A talk I prepared for the first sacrament meeting of the new school year (on Sunday evening, August 31, 1975) in the BYU 11th Branch, Brigham Young University First Stake, where I was serving as first counselor in the branch presidency. Student congregations at this time were organized into branches rather than wards so that young counselors such as I (I was 26 years old at the time) could continue to serve as elders after leaving the university rather than being ordained high priests. This was about four and a half years before the consolidated meeting schedule was introduced, and sacrament meetings were usually held in the afternoon or evening separate from other Sunday meetings. For various reasons now lost to memory, I never actually gave this talk.
I’m going to try an experiment on you tonight. Never before in my life have I written a talk that I was going to give in church. In the work I do, I sometimes write for others, but I’ve never done it for myself. For a variety of reasons, which I won’t bother you with now, I’m doing it tonight for the first time—partly because there’s a lot I want to say and if I didn’t control myself I would take at least twice as much time as I should.
Let me tell you a bit about me and my family. I have a wonderful wife named Claudia and three precious little children—Michael Adam, who will be two the day after tomorrow; Rebecca, who turned one last week; and Rachael, who is just a little over three weeks old. Both Claudia and I graduated from BYU—she in elementary education, I in English and Portuguese. I served my mission about five years ago in what was then the Brazil North Mission.
For about the last year and a half, I have been working in Salt Lake City for the Presiding Bishopric. I guess my profession would be classified as a technical writer.
My family is very important to me. And I suppose I should mention right now at the beginning that we hold Monday nights sacred. For you home evening is supposed to be only one hour long. For us, because we are a real family, home evening is exactly that—all evening long, from 6:00 P.M., which is when I get home from work, until the next morning when I get up. What I’m saying is simply this: please do not call us on Monday nights. I’m happy to serve you any other day, at any other time, but please Monday night is sacred.
Now, after that little plug, let me get to my talk.
The late Richard L. Evans once said, “Meetings are where you go to learn things you already know but don’t have the time to do because of so many meetings” (quoted by President Harold B. Lee, Regional Representatives’ seminar, Apr. 3, 1969). Somehow I hope we don’t fall into that trap.
The Lord gave us some compelling reasons for being here tonight in sacrament meeting. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read: “And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go up to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day” (D&C 59:9).
Elsewhere we read: “And now, behold, I give unto you a commandment, that when ye are assembled together ye shall instruct and edify each other, that ye may know how to act and direct my church, how to act upon the points of my law and commandments, which I have given.
“And thus ye shall become instructed in the law of my church” (D&C 43:8–9).
So here are two reasons for our being here tonight. First, to partake of the sacrament and, second, to be instructed and edified. I would like to spend a few minutes on this second reason.
President Harold B. Lee made this statement: “One of our brethren who was asked to speak in a sacrament meeting made a statement I would wish could be trumpeted throughout this entire Church. The brother said: ‘No person has a right to occupy the pulpits of this Church in our sacrament meetings unless he is there to preach the gospel.’ I wish that could be understood—that the very purpose of the invitation is to preach the gospel” (Regional Representatives’ seminar, Oct. 3, 1968).
I mention this because throughout this coming year, during these next two semesters, most of you will have an opportunity to stand here to give a talk—either in Sunday School or sacrament meeting. The way we’ve handled it in the past, and we expect to continue again this year, is to invite each of the groups to prepare and provide the services each Sunday. Our experience over the past two years has been that we’ve had some marvelous, inspirational, and instructive meetings—the kind of meeting I think President Lee was referring to in this quote I just read.
One thing I’ve noticed is that often the best talks are those that draw heavily on personal experiences. In fact, it bothers me to have someone stand and excuse himself for using personal examples. I wonder if they’ve ever heard a General Authority speak. President Kimball, for example, has often masterfully used examples from his childhood or youth to teach the great lessons he has to teach. The most powerful witness of the gospel you can bear will grow out of your own struggles, your own confrontations, your own obedience to specific principles. That which you struggle with and overcome is that which the Spirit will bear witness of to you. So never feel ashamed to share yourselves, as the Spirit moves you, in teaching a gospel principle or in bearing witness.
