the
memory of my sins no more. “
As we grow in our personal desire to
be obedient, as we more perfectly keep the commandments such as the word of
wisdom, modesty, dating, marriage, and tithing, we are better able to attain
hope. Hope needs to find place in our
every day lives.
As a freshman attending Utah State
University, I learned that hope can get me through. I arrived in Logan, Utah, late at night in
mid-March. I had never been to Logan and was completely unfamiliar with what
street addresses like 2000 North 100 West meant. I eventually found my uncle’s home who had
offered me a place to live. I was shown to a garage that had a small office
space built onto it with a heater and carpet on the floor, a single bed in the
corner. The next morning I found myself enrolling in classes. I had no idea
what the word credit even meant. Many of the first nights were lonely. I would
often find myself walking down the street alone at night asking God why am I
here? Is this what you want me to be doing?
Knowing an earlier prayer had been
answered about going to school, my hope in answer to prayer kept me going to
class, searching for work, and trying to make friends. Over time, I found a job
I loved, was set up on a blind date with a great math tutor who eventually became
my wife. I have found in my life when I am lonely or afraid, it is my hope in a
greater cause than myself has gotten me through.
The 13th Article of Faith
states, “We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in
doing good to all men; indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul
– we believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things and hope
to be able to endure all things.”
As we reflect on our lives, I hope
we reflect on the many things we have endured because of our hope. As members
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, our ability to endure is
made stronger because of our hope in the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
I hope the following story might
illustrate our need for continued hope.
Several years ago, my dad and I were working together for a summer on a
ranch in Saskatchewan. Summer was ending and we were gathering horses for the
fall sale. On this particular day, it had been raining slightly on and off. We
saw a window of opportunity to gather one more field about 12 miles from home.
Our boss drove us to the back field and dropped us off. We started to ride,
trying to find the horses. At about the same time we found the horses and
headed for home, the wind picked up and the rain started to beat down heavily
upon us. Suddenly the lightning started to crack.
Now being on the top of a horse
during a lightning storm in a place where you can see your dog run away for a
week, is a little on the scary side. We managed to get the horses headed for
home. Horses always seem to move better if they can follow the lead horse. I
started out in front with the rain and wind beating on my horse’s face, we
headed home. He lowered his head and unwaveringly pushed on. The rest followed.
By the time we reached the top of the hill overlooking the ranch, our boss had
come in the truck to get us. Soaking wet, we loaded our horses and climbed in
the cab. I looked over at the old cowboy boss and said, “Bet you thought we
gave up, didn’t you?” I have often looked back on his reply at hard times in my
life. He said, “I know you better than that.”
Members of the Leavitt Ward, you
have each been given the horse of hope that will carry you home, even when the
wind is blowing, the rain is pounding, and the ride is sometimes long. Our
Savior Jesus Christ knows each of us. He knows you. He knows the challenges you
face. He knows how hard things can be. But because of Him, we can hope in the
future.
President James E. Faust said,
“There are tremendous sources of hope beyond our own ability, learning,
strength, and capacity. Among them is the gift of the Holy Ghost. Through the
marvelous blessings of this member of the Godhead, we can come to know the
truth of all things.” He went on to say, “Hope is the anchor of our souls.”
Ether taught in the Book of Mormon,
“Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better
world. Yea, even a place at the right
hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men,
which would make them sure and steadfast always abounding in good works, being
led to glorify God.”
May we each find hope in our daily
lives. In a book titled “Focused” by Noelle Pikus Pace appears this quote, “Hope gives us courage to do those things
that we don’t believe we are capable of.” Because of our hope in Christ,
our understanding of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, the restoration of
the priesthood, and the sealing power of Elijah, we can have hope in all
things. We can have hope of all things.
I testify that Jesus is the Christ
and our hope in Him will bring us joy and peace.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
