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Thanks for sharing this Curt. I started with three questions on the chalkboard: “Why do pain and suffering exist in this life?”“What part do we play in pain and suffering – in receiving and causing pain and suffering?”
“Why would a God have to suffer for us?”
Before talking about those questions, we read Alma 7: 11-12, Isaiah 53: 4-6 and Matthew 8:7. We listed all of the things for which the first two passages say Jesus suffered: pains, afflictions, temptations, sicknesses, death, infirmities, griefs, sorrows, transgressions, iniquities and, interestingly, “the chastisement of (
punishment associated with) our peace”. We read that Jesus suffered in order to know how to “succor ( nurture, support, feed, etc.) his people” “according to the flesh” ( not at just a theoretical or intellectual level). We talked about things we can understand “according to the mind” without really understanding “according to the flesh”. The first answers from the students to each question tended to be doctrinal (“to teach us lessons” / “to help us learn and improve” / etc.), but we drilled down to the practical answer (“because pain and suffering are unavoidable aspects of mortal life and central to the Plan of Salvation”). In other words, because God approved and decreed we would suffer. He “authored” it, even if he wasn’t to “blame” for it. It was his “responsibility”.
I then asked everyone to think about the second question and consider that we almost always talk about how the Atonement pays for what we suffer (what is done to us), but we seldom talk about the suffering we cause (what we do to others) and how forgiveness is just as much a part of the Atonement as healing is.
We talked about why, within our legal system, the person who commits the crime must do the time – and why a judge won’t sentence me for what someone else does. We talked about if God could be any different – if there were different rules for God than for us.
We discussed the 2nd Article of Faith and that God couldn’t hold us accountable for all of the bad things that happened as a result of the Fall (that we won’t be punished for Adam’s transgression) – that God had to be willing to take responsibility for what he set in motion and be accountable for it – to walk the walk that he required us to walk – to suffer everything his plan demanded we suffer. He had to be an example we can choose to follow, not a sadistic dictator who causes others to suffer while watching from the sidelines.
We finished by revisiting the meaning of the word “repent” – how it means, at the most basic level, to change in a way that improves or makes better. We re-read Matthew 8: 7 – where Jesus says his central mission is to “heal”. I mentioned that the Old Testament says in more than one place that God “repented” of what he had done – and how we change that wording because of how we associate repentance only with sin. I told them that changing the word “repent” to mean nothing more than changing in a way that improves or makes better (“to heal; repair”) frees God to “repent” the natural results of the Plan of Salvation (the unavoidable pain and suffering of mortality) by healing us and fixing the otherwise broken link between us and Him.
Thus, God becomes, in a very powerful way, both the author AND the finisher of our faith. I explained that we talk almost exclusively about Jesus’ role as the finisher of our faith (the one who pays the price to tie it all together in the end) but that we generally ignore completely the implications of God being the author of our faith (the one who broke the link in the first place, asked us to suffer out of trust, caused the debt to be incurred and promised things we would have to believe without seeing).
The Atonement of pure Mormonism is SO incredibly expansive, deep and profound that we generally craft a Reader’s Digest version and forget that the abridged version isn’t the author’s complete works. I hope I opened the library door for my students today and gave them the encouragement and/or inspiration to walk inside, “feast on the word” and discover something delicious that will nourish their souls – even if it is different in some way that what others have found to feed their souls. I hope I uncovered (and they recognize and taste) what I consider to be the main course of our theology and not get so focused on the condiments, the appetizers, the beverages and the desserts that they forget to enjoy the main course – or never catch sight of it in the first place.
We talked today about the part Jesus’ life played in the Atonement. 1) We read Luke 2:52: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”
I pointed out that in order to “increase” in something, someone has to start at a level less than complete – less than “perfect”, in the Biblical sense.
2) We read Luke 2:41-50 – the account of Jesus at the temple at the age of 12. We read the entire account, and I pointed out that we always focus on the “good” part – that he was a precocious young man who could astound the church leaders. What we overlook is that he put his parents through Hell for almost a week, not knowing where he was and searching frantically for him. They traveled a full day toward home, then a full day back, then three days searching for him. The mortal young man probably was enjoying himself and didn’t stop and think about what he was doing to others.
