To understand this week’s lessons we need to look at leadership, judgment, and blessings in the Lord’s way.
Leadership the Lord’s way
We are all products of our society. And our society tells us over and over again that the people who are of greatest worth (to society) are those placed at the head of something, and that we are all supposed to want to be worthy of such positions. Fortunately, this isn’t how the Lord views a person’s worth. I have talked before about how the Lord views our assignments. Remember section ?? where the Lord tells Joseph Smith about a conversation He had with Peter about John the Beloved’s calling? He told Peter that John had desires to do a greater work than what he was currently doing, so even Peter, the chief Apostle, would become a servant to John so John could fulfill his new work beyond his apostleship. There was no condemnation, no comparisons made, no indication that one person was better or more accepted by God than the other. Both men were fulfilling their assigned tasks from God, and both were having the desires of their hearts fulfilled. That is all God cared about.
Once, when I caught myself thinking in worldly ways about callings in God’s kingdom, I thought about all the good men and women who fill the leadership roles in the Church. Where did they come from? When a need arose for a new Relief Society General President or for a new Apostle, did God just suddenly make a person to fill that role? Of course not. There are people currently in the Lord’s church all over the world who are ready and worthy to step into these important roles if God calls them to do the work. For the most part they are unsung heroes who just do God’s work in whatever calling He has currently placed them in. When the call comes from Salt Lake they are spiritually prepared to accept the calling and go to work in their new assignment. And when they are released they return home and pick up where they left off. Such is the nature of leadership in the Lord’s kingdom.
It is the worldly way to honor and venerate those we know who are or who have been in a high calling in the church. But even those who have served in those positions are called to serve in the Primary or in the Young Men’s classes. It is the nature of God’s kingdom for everyone to be lovers of goodness, no matter what calling or position we hold. Everyone moves in and out of callings at various levels, but we all need to be doing good in whatever way we can for our life’s situation. Those with growing children are naturally more restricted in some respects than are those whose children are grown and gone from the house. And those who are young are hampered by lack of experience, while those who are older are often hampered by physical limitations brought on by their age. Our desires may be roughly the same, but our physical circumstances so often determine where and how we can serve. God is pleased with our desires, not by what we are physically able to do. We are judged by our desires.
After thinking about all these people God has been preparing to serve at some time in the future, it occurred to me that none of them had any clue big callings were going to come their way. They were just serving and living their life to the best of their ability. This is all God asks of any of us. We are all expected to do our best where we are currently serving. That is the universal standard.
Likening the scriptures unto ourselves
The manual makes the point that the scriptures are pretty much universal in their application. The verse in question may name a particular person who is being called to a specific job in the kingdom, but the principles outlined by God apply to all of God’s children, not just that person. No one is held to a special standard. All of us are given the same set of commandments and the same set of expectations to live those commandments. The specific calling we currently have has little to do with those expectations.
I would like to talk about Doctrine and Covenants 81:3-6 for a moment.
3 Therefore, verily I acknowledge him and will bless him, and also thee, inasmuch as thou art faithful in counsel, in the office which I have appointed unto you, in prayer always, vocally and in thy heart, in public and in private, also in thy in proclaiming the gospel in the of the living, and among thy brethren.
Frederick G. Williams was called to assist the prophet in his calling in the First Presidency of the Church. The prophet needed help because of the weight of his calling. The Lord works through presidencies in this dispensation. That is how He has chosen to support His leaders. Does that make the leader’s counselors any less of a leader than the person who has been put in the head leadership role? Of course not. In verse three the Lord tells Bro. Williams that his calling is to be faithful in his counsel to the prophet. He is to be faithful to that position in prayers, vocally, privately, publicly, and in his personal ministry in proclaiming the gospel to the world. By being a support to the Lord’s mouthpiece on earth he would (verse 4) do the greatest good to others, and would promote the glory of God.
Again, no comparisons, no favoritism, just a description of what would bring about the greatest good for both himself and for those around him.
4 And in doing these things thou wilt do the greatest unto thy fellow beings, and wilt promote the of him who is your Lord.
I have often stopped and thought about comments like verse 4 where the Lord talks about His own glory being promoted. The world would automatically assume God is talking about self promotion in a vain kind of way. But God is not vain, so what is He talking about? Glory in the eternities is not taken or made by the person wanting it. Glory is given through a duplication by someone else of the person’s personal goodness. It is achieved by the esteem and love given that person by others. When we do good, as we have seen and comprehend God’s goodness, we are giving Him glory, for we are duplicating His way of living, His lifestyle, His personal goodness. We are showing Him honor by trying to live like Him. This is why Jesus says “Come, follow me.” He is inviting us to learn to live like Him and be like Him. By living like Jesus we give him glory, and he, in turn, glorifies us by honoring us.
5 Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; the , lift up the hands which hang down, and the knees.
Verse 5 is a statement to every member of the Church. When we stand faithfully in the office in which God has called us, and we succor or assist the weak, lift up the hands that hang down, and strengthen those with feeble knees, we are doing all that God asks of any of His children. We just need to figure out what it means to do those things, so we can confidently go and do them.
6 And if thou art unto the end thou shalt have a of , and eternal life in the which I have prepared in the house of my Father.
