At One With

Yesterday I gave a talk in church on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Since it was Palm Sunday, I concentrated on the entrance of Christ into the city of Jerusalem and what he did over the next few days, culminating in his agony in Gethsemane, where he performed the Atonement.

To prepare for this, I took out Jesus the Christ, by James Talmadge, which I had never read before. I studied and really thought about the events of that Passover evening, now known as Maundy Thursday. Christ and the apostles were in an upper room of a home, had the meal, and Jesus introduced the sacrament. Something I'd never noticed before was that the apostles were contending about the seating arrangements and their precedence. Christ put a stop to that, emphasizing that regardless of a person's rank, service to others is the more important value.

In the United States, we believe in equality, not in rank. While we honor the President and other public servants, we don't believe in divine right, as they do/did in Europe. We are all God's children, who kept our first estate and deserve respect as such--even the wino on Skid Row. Our character, behavior, works and service are what determine our eventual rank in the Kingdom. Self-righteousness and pride have no place in our lives.

The word "atonement" means "at one with." We have the opportunity to be at one with our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ if we choose to humble ourselves and strive to serve Him and our fellow man. Christ showed us the way. "The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?"