I think one of the most moving experiences in my life came at the close of the October conference two years ago as President Lee was closing the conference. (And, incidentally, it was his very last conference address before he died.) This is what President Lee said:
“And so, in the closing moments of this conference, I have been moved as I have never been moved before in all my life. If it were not for the assurance that I have that the Lord is near to us, guiding, directing, the burden would be almost beyond my strength, but because I know that he is there, and that he can be appealed to, and if we have ears to hear attuned to him, we will never be left alone. . . .
“I thank the Lord that I may have passed some of the tests, but maybe there will have to be more before I shall have been polished to do all that the Lord would have me do.
“Sometimes when the veil has been very thin, I have thought that if the struggle had been still greater that maybe then there would have been no veil.”
And then he makes this powerfully humble statement: “I stand by, not asking for anything more than the Lord wants to give me, but I know that he is up there and he is guiding and directing” (Ensign, Jan. 1974, 129).
I think contained in that last sentence is a great lesson for each of us. “I stand by, not asking for anything more than the Lord wants to give me, but I know that he is up there and he is guiding and directing.” If we could all have that kind of faith! How often do we ask for that which the Lord, in His wisdom, is not yet willing to give us? I’m sometimes guilty of that.
It reminds me of Alma’s exclamation: “O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!” (Alma 29:1).
Now that certainly sounds like a righteous desire, especially today in light of President Kimball’s far-reaching and inspired vision of missionary work. But then Alma wisely and humbly adds this: “But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me” (Alma 29:3).
Now, if we can change gears a little, there are two other things I want to mention before I sit down. First is about the payment of fast offerings. My wife Claudia tells me that when she came here to BYU as a student it was well into her second year of school before it ever occurred to her that she was supposed to be paying fast offerings. She had grown up in the Church in an active, faithful home, where her parents were always faithful in paying their tithes and offerings. But growing up Claudia had never paid fast offerings herself.
So I hope this doesn’t come as a surprise to any of you. A minimal offering, and let me emphasize the word minimal, is defined as the cost of the meals that you don’t eat while you are fasting. If we fully understand the law of the fast, then we know that our fast is incomplete until we have given a generous offering to the bishop, who uses these sacred funds to care for the poor, the needy, and the destitute.
The Lord has said this about it: “I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine.
“And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine.
“But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.
“For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare” (D&C 104:14–17).
And then to us who have been blessed with this abundance He mentions, the Lord gives this significant warning: “Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of the gospel, unto the poor and needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment” (D&C 104:18).
If we give according to the law of the gospel, if we give in the Lord’s own way, we will pay a generous fast offering—for that is the Lord’s way. There is no system of charity that I know of that is more selfless or more pure or more effective. In the first place, when we give to the poor by paying fast offerings no one ever knows who paid the money. Because the giving is in secret, the reward in heaven will be greater. Second, the system is so much more effective than any other charity on earth. I read in the news that some well-known charities in this country have an overhead as big as 60 percent or more. That means that 60 percent of the money I might give them does not go directly to the purpose for which I give it. Even the best charities have a 25 to 30 percent overhead. When I pay fast offerings, I can be confident that every single penny, without exception, goes to benefit the poor. There is no overhead.
President Kimball has said: “I think that when we are affluent as many of us are that we ought to be very, very generous. . . . I think we should be very generous and give, instead of the amount we saved by our two meals of fasting, perhaps much, much more—ten times more where we are in a position to do it” (General Welfare Services meeting, Apr. 6, 1974, 12).
Obviously, many of you are not in a position to do that. But listen to this promise President Marion G. Romney makes: “If we will double our fast offerings, we shall increase our own prosperity, both spiritually and temporally. This the Lord has promised, and this has been the record” (talk to the Priesthood Board, Mar. 6, 1974, 10).
I can personally bear record that that statement is true. Every time Claudia and I find that our budget is too tight, and we see no possible way to make ends meet, we just pay a little more fast offerings. We have never been failed; the Lord has stood by His promise every time, and we have always had enough somehow.
I mentioned that I had two other areas I wanted to discuss with you. Paying fast offerings was one of them. I’ll be brief on the second, since the time is running fast. President Lee a few years ago asked these questions in a Regional Representatives’ seminar, and I quote:
“Are you brethren continually increasing your testimony by diligent study of the scriptures? Do you have a daily habit of reading the scriptures? If we’re not reading the scriptures daily, our testimonies are growing thinner, our spirituality isn’t increasing in depth” (Regional Representatives’ seminar, Dec. 12, 1970).
