HUMILITY 2

 

My Teacher by Chris Brazelton

When Moses went up to Mount Sinai for the second time with new plates the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there and proclaimed His name:

“And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin….” (Exodus 34:4-7)

There is real significance in this. When God restores or renews covenants, He reveals himself by confirming His impeccable character so His people can know Him, trust Him and follow Him. In other words, He is saying, this is who I am, who you are covenanting with. It is meant to build faith in people and invite them back into a real relationship with Him. In this instance, Israel had broken the covenant by worshipping the golden calf.

The Gospel of John records Christ’s proclamations of who He is which identifies Him as the Saviour of all mankind. These proclamations are known as the “7 I AMs:

·         I am the bread of life (6:31,51)

·         I am the light of the world (8:12)

·         I am the door of the sheep (10:7,9)

·         I am the good shepherd (10:11,14)

·         I am the resurrection and life (11:25)

·         I am the way, the truth and the life (14:6)

·         I am the true vine (15:1,5)

I have often been amazed at the confidence with which Jesus proclaimed Himself as the Messiah. The Jews expected Him to come in the clouds of glory, not through the stench of a stable. Judging Him to be a mere mortal led some to say that He was mad because of these proclamations (John 10:20) and some that he was possessed of a devil (John 8:48; 8:52; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15). But imagine if He didn’t openly proclaim what He was like and what He had to offer as the Saviour of the world. Who would have had faith in Him if He held back and denied His attributes and characteristics and His role in the human experience? How blind the people of Jesus’s time were not to see that His confidence was grounded in humility and not pride.

Sometimes we are reluctant to vocalise our good qualities for fear that people will consider us prideful. Martin Luther said: “True humility does not know that it is humble. If it did, it would be proud from the contemplation of so fine a virtue.” I do not completely agree with this statement.  We are told that humility is the mother of virtues and rightly so but I wonder if we know how to properly appreciate it for our benefit.

There is one person we should affirm our humility to and that is ourselves. There would have to be a day when our trials and obedience have humbled us enough to be able to say to ourselves: I am humble enough to be corrected, I am humble enough to admit I am wrong, I am humble enough to be teachable, I am humble enough to be chastised, I am humble enough to receive instruction, to be taught, to receive help, to apologise, to correct a wrong, to make restitution when I have caused damage. I love a person who can say, “when I’m wrong, I’m wrong”….We should be able to acknowledge humility within us when it is for our benefit and the benefit of our fellowman.

The Book of Mormon tells us that humility before God will grant us these four things (Mosiah 4:12-13):

·         We will be filled with the love of God;

·         We will grow in knowledge of Him’

·         We will retain a remission of our sins;

·         We will love our fellowman

We want this, don’t we? So the commitment should be: I choose to be humble enough to believe in a higher power than myself, to be taught about Him, to obey Him, to amend my ways and recognize I am no better than my fellowman. That’s humility – minimizing self-importance and finding a healthy place for it on your priority list.

One man in the scriptures who knew full well who he was, what he became and by what power he got there was Paul who said: “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am…..” (1 Corinthians 15:9,10). In other words, I was wrong, I was humble enough to repent and accept salvation from Him who saved me from the jaws of hell. That’s humility. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE INFALLIBLE BOOK OF MORMON

 

I am often amazed at the critics of The Book of Mormon, especially those who claim they have read it and do not believe it. I do not understand how anyone who has read such a spiritually charged book could disclaim it. The only explanation I can come up with is this: “….when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men” (2 Nephi 33:1). Notice how Nephi says the Holy Ghost carries the truth UNTO people’s hearts and not INTO. The message can only ever penetrate the heart of the hearer if the hearer allows it. And because of this “….there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught” (v 2). In other words, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. (See also "Seek Learning by Faith by Elder David A. Bednar, Ensign Sept 2007, 61-68).

If you have ever had suspicions that an uneducated man such as Joseph Smith, or anyone else,  could have written “the full-blown history of an ancient people, following them through all the trials, triumphs, and vicissitudes of a thousand years without a break, telling how a civilization originated, rose to momentary greatness, and passed away, giving due attention to every phase of civilized history in a densely compact and rapidly moving story that interweaves dozens of plots with an inexhaustible fertility of invention and an uncanny consistency that is never caught in a slip or contradiction” (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.7, Ch.6, pp.137, 138), I offer the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland for consideration:

"[I only] say what so many have said before: that if Joseph Smith–or anyone else, for that matter–created the Book of Mormon, that to me is a far greater miracle than the proposition that he translated the book from ancient records with an endowment of divine power to do so. Has anyone here ever tried to write anything? Have you ever, with your degrees and libraries and computers and research assistants, ever tried to write anything anyone could stand to read? Even if you have, my guess is you haven’t succeeded at writing anything anyone would read more than once, or say it changed their lives, or say that were willing to leave family and fortune and future for–and then do it.

