Priesthood Responsibility

My husband's most recent sacrament meeting talk.

Cape Henry Ward ~ 8/26/2012

 

Good morning Brothers and Sisters,

For those of you that I haven’t met, my name is Dan White and I’ve been a member of the church for about a year and half…  I was baptized last January.  And I wanted to start off saying that because the topic of my talk today is the priesthood.

Specifically, talks by President Uchtdorf and Elder Bednar that were given during the Priesthood session of last April’s general conference.  Both talks are about priesthood service, but it certainly applies to all service within the church.  And in a nutshell, they are talks basically urging us to do what Heavenly Father is asking us to do.

And as odd as it may sound, the priesthood is something that not just stood out to me, but it was as obvious as a bright light when I was investigating the church. 

So, to back up a little bit, I could count on one hand the number of times I went to church, any church, before my 45^th birthday.  My parents raised my sister and me to be good people, and to treat people the way we want to be treated.  But church just wasn’t on their radar, so it wasn’t on mine.  But then I met my wife, and when we were dating she asked me to come to church with her.  And, to be honest, I had no intention of joining…  I was just coming to be here for her.  But it was very obvious to me right away that many of the people here were different.  I couldn’t really define it, but I could see it.  There is something special here.

A little side note:  Sometimes I wonder if people that grew up in the church realize how noticeable the difference can be because they’ve seen it all their life, but I hope not…  I still see it. 

Anyway, when I was assigned this talk, of course the first thing I did was go back to re-read the talks by Elder Bednar and President Uchtdorf, and I remembered them very well.  Probably because when I first heard them, I felt like they were directed at me personally.  And when I thought about, they actually were.

Elder Bednar told a story about his father, who went to church for a long while but at that point had not yet joined the church.  He said he asked his dad several times a week when he was going to get baptized, and each time his dad said “David, I am not going to join the Church for your mother, for you, or for anyone else. I will join the Church when I know it is the right thing to do.”

So I want to read Elder Bednar’s story because he tells it so well…  Here it is…  I believe I was in my early teenage years when the following conversation occurred with my father. We had just returned home from attending our Sunday meetings together, and I asked my dad when he was going to be baptized. He smiled and said, “You are the one always asking me about being baptized. Today I have a question for you.” I quickly and excitedly concluded that now we were making progress!

My dad continued, “David, your church teaches that the priesthood was taken from the earth anciently and has been restored by heavenly messengers to the Prophet Joseph Smith, right?” I replied that his statement was correct. Then he said, “Here is my question. Each week in priesthood meeting I listen to the bishop and the other priesthood leaders remind, beg, and plead with the men to do their home teaching and to perform their priesthood duties. If your church truly has the restored priesthood of God, why are so many of the men in your church no different about doing their religious duty than the men in my church?”

He said his young mind went blank and he had no adequate answer.

But, as Elder Bednar said, <And a note I want to reiterate is that> embedded in his father’s question was a correct assumption that men who bear God’s holy priesthood should be different from other men. 

And I didn’t know it at the time, but that ‘difference’ was what I was seeing when I first started coming to church.  And that’s what I continue to see.  And I know that that ‘difference’ should be one of my goals.

In 1 Peter 2:9, we read But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

“We are a peculiar people.”  We SHOULD be peculiar people.  We should be different.

3 Nephi 27:21 says “Ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do.”

While I was reading the talks, I clicked on the footnotes and references links in the talk, which took me to more talks from Priesthood sessions, which led to more talks…  And that continued for a while.  And I found that by going back through other General Conferences, specifically the Priesthood sessions, this has been a common theme.  Why?  Why is urging us to do what Heavenly Father is asking us to do a common theme in Conference after Conference?  In my opinion, that’s the same question Elder Bednar’s father asked.

President Monson wrote an article in the August Ensign entitled “The Savior’s Call to Serve”, and in it he says “May we ever remember that the mantle of membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not a cloak of comfort but rather a robe of responsibility.”  And President Monson reminds us of the words of President John Taylor, who was President of the church during the late 1800s…  He said QUOTE “If you do not magnify your callings, God will hold you responsible for those whom you might have saved had you done your duty.”  END QUOTE.  We have made a covenant, Brothers and Sisters. 