And then President Romney has said this: “The older I grow in the service, the more I turn to the scriptures and try to understand the meaning of what the Lord has said. . . . It is worth our time to study the scriptures and see the depth, as far as we can, of the Lord’s teachings” (General Welfare Services meeting, Oct. 5, 1974, 12).
Scripture study is to the spirit what food is to the body. And some of us seem to be on spiritual diets. We can go days and even weeks at a time never feeding our spirits, and consequently our testimonies grow thinner and thinner until we find ourselves spiritually malnourished.
I can make this promise: If you will consistently and prayerfully search the scriptures for a few moments each day—for 15 minutes if that’s all the time you have—your testimonies will increase, your faith will grow, and you will understand more fully the meaning of what the Lord has said.
And remember, if you’re too busy to study the scriptures, you’re simply too busy.
Showing posts with label Helping others. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Helping others. Show all posts
Friday, July 4, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
23. Confess His Hand in All Things
A bishopric message published in the November 1998 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
In a few weeks we will celebrate another Thanksgiving. As we think about the Lord’s goodness to us, as we contemplate the abundance He has bestowed upon us, as we marvel at the blessings and opportunities that are ours, we have every reason, as the Psalmist has written, to “enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4).
With this poetic invitation before us, we are reminded of the everlasting goodness of our God: “For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:5).
Few things, however, bother Him more than the ingratitude of His children: “And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments” (D&C 59:21).
Rather, we are to do all “things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances” (D&C 59:15). And if we “do this, the fulness of the earth is [ours], . . . for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; . . . to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul” (D&C 104:16, 18, 19).
“For the earth is full,” the Lord reminds us, “and there is enough and to spare; . . . therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment” (D&C 104:17–18).
The Lord is really quite serious about this matter of our sharing with others. Indeed, if we hope to retain a remission of our sins, we are required to “impart of [our] substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally” (Mosiah 4:26), as many among us do so very well.
At this season of the year, we thank you for the goodness of your lives. We thank you for being the kind of decent, Christian neighbors you are supposed to be. We thank you for all that you do to enrich and bless and lift those about you. May God grant you the joy and peace that come from having grateful hearts, from confessing His hand in all things, from sharing your substance with those less fortunate, and from keeping His commandments.
In a few weeks we will celebrate another Thanksgiving. As we think about the Lord’s goodness to us, as we contemplate the abundance He has bestowed upon us, as we marvel at the blessings and opportunities that are ours, we have every reason, as the Psalmist has written, to “enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4).
With this poetic invitation before us, we are reminded of the everlasting goodness of our God: “For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:5).
Few things, however, bother Him more than the ingratitude of His children: “And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments” (D&C 59:21).
Rather, we are to do all “things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances” (D&C 59:15). And if we “do this, the fulness of the earth is [ours], . . . for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; . . . to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul” (D&C 104:16, 18, 19).
“For the earth is full,” the Lord reminds us, “and there is enough and to spare; . . . therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment” (D&C 104:17–18).
The Lord is really quite serious about this matter of our sharing with others. Indeed, if we hope to retain a remission of our sins, we are required to “impart of [our] substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally” (Mosiah 4:26), as many among us do so very well.
At this season of the year, we thank you for the goodness of your lives. We thank you for being the kind of decent, Christian neighbors you are supposed to be. We thank you for all that you do to enrich and bless and lift those about you. May God grant you the joy and peace that come from having grateful hearts, from confessing His hand in all things, from sharing your substance with those less fortunate, and from keeping His commandments.
18. None Other Object
A bishopric message published in the November 1997 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
Near the end of his life, after blessing his sons, Father Lehi said, “I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls” (2 Nephi 2:30). What a marvelous sermon in only fourteen words!
As your bishopric, we echo that same sentiment: We have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls.
Would that that would be the desire of every home teacher and visiting teacher in our ward. Just think how we might treat the individuals we are assigned to visit if we had none other object than the everlasting welfare of their souls. Just think of the lessons we might teach them. The service we might render. The love and compassion and tenderness we might show.