You thought it was tough to have your dissertation committee grill you for a couple of hours? How about tossing your piece of work to the most hostile–and learned–of enemies for, say, 164 years (just to pull a number out of the air). Go ahead. Put that terrific master’s thesis of yours out there under a microscope for everyone to kick and gouge and attack for a century or two, and let’s see how marvelous that university-produced accomplishment of yours really was. After a little of that, are you still standing by the divinity and immortality of your work? Is anybody still reading it?

In light of all this, as it applies to the Book of Mormon which is still changing human lives and still moving moral mountains, and as one who has tried to write a line or two of both poetry and prose and failed miserably, I want to meet the author of this work whoever it is. I want to praise first hand such a remarkably gifted writer. Surely in 164 years there must be someone willing to step forward– you know, the “real” author–claiming credit for such a remarkable document and all that has transpired in its wake…..Well, the simple fact of the matter is no other origin for the Book of Mormon has ever come to light because there isn’t one. A bad man could not have fabricated such an inspiring book and a good man would not have done so" (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, CES Symposium, BYU Marriott Center, 9 August 1994).

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Mormon Abridging the Plates by Jon McNaughton)

THE DIVINE HOUSE OF ISRAEL - A FAVOURED PEOPLE

 

As I finished studying 3 Nephi this morning I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my believing heart. I have read the final chapter of this book many times before but not until today did I feel my heart swell with thankfulness for my ability to believe. 

 

Mormon ended this book with a clear view of our day when the Gentiles would disbelieve and even ‘spurn’ and ‘hiss’ at the Lord’s doing in bringing about the Book of Mormon and the restoration of His Church (3 Nephi 29:4,8). These are very strong yet adequately descriptive words of exactly what is happening in our day. To ‘spurn’ means to reject with disdain and to ‘hiss’ means to express contempt. I have had comments in this Group by non-members doing exactly this under the pretext of helping me ‘find my way back to God’. What is more disturbing for me is knowing Church members who have fallen away and are ‘spurning’ and ‘hissing’….

 

Mormon also ended 3 Nephi admonishing the Gentiles to come unto Christ and be numbered with His favoured people, the House of Israel (3 N 30:2).  Words cannot express to you my love for this special group of believers who have a divine destiny. Political correctness of today would accuse us of being elitists by saying we are favoured of God, but we are. To understand the scriptures is to know this. The Saviour so loved the House of Israel that He called it ‘the apple of His eye’ (Deuteronomy 32:9,10; Zechariah 2:8; Psalm 17:8). He went so far as to say that Israel is favoured above all nations of the earth (Deuteronomy 7:6); that He would sacrifice all  others for Israel;  and gather them from the ends of the earth (Isaiah 43:1-7). I testify that WE are the treasure at the center of His heart because He ‘loveth those who would have Him be their God’ (1 N 17:40)

 

My fellow Israelites, you are cherished, you are loved, you are special, you reside in the deepest caverns of His heart….you are His people…..

 

Thy love for Thy people is beyond compare,

Thy mercy affixed forever more.

Thy power delivered us and 

Thy loving kindness has gathered us;

We are restored to our rightful place

A servant in Thy might,

We are Israel, children of light.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

Art: Joy by Youngsung Kim

 

 

 

THE GENTLE SOWER

When gospel truth is gently sown

in my unlearned heart,

I hope it finds no hardened crust

on wayside paths apart.

Nor even drops on softer spot

with hardness just below,

Where faithless, poorly rooted sprouts

are doomed to never grow.

I pray it shall not fall in dirt

where thorns have made their bed.

Where choking plants, 'mid worldly cares',

grow fruitless, nearly dead.

But let that seed find fertile soil

in deep and clean abode,

And drawing life, yield true and full

to Him who gently sowed.

-  Anonymous

"Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold." (Matt 13:3-8)

Matthew tells us that Jesus spoke many things to His hearers in parables (Matt 13:3). When His disciples asked Him why, among the reasons He had given them, was one that shows the compassionate nature of the Gentle Sower. The reason for delivering His message of gospel hope and peace was not so that only the spiritually literate would understand but also to show mercy to those who were not so: 'Had He always taught in explicit declaration, such as required no interpretation, many among His hearers would have come under condemnation, inasmuch as they were too weak in faith and unprepared in heart....to accept and obey the saving word' (James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p 295-298). Thus the Lord gave to His hearers that portion of His word and His teachings which they were prepared spiritually to receive without condemnation for the rest. 

