I gave this talk on reverence today in Crestline Ward. My
speaking companion was out of town, so I had to fill 45 minutes on my
own. But I knew ahead of time and was prepared. I felt inspiration as I
prepared this talk, and as I gave it. I hope that you will feel that as
you read it.
I’m grateful that our stake includes three
congregations in the mountains. It’s a special privilege to travel up to
the beautiful chapels and enjoy the fresh air and the quiet
surroundings.
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My
dear brothers and sisters, I am grateful to be with you today. I feel blessed
whenever my speaking assignments brings me to our beautiful mountain wards, and
I am able to worship with you.
I
bring you the love and greetings from our Stake Presidency. They are mindful of
you and are grateful for your faithfulness, and for your many acts of service,
both seen and unseen.
I
pray for the guidance of the Holy Ghost so that we may all be instructed of the
Spirit. I testify that this instruction will come to those who seek it
reverently.
This
was taught to me here in this chapel several years ago when I was here for a
speaking assignment. A couple in your ward had been wrestling with a
significant challenge, and had been fasting and praying for guidance from the
Brethren in General Conference. Following my talk, they came up to the stand
and thanked me, as we often do.
But
what they said next had a deep impact on me. They told me that I had been an
answer to their prayers; that my message taught them what they had sought to
know, before General Conference even came. I didn’t know of their challenges,
but the Lord did!
This
was a very humbling moment. I have always taken my speaking assignments very
seriously, but since then, I feel an increased responsibility to know and to
speak what the Lord would have me say to the members that I will address.
So
if you feel that I am speaking just to you, I hope you understand that it isn’t
me; it is the Spirit speaking to a prepared heart. And having a prepared heart
isn’t a simple thing in this world.
We
live in a world that has grown increasingly noisy. As the standards of the
world become more lax, the noise increases. Like it or not, we all listen to
rap and many other offensive noises. As the volume goes up, so does confusion
and contention.
We can appreciate Elijah’s experience.
He felt a great wind, an earthquake, and fire (sounds a little like our area,
doesn’t it?), and the Lord was not in them. And after the fire there was a
still small voice, and Elijah noted the contrast (see 1 Ki. 19:9-12).
Through all the noise and static, the
still small voice of the Spirit is still present, softly requesting our
attention. It calls to my mind a good blues song, called “God trying to get
your attention.” The Spirit can be heard if we will learn to filter out the
background noise. But we can’t just go online and buy a spiritual attenuator to
reduce the noise. We must develop our own spiritual rectifiers to filter out
the static and the background hiss of the world.
Satan knows that if he can drown out
the still, small voice of the Spirit, he can defeat us.
The
Lord has commanded his servants to stand in holy places that we may be able to
withstand the evils of our day. How do we do this? We can’t just hide in the
chapel or in the temple. We still have to live our lives; we still have to get
out into the world.
It all starts with reverence. What is
reverence? How will it help us? In Primary we sing:
“Reverence is more than just quietly
sitting:
It’s thinking of Father above,
A feeling I get when I think of his
blessings.
I’m reverent, for reverence is love.
When
I’m reverent, it shows in my words and my deeds.
The
pathway to follow is clear.
And
when I am reverent, I know in my heart
Heavenly
Father and Jesus are near.”
Do
we understand and practice these great truths?
Much
of what we say in the Church about reverence focuses on being quiet in places
of worship, with special emphasis on children being quiet. Being quiet is a key
part of reverence, an important element. Quiet does not necessarily equal
reverence.
Even
though we use this building for many different activities, our chapels are
houses of worship where we should be able to sit quietly during prelude music
and meditate on the beauty of the restored gospel, prepare our hearts and minds
for the sacrament,
and ponder the majesty of our Heavenly Father and the splendor of the Savior’s
Atonement. I will return to this theme again. These manifestations of our
worship will naturally be accompanied by an attitude of reverence.
Do
we feel this way as we enter these sacred halls?
Reverence begins with a love for
our Heavenly Father. Just as our love for our earthly parents leads us to
respect and to honor them, so our love for our Heavenly Father leads to
reverence for him.
When we have reverence for Heavenly
Father, we begin to ponder and to understand what He has done for us. We
develop reverence for His plan, the wonderful plan for our eternal happiness
that He has given us.
