Given
Saturday, Sept 23, 2003
Adult
Session of Stake Conference
Consecration
As I was
studying and preparing my talk for tonight, I came across a talk by Neal A
Maxwell. He begins his talk with these
words, “These remarks are addressed to the imperfect but still striving in the
household of faith. As always, my immediate audience is myself.”1
I echo those
same thoughts. I have learned much as I
have studied about Consecration. My main
intent is to teach myself what I have learned.
You are welcome to listen in!
We are a
covenant people. Covenants are central
to our journey to become more like our Savior.
One thing that has become clearer to me is the purpose of our life here
on earth. I have been taught my whole
life that our ultimate goal is to return to live with our Heavenly Father and
his Son. It has felt to me a bit like a
treasure hunt. That we get little clues
in our life that lead us to the next clue and then at the end, if we do
everything right, we end up in the Celestial Kingdom. In later years, I have decided that it is not
a place we are searching for but rather a state of being that we are striving
to become. No unclean thing can dwell
with God.2 If we become as
much like our Savior as possible then we will be able to reside in his
presence. In my mind that has made a big
difference. I have started to focus more
on becoming someone different rather than just marking off the boxes of
expectations.
Temple
covenants help us do just that. There is
more than just checking off the box of regular temple attendance. Concentrating on the covenants we have made
will guide us to becoming better people.
In relation to our covenant to live the law of consecration, Boyd K
Packer taught, “We covenant with the Lord to devote our time, talents, and
means to His kingdom. We covenant to
give of our resources in time and money and talent—all we are and all we
possess—to the interest of the kingdom of God upon the earth.”3
In my
previous mindset, I wanted to make a list of the things I was supposed to do to
obey this covenant. First was
tithing. That was pretty easy to define. Then we can add other donations such as Fast
Offerings. This is a little harder. We have been asked to give a generous fast
offering. What would I define as
generous? Then there is time and
talents. Ok, how much time would fulfill
this obligation? Do I need to give 2
hours a week? Maybe 5 hours a week, or
maybe more to the kingdom of God. What
does that include? Attending church,
serving in my calling, ministering, attending other ward and stake
activities?
But
consecration is not a list of actions.
In the words of Neal A. Maxwell.
“We tend to think of consecration only as yielding up, when divinely
directed, our material possessions. But ultimate consecration is the yielding
up of oneself to God. Heart, soul, and mind were the encompassing words of
Christ in describing the first commandment.
If kept, then our performances will, in turn, be fully consecrated for
the lasting welfare of our souls.”4
Elder
Maxwell goes on to give these encouraging words to those of us that can feel
that consecration is overwhelming and daunting.
“Spiritual submissiveness is not accomplished in an instant, but by the
incremental improvements and by the successive use of stepping-stones.
Stepping-stones are meant to be taken one at a time anyway. Eventually our
wills can be “swallowed up in the will of the Father” as we are “willing to
submit … even as a child doth submit to his father”5
As you have
listened tonight and tomorrow morning. And
then as you listen next weekend when we will hear from the prophets and
apostles and those that lead this church, listen as the spirit teaches you what
those incremental improvements are in your life. You will receive revelation to know what your
next stepping-stone should be.
It is
instructive, if not a little dramatic, to read in Acts 5 about Ananias and
Saphira.
1 But a
certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
2 And kept
back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain
part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3 But Peter
said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and
to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it
remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own
power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied
unto men, but unto God.
5 And
Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear
came on all them that heard these things.
6 And the
young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
7 And it was
about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done,
came in.
8 And Peter
answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said,
Yea, for so much.
9 Then Peter
said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of
the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the
door, and shall carry thee out.
10 Then fell
she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men
came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her
husband.
11 And great
fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.6
We have
covenanted to consecrate our time, our talents, and everything the Lord has
blessed us with. We are all a little
guilty of keeping back part of the price.
That last little bit is always the hardest to yield to the Lord. As we seek personal revelation, we will
discover those things that we cling to. Perhaps
it is a favorite bad habit that we somehow believe defines our individuality. Perhaps preoccupation with “other Gods” such
as sports, hobbies, our vocation, or maybe even family. All these are very good things and deserve
our attention but if we are to pay the full price for consecration, they cannot
diminish our devotion to the first great commandment, to love the Lord with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.7
Maybe you
already know what the next stepping-stone is.