Literally, he caused pain and suffering – so the Atonement included paying for that instance of him being the one who hurt others – paying for the pain and suffering they felt. We talk about how he suffered to pay for the actions of people, but we never talk about how HE was one of those people.
3) We listed on the board all of the events we know about his life outside his actual ministry: He was born in Bethlehem; he lived there (in a house) until the wise men visited (probably about 18 months, give or take a few – but I emphasized that we don’t know and only can estimate based on clues in the story); he moved to Egypt for a while (probably at least a couple of years); he was raised in Nazareth; he was in Jerusalem at the age of 12; he started his ministry at age 30; he died at age 33. I pointed out that the experience in the temple at age 12 is the only specific thing we know about his life from the age of around 4-6 until he turned 30.
4) We read John 15:13 (“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”), and I pointed out that “laying down one’s life” doesn’t have to refer to dying. We talked about the fact that Jesus, of Nazareth, had a life of his own – and the only details we have of his life are AFTER he laid down his own life and started his “mission” life. I mentioned that we don’t know for sure, but he might have left a wife – and kids – and a career – and friends in order to serve others. He was a man, and he had a man’s life – whatever that was.
5) We talked about what his mission was – what he did and for whom he did it. We mentioned publicans, sinners, tax collectors, Samaritans, lepers – and I then back to the word “atonement” (at-one-ment) and talked about how that word can refer to more than just an individual’s unity with God. We talked about the Intercessory Prayer, especially John 17:21, in which Jesus used the words “they”, “we” and “us” – all plural forms. We talked about the difference between “individual atonement” and “communal atonement” – and how Jesus’ ministry was focused on taking a broken society (one that was made up of distinct “parts”) and working to make it united (“at one”). He served those who were cast off, ignored, marginalized, condemned, etc. – the outsiders. We talked about Zion and what keeps that from happening – that it is the accepted ones – the in crowd – the “faithful” who reject others and destroy unity, NOT those they reject.
6) We talked about how we can “apply the atonement in our own lives” – and I pointed out that we can’t suffer FOR the sins, pains, afflictions, sicknesses, temptations, etc. of others, but we can suffer WITH others – especially those who are not supported by most people. I mentioned that I can’t lay down my life in the same way Jesus did, since I have to continue to support my family, but we can give up some of our time and money and other resources to help others. I asked them to consider who the people are that they tend to avoid – who are considered “unclean” in our current society. I told them that if they want to apply the atonement in their own lives, they need to be willing to build Zion to whatever extent possible in order to take our own broken and fragmented society and help make it “at one” – to really love (through active service) those who constitute now what a friend of mine once called “Christ’s kingdom of nobodies”.
Old Timer wrote:4) We read John 15:13 (“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”), and I pointed out that “laying down one’s life” doesn’t have to refer to dying. We talked about the fact that Jesus, of Nazareth, had a life of his own – and the only details we have of his life are AFTER he laid down his own life and started his “mission” life. I mentioned that we don’t know for sure, but he might have left a wife – and kids – and a career – and friends in order to serve others. He was a man, and he had a man’s life – whatever that was.
When I was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, every minute was suddenly priceless. Christ spent his one and only mortality in love and service to me. I am
awedby this every bit as much as his suffering in the garden and on the cross. I’ve felt a little guilty about that take on it, like I’m off-message, off-track, but it sticks with me. “His precious blood he freely spilt, His life (his time) he freely gave….” So, thanks….
