My Talk in Church: Sacrifice

Dear Delysia,

Listed below is the talk that I gave in church yesterday. I hope you like it.

Prior to the Atonement of our Savior, the children of God offered blood sacrifices as a symblol of their reverence and devotion to God. (Moses 5:5-7). Such sacrifices served as both a similitude of the Savior’s Atonement and an offering of something of great worth. In the beginning, Adam and Eve, they were asked to give the best of their flocks and the fruits of the field. The effects of this law demonstrated that the best that the earth had to produce was not for self, but for God. At this particular time of history where it was very difficult to make sure your family was fed, those who sought to worship God, were asked to sacrifice the best source of the mortal life to Him. 

Over time and because of the rebellious nature of the Jews, how to fulfill the law of sacrifice was altered to help the Children of Israel focus on the Savior and His atonement. During the time of Moses there was an expansion in the number and variety of offerings under the law of sacrifice. The Mosaic sacrifices consisted of five major offerings that fell into two primary categories—obligatory and voluntary. The difference between the obligatory and the voluntary offerings might be compared to the difference between the law of tithing and the law of fast offerings. The part of sacrifice that most strongly paralleled the Savior was the offering itself. The priest acted as the bridge between us and God, as the Savior does for us now. 

Here are some small details of how the Law of Sacrifice had been altered to fit the need of the Children of Israel: 

First, like Christ, the animal was chosen and anointed by the laying on of hands. (The Hebrew title Messiah and the Greek title Christ both mean “the Anointed One.”) Second, the animal was to have its life’s blood spilt. Third, it had to be without blemish—totally free from physical flaws, complete, whole, and perfect. Fourth, the sacrifice had to be clean and worthy. Fifth, the sacrifice had to be domesticated; that is, not wild but tame and of help to man (see Lev. 1:2–3, 10; Lev. 22:21). Sixth and seventh, for the original sacrifice practiced by Adam and the most common sacrifice in the law of Moses, the animal had to be a firstborn and a male (see Ex. 12:5; Lev. 1:3; Lev. 22:18–25). Eighth, the sacrifice of grain had to be ground into flour and made into breadstuffs, which reminds us of our Lord’s title the Bread of Life (see John 6:48). Ninth, the firstfruits that were offered remind us that Christ was the firstfruits of the Resurrection (see 1 Cor. 15:20). 

Once the Savior came into His mortal experience, fulfilled His life mission and saved us all and provided a way for us to return, He then again altered the way that we should fulfill the Law of Sacrifice: a broken heart and a contrite spirit. So with this in mind, what is Sacrifice? What is a broken heart and contrite spirit? I gave sent out a survey on social media to get a scope of what we, as the rising generation of the church thought of what this word means. The major of my peers said something very similar to this phrase: Sacrifice is giving up something for something better. 
With this definition in mind and the knowledge that we poses, this answer is incomplete. 

 Here is a list of things, a majority of my peers said were the hardest things for them to give up: Time, Personal satisfaction for sake of spouse/child/friend, relationships online, comfort zones, school, missions, girlfriends and boyfriends, play dates, jobs, clothes and money. There were more looming answers that I came across. 

Girl 1 said: When I joined the church, I was the only one that did at the time. I chose to get married to the love of my life. I sacrificed having all that I loved to be there at the ceremony to see me be married in eternal glory to my husband. I wanted my mom and dad and all my family to be at the temple to celebrate with me. Those in attendance were my husband, his parents, his Bishop and the parents of one of his mission companions. 

 Girl 2 said: I joined the LDS church when I was 17. That was the best decision I have ever made but also the hardest. I have lost family and friend relationships as a result and it have brought me a lot of pain and judgment as well as loss of respect from people that I love. The positive parts are much greater and well worth it, but it is hard. 

Girl 3 said: Having a family has made me completely lose myself. I have found myself in moments of horrible depression, unsure of who I really am. I've given up things I really love. Activities I love, my body, and my mind, all in the name of family and my children. I wouldn't give them up for anything, but the sacrifices I've made have taken their toll. 

Girl 4 said: When my father passed away, I had to sacrifice my after school life when my mom needed me to be a mom the last two years of high school. I helped raise my siblings instead of having a lot of freedom to do what I wanted to do. 

Boy 1: I have sacrificed my hope to live a life with a spouse and a family of my own in this life. Being gay, I have decided that remaining celibate is the only acceptable way that God would have me live. But this decision has come at a great cost: being lonely, seeing others around me have what I want, being thristy, being despised by society and ridiculed by my own peer group because of my choices to remain faithful, make it all really hard. But I hope that all will work out, it has too. 

One way to think of sacrifice is that reputation, social standing, popularity, and success must be burnt on the altar as a sacrifice. Since our lives are going to be lost anyway and all that the world has to offer is meaningless, the exchange is illusory. We are asked to give up what has never been ours to keep. Life is brief and fleeting. Viewed in the proper light, the sacrifice of all things is nothing. You gain everything by giving up what is truly nothing and was never yours to begin with. 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “Real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed!” 

 So, what are the benefits? Revelation: The Jews sacrificed because they were preparing to be sanctified and to hear the word of the Lord. “And ye are to be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and ye shall be endowed with power, that ye may give even as I have spoken.”(see D&C 43:16) 

Cleansed from Sin: We being willing to sacrifice our hearts and souls allows for the cleansing of sin. “And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood’ yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost.” (see 3 Nephi 9:19-20) 

Eternal Life: When we are willing to sacrifice all that we poses to return to our God, He allows us to return. “And unto him that repenteth and sanctifieth himself before the Lord shall be given eternal life.” (see D&C 133:62) 

May it be my brothers and sisters, that as we strive to believe that we are and will make it back to our Celestial home, from whence we came, it will become a reality. As in the beginning of time, the law of Sacrifice demanded the best of what the earth had to offer: animals and fruits of the field. Now in the days of the second coming of the Savior, the law demands the best of what heaven has to offer, the hearts and souls of God’s eternal children. 

May it be that we all may be willing to sacrifice the animals in ourselves that hide and corrupt the most precious things that are actually ours to give: our heart, our will, our souls. May it be that in our dispensation of prosperity that we will not emulate the rich young man of the Jews in the Saviors time, but that we may be as the Lamanites of the Book of Mormon. King Lamoni and his father who were willing to give up all they had: their flocks, their families, their traditions, their Kingdom and their sins to know God. My promise to you is this, if you struggle to remember your value, sacrifice. If you struggle to remember how to hear God’s voice, sacrifice. If you struggle to remember what it is like to feel God’s love for you, sacrifice, ‘…that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.’ (see Moroni 7: 48).