Reverence for the plan of salvation
increases our love for Jesus Christ, and leads to a reverence for His mission
as our Savior and Redeemer. As we ponder this, we begin to understand the
wonderful gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We begin to “Marvel that he
would descend from His throne divine,” and as we continue to ponder, we realize
that he come down to “rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine.”
(And it works in the other direction
as well. Increased understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ gives us a
greater appreciation for the plan of salvation, which increases our love for
Heavenly Father.)
As we reverently reflect on Christ’s
Atonement, we accept and personalize this great gift. As we continue to
reflect, we look forward to partaking of the sacrament each Sunday, and to
renewing our covenants with the Father. We begin to desire to honor all our
covenants, and to make and keep all the covenants that will help us to return
to Him.
We lose the desire to sin and we
continue to progress. Alma refers to this as a mighty change of heart.
With this increased desire to return
to Heavenly Father, we also feel a respect and a reverence for all Heavenly
Father’s children, and indeed, for all His creations. And we seek to bless
their lives as well.
All this may come from being reverent!
Reverence doesn’t just LEAD us to
ponder important gospel truths, it ALLOWS us to ponder and to understand them.
Reverence opens the doors of our hearts to personal revelation and allows the
Holy Ghost to witness of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to our hearts
and minds. We come to know of the truth of the various elements that make up
the gospel of Jesus Christ as well.
It
is in these quiet moments that revelation comes. You have probably felt this
yourself. In fact, it can come in no other way. That is why the Psalmist wrote
“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). We absolutely must tune out
the world to commune with Heavenly Father through His Spirit.
Enos,
the son of Jacob, described his experience with this. You will remember that he
went out hunting, probably on his own. It was this time alone that enabled him
to ponder the things his prophet-father had taught him. He tells us:
“And
I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a
remission of my sins.
“Behold,
I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my
father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into
my heart.
“And
my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in
mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I
cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that
it reached the heavens.
“And
there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou
shalt be blessed.
“And
I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away” (Enos
1:2-6).
I
think that maybe the hunt wasn’t going so well for Enos, so he had some private
time to think about things. The hungering of the soul that he described comes
through reverence. As he reflected on the truths his father had taught him, in
private, in quiet, these words touched his heart deeply.
The
most frequently repeated commandment in the Book of Mormon is simply
“remember.” Enos remembered, and found salvation. Do we remember?
Brothers and sisters, this attitude of
reverence is so simple that we begin to learn it as young children. In spite of
its simplicity, there is great power in reverence. It is in those quiet,
focused moments that we receive great spiritual strength.
There were surely few quiet moments in
the Smith household, yet Joseph found a way to study and to reflect on the
scriptures. After reading the promise of James, he wrote:
“Never
did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this
did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every
feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any
person needed wisdom from God, I did …
“At
length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and
confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God” (JS-H
1:12,13).
This
reflection that allowed this verse to enter into his heart with great force did
not come during times of horseplay with his brothers, or during the
conversations at mealtimes. No, Joseph had to find times to contemplate what he
had read.
Joseph
then found a quiet, sacred place to pray, and was visited by the Father and the
Son, who answered his humble prayer personally.
Moroni
challenged us to ponder the truths of the Book of Mormon and ask God if they
are true (see Moroni 10:3-5). I am certain that for each of us, the promised
witness came during quiet, reverent times.
Probably
the most sacred time in our busy week is sacrament meeting. This brief time has
been consecrated to the Lord for our benefit, so we can worship Heavenly
Father, renew our covenants with Him, and feel His Spirit. This dedicated time
is so important that observing it has been a commandment from the beginning.
In
our dispensation, the Lord commanded:
“And
that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt
go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;
“For
verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay
thy devotions unto the Most High;” (D&C 59:9-10).
More
recently, these instructions were given in Handbook 2:
“Each
sacrament meeting should be a spiritual experience in which members of the
Church renew their covenants by partaking of the sacrament. Other purposes of
sacrament meeting are to worship, provide gospel instruction, perform
ordinances, conduct ward business, and strengthen faith and testimony.”
