It is thyself, just thee

Jesus is showing us how completely the Father has remembered the promises he has made to his children, showing us how completely the Father has turned his heart towards us.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son."

by Jeffery G. Chapman

 

"Happiness follows effort.  It occurs when the mind is at peace with the soul and the heart, when we are one with ourselves.  It frequently occurs in the midst of hardship, trial, poverty, pain. It is frequently absent in the midst of wealth, ease, comfort and physical pleasure." 

The poem tells of a young husband and father, who has gone into the mountains near his home to have solitary communion with his Heavenly Father in prayer.

The young man has a plea:

"What gift can I give dear Father,

To show my love for thee?"

The Father responds:

"There is no gift that thou canst bring

Except thyself just thee"

The man is perplexed and seeks to probe further, but the response, "only thyself just thee" is all he receives that morning and he must head down into the fields of his day's work, pondering over this message from the Lord.  Near the end of his day, weary and worn, he returns home and coming up the path is greeted by shouts of joy and hugs from his small child.

The heart of this young father is filled near to bursting with love for his child. Slowly, with his little one clasped in his arms, the father turns and looks again at the mountain where earlier that day he had poured out his heart regarding something holy he could offer to the Heavenly Father he loved so much. It seemed to the young man as the last stream of sunlight hits the mountain peak that he felt an answer pierce his heart.

Yes, go to the mountain for comfort,

Go to the mountain to pray

Yet it's here in the valley you're shaping

The gift you will offer one day

Work while that day is offered

Give to the task at hand

Serve with a heart that is open

With love for your fellowman

Yes, go the mountain for comfort

Go to the mountain to pray

But remember my son it's the valley

Where you're forging your life for that day

President Holland described a scene he chanced upon while walking through the Salt Lake International Airport following a lengthy trip he had just completed. In those pre-9/11 days you could accompany a friend or family member right to the boarding area before they departed or be present at the gates to greet loved ones who had just flown home. President Holland said that as he came into the terminal that, it was clear there was a missionary returning home due to all the "conspicuous-looking missionary friends and missionary relatives" around the terminal.  He says:

I tried to pick out the immediate family members. There was a father who did not look particularly comfortable in an awkward- fitting and slightly out-of-fashion suit. He seemed to be a man of the soil, with a suntan and large, work-scarred hands….There was a mother who was quite thin, looking as if she had worked very hard in her life…she seemed filled with anticipation only the mother of a returning missionary could know. There was a beautiful girl who—well, you know about girls and returning missionaries. She appeared to be on the verge of cardiac arrest…Two or three younger brothers and sisters were running around, largely oblivious to the scene that was unfolding. I walked past them all and started for the front of the terminal. Then I thought to myself, 'This is one of the special human dramas in our lives. Stick around and enjoy it.'

Slipping into the back of the crowd and watching as passengers started coming off the plane,

President Holland said he soon:

Found himself starting to bet as to who would make the break first. I thought probably the girlfriend would want to most of all, but undoubtedly she was struggling with discretion. Two years is a long time, you know, and maybe one shouldn't appear too assertive. Then a look…convinced me that the mother was probably the one. She obviously needed to hold something, so the child she had carried and nurtured and gone down into the valley of the shadow of death to deliver would be just what the doctor ordered.

Of the many magnificent purposes served in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, one great aspect of that mission often goes uncelebrated…It is the grand truth that in all that Jesus came to say and do, including and especially in His atoning suffering and sacrifice, He was showing us who and what God our Eternal Father is like, how completely devoted He is to His children in every age and nation. In word and in deed Jesus was trying to reveal and make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven."

Jesus is showing us how completely the Father has remembered the promises he has made to his children, showing us how completely the Father has turned his heart towards us. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son."

Do you remember earlier we left then-President Holland standing in an airport terminal? He is still there wondering who will greet this returning missionary. Suddenly the missionary appears, exiting the plane.

He looked like Captain Moroni, clean and handsome and straight and tall…his suit was worn but clean, his slightly tattered raincoat was still protecting him from the chill his mother had so often warned him about. He came to the bottom of the steps and started out across…toward our building and then, sure enough, somebody in the crowd of family and friends couldn't take it any longer. It wasn't the mother, and it wasn't the girlfriend…It was the father. That big, slightly awkward, quiet and bronzed giant of a man put an elbow into the ribcage of a flight attendant and ran, just simply ran, out onto that airfield and swept his son into his arms.

The elder was probably 6′2″ or so, but this big bear of a father grabbed him, took him clear off his feet, and held him for a long, long time. He just held him and said nothing. The boy dropped his briefcase, put both arms around his dad, and they just held each other very tightly. It seemed like all eternity stood still, and for a precious moment the Salt Lake City Airport was the center of the entire universe. It was as if all the world had gone silent out of respect for such a sacred moment.

And then, Pres. Holland said:

I thought of God the Eternal Father watching his boy go out to serve, to sacrifice when he didn't have to do it, paying his own way, so to speak, costing everything he had saved all his life to give. At that precious moment, it was not too difficult to imagine that father speaking with some emotion to those who could hear, 'This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And it was also possible to imagine that triumphant returning son, saying, 'It is finished. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.'

"Oh Father, what gift can I offer,

To show my love for thee?"

My Son, you have given the one gift that matters

It is thyself, just thee.

…. may we all give of ourselves and seek diligently to turn hearts, beginning with our own, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.