The prophet Joseph Smith wrote, “The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day; but they died without the sight; … it is left for us to see, participate in and help to roll forward the Latter-day glory.”
We can laugh about this now although at the time we didn’t. James superman diving onto bed- crying. I’m so sorry. It’s almost as if he were saying. “How could you do this to me Mom. Don’t you know I’m an active little boy that doesn’t just slowly, softly glide into bed. It’s almost as if he was saying, Hey, I superman dive into bed. This is who I am. This is what I do.”
Another story – Losing Ryan in museum, relief at finding him. I was so grateful! Happy to help. Almost as if they were saying, “This is who we are. This is what we do.”
Zion is established as we live celestial laws. Stakes in Zion are strengthened and Zion’s borders enlarged as we as members reflect the Lord’s standard of holiness. Simply put, the majestic work of Zion, comes down to our individual understanding of who we are and what God expects us to do.
In a devotional last week, President Nelson gave 3 key identifiers that we can use to gage who we are and what we are to do. They are:
A Child of God
A Child of the Covenant
A Disciple of Christ
First - Child of God
Sometimes we don’t see our value or potential but our Heavenly Father does.
Some of the fond memories of having little ones was reading and singing to them, in pjs ready for bed. One night I was about 8 months pregnant with our second son and was rocking our oldest in our rocking chair. He pointed to my tummy and said, “No dis” annoyed that he was losing lap space, As a small child and not really understanding the big picture, he simply saw the inconvenience but didn’t realize what a new baby brother leastwise how great it would be. Like a child we need to lean not to our own understanding but acknowledge we have limited perspective and let our Heavenly Father direct our path. Heavenly Father knows the end from the beginning, sees the big picture and knows us better than we know ourselves.
When Elder Larkin was a kid he went to a family reunion and he was having fun terrorizing squirrels with his cousins when his mom made him go to a family meeting. He didn’t want to be there when his aunt pointed at him and said, “Todd. I’ve been doing family history and looking for Casper Yenter for 22 years and I’m going to die before I find him, so I need you to find him for me.” When Elder Larkin was young he would send letters to Germany trying to find information about Casper Yenter. When he was older he looked online. The search for Casper Yenter helped him make good decisions growing up. He would tell himself, if you do this bad thing, then God won’t help you find Casper Yenter. Recently he was doing family history one Sunday and he searched once again for Casper Yenter and found him. His parish records in Germany had been digitized and now his temple work could be done. After 42 years Casper Yenter was found, but it was the years of searching that helped save Elder Larkin. His aunt saw more in him then he saw in himself, almost as if she were telling him, “This is who you are, this is what you can do.”
2. A Child of the Covenant
I the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise, bind yourselves by this covenant
Our Father in Heaven takes covenants seriously and always keeps His word. Whereas, He has our eternal best-interest in mind, in contrast, the adversary will entice us with momentary pleasures and an apparent easy-way-out of the demands of covenant keeping. However, let’s not be fooled by his feigned forms of succor. He rewardeth us “no good thing”.
When we are faced with temptations, like Joseph in Egypt we can flee and can remind ourselves of the covenants we have made. In the words of, Jean Valjean in the musical Les Mis, “My soul belongs to God I know, I made that bargain long ago.”
Whereas the world is concerned with others think of us, God is in the business of building people. John Wooden said, “Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
I remember a coach saying, “Use what God gave you.” Meaning build on the features and abilities you already have. We can evaluate our circumstances, experiences and talents (even if they don’t seem like much) and consecrate them to God’s work.
Elder Uchdorf told a story- our meetinghouse a group of brethren was asked to move a grand piano from the chapel to the adjoining cultural hall, There were plenty of ideas, but not one could keep the piano balanced correctly. They repositioned the brethren by strength, height, and age over and over again—nothing worked.
As they stood around the piano, uncertain of what to do next, a man spoke up. He said, “Brethren, stand close together and lift where you stand.”
It seemed too simple. Nevertheless, each lifted where he stood, and the piano rose from the ground and moved into the cultural hall as if on its own power
No calling is beneath us. No person is beneath us. Every calling provides an opportunity to serve and to grow. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me.”