Today’s lesson was on what the hymns can teach us about the Atonement. I chose to leave next week’s lesson open to discuss the Garden and Cross specifically, and I plan on focusing on how we talk about and value the cross too little in our obsession with the Garden. I asked each student to choose a hymn they love that teaches about Jesus and the Atonement in some way – any way. We went around the room, and each student told the hymn she chose and why – what it says about Jesus and the Atonement that touches them. They chose the following hymns, listed in numerical order not the order in which we discussed them:
“
How Firm a Foundation” – The message of verses 4-7 are especially poignant, as they talk about “deep waters”, “deepest distress”, “fiery trials”, “old age”, etc. and end with, “That soul, though all hell shall endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.” (I believe the student who chose this hymn will have some fiery trials in his life, for reasons that I won’t share here, and it was moving to see him choose this particular song.) “
How Great Thou Art” – The student highlighted verse 3, and we talked about how much “praise” can be a part of our worship if we let it be – even if we don’t take it to the emotional extreme in some other denominations. “
I Believe in Christ” – The student likes the affirmation aspect of starting everything with “I Believe in Christ” and the expansiveness of how many roles it describes. “
God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son” – This student loved the title, all by itself – and she mentioned the reference to Jesus paying for a broken law. “
I Stand All Amazed” – This was mine. I love how this hymn describes each one of us so explicitly as sinners and mentions the wonder of grace being offered so fully. “
There is a Green Hill Far Away” – This student couldn’t pick any particular part of the hymn, since it all touches her deeply. We talked about how, sometimes, the most powerful messages can be the shortest ones – when meaning is packed into every word and phrase – how this hymn is so different than “I Believe in Christ” in that way, even though both can be powerful. I asked the student to read the entire hymn as if it wasn’t a song. It was incredibly moving. “
Called to Serve” – I didn’t understand why the student picked this one, at first, but he said he loves how this hymn focused on our role in the Atonement in the sense of sharing the Gospel with others – that Jesus isn’t around anymore to do it and, therefore, we have to do it for him. This was one of the quieter students, and his explanation was heartfelt and moving. “
If You Could Hie to Kolob” – This student is captivated by the expansiveness of this hymn, from “Improvement and progression have one eternal round” to the end of the 5th verse. I used this one as another example of how the “extra verses” (those that aren’t set with the musical notes) often have the deepest meaning in a song and how we miss a lot when we don’t sing them. I mentioned that there is at least one Sacrament Hymn (“How Great the Wisdom and the Love”) that only becomes a sacrament hymn, truly, in the final two verses we usually skip. I also pointed out that the use of “race” in this hymn, in context of the time in which it was written and the overall message of the song, doesn’t mean “Caucasian”, “Hispanic”, African or any other skin-color reference but rather “species” or “humanity”. “
Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy” – This student talked at length about the concept of a lighthouse and the lights along the shore – how the lower lights help sailors in danger get their bearings and navigate safely to the harbor. He talked about how sometimes people can see Christ but still get shipwrecked by the rocks around them and that we need to let our lights shine in such a way that others can avoid dangers and reach Christ. He obviously has thought a lot about it and has internalized the message, knowing what I know about him. We wrapped up the lesson talking about understanding the hymns – taking the time to read the words and ponder what they mean rather than shutting off our brains and simply singing them. We went through an exercise I have used in the past as the Ward Choir Director in which we looked at two hymns (“How Firm a Foundation” and “Silent Night”) to see how we would go about understanding words we might not recognize (“dross”) and how we would restate things in non-poetic form by focusing on complete sentences and thoughts (“Son of God, love’s pure light radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at they birth.”) and ignoring the artificial breaks imposed by the measures and natural breath breaks.
I enjoy teaching these students, and I enjoy being able to dig deeply into theology and doctrine, but I absolutely LOVE music – so this was one of my favorite lessons – ever – in any class.
What an amazing lesson Curt! I love how you gave everyone a chance to share something meaningful to them. Was this lesson from the manual, or just your own inspiration? You sound like a great teacher! It was from one of the standard lesson outlines in the new manual. I approached it in the way I wanted to approach it, but it was completely in line with the manual. Today was the last lesson of the month, so it was the last lesson about the Atonement. Before summarizing the lesson, I just want to say how wonderful it has been to have five straight lessons through which we could dig deeply into the concept of the Atonement. It’s been the best church calling experience of my life. Today we focused on the role of the cross in the Atonement.I started by listing a few key moments or periods in Jesus’ life in the process of atonement: 1) Pre-mortal volunteering to fill the central role; 2) Birth; 3) Personal Life; 4) Mortal Ministry; 5) Garden of Gethsemane; 6) Golgotha; 7) Post-mortal ministry. I mentioned explicitly that we have not talked much this month about Gethsemane and told them that I made that decision entirely because we focus so much on it in every other setting at church that I wanted to focus this month on the elements of the Atonement that we tend to address rarely – or even ignore. Thus, a lesson about divine accountability, one about Jesus’ mortal life and ministry and the one today about the cross.