Note that God does not say that only certain people can have “a crown of immortality, and eternal life in the mansions which I have prepared in the house of my Father.” Frederick G. Williams wasn’t the original person to receive this revelation. Only when Jesse Gause fell from grace and was excommunicated from the Church was Bro. Williams called to fill the same calling. The requirements were the same, and the blessings the same. What God requires of one, He requires of all. Remember? No favorites, no respector of persons. All of us can have that crown of immortality and eternal life. We just need to fulfill the requirements listed in verse 5.
Judgment the Lord’s way
We’re back to universal standards. Those without the laws of God cannot be judged by those laws. That would not be just. Mercy claims those who have not been taught. But those who have some of God’s laws taught to them are expected to live by what laws they have. If they have only a little then they are judged by just what they have been taught. This is why the Lord says plainly that where much is given much is required. We happen to have the fulness of God’s gospel. We have been taught the whole gospel, and as such are going to be held accountable for all of it in the day of judgment. It is not an option for us to say that we prefer not knowing, so we can be judged on a lesser knowledge.
God decided who should and should not be blessed in mortality with the fulness of His gospel, just like He decided where we would be born, when, and how much influence we would be given in this life. There is so much we don’t know about how such decisions were made in the premortal life. For now we just need to take it on faith that we knew we were going to receive the greater knowledge before we came here and were good with that knowledge. Regretting knowing what we know now is truly fulfilling the old saying that there isn’t any use in crying over spilt milk. What is done is done. At this point we just need to move forward the best we can.
I think it is important to say here that those who stand to receive the greatest blessings are those who are given the greatest knowledge. Yes, the expectations are far greater than for those who have been given less to begin with, but the eternal blessings are also far greater for those who are taught and then live all of God’s laws. It is a privilege to have such knowledge, for it enables us to begin to progress and grow sooner and in big ways. In the heavens knowledge and expectation are always paired and considered together.
All throughout the Book of Mormon we are told that the descendants of Laman and Lemuel sinned in ignorance, because they were not taught any better. Because of their ignorance the Lord promised to have mercy on their descendants and that He would hold their parents accountable for their sins, for their parents had been taught better and had rebelled.
On the other hand, the Nephites were constantly told that the Lord had blessed them with so many things that their disobedience was deliberate, for they knew better. Therefore the Lord would hold them accountable for their behavior and would destroy them when they became fully ripe in iniquity. We are taught the same thing of ancient Israel who had all the covenants. That is why they were conquered and scattered throughout the earth.
Blessings the Lord’s way
We often think of the Lord’s way of showing us His good pleasure with us is to give us specific blessings, like a raise, health, or some other visible thing. God’s definition of His love for us comes in the form of commandments. Here is Doctrine and Covenants 59:3-4.
3 Yea, blessed are they whose feet stand upon the land of Zion, who have obeyed my gospel; for they shall receive for their reward the good things of the earth, and it shall bring forth in its .
4 And they shall also be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with not a few, and with in their time—they that are and before me.
For those who think that commandments are a punishment, verse 4 must be truly daunting. To receive “commandments not a few” is not a punishment, but a reward. By giving us a commandment God tells us exactly what we need to do in order to receive the blessings of happiness. This is why I refer to commandments as the laws of happiness. Only by living the commandments can we achieve the lifestyle of happiness that celestial people all enjoy. This lifestyle is counterintuitive to anything we know about in mortality.
God says give and you will be given more than you gave. The world says there is only so much, so take and keep all you can or someone else might get it instead. The Lord says forgive to be forgiven. The world says get vengeance at all costs. The list is long and varied, but everything the Lord teaches is the opposite to what the world teaches. I don’t think there is any overlap anywhere. Satan has taken anything and everything that God’s life represents and has twisted it and perverted it until it is unrecognizable.
It is Satan who teaches us that repentance is a punishment, that forgiveness is not possible, that love is reserved for only those who are special in some way. The Lord wants us all to share in His unbounded love and blessings, while the world tells us that only those with money and/or power have the right to feel good about themselves.
The Lord wants to share with us the knowledge of the eternities. He desires for us to put our faith in Him so we can learn of our personal potential, and experience for ourselves the joys of living like He does. The world would give us so many mixed messages that we are left hopeless, because we can’t figure out what truth is.
Final Thoughts
All the messages from the world in this life are lacking the full truth. Many of the things we are taught are devoid of any truth or only have a kernel of truth about them. Everything that God teaches us is the absolute truth. We may not understand all the ways those truths work, or even how to implement those truths in our life, but that is why we have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost. God does actually want us to understand His ways. He is anxious beyond our ability to comprehend that we come to discover for ourselves how joyous His way of living is.
Doctrine and Covenants 81:5 tells us what all of us need to learn in order to understand what it means to be a celestial person.
5 Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; the , lift up the hands which hang down, and the knees.
This simple verse is where we need to put our time and attention. It is all important that we come to understand what it means to “succor the weak” to “lift up the hands which hang down” and to “strengthen the feeble knees.” These aren’t just platitudes – old over-used phrases. These are eternal truths by which God, Himself lives every day of his eternal life. If we want to be like Him and share in His happiness, we too must learn what these phrases mean and how to live by them.
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