Pride - John 17:17-26

This is it, this is where Jesus lays out his whole vision for the work his disciples are about to embark on. I really want to finish this chapter today because then we can start on the Atonement next week, and that’s going to be deep. We also get a bit of waxing philosophical, which I don’t understand a lot of, so there’s that. Jesus asks the Father to “sanctify them though thy truth: thy word is truth.” I’ve never really understood the concept of “sanctification.” I guess because it’s in the sacrament prayers and I’ve heard it used so much, that it’s just become a “be better” idea, but I don’t feel like that is correct. The “Guide to the Scriptures” defines “Sanctification” as “The process of becoming free from sin, pure, clean, and holy through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

So how are we made clean and pure through the truth? Well, if the truth is that God’s commandments lead to happiness, then as we strive to keep the commandments and repent along the way, we become clearner, purer, and less sinful. It doesn’t make sense that once you’re a certain way, you can change into a completely different person. I mean, for me, before the age of 24 I swore SO much, I told dirty and racist jokes all the time, and I mean, even now I’m not perfect at it. But I cringe at dirty jokes; I get angry at racist jokes. Jesus has changed my heart to the point that those terrible things are not welcome in my life anymore. I remember the moment that I realized that I had changed. My best friend from high school was visiting from out of state, and she made a sexual insinuation, and I was completely disgusted. Normally, back when we hung out in high school I would have been all about that humor, but now I was like “ewwww…. That’s disgusting.” It doesn’t make sense, but that’s how it works.
Interestingly, Jesus is not simply concerned with the welfare of his disciples, “but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” As one of the disciples hearing this, I think it would be encouraging to know that not only will you be preaching the gospel, but that Jesus anticipates you having some success as well. It would also be encouraging to learn that He was ready to spend as much time and energy in the conversion of those the disciples taught as He was to them. The disciples fell in love with the gospel for a reason, and that reason is Jesus, so they knew just how important the feelings from God are during the process and then for the rest of your life. God and Jesus both were going to help build the testimonies of those who believed in the testimonies of the disciples.
Jesus continues, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” This last phrase caught me off guard. We know that when Jesus talks about being “one” with the Father, he’s not talking about a single physical body or spirit between them, he’s talking about being one in purpose. And I hear all the talk about “be one” and all that, and I think “aren’t we already one” we all believe that this is the true church, but imagine if we took it a step forward and we decided that we were all going to “be one,” what would that mean? What if we decided to all to have the same purpose in reaching out to our neighbors in love? I bet all that “you can’t play with those kids because they aren’t Mormon” crap would stop. Now that I live in Utah, they say that Utah Mormons are different, meaning the ones who have been born and raised here and different than those who have moved here from out of state. 
Back to my earlier confusion, how would us being united in our purpose make the world believe that Jesus was in fact the Son of God? Let’s look at the inverse first and see if that gives us anything. How does our disunity dispute Jesus’ divinity? Let’s take the example of the kids playing together. When we have attitudes like that, that our children can’t play with non-member kids, we imply that the non-member families are wrong, not as good as we are, will be a bad influence. It isolates and alienates those who are not of our faith, makes them feel inferior, or at least let’s them know that we think they are. That’s a straight douche bag move, and people don’t like to be around others who treat them poorly, so it doesn’t matter if the Son of God himself runs our church or not, our terrible attitudes as members will keep people away. Most Christians as familiar enough with the Bible to know that Jesus didn’t act that way, Jesus loved EVERONE, including the sinners and prostitutes and politicians and the social outcasts. In fact, he preferred their company to that of the elite ruling class who were not interested in this “sinner loving” guy from nowhere. What if we decided that we were going to make all our choices out of love and correct principles?  
Two weeks ago was the Salt Lake City Pride Festival, or as it was explained to me by a very Mormon, very conservative man, “the gay party.” I went and took my kids, and I even skipped church that day to stay longer. I hadn’t planned on going, but we had seen some activity for it the night before and my kids really wanted to go, so I decided that I would take them now, when they are younger, so that I can control the conversation that comes out of it. I didn’t tell much of my family that I skipped church to go to the “gay party” because I knew 95% would not be pleased. Let’s think about that for a second. The gospel states that marriage is between a man and a woman, and I believe in that, but it’s difficult for me. I’ve prayed about it SO much, so that I can understand the purpose of having people be born gay and then telling them they can’t do anything about it, and basically condemn them to a life alone. I’ve come to enough peace about it that I can now fully support that doctrine and be ok with myself.
However, I have NOT come to the conclusion that God loves gays any less than He loves me. I have NOT come to the conclusion that the best way to uphold my standard is to make those who are attracted to the same gender feel alone and unloved. I HAVE come to the conclusion that people make their choices and my job is to love them, regardless of how they live, what they believe, their circumstances, or their past. I honestly believe that if Jesus was here today, he would have been at Pride and just hugged people all day and tell them that He loves them. Honestly, I think that President Nelson, if he could have arranged it, would have been out there doing the same thing. In fact, Elder D. Todd Christofferon’s brother is gay and has recently come back to the church I believe, and he was at Pride on Saturday. There were a couple of booths there that were run by members of the Church who were giving out hugs and little stickers that say “I was hugged by a Mormon.” I thought that that was so clever.
