Broken Heart

The Law of Sacrifice is an Eternal Law. In the Premortal Life, Heavenly Father gave up a third of the hosts of heaven that the remaining children might have an opportunity for Eternal Life through His Plan, the Atonement. In the Atonement, there would be a Great and Eternal Sacrifice, even the Lamb of God. Being “wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace being upon him; his stripes healing our own” (Mosiah 14:5), His Sacrifice was promised to be capable of ransom from death, hell, and the devil.

The Atonement was agreed to, the earth created, and Adam sent to the Garden of Eden. After partaking of the forbidden fruit, Adam fell, and the Law of Sacrifice was once again taught. In Moses 5:5, we read: “[God] gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord.”

Sacrifice was continued in Messianic worship  through Abraham and his descendants. Moses led the House of Israel through the Red Sea and reinstituted the Law of Sacrifice to the faltering, feeble nation. However, due to their experience in Egypt and the worshipping practices observed there, they misunderstood the purpose of the Law of Sacrifice. They thought that its purpose was to appease God, rather than to be in "similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth." (Moses 5:7).

Thinking that there was a 'secret recipe' to get to heaven, the Jews wanted a rote script to follow, day in and day out, to shortcut their way. To top it off, they wanted a 'secret ingredient' that they could just throw in the pot of their lives and turn themselves Celestial. A dead Law of Justice is so much simpler to comprehend, after all.

In the Law of Moses, Heavenly Father reluctantly gave them what they wanted, a dead law, but still tried to show in every possible way that CHRIST was the secret ingredient (Jarom 1:11). It was, paradoxically, no secret at all, hiding in plain sight, as it were.

Thus, the cruel irony is that in the very search for this 'secret recipe' of the Atonement, and its 'secret ingredient', even CHRIST, they are "looking beyond the mark" (Jacob 4:14), so that the very "head of their corner" (Jacob 4:14) becomes "a stone of stumbling" and a "rock of offense" (2 Nephi 18:14).

God, who has power over all, who has a billionaire's budget, who has the universe as his desktop, has absolutely no need for the firstborn of our flocks, our wealth, however vast it may appear, or our knowledge. In reality, God has given power of only one thing to mankind, and that is our agency. He cannot, or, more accurately, will not, force us to do anything.

We must remember that he is not God only, but first and foremost, our Heavenly Father. Because of this, He wants our hearts, not for petty dominance, but so that He can help us, so that He can shape us, so that He can make us.

The Jews, unfortunately, misunderstood the Law of Sacrifice, and did not comprehend this most important principle, that "sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and let it be consumed!"

Looking back, we may scorn the blindness of the House of Isreal, but I do not believe that we are all that different. We have been raised in the cold life of business interactions. We have been raised demanding fairness and equality in all superficial and visible means. We have been raised trading time for equal payment in money, money for equal value in posessions, and posessions for unequal value in sentiment.

Then, the real trouble comes when we bring this worldly perspective into our religion. We passed High School going through the hoops. We passed college cramming the night before. Even in work, all they want is your output, what you can make. These are all forms of the dead Law of Justice.

Christ does not care about our output, our cramming, or our ability to float by in church. Even those who have "prophesied in His name, and in His name have cast out devils, and in His name done many wonderful works" (3 Nephi 14:22) will be turned away from the kingdom of heaven if they did not turn their hearts towards Christ.

Even though He has instituted the sacrament to replace the outward approach, Christ still asks us to sacrifice. He asks of us a tenth of our monetary income, which I assume we pay faithfully, but aren't the twenty-four hours we have the privelege of experiencing each day part of our income? We fought for those in the Premortal Life. Isn't our agency in and of itself a type of income, too? We are blessed with a little bit more each time we choose truth. What if we chose to give a tithing of our lives, passions, and choices to the Lord as well as our money?

We give private service every day to our neighbor, we read our scriptures and pray often, we accept and act our callings, we forego carnal passions, we give up two meals once a month for the hungered and struggling, we give up a weekend once every six months for General Conference, and we give up three hours every Sunday for worship. These are all sacrifices we make willingly, but these are not given for the Celestial Kingdom. These sacrifices are terrific and commendable, but alone, they will get you no closer to heaven than a snail tied to a tree stump. We give up these "flesh pots" of our lives to fulfill the first and great commandment: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matthew 22:37), that Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, might be allowed to step in.

The great and last sacrifice we will ever learn to make of ourselves is that of 3 Nephi 9:19-20: “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. But ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.”

In my study, I came across a poem regarding this same Celestial Currency:

Broken Heart

I’m broken and fragile, but I give what I can,

I can’t give but two mites, for I’m naught but a man.

So I give up my farthing, my body and soul,

No part of me separate, I give up my whole.

I trade not in actions, for in justice none live,

My deals are in hearts. For His, mine I give.

I give it to you; I give it to life,

I give it to religion, to school, and to strife.

I give it to music; I give it to math,

I give it to science, to art, and to laugh.

I give it to you, no expect for return,

I get that from Him, the heart that I yearn.

The heart that is happy, the heart that is light,

It loves when it's hated, yearns greater for right.

It knows the pure joy in heartfelt selfless prayer,

For enemies, loved ones, and everyone there.

Please accept this I give

Take my heart and go live

A little bit happier, a little bit lighter,

More faithful and lovelier, go see a bit brighter.

But lastly I point, to the Shepherd of all,

Than to teach of Him, I could have no greater call.

I love Him, a Savior, the Savior of all,

E’en more-so, my Savior, snatched me from the fall.

Thus I give Him my heart, in all that I do.

His vigor, His love, His heart me to renew,

For all that He hath, only one sacrifice,

My soft, broken heart, and a spirit, contrite.

So I give those two mites, for His heart, mine I give,

He trades not in actions. In justice none live.

He trades heart for heart. The trade is not fair.

For with His, in Him, of Heaven I’m Heir.

I bear my testimony that Christ, the Lamb of God, gave us His heart every moment of His life, beginning in the Spirit World with God the Father, and continuing even through the Eternities. I bear my testimony that in "laying down His life for His friends", he did not only die for us, he lived for us. He lived for us antemortally, he lived for us on earth, He lives for us now, and He will always live for us. He is the Creator of our known world, He is the Savior of our world, He is the Creator of my world, and, more personally, He is the Savior of my world.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.