(18.2.2)
Further, we read: “Leaders set an
example of reverence during the time before sacrament meeting. The bishopric
and the speakers should be in their seats at least five minutes before the
meeting begins. This is not a time for conversation or transmitting messages.
(My commentary here: please don’t bother the Bishop or his counselors during
this five minutes: let them focus on feeling the Spirit before the meeting,
too!)
“Members
should be taught to make the time before sacrament meeting a period of
prayerful meditation as they prepare spiritually for the sacrament. The
bishopric encourages families to arrive on time and to sit together.” (18.2.2)
The
Handbook specifies three groups of people who are responsible for the spiritual
success of sacrament meetings: the Bishopric, the speakers (and music people),
and the members.
First
the Bishopric must carefully plan sacrament meetings to ensure that the Spirit
will be present, and that the messages, both spoken and sung, will be in
harmony with the Lord’s will. Moroni, in Chapter 6, described the process:
“And
their meetings were conducted by the church after the manner of the workings of
the Spirit, and by the power of the Holy Ghost; for as the power of the Holy
Ghost led them whether to preach, or to exhort, or to pray, or to supplicate, or
to sing, even so it was done” (Moroni 6:9).
Occasionally
emergencies will arise, but this planning should be done well in advance. That
way, the Bishopric can sit down and invite the Spirit into their own hearts.
They need this time more than the rest of us, because of the burdens they
carry. Please let them worship, too.
I
have also been in sacrament meetings when the Bishop felt prompted to make a
small change that probably blessed someone in the congregation. If we intrude
on this quiet time for the Bishopric, we may short circuit this inspiration.
Second,
the speakers and those who provide music should be prepared to invite the
Spirit into the meeting.
Appropriate
prelude music should draw our thoughts to the Savior and invite us to ponder
and feel reverent. But we must listen! As an organist, my offering to the Lord
is not in technical ability, but in testifying through the hymns that I choose,
and setting a reverent tone for the meeting. The hymns that are chosen should
be appropriate.
Sacrament
talks are not a time for jokes, opinions, or telling how the Bishop asked us to
talk. As speakers, we are assigned to teach, to edify and to testify. This is a
burden that weighs heavily on me as I prepare to fulfill a speaking assignment
in my calling.
Third,
we have a responsibility as members to add to the spirit of the meeting by our behavior:
not just for our own benefit, but for that of others.
We
should prepare for the sacrament, reflecting on the sacrament prayers, and the
covenants found therein. We also should reflect on our own worthiness. Even a
few brief moments on Saturday evening can make a difference to our sacrament
experience.
The
fifteen minutes before a meeting should not be a time to conduct business or to
chit chat. Once in the chapel, we may greet each other reverently, but most
conversations should take place outside the chapel. This time before sacrament
meeting is a time to be seated and to invite the Spirit into our hearts.
Elder
Packer warned us; “When we step into the chapel, we must! —each of us
must—watch ourselves lest we be guilty of intruding when someone is struggling
to feel delicate spiritual communications.”
Elder
Robert C. Oaks, formerly of The Seventy, told this story: “My wife and I had
been seeking spiritual instruction on a particular question in our lives.
Thankfully, the answer came through the particular prelude hymn selected. In
response to the sweet melody, the Spirit clearly indicated the appropriate
course for us. Unfortunately, before the hymn had ended, someone sitting near
me leaned over and started talking to me, and the Spirit immediately left. A
treasure of sweet revelation was cut short by a lack of reverence” (Ensign, Dec. 2009).
Has
something similar ever happened to you? Have you ever done that to someone
else?
I
am mindful of the words of one of our beautiful, unsung hymns, number 132:
God
is in his holy temple.
Earthly
thoughts, be silent now,
While
with reverence we assemble
And
before his presence bow.
He
is with us, now and ever,
When
we call upon his name,
Aiding
every good endeavor,
Guiding
every upward aim.
God
is in his holy temple,
In
the pure and holy mind,
In
the reverent heart and simple,
In
the soul from sin refined.
Banish
then each base emotion.
Lift
us up, O Lord, to thee;
Let
our souls, in pure devotion,
Temples
for thy worship be.
“Earthly
thoughts, be silent now.” Have you ever thought that as you entered the chapel?
Or the temple?
