Taught by Jeanine M.
Elder Holland gives a
very encouraging talk for us to “be strong and live the gospel faithfully.” We loved the story he shared of the Sister
Missionaries attacked by mashed potatoes.
*Our ward sisters shared experiences when they had to stand up and defend
their faith as well. One was working in
a hospital when someone kept ranting about different beliefs ‘those Mormons’
had. Finally this sister said, “I’m a
Mormon and those are the things I believe and I really believe them”. Another sister firmly stood her ground when a
committee was considering a Mormon couple for a position of leadership. The discussion was more about their faith
than their qualifications. This sister
stopped the committee and kindly but boldly encouraged the discussion to be
about their skills and talents they could bring to the job.
There are
opportunities all around to be courageous and
stand in defense of our faith.
We
can do so with
“courage and courtesy.”
~Elder Holland~
Elder Holland said in the story about the harrased missionary, “To
this devoted missionary I say, dear child, you have in your own humble way
stepped into a circle of very distinguished women and men who have, as the Book
of Mormon prophet Jacob said, “view[ed Christ’s] death, and suffer[ed] his
cross and [borne] the shame of the world.”
Later he quotes the
scripture, “…thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent
unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matt. 23:37-38)
Hens are great
guardians for their chicks. They gather
them to keep them warm and if danger is near, they call for them, open their
wings and provide protection. Christ used this scripture several times to
chasten those he loves.
Where do we fit in
His circle of wings? Are we close to
Him? Do we hear his call and gather under His protection?
Drawing upon the
power of the Atonement, we can all feel close to our Savior as we search for
our purpose and seek to know what He would have us do. Becoming one with Christ
the Redeemer is what will make us a true disciple. Being a disciple of Christ requires action as
well as faith.
The end of the
scripture (Matt. 23:37-38) says, “Behold your house is left unto you desolate.”
We may wonder if the
effort to become a true disciple and take courageous moral stands is worth it. “Yes,
it is worth it, because the alternative is to have our “houses” left unto us
“desolate”—desolate individuals, desolate families, desolate neighborhoods, and
desolate nations.” (Elder Holland)
Can you be be ‘at
one’ with the Savior if you are not fully aligned with the prophets and
apostles?
Elder Holland refers
to King Noah who rejected the prophet Abinidi. This true disciple did not waver
in delivering the message he was sent to deliver. He responds to Noah, “Because I have told you
the truth ye are angry with me. … Because I have spoken the word of God ye have
judged me that I am mad”. Elder Holland
responds to those who might question our current prophet and apostles with, “we
might add, provincial, patriarchal, bigoted, unkind, narrow, outmoded, and
elderly.”
He goes on to say
that many in the world today want, “comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only
don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us
giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds.”
Even these same
individuals and groups invoke the name of Christ as one who accepts and loves
everyone and everything. Elder Holland
then asks, “Really? He who said not only should we not break commandments, but
we should not even think about breaking them. And if we do think about breaking
them, we have already broken them in our heart. Does that sound like
“comfortable” doctrine, easy on the ear and popular down at the village love-in?”
He defines the Love
that Jesus taught as that of obedience and keeping His commandments. Then he
states, “Jesus clearly understood what many in our modern culture seem to
forget: that there is a crucial difference between the commandment to forgive
sin (which He had an infinite capacity to do) and the warning against condoning
it (which He never ever did even once).”
I bear testimony that
we as sisters in the gospel need to know how the world thinks about current
social issues. Even if we don’t question
or struggle with them ourselves, our children and children’s children do and
will. So many of our youth pick and
choose what they like about the gospel, our church and what our prophets and
apostles teach. We need to know what the
doctrine is so that we can teach it and defend it. We are responsible for
future generations!
Neal A. Maxwell said,
“The disciple must not only stand in ‘holy places’ but on ‘holy issues’ and not
be moved.”
Becoming a true
disciple is a journey that takes time.
It requires effort, patience and constant maintenance.
This story is told by Phillip
Allred in Meridian Magazine.
“A group of young college
students were helping measure range damage after a wildfire raged across the
prairie outside their university town. As they walked over the expanse of
blackened earth, they noticed a cluster of small smoldering mounds. One of the
volunteers was particularly interested in the unidentifiable heaps and asked
one of the more experienced range managers what they were.
“This veteran of many range
fires replied that he had seen this phenomenon on a few occasions and suggested
that the young man turn over one of the piles. He did. To his great surprise
several sage grouse chicks ran out from under the upturned mound. He was
fascinated. How incredible, he thought, that these little chicks had known to
find and run underneath this mysterious shelter.
“The young man asked what the
mound was and how the chicks knew to take refuge there. To his amazement, he
was told that the smoldering heap was the remains of their mother. When there
is danger the mother hen instinctively calls out to her young ones and
stretches out her wings for them to run under and find protection in her
embrace. The young man was profoundly moved by this symbol of a mother’s innate
love and protection.”
The visual imagery of these
mother hens protecting their young chicks under their wings, even to their own
deaths, is so symbolic of the way that Christ gave His life to save each one of
us from death – both physical death and spiritual death.
In D&C 103:27-28, we read, “ Let
no man be afraid to lay down his life for my sake; for whoso layeth down his
life for my sake shall find it again. And whoso is not willing to lay down
his life for my sake is not my disciple.”
Wow! Do we have the faith
to be as Abinidi and many others who truly are in that inner circle of Disciples
of Christ? Could we be as the Hens and give our lives in defense of our faith?
Just as one of
those mother hens, Christ knows each one of us by name – we are that dear and
precious to Him. So precious, He willingly gave His life so that we may have
ours!
May we strive to make the day to day
decisions that will draw us closer to Him on our journey of true discipleship.