Is not our Heavenly Father’s and our Savior’s objective the same? “This is my work and my glory,” the Lord declared, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:37). Everything They do in our behalf is to help us return home, if we desire it enough, to enjoy immortality and eternal life with Them. Clearly, They have none other object than the everlasting welfare of our souls.
Should not each of us—regardless of where we serve, whether as a teacher or a quorum president, as a pianist or an adviser, as a member of an auxiliary presidency or a secretary—desire the same for the people we are called to serve? Is not that what it means to have “an eye single to the glory of God” (D&C 4:5), as we seek to do the same work the Savior does?
May the Lord bless us so to do.
Near the end of his life, after blessing his sons, Father Lehi said, “I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls” (2 Nephi 2:30). What a marvelous sermon in only fourteen words!
As your bishopric, we echo that same sentiment: We have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls.
Would that that would be the desire of every home teacher and visiting teacher in our ward. Just think how we might treat the individuals we are assigned to visit if we had none other object than the everlasting welfare of their souls. Just think of the lessons we might teach them. The service we might render. The love and compassion and tenderness we might show.
Is not our Heavenly Father’s and our Savior’s objective the same? “This is my work and my glory,” the Lord declared, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:37). Everything They do in our behalf is to help us return home, if we desire it enough, to enjoy immortality and eternal life with Them. Clearly, They have none other object than the everlasting welfare of our souls.
Should not each of us—regardless of where we serve, whether as a teacher or a quorum president, as a pianist or an adviser, as a member of an auxiliary presidency or a secretary—desire the same for the people we are called to serve? Is not that what it means to have “an eye single to the glory of God” (D&C 4:5), as we seek to do the same work the Savior does?
May the Lord bless us so to do.
16. Put Our Trust in God
A bishopric message published in the May 1997 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.
There is much to be grateful for as we look around and count our blessings—starting with our very lives, our health, our friends and families, our homes, this peaceful community in which we live, our citizenship in this great land of America, our faith, the talents and gifts and blessings a gracious Father has showered down upon us. The list could go on and on.
Appropriately, we are pausing this year to commemorate the sacrifices of our pioneer ancestors. As we reflect on the faith and courage of those who have gone before, we realize that in all the history of the earth, never has a people been blessed with such temporal and spiritual opportunities as we are.
Yet, for some people (and for nearly all of us at certain times in our lives) life can also be full of heartache, disappointment, and hassle. Sometimes there is injustice and hurt. And even death. And things may not seem fair. That’s simply the way life works. It is clearly a part of the test we agreed to before we came here to this earthly school. And, oh, what a test it is at times!
We find a nugget of insight in the Book of Mormon: “For I do know,” Alma taught his son Helaman, “that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day” (Alma 36:3).
Note that our trust in God does not eliminate our trials, troubles, and afflictions. The people of God have always had their full share of them. They are indeed a fact of life. But our trust in God and His purposes allows Him to support us in those very trials, troubles, and afflictions we are called upon to endure. And, if we endure them well, that same trust allows Him to lift us up at the last day.
“My son, peace be unto thy soul,” came the tender words to the Prophet Joseph Smith, who knew more of trials, troubles, and afflictions than any of us will ever likely know. “Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high” (D&C 121:7–8).
Our challenge then is to endure and to trust and, at times, to simply hold on. And to be filled with kindness and gentleness and love unfeigned. And to help and lift and bless those around us. And to live in thanksgiving daily.
There is much to be grateful for as we look around and count our blessings—starting with our very lives, our health, our friends and families, our homes, this peaceful community in which we live, our citizenship in this great land of America, our faith, the talents and gifts and blessings a gracious Father has showered down upon us. The list could go on and on.
Appropriately, we are pausing this year to commemorate the sacrifices of our pioneer ancestors. As we reflect on the faith and courage of those who have gone before, we realize that in all the history of the earth, never has a people been blessed with such temporal and spiritual opportunities as we are.
Yet, for some people (and for nearly all of us at certain times in our lives) life can also be full of heartache, disappointment, and hassle. Sometimes there is injustice and hurt. And even death. And things may not seem fair. That’s simply the way life works. It is clearly a part of the test we agreed to before we came here to this earthly school. And, oh, what a test it is at times!
