The purpose of the set up...

The purpose of sacrament meeting is to worship the Father and the Son and renew our covenants with them.  If we do not speak of them, and just speak only of their commandments or of the church without reference to them, or if we speak of of our experience with their commandments without reference to our experience of seeking Them, in the talks we give there, we have failed.  Our speech here is to worship them, to speak of them, to renew covenants with them, and to rejoice in their hand in our lives as we  seek to be their disciples and follow them.

The purpose of our Relief Society, Priesthood Quorums, Young Women classes and Primary classes are to turn our hearts to the Father and the Son and to empower us to work more lovingly, more wisely, more unitedly, with greater vision, with less anxiety and self-doubt, with more confidence, and with greater focus, with them, in their work of blessing and assisting and lifting all of his children.

Our ministry, that which we accept by invitation, as well as that which we do as we care for and interact with family members, and that which we do free-lance by inspiration, is a God-given opportunity to get farther out of our comfort zones (2 Ne. all is well in Zion) and work more carefully with the Father and the Son and with each other to do and be and understand who the Father sent us here to learn to do, and be, and understand.

Feed my sheep.  What does that mean?   To minister...to be aware of....to love, wisely,  in spite of their, and our, sins and flaws and imperfection

In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these...Matthew 25:31-40.

Who are the sheep the Father has given to me?
Have I made holy promises to someone before God?  That is one of the sheep He wants me to feed in my interactions with him or her.   Has the Father ever sent children to my family (nuclear or extended)?  Those are some of the sheep He wants me to feed in my interactions with them.  Have I accepted an invitation to be a ministering brother or ministering sister to members of my ward?  Those are some of the sheep He wants me to feed in my interactions with them.  Are there people in need in my neighborhood or community?  Those are some of the sheep He wants me to feed in my interactions with them.

Frankly, that sounds absolutely overwhelming and impossible at first glance.  But notice that Jesus did not say “for I had problems and difficulties and you made it so that they were all solved and I became everything you hoped I would become”,  but He did say, “feed”, which is to “love” and to “nourish and strengthen” to use a familiar church phrase in our interactions with them.

Some of the sheep the Father has given us to care for we see and speak to as a matter of course every day.  So it’s easier, once we understand His hope that we will love, nourish and strengthen them, for us to find time to do that.

Others of the sheep that the Father has given us to care for we will never see or speak to unless we actually, purposefully, make the time to do that.  And many of us are afraid, or too overwhelmed, or shy, or feel too lonely, or we love our little kingdoms too much to leave them.  Or we tend to expect that we are incapable,  or that the sheep is trying to avoid us.  And so we don’t make time to care for them.  Or if we attempt to do so, we feel totally inadequate and discouraged and feel guilty and unhappy.

That’s normal.  It’s also one of the reasons why we meet together each week: so that we can encourage, empower, and assist each other to overcome that discouragement, resistance, and sense of overwhelm as we rejoice in the power of the God we worship who gives us the strength and vision we need to work together to feed His sheep.  

Doctrine and Covenants 24: 7-8

 You shall devote all your service to God’s work of uniting people in love and care for each other here on earth; and in this you will have strength.

Be patient in afflictions, for you shall have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with you, even unto the end of your days.

Walketh in his own way and after the image of his own god Doctrine and Covenants 1:16

 How does one  answer the question, “What idols or false gods do men worship?”

Actually, the better question is “what idols or false gods do I worship?”

Usually, when that  first question comes up in  a Sunday school class, members of the class come up with things that they see others caught up in acquiring or maintaining or lavishing attention on, or depending upon for personal validation or security, and that they think they themselves are not. However, the real question to answer is the second one.

Thinking about idolatry throughout the ages and the common threads throughout them, here is a set of questions I can ask myself when I wish to find a more honest and accountable answer to that second question.  Sobering for me to go through.

To whom (not what, nor what book) do I look for guidance in the matters of greatest importance or greatest concern in  my life?

What do I turn to for a daily sense of validation, self-worth, or approval that I seek?

To whom or what do I look to validate the rightness and acceptability of the decisions I make or of my point of view?

On whose respect or approval, or on what accomplishments in my life, does my sense of being successful rest?

Of all possibilities, with whom do I most wish to work in unity?

Of  all the “hats”  I wear, honestly, which one feels most valuable to me?  And do I behave in accordance with it if the answer is “a servant of God”?

What causes me to pause when I am given an opportunity to engage in work aimed at “feeding the poor, visiting the sick, and comforting the weary”?

What am I placing my trust in when I have the means and opportunity to share but I “withhold my substance from the poor” anyway?

Ether 12:25-41 ...when people you care about not only don't get it, they think it's stupid...

 Moroni’s conversation with the Lord.  

Ether 12: 25-41

 

Moroni: We are trying to express what we know is true and right as clearly and compellingly as we possibly can, guided as much by the Spirit as we can, but, knowing them, I am afraid that they will not believe any of it, but instead consider our words foolish, naïve and laughable and not understand that which is so essential that they understand.  My best efforts at persuasion or explaining are not enough. And knowing that, I am concerned and dismayed.

 

The Lord: Yes.  They will mock.  And, in the end, they will be very sad that they did not pay attention or consider what you wrote.   But remember that my grace, my loving, willing, powerful help, is enough to prevent them from irrevocably misusing what you have written.

    That’s the power of my grace.  And my grace can be enough for every man or woman who struggles with weakness and is humbled as he/she realizes that weakness and turns to me for help. That’s a major reason why I give you weakness.  It helps you to humble yourself and to want and ask for my help.  And then, with my grace, what is a weakness when you try by yourself, becomes a strength as we work together.  (Working together is an essential element of celestial life.)