I asked them to estimate, as a percentage, how often we talk about Gethsemane compared to Golgotha (the garden compared to the cross). They consensus was over 90% Garden and under 10% cross – and perhaps 99%-1% when all is said and done. I told them I think I know why we focus so much on the garden (since so many other denominations focus almost exclusively on the cross), but I told them I think that is a shame – that
we miss SO much of the overall message when we ignore Golgotha. As an example, I asked if it’s OK to wear a cross – and why we generally don’t do that. I got the standard answers – and one I’d never heard and actually like. (That garments include the symbolism of our worship, so we don’t need outwardly visible symbols like a necklace with a cross.) I talked about how symbols can be misused and corrupted if we can’t worship or pray without them, but I told the students clearly that I have no problem with using a cross as a symbol of faith in Christ and would support my daughters fully if they chose, for example, to wear a necklace with a cross.
We opened the Topical Guide to “Cross”, and each student read a verse in that section – and we discussed each verse as we read it. We talked about why Paul described the “glory” of the cross, why the cross was “foolishness” to unbelievers, what it means to “take up your cross and follow me”, etc. We talked about exactly what happened with the cross, particularly the fact that Jesus literally had to carry his cross as part of his suffering – and that it was too much for him in his weakened state – that
someone else had to “take up” Jesus’ cross and walk with him. I emphasized that the Garden of Gethsemane is where we teach that Jesus suffered for our sins but that our sins and iniquities are only two of the dozen or so things our scriptures list for which he suffered. He experienced everything else throughout his life and on the cross – including the final, most powerful suffering he endured.
We read in Luke where an angel strengthened him in Gethsemane and where the man strengthened him on the road to Golgotha by sharing the load of the cross. We read his final statements recorded in the Gospels:
Quote:“My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
“It is finished. Into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
I pointed out that the cross was the first time in our record where Jesus was “forsaken” – the only time he was abandoned and left completely on his own. None of the students has ever felt totally alone and forsaken, and they all agreed that they couldn’t imagine how that would feel. I pointed out that Jesus wasn’t just killed; he was tortured to death in a particularly cruel, sadistic way. I reiterated that he might not have felt every single pain know to mankind, but I’m sure he got sick throughout his life – and broke bones (or, as a carpenter’s son, smashed fingers) – and lost loved ones – etc. – but it was at Golgotha that he experienced non-sin suffering, to the deepest degree, and atoned for so many of the non-spiritual suffering we experience. I told them that we talk about overcoming physical and spiritual death, but we focus so much on Jesus overcoming sin (spiritual suffering and death) that we often devalue Jesus overcoming transgression (including all of our physical, mental, emotional, social, etc. suffering and death).
We read Matthew 5:48, substituting “complete, whole, fully developed” for “perfect” and I pointed out that it was only at the end, on the cross, when Jesus could say, “It is finished” – to say, in essence, “I now am perfect.”
I ended with a plea that they not fall into the trap of disparaging the cross in any way and that, as they continue in the LDS Church, they find ways to help others understand and value the cross properly.
I wish you taught Sunday School and PH in my ward. Funny additional note: My daughters came home after YW/YM (combined for 5th Sunday) and said that the first question from the Bishopric counselors was, “Does anyone know why other Christian churches use the cross?” My daughters said that all of the students in my class started laughing, which surprised the counselors – until someone explained about our lesson.
I’ll choose to look at how I decided to structure the lessons this month as inspired.
Because of General Conference, I obviously am not teaching my class today, but I want to share something about the lesson next week and what I hope is inspiration. Part of the new curriculum structure is that the teachers are encouraged to allow the students to participate in teaching the lessons.I love this aspect of the curriculum but have not done so thus far, mostly because the topics thus far have been so expansive, broad and critical that I wanted to make sure we talked really deeply about them. Next week we start discussing Apostasy and Restoration, and I plan on including student teaching more this month. I was sitting in the Priesthood session last night when I had a strong feeling that I should ask one of the students to take whatever amount of time they wanted and teach the class what the words “apostasy” and “restoration” mean – NOT “The Apostasy” and “The Restoration”, but simply “apostasy” and “restoration”. I then will take the rest of the time and tie those terms into the umbrella of “atonement” – helping the students see how the concepts of apostasy and restoration form the practical foundation of the process of atonement – how atonement is necessary because of apostasy and possible because of restoration. With that foundation in place, we will talk about actual examples of collective and individual apostasy and restoration (and how to teach about them) in the rest of the lessons this month.