We find a nugget of insight in the Book of Mormon: “For I do know,” Alma taught his son Helaman, “that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day” (Alma 36:3).
Note that our trust in God does not eliminate our trials, troubles, and afflictions. The people of God have always had their full share of them. They are indeed a fact of life. But our trust in God and His purposes allows Him to support us in those very trials, troubles, and afflictions we are called upon to endure. And, if we endure them well, that same trust allows Him to lift us up at the last day.
“My son, peace be unto thy soul,” came the tender words to the Prophet Joseph Smith, who knew more of trials, troubles, and afflictions than any of us will ever likely know. “Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high” (D&C 121:7–8).
Our challenge then is to endure and to trust and, at times, to simply hold on. And to be filled with kindness and gentleness and love unfeigned. And to help and lift and bless those around us. And to live in thanksgiving daily.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
12. Each Life That Touches Ours for Good
A bishopric message written on Thursday, April 18, 1996, and published while we were traveling in Brazil in the May 1996 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette, the monthly newsletter of the Bountiful 20th Ward. As bishop, I prepared such messages for the February, May, August, and November issues each year. My two counselors in the bishopric—Larry Young and Kevin Thueson—wrote the messages in the other months of the year.
Three weeks ago—with the peaceful passing of Phil Pack—we lost a good friend and wonderful neighbor. His gentle life reminds us of the poet’s words:
Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.
What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christ-like friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.
When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory,
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.
For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior's name,
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise thy goodness, Lord above.
(Karen Lynn Davidson, Hymns [1985], 293)
We are abundantly blessed in our neighborhood with many such friends whose lives proclaim devotion to the Savior, who strengthen and enrich us, who reflect in countless quiet ways the Lord’s goodness and love. They are among the angels and ministers of grace the Lord places in our path to help us return to Him.
May each of us, every day of our lives, seek some quiet way to bless the lives of those around us—by helping a neighbor, lifting a burden, sharing a smile, mending a quarrel, visiting one who is lonely, saying hello to a child—little things every one of them, but little acts that show we really are serious about being His disciples.
As a prophet once invited us, may we each “live with ever more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially the love and hope and compassion he displayed. I pray that we will treat each other with more kindness, more patience, more courtesy and forgiveness” (Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Nov. 1994, 8). That would be our earnest prayer for each of us.
Three weeks ago—with the peaceful passing of Phil Pack—we lost a good friend and wonderful neighbor. His gentle life reminds us of the poet’s words:
Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.
What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christ-like friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.
When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory,
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.
For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior's name,
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise thy goodness, Lord above.
(Karen Lynn Davidson, Hymns [1985], 293)
We are abundantly blessed in our neighborhood with many such friends whose lives proclaim devotion to the Savior, who strengthen and enrich us, who reflect in countless quiet ways the Lord’s goodness and love. They are among the angels and ministers of grace the Lord places in our path to help us return to Him.
May each of us, every day of our lives, seek some quiet way to bless the lives of those around us—by helping a neighbor, lifting a burden, sharing a smile, mending a quarrel, visiting one who is lonely, saying hello to a child—little things every one of them, but little acts that show we really are serious about being His disciples.
As a prophet once invited us, may we each “live with ever more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially the love and hope and compassion he displayed. I pray that we will treat each other with more kindness, more patience, more courtesy and forgiveness” (Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Nov. 1994, 8). That would be our earnest prayer for each of us.
11. Angels and Ministers of Grace
A bishopric message written on Monday, January 29, 1996, the day after I was sustained as the eighth bishop of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward in the Bountiful Utah South Stake. The message was published in the February 1996 issue of the Newsette, the monthly newsletter of the Bountiful 20th Ward. Larry Young and Kevin Thueson were my counselors in the bishopric.
In one of Shakespeare’s immortal plays, Hamlet wisely implores, “Angels and ministers of grace defend us!” (Hamlet, act 1, scene 4, line 39). Angels and ministers of grace! All of us need and in fact receive far more help than we realize in our daily lives from the angels and ministers of grace who surround us—on both sides of the veil.