We have families suffering.  It’s not difficult to make the comparison of our inaction to having a medical emergency and yelling “Is there a doctor in the house?” and a Doctor stands up and says “Yes, I’m a doctor.” And then he just sits back down.  And we’re in the same category as the doctor that doesn’t help when we don’t do what Heavenly Father is asking us to do.

We have a great opportunity here…  To be a conduit for God’s blessings.  And these blessings require something simple on our part:  Action.

We have made a covenant to be obedient.  And simple obedience brings blessings.  I’ve seen it in my own life.  Obedience increases your sensitivity to the spirit. 

 

I want to tell a couple quick home teaching stories…  The first one is about a home teacher that was doing a pretty good job of getting his visits done.  He was making the effort.  But even though he and his home teaching companion were checking off the boxes, this particular priesthood holder was really questioning within himself if it was worth the effort.  It seemed most of his families were inactive, and phone calls and visits were met with somewhere between indifference and disdain.  So he struggled with the thought of why was he trying to help people that didn’t even have any interest in talking to him.  But he and his companion continued on their visits.  On the months where he was feeling discouraged, his companion would sort of take the lead, and other months it seemed like he felt motivated to make the visits…  And between the two of them, they got their home teaching done.  When families weren’t home, they decided that it would be a good idea to leave a note with their names and phone numbers, just trying to make themselves available to the families.  And this went on for months, with this home teacher really feeling like he wasn’t making a difference.  And then one night, like in most good stories, the phone rang.  It was one of his inactive home teaching families.  A member of the family was in a desperate state.  Her life led her to a point where she didn’t feel like she could go on.  And in her state she had knocked some things over, and the card that the home teachers had left fell out on the floor.  She looked at it and figured that she was out of hope and out of options, so she called one of them out of desperation.  And that home teacher was able to listen, and comfort, and help this sister.  She allowed him to visit the next day.  She allowed him to give her a blessing.  She allowed the Relief Society to come minister to her.  And to make a long story short, she is doing much better.  She later admitted that she didn’t know what she might have done if her home teacher had not answered the phone that night.

So I think the moral of this story is that we may not know the good that we do.  We may think that we’re not making any difference.  We may think they’ll be fine without me.  We may never know of the problem or crisis that may have been averted if we have had done our duty.  But this home teacher learned that one person CAN make a difference.  And even though this Brother was blessed to know that he made a difference, the rest of us may never know the blessings that our efforts deliver.  But they do.  Our efforts do deliver blessings.

The second home teaching story I want to tell is probably my favorite, because it’s very close to home.  It happened to my wife.  Before she moved here, she lived in Arizona, and she hadn’t been in this particular area very long…  Maybe about a year.  She moved back for a job.  Anyway, it was a normal night, driving home on the freeway.  And her car died.  Broken timing belt.  Major problem.  So she mentally ran through the list of people she could call for help, and the list was very short.  She called the one person that she thought might be able to help, but he couldn’t.  She knew this was going to be an expensive problem, and this was one week before Christmas and some big purchases had already been made.  So there she sat, on the shoulder of the interstate, cars zooming by, feeling a combination of panic and defeat.  And then her phone rang.  It was her home teacher.  And this is the exact quote, he said “Hi Candace, it’s Brother Buckle.  Are you okay?  I just thought to call to see if you’re doing okay.  Are you okay?” 

He called a tow truck for her, he came and picked her up.  He and his wife made sure she got to church on Sunday and offered to take her to the store if she needed anything.  All because he followed a prompting.

This was a worthy priesthood holder that was in tune with the spirit.  And because of his actions, my wife’s testimony was increased, and her faith in the priesthood was strengthened.  And now, this home teacher, that I have never met, has strengthened my testimony.  This is how it is supposed to work.

Great things are possible when we put ourselves in this position.  If we are obedient.  If we will live up to our covenants.  If we follow the promptings.  If we follow the Lord’s plan.