     Those people who will mock?  They will, in time, see clearly the eternally erroneous elements of the position they have taken.  I will show them that the things they are espousing and doing that they think are good and strong, are not; that if they wish to be one with me what they really need to do is become full of faith in me, place their hope in what I know is possible for them, and become truly filled with charity.  You can trust me with that work.

 

Moroni: Thanks.  Being reminded of that is helpful.  I will trust you as this unfolds. …I know the power of charity, and how essential it is.  I know the power of faith in you…just look at what Jared’s brother was able to do because he trusted you so faithfully.  I understand what glorious future may await us and the immense love you have for us; so immense that you gave your life for us.  It is woven throughout your work.  Truly charity is absolutely essential to and the very essence of celestial life.

   I understand now that, if those we are so very concerned about do not respond with charity to our efforts and words, but instead mock or deride what we believe and know, that you will make it so that, in time, they will be able to see themselves and their choices exactly as they are, and what they really are when they are without the strengths they have that you have given to them and out of touch with the grace that you offer to them.

    So, Lord, would you please, with your grace, make it so that they have more charity and become open to your grace sooner than later?  That would save so much time and trouble and sorrow for them and for me.

 

The Lord:  Don’t worry about whether or not they have charity.  That’s for me to address.  Your not worrying about that helps you to continue to work with me to assist others, to increase in faith, repent, be forgiven, become more at one with me, and grow in charity and grace.

     Your awareness of your own weakness and your turning to me for help opens you to working with my grace, making you more empowered to do good in the world and preparing you to be able to come to the place I have prepared for you.  Focus on that.

Moroni (later, speaking to the audience):  And now I..bid farewell to you, and to my brothers who I dearly love, until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Chist…And then shall you know that I have seen Jesus, and that he has talked with me face to face, and that he told me in in plain humility, even as a man tells another in my own language, these things.

     I would strongly and kindly and fervently recommend that you seek Jesus, so that you can come to know and experience first hand the grace that comes from Him, and from God the Father, and the Holy Ghost (who bears record of them) and so that you can also experience His amazing grace in your life not just once, but forever.

        

Discipleship, Timothy, Chapter 4

 So...what to do now, here, amidst all that is going on?

Reflecting on Paul’s words to Timothy, this morning.

...seek to live a life of godliness...

...godliness is profitable with all things, benefiting both the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.

...be an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity...give attendance to reading and study, to teaching, to doctrine.

Neglect not the gift that is in you, which was given to you by divine inspiration with the laying on of the hands of the elders.

Meditate upon these things, give yourself wholly to them so that the good that results from that may be evident to others.

Be consistently careful and sober and purposeful and loving in your discipleship, for in so doing you will not only be engaged in God’s work for your own salvation, but also in the work of blessing and helping those with whom you interact and who hear your words.

Thoughts this morning

Whenever truth is spoken with anger, it becomes less true.  Whenever truth is spoken with clarity and inclusion, it is magnified.

You have been freely given life, time, strength as well as power to act.  Choose in turn, to freely give what you have been given, and what you have created with those gifts.

The saying is, “Judge righteous judgement”.  The problem is this: each and every one of us is convinced that the judgments we make about others are the righteous judgments. So we judge and condemn with impunity.

Always assume that you don’t know the whole story.  Seek to find truth.  And also, remembering that you will be judged as you are judged, do not fail to include the truths about yourself and others that enable compassion and concern for, and a willingness to assist, each person involved.

1st Timothy, chapter 1: Fables, longsuffering, warfare, hope, charity, and shipwrecks

So, reading through Timothy 1, I hear Paul speak of Jesus as “our hope”.  And he speaks of Timothy’s responsibility in Ephesus: to “charge” members who teach things that are not doctrine, but who instead teach “fables” and complicated genealogies which generally just serve to make people start digging for answers to questions that are based upon stories, or conjecture or tradition and who feel like they are accessing higher understanding. when, actually, they are being seriously sidetracked.

And he then, in verse 5, gives a way to be able to recognize this error.  Does what is being taught create a desire to be more full of charity, simply for the sake of the virtue of charity, without guile, and motivated by faith?  If so, it is good.  If not, it may well fall into the “fables” category.

And then later, in verse 12, Paul talks about the time in his life when he, himself, was involved in the kind of teaching he is warning against.  Like most who do that, he did it because he thought it was a good thing to do.  It felt energizing and right. And he talks of the great grace of God that came to him to change and enlighten and heal and forgive him.

And then this: “that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting”.

Some might think that this could be a message to those of us who are fable teachers that, when we realize what we’ve been doing, we need not fear wrath, but instead be grateful for God’s longsuffering with our erroneous assumptions and find hope in His forgiveness.

I am struck that it is also a message for those of us who recognize those fables or false beliefs taught by members of our faith, that we should also remember God’s longsuffering and knowledge of purveyors of “fables”, and refrain from abandoning charity towards those who teach such, and not lose hope due to our dismay, sorrow or pain over the results of the spread of those fables and the neglect of charity that it entices people to engage in.

So my question to myself is this: Is my truth-speaking, my “good warfare” (verse 18) response to “fable teaching” as full of longsuffering, charity, and grace as the Father’s is?  Is that charity, longsuffering and grace what enables us to connect with God in such a way that we do not lose hope?

Because, for sure, sometimes that fable preaching can feel like it creates a veritable “shipwreck” (verse 19) among us.