This last Sunday we released a beloved bishopric. Bishop [Gail] Anger and his counselors were just such angels and ministers of grace in the lives of many ward members. We may never know the countless, quiet ways they went about blessing lives and ministering to the needs of people in our ward, but virtually all of us can think back with gratitude on instances of their love and attention in our own lives and in the lives of our families.
The greatest thanks we can give them, the ultimate tribute we can pay them is the way we continue to live our lives in quiet devotion to the cause of the Master whom they loved and followed while serving as our bishopric.
And now you have a new bishopric. We are grateful for the inspiration that lead to our calls and the sustaining vote of confidence we received from the membership of the ward. Your faith and prayers will mean a lot to us as we move forward with the next chapter in the history of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward.
God lives. His beloved Son lives. This is Their work in which we are engaged. They send angels and ministers of grace into our lives to bless us everlastingly. May we, like all who have gone before us, be as the Book of Mormon writer described, “instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good” (Mosiah 27:36–37).
May each of us go and do likewise.
In one of Shakespeare’s immortal plays, Hamlet wisely implores, “Angels and ministers of grace defend us!” (Hamlet, act 1, scene 4, line 39). Angels and ministers of grace! All of us need and in fact receive far more help than we realize in our daily lives from the angels and ministers of grace who surround us—on both sides of the veil.
This last Sunday we released a beloved bishopric. Bishop [Gail] Anger and his counselors were just such angels and ministers of grace in the lives of many ward members. We may never know the countless, quiet ways they went about blessing lives and ministering to the needs of people in our ward, but virtually all of us can think back with gratitude on instances of their love and attention in our own lives and in the lives of our families.
The greatest thanks we can give them, the ultimate tribute we can pay them is the way we continue to live our lives in quiet devotion to the cause of the Master whom they loved and followed while serving as our bishopric.
And now you have a new bishopric. We are grateful for the inspiration that lead to our calls and the sustaining vote of confidence we received from the membership of the ward. Your faith and prayers will mean a lot to us as we move forward with the next chapter in the history of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward.
God lives. His beloved Son lives. This is Their work in which we are engaged. They send angels and ministers of grace into our lives to bless us everlastingly. May we, like all who have gone before us, be as the Book of Mormon writer described, “instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good” (Mosiah 27:36–37).
May each of us go and do likewise.
Friday, April 11, 2008
5. We Can't Do It Alone
A pastoral message written on Monday, November 17, 1975, and published in Heaven-11, the BYU 11th Branch newsletter on Thursday, November 20.
In the recent general conference of the Church, Elder Robert D. Hales quoted these lines from the poet Whittier:
Thee lift me, and I'll lift thee
And we'll both ascend together.
Those lines contain an idea that is important for all of us to understand and live: We need each other; we can't do it alone.
The Lord has said it in another way: "Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling; and let not the head say unto the feet it hath no need of the feet; for without the feet how shall the body be able to stand?
"Also the body hath need of every member, that all may be edified together, that the system may be kept perfect" (D&C 84:109-110).
We have been given parents and families, the priesthood and the organization of the Church to help us return to our Heavenly Father. "The many missions which we have in life," said Elder Hales, "cannot be embarked upon successfully without the help of others. Birth requires earthly parents. Our blessing as a child, our baptism, our receiving the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, our receiving membership in his church, ordination to the priesthood, going on a mission, being married, having children of our own, blessings during illness and time of need—all require the help of others. And all these are acts of love and service which require the help of others and the giving of help to others" (Ensign, Nov. 1975, 91).
Brother Hales makes it clear that our interdependence works both ways. We need the help of others, and we need to help others. We need to both serve and be served. All of us, it turns out, really are needed.
As a branch presidency we have chosen, from among the many excellent suggestions we received, this message as the theme of our branch conference:
Thee lift me, and I'll lift thee
And we'll both ascend together.
You will likely be hearing more about it this weekend in the various sessions of the conference. In fact, the whole experience of branch conference will help us lift each other, allowing us all to ascend together. We invite you to attend, with a sense of anticipation and preparation, and you will experience a rich outpouring of the Spirit. You will be blessed and be a blessing to others.
In the recent general conference of the Church, Elder Robert D. Hales quoted these lines from the poet Whittier:
Thee lift me, and I'll lift thee
And we'll both ascend together.