Like me, maybe you lack the courage to take that step. That step will take us out of our comfort
zone. It is a scary thought. It will require that we truly believe that God’s
grace is sufficient for you.8
It will require that we truly believe that He is capable of making weak
things become strong.9 Are we
ready to submit to that process or are we still holding back? I learned in preparing for today that I am
still holding back in certain ways.
Being comfortable is very important to me. I don’t like uncertainty. I always want to know the end from the
beginning. Therefore, the Lord has
placed me in many situations in life where I have had to function despite
uncertainty. It always turns out
well. So why do I sometimes feel I am a
bit like Laman and Lemuel who experienced numerous miracles in their life, yet
still doubted every time a new challenge arose?
I began to
think to myself, what is it that I can learn from others who I feel have
allowed their will to be swallowed up in the will of the Father?
My great-great-grandmother
Marna Anderdotter was born in Malmo, Sweden in 1839. She was the youngest of 9 children. Her parents were weaving merchants and quite
well-to-do according to the standards of the day. Most children had to leave home to apprentice
somewhere to earn money for the family.
However, Marna’s parents were able to provide work for her spinning and
carding wool for the family business.
Marna was 11 years old when she began working.
Marna’s
oldest sister, Ingeborg, was married and lived about 7 miles from the family. In about 1857, Ingeborg met the LDS
missionaries in Sweden and was baptized.
A couple of years later, when Marna was about 20 years old, she went to
stay with her sister for a time. During
that visit she was taught the Gospel and was baptized in the Baltic Sea on
March 11, 1861. Marna returned home and
said nothing to her mother. (Her father
had died two years previously). She went
straight to work on her spinning wheel, but her mother could sense something
was different. She approached Marna and
asked if she had joined that despised religion, the Mormons. Marna’s mother was horrified and told her
that she must renounce the religion immediately or leave the house. Marna left her comfortable home with no
possessions and moved to live with her sister.
Unrelenting, her mother sent the Lutheran priests to her daughter’s home
to try and persuade them to leave that evil religion. They stayed true to the testimonies that they
had gained. About a year later, Ingeborg’s
family, along with Marna, emigrated to America and made their way across the
plains to join the Saints in Utah. Their
mother met them on the docks and made final pleading efforts to get them to
stay.
Marna
eventually married and had several children and lived a long but very
impoverished life. Much different than
she might have enjoyed in Sweden.
As I think
about this story, I am amazed at the courage that was shown by my
great-great-grandmother. She could have
tried to please both God and her family.
I think she could have quietly attended secret meetings with the
missionaries while trying to appease her mother. She could have studied on her own. She could have helped others in similar
situations in Sweden. She could have
done much good. But the call of the
prophet at that time was to come to Zion.
Marna and her sister worked long hours in a glove factory to raise
enough money to emigrate. But I can
still imagine all the uncertainty. Did
they have enough money to get all the way to Utah? Would they be able to get along without the
ability to speak English? How would they
find work once they arrived? It is
questions like this that keep me from fully aligning my will with the will of
my Father. But I am learning, and I am
striving. I am still taking small steps
along the stepping-stones. Opportunities
like this to study more about consecration have helped me to move a little
closer. To understand a little
more. To gain a little more courage. To keep making progress.
I am so
grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I
am grateful that He has made it possible for someone as weak as me to join him
in Heaven. I love the words of the hymn,
I Stand All Amazed.
I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.
I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.10
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
1. Maxwell, Neal A., “Consecrate Thy Performance”, April 2022, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2002/04/consecrate-thy-performance?lang=eng
2. 1 Nephi 10:21
3. Packer, Boyd K, Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/preparing-to-enter-the-holy-temple/preparing-to-enter-the-holy-temple?lang=eng
4. See #1
5. Ibid
6. Acts 5:1-11
7. Matthew 22:37
8. D&C 17:8
9. Ether 12:27
10. Hymns, #193, “I Stand All Amazed”
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