With those of us who are hearers of the word and who have received the seed rests the responsibility to nourish the soil of our hearts and nurture that seed lest it be choked and overcome by the influence of the weeds and thistles that chance to also take root there for it is not enough to just receive Christ's teachings but we must also be valiant in the testimony of Jesus. It behooves us not to allow the cares of the world to choke the word within us lest we be overcome by tares which will at the last day be discarded. The tares which are spoken of in Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares is the weed called 'bearded darnel' which is very similar in appearance to wheat with the roots of the two often intertwined. The darnel 'is easily distinguishable from the wheat and barley when headed out but when both are less developed, the closest scrutiny will often fail to detect it' (James E Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p. 301). For this reason even the farmers do not attempt to separate the one from the other whilst it is developing.

"Now we learn by this parable (the wheat and the tares) not only the setting up of the Kingdom in the days of the Saviour, which is represented by the good seed, which produced fruit, but also the corruptions of the Church, which are represented by the tares, which were sown by the enemy, which His disciples would fain have plucked up, or cleansed the Church of, if their views had been favoured by the Saviour. But He, knowing all things, says, Not So. As much as to say, your views are not correct, the Church is in its infancy, and if you take this rash step, you will destory the wheat, or the Church, with the tares; therefore it is better to let them grow together until the harvest, or the end of the world, which means the destruction of the wicked...." (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp 97-98)

"....blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear" (Matt 13:16)

When the Saviour visited the Nephites following His resurrection, the wicked and the ungodly among them had been destroyed leaving only those who were willing to hear and receive the word of truth. To the unbelieving Jews, Jesus taught in excess of 40 parables and to the receptive Nephites he taught none, teaching them instead in simplicity and plainness (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp 553-54). Receiving the seed into the soil of our hearts is only the beginning for those willing to believe. Through the parables lies an open invitation to come unto Christ, to learn more of Him and His doctrine, to ponder the truths which will lead to salvation and eternal life. "They teach arithmetic to those who have the capacity to learn calculus in due course. They are the mild milk of the word that prepares our spiritual digestive processes to feast upon the doctrinal meat of the kingdom....for no parable, no teaching, no mystery, no hidden thing, is to be kept from the knowledge of the faithful; eventually all things shall be revealed, and the righteous shall know them" (McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, p. 245-246).

Jesus came to preach the gospel to those who would accept Him and to bear the sins of all those who would believe His words and live His laws. He came to bring good tidings of salvation, to disperse the darkness of unbelief and to bring light to the world. He came to give every man as much of the truth as each man's soul would permit him to receive but most of all He came to gather His own. He was the ultimate sower who sowed the seeds of truth in the souls of His sheep (Matt 13:37). To become golden grain of God we must act on the word which has taken root in our soil. We must be doers of the word and not hearers only. To be golden grain when the harvest comes, our works must reflect the teachings of the Lord of the Harvest for 'no man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light' (Luke 8:16).

True hearers are a light to the world bringing forth good fruit from the seed which was sowed. True hearers of the word are the labourers in His vineyard who bring light and compassion to the inhabitants of the world, who sow seeds of love and exemplify the Gentle Sower in their doings and who are valiant in their testimony of Jesus in all things and in all places.  The following story related by President James E. Faust is useful in helping us understand the difference between studying the parables of Jesus and applying them in our lives: "A group of religion instructors were taking a summer course of the life of the Saviour and focusing particularly on the parables.When the final exam came the students arrived at the classroom to find a note that the exam would be given in another building across campus. Moreover, the note said, it must be finished within the two-hour time period that was starting almost at that moment. The students hurried across campus. On the way, they passed a little girl crying over a flat tire on her new bike. And old man hobbled painfully toward the library with a cane in one hand, spilling books from a stack he was trying to manage with the other. On a bench by the union building sat a shabbily dressed, bearded man [in obvious distress]. Rushing into the other classroom, the students were met by the professor, who announced that they had all flunked the final exam. The only test of whether they understood the Savior’s life and teaching, he said, was how they treated people in need. Their weeks of study at the feet of a capable professor had taught them a great deal of what Christ had said and done. In their haste to finish the technicalities of the course, however, they failed to recognize the application represented by the three scenes that had been deliberately staged. They had learned the letter but not the spirit. (Cited by President James E. Faust, Ensign, May 1998, p.18, from Church News, 1 October 1988, p. 16)  As with all the teachings of the Savior, the really worthwhile results come not from hearing but from doing (Ted L. Gibbons, NT Lesson 11, He Spake Many Things Unto Them In Parables)"

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, 

I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock ..."

Matthew 7:24