Anyway, as I was thinking about who to ask to teach that part of the lesson, I immediately and automatically thought of the older students in the class – and there are some really good options in that group. As I was about to settle on one of them, I suddenly had a thought that was almost but not really like a voice telling me to ask one of the younger students – along with the distinct thought that I was not going to understand why, perhaps not even after the lesson or ever, but that it was important for him to do it. He was attending the session, so I talked with him (and his older brother, since his father had something else he had to do after the meeting) and explained exactly what I want him to do and what I intend to do after he finishes his part of the lesson.
I don’t know how it will go or why I ended up feeling like I should ask him (and if I ever will understand), but it was a really strong feeling.
Today we talked about the general meanings of the words “apostasy” and “restoration”, then we talked about how the concepts of apostasy and restoration fit into the concept of atonement. We didn’t talk about specific instances of organizational / societal apostasy, and we didn’t talk about “The Restoration”; instead, we talked only about the concepts and what they mean at the big picture level. One of the students started by defining both terms. He started by asking everyone how they define the terms. The answers were really good for that age group, including the example of restoring furniture and antiques by returning them to their original condition. The student then gave the definitions he had found, which included both “abandonment” and “digression / deviation”.
I wrote the following on the board:
Apostasy —> Restoration —> Atonement
abandonment, digression/deviation / re-establishment, return / bringing together, fixing
I drew a crude outline of the classic Plan of Salvation picture – the one with circles for the Pre-Mortal Life, Earth and the Three Degrees of Glory and lines connecting them. I asked them when apostasy officially began relative to our lives. Earth was mentioned initially, but we focused on the War in Heaven and the fact that apostasy didn’t occur when Lucifer proposed a different plan. Rather, it occurred when he insisted on that plan once Heavenly Father had said, “No, this is what we will do.”
I talked about a Ward Council and how there is no hint of apostasy when people in a council disagree about solutions to any problem, and not even when people don’t agree with the decision of the council, but only if someone then takes a different path for the group as a whole and tries to implement it instead of the decision of the council.Thus, apostasy happened only after Lucifer rebelled and recruited people away from Heavenly Father and to himself. (I also told them that I like the interpretation of ancient numerology that believes 1/3 means “an unspecified minority” and 2/3 means “an unspecified majority” – since, in terms of the War in Heaven, that interpretation means we can say that some spirits followed Lucifer, but most followed Heavenly Father and Jehovah.) We then turned to mortality, and I asked when apostasy started here on earth. The consensus was The Fall, so we talked again about how apostasy started there only when Adam and Eve chose to follow Lucifer’s plan instead of what God had commanded them – NOT when they first questioned the commands. I also told them that I personally view the story of the Garden of Eden as a figurative retelling of the War in Heaven and our need to be in mortality where Lucifer was cast, but I emphasized that I don’t really know for sure.
We then talked about when apostasy first begins for us as individuals. In the sense of “digression/deviation” that is when we are born – since birth separates us from God AND makes us subject to heredity and all the crap with which we deal in this life; in the sense of “abandonment” that happens when we sin, by choosing to do things we know we should do. One is not our fault, since we simply were accepting God’s plan for us; the other is our fault, since it involves choices we make that are in opposition to our consciences. Thus, the effects of one (transgressions due to birth) are covered automatically by the Atonement (2nd Article of Faith), while the other (sin due to choice) is covered conditionally upon our effort to repent (change).
We then turned to the concept of Atonement and how it fits more fully into the eternal progression picture.