There is a critical need in our world
to increase the frequency of these reverent, revelatory moments. As the
potential distractions increase, it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on
the things that matter most. In fact, just as young Joseph Smith experienced,
when the moment is of great importance to our salvation, Satan will step in and
try to distract us by any means possible.
It takes discipline to become a
disciple. For many of us, that means we have to take control of our electronic
devices that capture our attention. In order to become true disciples of Jesus
Christ, we should probably consider mandating “electronic-free times” each day
so that we can focus on the things of the Spirit. Surely our sacrament meetings
should be one of these times.
Please do not permit electronics to
block your eternal progression. Young people, if you feel bored, perhaps you
need to look within and determine if you understand why we meet, and then
prepare yourselves better for this sacred hour.
Reverence requires practice. I will be
the first to tell you that it takes some discipline to stop thinking of a
captivating tune in meetings. I have memorized Redeemer of Israel, and
sometimes I need to go through all six verses in order to clear my mind of
outside thoughts and earworms. But it works! When I go to the temple, I use O
My Father, with the same results. The prelude music should also invite
reverence.
Reverence can also strengthen the sense
of unity in your ward. As we worship together, and as we pray together (please
remember, saying “Amen” makes the prayer ours), and especially as we sing
together, we become united in the spirit. I cannot overemphasize the importance
of singing together. It is one of the few times in mortality where can feel
that unity. It doesn’t matter if you can sing well or not. Singing will bring
the Spirit quickly. This I know from many experiences. And I recall the words
of Hymn 119, “Let those refuse to sing who never knew our God.” Don’t let
yourselves be numbered in that group, brothers and sisters. Sing with us.
And think about the words to the
hymns. I have been touched deeply when certain phrases penetrate to my heart.
We may feel reverence at different times
and in different places. For example, I feel reverent when I am in these
beautiful mountains. I feel reverence when I listen to Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony. I felt a reverent awe the first time I stood atop Mt. Whitney. I felt
reverent the first time I extracted DNA in a science lab. I felt a profound
reverence when I held a human brain in anatomy lab. I even felt reverent when I visited St.
Peter’s in Rome. I felt a reverence as I looked at Gutenberg’s Bible. I have
felt a special reverence as I held each of our children and our grandchildren
for the first time. I feel reverence every time I visit the grave of our little
son in Salt Lake City, and an increased reverence as I look about that cemetery
and see the graves of the Apostles and Prophets. I feel a special reverence
each time I enter the sacred doors of the temple and leave my worldly cares
outside. And most of the time, I feel reverent when I enter our beautiful
chapels.
But true reverence doesn’t come from a
place or a thing. It must come from within us. It is something that we can
cultivate and develop. Reverence, like all other virtues, begins in the home.
As in all things spiritual, the Savior
set the example for us. When he prayed, he hallowed or blessed his Father’s
name. He zealously defended the sanctity of his Father’s house. All his words
and actions reflected his reverence for the Father, and for his Father’s
creations.
Brothers and sisters, are we following
the Savior sufficiently? Do we feel the love and respect for our Heavenly Father
that Christ exemplified? Do we feel a reverence for his house, for his
children, for his servants and for all his creations? I feel certain that if we
did, a great change would occur in our lives. We would grow in understanding,
in truth, and in love for our fellowmen, and we would truly have the Holy Ghost
as our constant companion. After all, the Lord has promised great blessings to
all “who shall reverence [him] in [his] house,” (D&C 109:21) but he has
said that our minds will be darkened if we treat holy things lightly (see
D&C 84:54). Our behavior in the chapel will determine which direction we
go.
When I was in dental school, I had a
good friend named Mike Haynie. I love and respect this man for his wisdom and
his maturity. One Sunday, we were leaving a Sacrament Meeting that seemed very
ordinary, like so many others I had attended. Our two children were very young
and fidgety, and like most young parents, we were probably focused more on
keeping them still than on feeling the Spirit. As we walked to Sunday School,
Mike came up beside me and said “wasn’t that the best Sacrament Meeting ever?”
That caught me by surprise. I
still think about it, nearly thirty years later. The difference between Mike
and me? I think that he had prepared himself to feel the Spirit, and I had
prepared myself to get to church.
