As I Have Loved You

A sacrament meeting talk based on the popular Primary Song, and scripture.  I delivered this in December 2018.  At places it is in outline with my telling the story suggested.  It included a tribute to my sister and grandmother.  It also has quotes from President Monson and Jeffrey R. Holland.  Also a mention of Vern Wardle and the "I love you squeezes."  This was also the meeting where Baby Hadley was blessed, Caleb and Annie's baby.

Introduction: Last Supper

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

1. A New Commandment I Give Unto You:  A divine mandate

Jesus said love ev’ryone (outstretch arms);

Treat them kindly, too (turn to neighbor and shake hands). Three squeeze four squeeze

When your heart is filled with love (place hands on heart),

Others will love you (hug self).

I’ll Walk with You

If you don’t walk as most people do,

Some people walk away from you,

But I won’t! I won’t!

If you don’t talk as most people do,

Some people talk and laugh at you,

But I won’t! I won’t!

I’ll walk with you. I’ll talk with you.

That’s how I’ll show my love for you.

Jesus walked away from none.

He gave his love to ev’ryone.

So I will! I will!

Jesus blessed all he could see,

Then turned and said, “Come, follow me.”

And I will! I will!

I will! I will!

I’ll walk with you. I’ll talk with you.

That’s how I’ll show my love for you.

We Are Different

I know you, and you know me.

We are as diff’rent as the sun and the sea.

I know you, and you know me,

And that’s the way it is supposed to be.

I help you, and you help me.

We learn from problems, and we’re starting to see.

I help you, and you help me,

And that’s the way it is supposed to be.

I love you, and you love me.

We reach together for the best we can be.

I love you, and you love me,

And that’s the way it is supposed to be. 

2. As I have Loved You

Example John 13: 15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

Water to wine

10 lepers

adulterous woman

man with palsy

issue of blood

Feeding the 5000 gospel of John, boy

Americas, healed the sick and blessed the people

3, Love One Another

Song  As I have loved you with sign

Jeffrey R Holland

Given the monumental challenge of addressing inequity in the world, what can one man or woman do? The Master Himself offered an answer. When, prior to His betrayal and Crucifixion, Mary anointed Jesus’s head with an expensive burial ointment, Judas Iscariot protested this extravagance and “murmured against her.”⁷

Jesus said:

“Why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work. …

“She hath done what she could.”⁸

So how might we “do what we can”?

For one thing, we can, as King Benjamin taught, cease withholding our means because we see the poor as having brought their misery upon themselves. Perhaps some have created their own difficulties, but don’t the rest of us do exactly the same thing? Isn’t that why this compassionate ruler asks, “Are we not all beggars?”¹¹ Don’t we all cry out for help and hope and answers to prayers? Don’t we all beg for forgiveness for mistakes we have made and troubles we have caused? Don’t we all implore that grace will compensate for our weaknesses, that mercy will triumph over justice at least in our case? Little wonder that King Benjamin says we obtain a remission of our sins by pleading to God, who compassionately responds, but we retain a remission of our sins by compassionately responding to the poor who plead to us.¹²

Law of the Fast

In that regard, I pay a personal tribute to President Thomas Spencer Monson. I have been blessed by an association with this man for 47 years now, and the image of him I will cherish until I die is of him flying home from then–economically devastated East Germany in his house slippers because he had given away not only his second suit and his extra shirts but the very shoes from off his feet. More than any man I know, President Monson has “done all he could” for the widow and the fatherless, the poor and the oppressed.

President Monson 

The prophet Mormon outlined one of the key characteristics of the Savior and which is to be emulated by His disciples. Said he:

“And if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

“And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked. …

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

“But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.”¹

Brethren, we do not honor the priesthood of God if we are not kind to others.

My dear friend and associate Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin was truly a kind man. Said he:

“Kindness is the essence of a celestial life. Kindness is how a Christlike person treats others. Kindness should permeate all of our words and actions at work, at school, at church, and especially in our homes.

“Jesus, our Savior, was the epitome of kindness and compassion.”²

The scriptures teach us that the righteous exercise of the priesthood is dependent upon our living the principles of kindness, charity, and love. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read:

“No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, … by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

“By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile.”³

Brethren, let us examine our lives and determine to follow the Savior’s example by being kind, loving, and charitable. And as we do so, we will be in a better position to call down the powers of heaven for ourselves, for our families, and for our fellow travelers in this sometimes difficult journey back to our heavenly home.

_{4. By this Shall All Men Know Ye are my Disciples}

_{Mathew 5: 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be}

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Mina Geneve Brandli Springall Wright, by my sister Sara

Grandma was always so very kind, just not to only a few but to all those she came in contact with. I never remember a harsh word coming from her lips; she was a picture of patience, love and caring. Grandma’s neighbors all had a great respect and love for her. When she became ill and [too] old to care completely for herself they were always there to help. And I know they were in their own way trying to pay Grandma back for all she had done for them.

My grandmother died when she was 80 years old and I was 21 years old. She had been a widow for 14 years… At her funeral I gave her life history. She was my most favorite. I guess you could say she’s my hero and I want to be just like her.

Being an example vs. being prideful

This Little Gospel Light of Mine