I’m a pretty big sports fan…  And I often hear things with a sports slant.  So during the time I was investigating the church, I heard the question “Do you believe in God?”  And on the surface, it seems like a pretty simple question.  He exists, or he doesn’t.  Yes or no.  But that’s not how I heard it.  I heard it like a sports reporter, interviewing an athlete when his team is struggling.  The reporter will ask the athlete if he still believes in his coach.  And of course, the reporter wasn’t asking the athlete if he believe his coach exists.  He was being asked if he believes in his coach’s plan for the team.  He was being asked if he believes that his coach is the right person to lead the team back to their winning ways.  So when I heard “Do you believe in God?”, in my head I was hearing “Do you believe God will lead you to where you want to be?”  “Do you believe in following God’s plan?”  And I do.  I believe following God’s plan is the best path to be on.  Heavenly Father’s plan is perfect.  It works.  If we will just do what He asks.

Doctrine & Covenants 4:2 says “Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, See that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.”  And we know that when we are in service of our fellow man, we are in service of the Lord.

I know that in this past year, I have felt sometimes like I might not be ‘qualified’ to do my home teaching.  I felt like that since I’ve only been an Elder for 17 months, I don’t have the experience or expertise that might be needed to be an effective home teacher.  And when I find myself thinking this way, I have remind myself that the list of qualifications for the Priesthood does NOT include experience, or expertise, or education.  It is simply worthiness and willingness.  Keeping yourself worthy and be willing to act.  The priesthood, by definition, is active.  President Spencer W. Kimball said it perfectly: “One breaks the priesthood covenant by transgressing commandments—but also by leaving undone his duties. Accordingly, to break this covenant one needs only to do nothing.”

The priesthood is how Heavenly Father blesses his children.  Blessings can then come to the priesthood holder for doing the Lord’s work.  I think about this every time I get to pass the sacrament.  It’s not an accident that the priesthood holders pass to the congregation first – After everyone else has been blessed to receive the sacrament, then the priesthood holders who pass the sacrament can receive the blessing.

Thomas Edison said that “the value of an idea lies in the using of it.”  If you think about that, it makes a lot of sense.  If you don’t use an idea, it is, by definition, useless.  In a similar way, gospel doctrine becomes more precious when it is put to use.

I attended the Stake Priesthood Session last Sunday evening, and one of the speakers was talking about doing our duties, and to illustrate his point he asked the Brothers first to raise a hand if we would resort to physical violence if it was necessary to protect our families.  And of course, all the men raised their hands.  Then he asked how many of the Brothers always do 100% of their home teaching.  And very few hands went up.  So his point was that we’d rather take a punch than make a phone call, say “How are you doing?”, “Can I do anything for you?”  Now I don’t claim that I completely followed his logic there, but I did get his point.  On the scale of pain or difficulty, the things that Heavenly Father asks us to do are relatively small.  But the blessings that result are immeasurable.

In my calling in the Elders Quorum presidency, I get to see a lot of blessings delivered through home teaching.  I get to see Elders strengthened and then blessed in their own lives for being the delivery system for God’s blessings.  Unfortunately, I get to see times where those opportunities are missed too.  Brothers and Sisters, I urge you to claim your blessings.  I urge you to be active.  If you’ve never done it before, take a small step.  Make a phone call.  As President Uchtdorf says, “There are times when we have to step into the darkness in faith, confident that God will place solid ground beneath our feet once we do.” 

Remember, we should be different.  We should be peculiar.  Be that difference, so that when the next new member walks through the door, it will be as obvious to them as it was to me.

Now, before I finish, I’d wanted to…

I’m a big fan of Yogi Berra’s, the former baseball player.  He gave us some great lines like “When you come to the fork in the road, take it”, and “No one ever goes there anymore…  It’s always too crowded.”  But one of my favorites is “You can observe a lot just by watching.”  So I would like to thank those of you that have quietly served, fulfilling your duty and magnifying your callings.  You have been a teacher and an excellent example to me, whether you or not you realized I was observing.  And I suppose, as if we don’t have enough reasons to do what we are asked, you never know who is learning from your example.

I would like to leave you my testimony that this gospel is true.  I know this because I have experienced the confirmation from the Holy Ghost.  I know God’s plan works.  I’ve seen it.  I have seen prayers answered.  I have seen blessing delivered simply by being obedient and following God’s plan.  I am grateful for the blessings that this gospel and Heavenly Father have brought into my life.  And I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.