I asked them which plan (Lucifer’s or Heavenly Father’s) was the best plan IF, and only if, the ultimate purpose was simply to bring God’s children back to him – to “restore” them merely to their former condition. It took a little thought, but they all saw that
Lucifer’s plan was perfect for that purpose. I then stressed that what I was about to say should NOT be how they explain this to other Christians, since it can sound much harsher than I mean it to be, but that the picture of being spirits in the presence of God praising him forever with no true growth or progression is Lucifer’s plan – precisely. That is exactly what he proposed – and it was pointless, since that same condition is exactly what we possessed prior to birth. That plan makes ALL of the pain and suffering and trials we experience in mortality pointless, and it makes God a sadist who allows us to suffer terribly for no reason other than to make us praise him for saving us from what he demanded we do – which is why Lucifer’s plan essentially would have eliminated all of our mistakes in the first place. In Lucifer’s plan, there would have been no need for restoration, since there would have been no apostasy. Thus, no need for atonement of any kind, if atonement meant merely returning to live with God – if it meant nothing more than “ restoration of condition“, like the example of the furniture being restored to its former beauty. To have any meaning, restoration and atonement need to go beyond that and include some other kind of condition – which I labeled as “ restoration of potential“. I mentioned that the promise we were given in the Pre-Mortal existence was the potential to become like God, not just to live with him. Apostasy (both the transgressive aspect as a result of the Fall and the sinful aspect as a result of our choices) thwarts that potential; Jesus paid for that apostasy through his life, in the Garden and on the Cross; he restored us to our former condition of purity and empowered us, as a result, to claim our promised potential. He took care of the restoration of condition completely on his own, as a gift freely given; we tackle restoration of potential through taking his yoke upon us, taking up his cross, etc. and trying to become Christ-like / godly.
He freed us from the debilitating guilt of our human-ness to pursue our potential for godliness– and we deny the Atonement and accept Lucifer’s plan, in a very real way, when we reject that godly potential – in ourselves and in others. We will continue to focus on that foundation as we talk the rest of the month about what apostasy and restoration mean in practical terms – and as we tackle what we mean when we talk about “The Restoration of _______________” (fill in the blank). We will start next week by looking at restoration as a process rather than an event.
I have been asked to speak about this general topic (“Apostasy and Restoration”) in Sacrament Meeting next week. I’m trying to figure out how best to condense the 35 minute lesson into 20 minutes or less – and what will be hard to convey without the visual benefit of a chalkboard. I would appreciate any suggestions you might have.
Hey Curt, Just wanted to say I appreciate you posting lesson ideas/recaps here. I don’t normally teach SS but ended up doing so yesterday. I remembered you had posted on this and so I borrowed your insights on tying restoration/apostasy into the atonement. Like you I didn’t try to discuss either in a general sense. I thought the lesson went well and was well received.
:thumbup: As for condensing a 35min lesson into a 20 min talk… seems like you wouldn’t need to tweak much. In a talk there’s no discussion so you can be much more concise and to the point..
The other speaker in Sac Mtg only left me 15 minutes, so I streamlined my talk. It went well, and I had a few people tell me they hadn’t thought of apostasy, restoration and the Atonement in quite that way. Our lesson today was pretty simple. We read a bunch of the references to apostasy from the Topical Guide and talked about how apostasy and restoration is a continual part of collective social and individual history – that we talk so much about “THE Apostasy” and “THE Restoration” that we overlook the natural fluctuations that simply are part of life – the ups and downs and back and forth that happen to all of us. I was planning on talking about the shift from the Old Testament after it closed (about 400BC) to the New Testament, what Jesus “restored”, what was lost from the close of the Bible to Joseph Smith’s time and the on-going process of restoration that continues still today – but . . .
I will be in Las Vegas next Sunday, so I won’t be teaching Sunday School. Instead, I will be attending a ward there and sitting in on Gospel Doctrine in a random ward – whichever is closest to where I will be staying. We’ll see how that goes.
I’m considering taking the first Sunday in May and teaching the lesson I described above, since I really want them to understand how similar the shift from OT Judaism to NT Judaism with Jesus and the shift from post-Biblical Christianity to Mormonism through Joseph Smith are. When you look at those shifts, some things are amazing, and I want the students to understand that. Again, we’ll see how I feel in two weeks about that.
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