Do LGBT people feel distance from the Church because they disagree with our doctrine? Maybe some, sure, there’s no disputing that. But does the rabid hatred that is directed toward the Church come because of doctrinal disputes? No, doctrinal disputes are met with eye rolls and a “whatever.” The intense loathing that comes to us, comes because of exactly the reaction that I got from my family when they found out that I skipped church and took my kids to “the gay party.” There was judgment, disgust, and lectures. If that’s how I felt because I went to a festival for a couple of hours, imagine the treatment of someone who is homosexual. No wonder they hate us, honestly, it is a defense mechanism. I love the saying, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care,” and I think that it’s applicable to these circumstances, hands down, as the best way to move forward. Think about it from their perspective, “someone who hates me is telling me that not living the lifestyle that I feel is natural for me will make me happier after I die.” That makes absolutely no sense. .
Let’s take the sexual orientation part out of it, preaching the law of chastity is incredibly unpopular, and I feel that it always has been, but it’s very pronounced today. Telling someone who is straight that they shouldn’t have sex with the people they want to have sex with and to only be with one man or woman for the rest of their lives after they get married, that sounds pretty crazy too. Telling people that drinking coffee is bad for them and drinking alcohol will damage their spirit, again, absolutely frickin nuts. The only way that anyone will ever be interested in hearing that crazy talk that comes out of your mouth is after they know that they are safe with you and that you only have their best interests at heart.
And isn’t that really the way that we are with the Savior? I know that’s how it was for me. I was not interested in a single word he had to say until I felt in my heart that taking care of me was his only purpose. And why would anyone ever act any differently? Why would they take advice from someone who only is nice to you when you’re doing what they want you to do? That person doesn’t care about you, they care about themselves. Anyway, I ended up having excellent conversations with my kids, this really opened a lot of doors for questions and answers and my take on things as I have learned them. We had a great time, everyone was so happy and nice, and there were lots of colors, and games and activities. I have absolutely no regrets. My friend who went told me that there was a guy there, probably between 18-21 who cried because his parents had disowned him because he was gay, and he told her, “I wish you were my mom.” Talk about what would Jesus do? So many people in this life are completely outcast, disenfranchised, abused, harassed, it’s disgusting. I went there to love, and I feel like I accomplished my goal.
Loving others, that’s God’s way, and Jesus prayed that his followers would be filled with the same love that the Father has for Jesus. I love the IM quote from Elder John H. Groberg who said, “When filled with God’s love, we can do and see and understand things that we could not otherwise do or see or understand. Filled with His love, we can endure pain, quell fear, forgive freely, avoid contention, renew strength, and bless and help others in ways surprising even to us. Jesus Christ was filled with unfathomable love as He endured incomprehensible pain, cruelty, and injustice for us. Through His love for us, He rose above otherwise insurmountable barriers. His love knows no barriers. He invites us to follow Him and partake of His unlimited love so we too may rise above the pain and cruelty and injustice of this world and help and forgive and bless.”
If love gives us the strength to bear burdens and trial faithfully, that indicates the astounding amount of power that love gives. But then the opposite must also be true, the destructive power of hate. I love can uplift and sustain, then the lack of love can depress and destroy. I believe that that’s true and it’s a perspective I’ve never seen before. If love is really our true nature, then we would be needing love in return. When a desire for love, parental, God’s, friendly, romantic, etc, is met with negativity, then little by little, a heart of love will be chipped down into a stone of hate. This is how powerful love and hate are, acceptance as a child of God or rejection because of differences. Toying with these emotions in others and even within ourselves is incredibly dangerous. It’s vital that we anchor our emotions into the Savior; otherwise, we spiral out of control and become destructive to ourselves and others.
So the question is, how can we become “one” with Jesus Christ and the Father? There is an excellent quote in the IM from Elder D. Todd Christofferson saying, “Jesus achieved perfect unity with the Father my submitting Himself, both flesh and spirit, to the will of the Father… Referring to His Father, Jesus said, ‘I do always those things that please him…’ Surely we will not be one with God and Christ until we make their will and interest our greatest desire. Such submissiveness is not reached in a day, but through the Holy Spirit, the Lord will tutor us if we are willing until, in process of time, it may accurately be said that He is in us as the Father is in Him. At times I tremble to consider what may be required, but I know that it is only in this perfect union that a fullness of joy can be found. I am grateful beyond expression that I am invited to be one with those holy beings I revere and worship as my Heavenly Father and Redeemer.”
Do I feel like I am “one” with the Savior? The opposite would be, do I feel like I am at “two” with the Savior? Hahaha, that was funny. Anyway, do I work to support God’s will or do I fight against it? I would say that for the vast majority of my life, I have been antagonistic toward God and his interests. But that was because I didn’t really know Him, I didn’t know who I am to Him. I’m definitely not perfect at it, and honestly, I’d say that I’m still pretty rigid when it comes to God telling me what to do. But I’m getting there, very slowly, and I appreciate Elder Christofferson acknowledging that submission is a life long process and that it works slowly. I hate the word submission, because I am not a submissive person, I grovel for no one. But I am learning, and I do want to, so that’s a start. And I appreciate the opportunity and the patience that God puts into me.