I have very
fond memories of my childhood in Croatia. I spent every school holiday with my
relatives in the village from which we came. Because of it I am very familiar
with the agrarian way of life. I know what shepherds are. I have witnessed
harvests, attended yearly village festivals, journeyed in open wagons. It makes
the New and Old Testament very relatable. My patriarchal blessing says I have a
rich heritage. Indeed.
When I read
the Saviour saying to his disciples, “…..look on the fields, for they are white
already to harvest”, I recall running my hand through the heavy ripe heads of
wheat shining like gold in the sun (John 4:35). I love that the Saviour
compared those who are ready to receive the truth to ripe wheat. And I love the
imagery of the harvest. It appeals to my
understanding.
The harvest
began well and truly in our dispensation with Joseph and the restoration of the
Church. The results of the missionary labours in 1800s were astounding. People
truly were like ripe golden wheat:
“In the
early days of the Restoration, thousands were prepared to receive the gospel.
So many came into the Church that the enemies of the work were frightened. It
was not one of a city or two of a family who joined; whole congregations united
themselves with the work. Wilford Woodruff alone baptized over two thousand
converts in less than a year’s ministry in Great Britain.” (Doctrine and
Covenants Student Manual commentary for D&C 4:4, p 12)
In Section
4 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Saviour used the imagery of the sickle for
harvesting. This too evokes memories. I remember my grandfather cutting down
the wheat with a sickle. Sometimes he would use a small sickle with a short
handle and a curved blade. He would cut with one hand and hold the stalks with
the other.
At other
times he would use a large sickle with a long handle and cut through the field while
my grandmother would walk behind him and gather the stalks that fell. It was
arduous work. The trick in how fast this could be done lay in the sharpness of
the sickle. If the blade was sharp it would cut through the wheat like butter
and the work was quicker.
Elder Kevin
R. Duncan of the Seventy spoke of the importance of a sharp sickle and how it
relates to our preparedness to be profitable servants of God. He pointed out
that our spiritual sickles need to be kept sharpened in order to produce a
worthy harvest. The qualities needed to qualify for the work are in D&C
4:5,6 (Abandoned Seeds in Rocky
Places, New Era, July 2014, 18).
Regarding
chapter 4 of Doctrine and Covenants, President Joseph Fielding Smith remarked: “Perhaps there is no other revelation in all
our scriptures that embodies greater instruction pertaining to the manner of
qualification of members of the Church for the service of God, and in such
condensed form than this revelation. It is as broad, as high and as deep as
eternity” (Church History and Modern Revelation [1953], 1:35)
I consider
Joseph’s take on service superior to all the rest. While a prisoner in Liberty jail,
he wrote to the Church members. Despite the iron yoke of hell, he told the
saints that they still owed ‘an imperative duty to all the rising generation
and to all the pure in heart….for there are many yet on the earth who are kept
from the truth because they know not where to find it….’ Joseph admonished that ‘we should waste and
wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness’ and
give the world the truth.
This is being
like Christ. This is following in the footsteps of Him who indeed wore himself
out in bringing truth to the world, forgiveness to the sinful, love for the
righteous and joy un-surpassing for those who endure to the end. Didn’t He
descend to the bottomless pit of human suffering for me and you, for the
ungrateful, for the unaccepting and indeed for all creation???
He will
come and He will make up His jewels from among the righteous and spare them, ‘as
a man spareth his own son that serveth him’
(Malachi 3:17)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Reaping the Harvest by Nathan Greene)
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