Those lines contain an idea that is important for all of us to understand and live: We need each other; we can't do it alone.
The Lord has said it in another way: "Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling; and let not the head say unto the feet it hath no need of the feet; for without the feet how shall the body be able to stand?
"Also the body hath need of every member, that all may be edified together, that the system may be kept perfect" (D&C 84:109-110).
We have been given parents and families, the priesthood and the organization of the Church to help us return to our Heavenly Father. "The many missions which we have in life," said Elder Hales, "cannot be embarked upon successfully without the help of others. Birth requires earthly parents. Our blessing as a child, our baptism, our receiving the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, our receiving membership in his church, ordination to the priesthood, going on a mission, being married, having children of our own, blessings during illness and time of need—all require the help of others. And all these are acts of love and service which require the help of others and the giving of help to others" (Ensign, Nov. 1975, 91).
Brother Hales makes it clear that our interdependence works both ways. We need the help of others, and we need to help others. We need to both serve and be served. All of us, it turns out, really are needed.
As a branch presidency we have chosen, from among the many excellent suggestions we received, this message as the theme of our branch conference:
Thee lift me, and I'll lift thee
And we'll both ascend together.
You will likely be hearing more about it this weekend in the various sessions of the conference. In fact, the whole experience of branch conference will help us lift each other, allowing us all to ascend together. We invite you to attend, with a sense of anticipation and preparation, and you will experience a rich outpouring of the Spirit. You will be blessed and be a blessing to others.
4. The Lord's Way of Caring for the Poor
A pastoral message written on Friday, October 31, 1975, and published in Heaven-11, the BYU 11th Branch newsletter on Monday, November 3.
We hear much these days about the world's faltering attempts to care for the poor in our society. "The great welfare debacle in this and other countries is only now coming to light," said Elder Hartmon Rector Jr. in the recent general conference. "For instance, New York City is currently facing a tremendous financial crisis, [where] fully 22 percent of this city's total budget goes for public welfare. This is more than is spent on police protection, health or hospitals, or education. More than a million New Yorkers are now receiving welfare payments, and the number is rising daily.
"The food stamp program which was initially designed to assist the poor . . . is totally out of hand, a monster that threatens us all. Over $6.6 billion will be spent for this program in fiscal year 1976. That represents over one-half of the total U.S. Department of Agricultural budget. Over 19 million people—almost one American out of eleven—are now getting food stamps.
"Welfare lists grow daily, and we now face the startling fact that we have third and fourth generations growing up on welfare. They have known nothing else. These people even strike and picket to get more sooner. Candidates for public office seem to be trying to out-promise each other in giveaway programs" (Ensign, Nov. 1975, 10-11).
There is a better way. The Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants has told us: "I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine.
"And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine.
"But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.
"For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare" (D&C 104:14-17).
And then to us who have been blessed with this abundance He mentions, the Lord gives this significant warning: "Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of the gospel, unto the poor and needy, he shall with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment" (D&C 104:18).
Those are strong words. And the question immediately comes to mind: What is the Lord's way? How are we to impart our portion, according to the law of the gospel, unto the poor and needy?The answer is a simple one: by paying our fast offerings.
A minimal fast offering (and let us emphasize the word minimal) is defined as the cost of the meals you don't eat while you are fasting. If we fully understand the law of the fast, then we know that our fasting is incomplete until we have given a generous offering to the bishop, who uses these sacred funds to care for the poor, the needy, and the destitute.
There is no system of charity that is more selfless or more pure or more effective. In the first place, when we give to the poor by paying fast offerings, the gift is entirely anonymous. No one ever knows who paid the money. Of this kind of giving the Savior said: "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
"Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
"But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
"That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:1-4).
Second, the system is so much more effective than any other charity on earth. Some well-known charities in this country reportedly have an overhead as big as sixty percent or more. That means that sixty percent of the money we might give them does not go directly to the purpose for which it is given. Even some of the best charities have a twenty-five percent overhead. When we pay fast offerings, we can be confident that every single penny, without exception, goes to benefit the poor. There is no overhead.