Years ago, I was visiting my parents. When church ended, I went to pick up my dad from the nursery where he was serving as a nursery worker. As we were walking out of the building, I told him we should use the closest exit. He asked “why” and I replied, “So we don't have to talk to people”. He replied by quoting Charles Dickens, “My business, my business, mankind was my business.”
Christ showed great courage. We are also expected to show great courage. He, the greatest of all, in agony pled, "Father, take this cup from me." Sometimes God asks us to do things we don’t want to do. We can remember JRR Tolkien’s words, “Courage is found in unlikely places and deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.” Maybe it’s a dreaded task of unclogging a toilet on our day to clean the church, or perhaps reading books to a child or simply holding the door open for someone.
The most lowly tasks in God’s kingdom when done with the intent to serve God become consecrated acts of love and gratitude to our Heavenly King.
We may feel we are weak and frankly, sometimes we are. The Lord told Joseph Smith “for this end have I raised you up, that I might show forth my wisdom through the weak things of the earth.” Yes, we are weak but he can use us. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can”. As President Monson counseled, “Be your best self.”
The Lord tells us “as you labor with all your might, it shall be made holy.” He isn’t so much concerned about capacity as much as He is effort.
“Most often it is the sacrifices we make to keep our covenants that sanctify us and make us holy” -Elder Christofferson quoting Sister
When the prophet Enoch was called, he wondered why and said, “I … am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech” The Lord replied, “Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good.
It’s as if the Lord were telling him,“No this is who you are and this is what you can do.”
Moroni said, I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words. And the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness; And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
How does seeing ourselves as covenant keepers change what we do? We take upon ourselves the commission to “Go save my people”. We say through our actions, “Here I am, send me”.
We will sin and we will make mistakes.
Elder Christopherson said, a man of integrity will honestly face and correct his mistakes, and that is an example we can respect.
We can repent relentlessly and believe the Lord when he tells us, “I am able to make you holy.”
Elder Soares once said, before I go to bed and pray every night, I ask myself, "Would the Lord be pleased?" If not, I need to make necessary changes. This is an example we can emulate.
Ours is one of the few churches that define wards and stakes by boundaries. Like families, we may have the unreliable sister, the overly competitive brother, etc. In our efforts to be a Zion people, we can deal with the foibles and flaws of ward members with mercy. Simply being a member and especially accepting callings often makes us vulnerable and displays our inadequacies. Let’s follow the example of our Savior (Jehovah of The Old Testament) kneeling in the dirt writing, “he who is without sin, let him cast the first stone”.
3rd We are Disciples of Jesus Christ
President Eyring prophesied, Even an unbelieving world will recognize The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and realize the power of God upon it. Faithful and brave disciples will fearlessly, humbly, and openly take upon them the name of Christ in their everyday lives. Faith in Jesus Christ is a principle of action and of power.
My dad served a mission in Germany and had two amazing mentors who had served as mission companions in East Germany right after WWII.
One had wanted to join the church prior to WWII, his father refused to give him permission to be baptized. Didn’t want to kill anyone so volunteered to be a medic (dangerous because of red cross bullseye target on helmet and going right into heat of battle. young men in his town were conscripted into the army. Eastern Front against Russsia. Came home a few years later. Asked again for Dad’s permission. Of the 173 men who left for war, there are 33 of us left. I may not come back alive and if I’m going to die, I want to die a Mormon. The other of the two companions was my dad’s mission president. He lost everything in WWII except his testimony of the gospel, he would ride 30 mile bike ride to get to church, To exemplify the kind of faith he had, rather than pay tithing normally during these difficult time, As my dad worded is, “That’s just the kind of faith he had.” One of the two mission companions was arrested by the stasi, he fell to my knees, let me not say thing to harm thy church.10 months imprisoned for political prisoners not knowing why but through fasting and prayer from the members and first presidency and by miracles, was able to be liberated. Their Moto was, “With God, all things are possible.” With great unwavering faith, they helped keep the church alive in east Germany.
The price of liberty is the most perfect life that ever lived. “Oh death, where is thy sting, oh grave, where is thy victory.”
A college professor asked, “when people see you, do they see Jesus the Christ? Have you become such a representative disciple of Christ that when you are present the Spirit of Christ is there? These questions awaken all disciples to the fact that we must consider the essence of our existence; we are here to become like Christ.”
For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. He’s saying, “This is who I am. This is what I do.”