Yes, we wrestle with children and that
distracts us, but that is such a short moment in our family’s life. Most of us
have been there, and most of us understand the challenges that young parents
are dealing with. I was very touched by the action of one sister in Lake
Arrowhead Ward who noticed a young mother sitting alone with two fussy
children. She walked over during the meeting and took the baby so that the
young mother could give her attention to the older child and take him out. What
a great example of Christlike love! And I am certain that the young mother
returns to church each week because she felt the love and support of that good
sister. This simple act added to the reverence of the meeting for many people.
In
keeping with the spirit of reverence, we should also pray for those who lead
and teach us. We have been counseled to ponder and pray before general
conference that the speakers will be inspired to say things that will help us
to solve our problems. What a difference it would make if we took the same
approach to our regular Sunday meetings!
Instead of being critical of a teacher
who is struggling, or a speaker who is rambling, or even worse, boring,
shouldn’t we pray for them instead? I don’t know how many members pray for the
High Councilors to give better talks, but I do. And I testify to you that I do
feel the Lord’s direction as I prepare to speak each month.
We have the promise from the Lord that
Zion and her stakes will be a place of refuge and protection from the evils of
the world. As members of the San Bernardino California Stake of Zion, we have
the right and the obligation to call upon God for his protection. I pray that
we will have the faith and courage to do so.
In addition, I believe that it is our
reverence that will help to protect our chapels and temples during these turbulent
times. Time does not allow me to share stories of this, but please be assured,
my brothers and sisters, that the Lord and his angels are watching over and
protecting these sacred precincts.
Our homes should also be places of
reverence. They should be places of refuge from the world, where we can feel
safe and protected. Within the walls of our homes, the gospel is studied,
personal and family prayers are said, and eternal family relationships are
nurtured. This alone should make our homes the most sacred places on earth. Do
our attitudes at home encourage our children and grandchildren to feel reverent
and safe?
Of course, there are many things that
are permissible in the home which we would not do at church. However, we can
still make our homes a place where the Spirit of the Lord can dwell. And
perhaps that is the very heart of reverence: striving to live so that the
places we go will be places of peace and safety.
Indeed, if we cultivate a spirit of
reverence, almost anywhere we stand can be a holy place.
Brothers and sisters, reverence is a
very personal, individual matter. Each of us can make a difference, from the
newest member to the Bishop. We can all affect the reverence in our wards.
Now let me return for a moment to our
electronic companions. They seem to capture too much of our attention. They
create a background noise that can drown out the still, small voice of the
Spirit. That is something we cannot afford. It has never been more important to
create a daily “quiet time” in which we set aside our cell phones, tablets,
computers, and other devices and log on to the celestial web in order to hear
the voice of the Spirit.
That quiet time is vital to our
well-being as we study and ponder the Scriptures and commune with Heavenly
Father in prayer. We cannot afford to be distracted from this. We all need the
strength that comes from daily introspection, and we can’t get it any other
way. If we fail to do so, we will lack the ability to withstand the
increasingly negative influences of the world. Will you please make it a
priority in your lives? I promise that if you do, you will experience great
blessings in your lives, including an increased power to recognize and resist
temptation and evil influences.
The Primary children sing a song (some
of you may remember it) that we should all keep in mind:
“It shouldn’t be hard to sit very
still
And think about Jesus, his cross on
the hill,
And all that he suffered and did for
me;
It shouldn’t be hard to sit quietly.
“I think of the miles he walked in the
dust,
And children he helped to love and to
trust;
It shouldn’t be hard to sit tall in my
seat,
To listen politely, to quiet my feet.
“It shouldn’t be hard, even though I
am small,
To think about Jesus, not hard at
all.”
If our
little ones can sit quietly, so can we.
I pray that we may be more reverent. I
pray that our conduct will reflect our commitment to Heavenly Father and his
plan, for reverence does come from within, and our reverence reveals what is in
our hearts. It must disappoint Father at times to see how his children treat
his house.
I testify that our Heavenly Father
lives. He loves every one of his children with a perfect love. Considering what
he has promised us, he asks for very little in return. Obeying his commandments
is all he requires. Jesus Christ is his Son. He is our Savior. He made it
possible for us to live again with our Father in Heaven, if we will follow his
plan.
Of this I testify, in the name of
Jesus Christ, Amen.