Third, we do not need to worry about our fast offering contribution going to the unworthy poor, to someone who doesn't really need it. We do not need to worry about fostering a welfare dole. We do not need to worry about abuses or excesses. The bishop, as the common judge in Israel, gives aid to the poor only after careful, prayerful consideration. He gives the aid in such a way that it helps the person to help himself.
President Spencer W. Kimball has said: "I think that when we are affluent as many of us are that we ought to be very, very generous. . . . I think we should be very generous and give, instead of the amount we saved by our two meals of fasting, perhaps much, much more—ten times more where we are in a position to do it. I know there are some who couldn't" (General welfare services meeting, Apr. 6, 1974, 12).
Listen to this promise President Marion G. Romney, of the First Presidency, makes: "If we will double our fast offerings, we shall increase our own prosperity, both spiritually and temporally. This the Lord has promised, and this has been the record" (Talk to the priesthood board, Mar. 6, 1974, 10).
We hear much these days about the world's faltering attempts to care for the poor in our society. "The great welfare debacle in this and other countries is only now coming to light," said Elder Hartmon Rector Jr. in the recent general conference. "For instance, New York City is currently facing a tremendous financial crisis, [where] fully 22 percent of this city's total budget goes for public welfare. This is more than is spent on police protection, health or hospitals, or education. More than a million New Yorkers are now receiving welfare payments, and the number is rising daily.
"The food stamp program which was initially designed to assist the poor . . . is totally out of hand, a monster that threatens us all. Over $6.6 billion will be spent for this program in fiscal year 1976. That represents over one-half of the total U.S. Department of Agricultural budget. Over 19 million people—almost one American out of eleven—are now getting food stamps.
"Welfare lists grow daily, and we now face the startling fact that we have third and fourth generations growing up on welfare. They have known nothing else. These people even strike and picket to get more sooner. Candidates for public office seem to be trying to out-promise each other in giveaway programs" (Ensign, Nov. 1975, 10-11).
There is a better way. The Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants has told us: "I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine.
"And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine.
"But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.
"For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare" (D&C 104:14-17).
And then to us who have been blessed with this abundance He mentions, the Lord gives this significant warning: "Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of the gospel, unto the poor and needy, he shall with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment" (D&C 104:18).
Those are strong words. And the question immediately comes to mind: What is the Lord's way? How are we to impart our portion, according to the law of the gospel, unto the poor and needy?The answer is a simple one: by paying our fast offerings.
A minimal fast offering (and let us emphasize the word minimal) is defined as the cost of the meals you don't eat while you are fasting. If we fully understand the law of the fast, then we know that our fasting is incomplete until we have given a generous offering to the bishop, who uses these sacred funds to care for the poor, the needy, and the destitute.
There is no system of charity that is more selfless or more pure or more effective. In the first place, when we give to the poor by paying fast offerings, the gift is entirely anonymous. No one ever knows who paid the money. Of this kind of giving the Savior said: "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
"Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
"But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
"That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:1-4).
Second, the system is so much more effective than any other charity on earth. Some well-known charities in this country reportedly have an overhead as big as sixty percent or more. That means that sixty percent of the money we might give them does not go directly to the purpose for which it is given. Even some of the best charities have a twenty-five percent overhead. When we pay fast offerings, we can be confident that every single penny, without exception, goes to benefit the poor. There is no overhead.
Third, we do not need to worry about our fast offering contribution going to the unworthy poor, to someone who doesn't really need it. We do not need to worry about fostering a welfare dole. We do not need to worry about abuses or excesses. The bishop, as the common judge in Israel, gives aid to the poor only after careful, prayerful consideration. He gives the aid in such a way that it helps the person to help himself.
President Spencer W. Kimball has said: "I think that when we are affluent as many of us are that we ought to be very, very generous. . . . I think we should be very generous and give, instead of the amount we saved by our two meals of fasting, perhaps much, much more—ten times more where we are in a position to do it. I know there are some who couldn't" (General welfare services meeting, Apr. 6, 1974, 12).
Listen to this promise President Marion G. Romney, of the First Presidency, makes: "If we will double our fast offerings, we shall increase our own prosperity, both spiritually and temporally. This the Lord has promised, and this has been the record" (Talk to the priesthood board, Mar. 6, 1974, 10).
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