The annual First Presidency Christmas Devotional Dec. 6 featured many symbols of the season: scriptural passages pertaining to the birth and ministry of the Savior, poems reflecting the anticipation and wonderment of Christmas, stories of giving and sharing, and music carrying strains of praise and gratitude.
The devotional, originating from the Tabernacle on Temple Square, was telecast live via the Church's satellite network to some 3,000 meetinghouses in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Haiti."I suppose," said President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency who conducted the devotional and offered brief remarks, "that in many respects this is the largest Christmas gathering to be found anywhere in the world. We are meeting in Church halls scattered across this broad continent, from the snow-covered lands of the North to the sun-drenched lands of the South."
President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, delivered the annual Christmas message.
Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Council of the Twelve offered the opening prayer, and Relief Society Gen. Pres. Elaine L. Jack gave the closing prayer. The Tabernacle Choir, under the direction of Jerold D. Ottley and Donald Ripplinger, provided the music.
In his remarks, President Hinckley noted that the Christmas lights on Temple Square "remind us of the birth of the Savior nearly 2,000 years ago, the light and life of the world." The 250,000 lights were turned on in a ceremony Nov. 27.
"We embrace you one and all with that spirit of love which is of the very essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ," President Hinckley said.
"We are a great concourse of people bound together in a unity of love and faith. Great is our blessing, as a people and as individuals, to carry in our hearts a firm and unshakable conviction of the divine mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the great Jehovah, the Creator under the will and direction of His Almighty Father. He was the promised Messiah who came with healing in His wings. He was the healer, the worker of miracles, the Resurrection and the Life. His is the only name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. (See Acts 4:12.)
"In the beginning He was with the Father. To paraphrase the words of John, He was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (See John 1:14.)
" `As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.' (John 1:12.)
"He came to earth as a gift of His Almighty Father.
"On Calvary's cross, He gave His life `that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.' (John 3:15.)
President Hinckley said the Savior walked the dusty roads of Palestine and went about doing good. "He caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, He opened the eyes of understanding to all who would listen to Him. He answered the great question:
" `O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?' (1 Cor. 15:55.)
"His is the gift given to all men to rise from the grave in the resurrection," President Hinckley explained. "His is the invitation to go on to eternal life.
"We love Him. We honor Him. We thank Him. We worship Him. He has done for each of us and for all mankind that which no other could have done. God be thanked for the gift of His Beloved Son, the Savior and Redeemer of the world, the Lamb without blemish who was offered as a sacrifice for all mankind.
"We testify of His living reality. We testify of His divine love. In our times of grateful meditation, we acknowledge His priceless gift to us and pledge our love and faith. Again, at this Christmas season, we bear witness of Him and His divine name."
In his message, President Monson commented on the decorations in the Tabernacle, and referred to a Dec. 25, 1847, journal entry of Rebecca Riter: " `The winter was cold. Christmas came and the children were hungry. I had brought a peck of wheat across the plains and hid it under a pile of wood. I thought I would cook a handful of wheat for the baby. Then I thought how we would need wheat for seed in the spring, so I left it alone.'
"Faith, sacrifice, love and tears were part of that first Christmas in the Salt Lake Valley," President Monson said. "They continue down through the years and find their way to our homes and hearts. Indeed, they are a part of what we call the Christmas Spirit."
He said President Hugh B. Brown, who served as a counselor in the First Presidency from 1961-1970, counseled "that the Spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world's busy life and become more interested in people than things. To catch the real meaning of the Spirit of Christmas, we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the Spirit of Christ.
"This is the spirit which marked that first Christmas day - a day foretold by the prophets of old," said President Monson, who then cited passages in Isaiah and Mosiah foretelling the birth of the Savior. (See Isa. 7:14; 9:6; and Mosiah 3:5.)
"With the birth of the babe in Bethlehem, there emerged a great endowment, a power stronger than weapons, a wealth more lasting than the coins of Caesar," President Monson declared. "This child was to be the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the promised Messiah, even Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
"Since that time, the spirit of giving gifts has been present in the mind of each Christian as he commemorates the Christmas season. I wonder if we might profit today by asking ourselves, What gift would God have me give to Him or to others at this precious season of the year?' We remember the words of Emerson:Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself.'
He then quoted President David O. McKay as saying, " `True happiness comes only by making others happy - the practical application of the Savior's doctrine of losing one's life to gain it. In short, the Christmas Spirit is the Christ spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service. It is the spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, obedience to which will bring peace on earth, because it means good will toward all men."
President Monson spoke of the unenviable position of Jacob Marley's ghost who spoke to Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: "Scrooge noticed the large chains which entwined Marley's body and remarked, Why Jacob, you are fettered in chains!' Marley replied,I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link and yard by yard.' Scrooge attempted to console him by saying, `But Jacob, you were such a good man of business.'
" Business!' he replied.Mankind was my business. Not to know that any Christian spirit, working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunities misused. Yet, such was I. Oh, such was I.'
" Marley added,Why did I walk through crowds of fellow beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed star which led wise men to a poor abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me?' "
President Monson added, "Fortunately, the privilege to render service to others can come to each of us. If we but look, we too will see a bright, particular star which will guide us to our opportunity."
He told of one family who found an opportunity to serve others. Richard H. and Mary Headlee of Farmington Hills Ward, Bloomfield Hills Michigan Stake, and their family and friends working with Project Concern International and aided by the Church's Humanitarian Aid Relief, gathered food, clothing, medical supplies, blankets and toys for months to ship to an orphanage in Romania. As the shipping container was about to be sealed in Salt Lake City, a friend, Barbara Brinton, arrived from Provo, Utah, with several items, including a child's orthopedic walker a neighbor donated.
President Monson quoted Brother Headlee: "When our family arrived in Romania, we met a doctor who was working with a multiple-handicapped 4-year-old orphan named Raymond. Raymond had been born with severe club feet and was blind. Recent orthopedic surgery had corrected the club feet, and Dr. Lynn Oborn was attempting to teach Raymond, who had never walked, how to use his legs. Dr. Oborn's first words to us were: `Oh, you're the people who have the container. I hope you brought me a child's walker for Raymond.'
"Kathy [a daughter] responded, I can vaguely remember something like a walker, but I don't know what size it is.' She dispatched our son Bruce back into the container, and he crawled amongst all the bales of clothes and boxes of food searching for the walker. When he found it, he lifted it up and cried out,It's a little one!' Cheers erupted - which quickly turned to tears, for they all knew they had been part of a modern-day miracle.
"There may be some who say, We don't have miracles today.' But the doctor whose prayers were answered would respond,Oh yes, we do, and Raymond is walking!' The neighbor was inspired to give the walker as a willing vessel, and surely would also agree."
President Monson said: "Another line from Dickens personifies the Dick Headlees: `I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present and the Future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons they teach.' "
"One penetrating lesson taught at Christmastime," President Monson continued, "is the lament of the Lord: `The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.' (Matt. 8:20.)
"We have rooms in our homes for eating, rooms for sleeping, playrooms, sewing rooms and television rooms. Do we have room for the Lord, Jesus Christ? In our busy lives we seem to have time for entertainment, time for golf, time for other activities. Do we have time for Jesus Christ?
" No room at the inn' dogged His footsteps and saddened his heart. Let us remember the supreme gift described by the Apostle Paul:The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.' (Rom. 6:23.)
"The real spirit of Christmas lies in His assurance: `I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.' " (John 11:25.)
