5/12/2017 - Section 26:1-2

May 12, 2017

Section 26:1-2

Missionary To-Do List, Common Consent, Church Callings, Sustaining Others, Our Role, Rejoice, Work, Callings Lessons Learned,

Reminder from May 8, 2017: Though less than four months had elapsed since the Church was organized, persecution had become intense, and the leaders had to seek safety in partial seclusion. The following three revelations [24, 25, 26] were given at this time to strengthen, encourage and instruct them.” 

V 1 is a great to-do list (and nothing brings to peace to my mind like a well thought out to-do list—this is even better: a heavenly inspired to-do list! How could it get any better?): “I say unto you that you shall let your time be devoted to”: 1) Studying the scriptures, 2) Preaching, 3) Confirming the church (see foot note leading us to 37:2 “…ye shall not go until ye have preached my gospel in those parts, and have strengthened up the church whithersoever it is found…” 4) performing your labors on the land, such as required (in respect to missionary service of young missionaries, I would interpret this last phrase to the cleaning and maintenance of their apartments).

V 2: “And all things shall be done by common consent in the church, by much prayer and faith, for all things you shall receive by faith. Amen” The student manual has multiple quotes for this particular verse. It points out that common consent is certainly part of the sustaining of people to their callings, but the same principle also operates for policies, major decisions, and acceptance of new scriptures. All those quotes remind me that faith is essential in Heavenly Father’s plan. As far as callings, I’m thinking that it doesn’t necessarily mean that the person we sustain will do the job better than anyone else, it doesn’t mean that I must like everything about this person, it doesn’t mean that I can expect this person to handle all things the way I would handle them—what it does mean is that through prayer someone has received revelation that this person should have this calling. In Doctrines of Salvation: “I have no right to raise my hand in opposition to a man who is appointed to any position in this Church simply because I may not like him, or because of some personal disagreement or feeling I may have, but only on the grounds that he is guilty of wrong doing, of transgression of the laws of the Church which would disqualify him for the position which he is called to hold.” Loren C Dunn said “To sustain is to make the action binding on ourselves to support those people whom we have sustained. When a person goes through the sacred act of raising his arm to the square, he should remember, with soberness, that which he has done and commence to act in harmony with his sustaining vote both in public and in private.” And from Harold B Lee: “When you vote affirmatively you make a solemn covenant with the Lord that you will sustain, that is, give your full loyalty and support, without equivocation or reservation, to the officer for whom you vote.” So basically, when I raise my hand, I am saying that I will do my best to support this person that they may learn and grow in their calling. When I was Young Women’s President in Highland, Utah. (This was when Alex was in high school). I was very organized, we had a good and full program going, I did extra things to show my interest in the girls: sleep overs at my house, visits in their homes, going to their performances and sports events at school, and talking to them at times other than Young Women’s just to see how they were feeling and how they were doing. And yet this was a calling I had when Alex was going through some very tough times. I spent a lot of time on my knees in prayer for her. At that time, getting through each day for me consisted of just trying to keep putting one foot in front of the other to simply keep up with what was going on around me and through me. While I prayed fervently about Alex, I didn’t spend anywhere near that amount on my personal prayers for my calling or for the girls I was to be caring for. As I look back, I wish I could change that aspect that was lacking in my work. While I realize I was living for several years in survival mode, I have learned that expanded prayers that cover all aspects of the life I was struggling to keep up would have been of great help not just to the girls I worked with, but to the adults I was working with… and certainly to myself during this stressful time. I did a good job, but not an inspired job—and what a difference that would have made to all. This was a lesson I learned from looking back at that calling. All growth does not happen while we are involved in a specific calling, for as was the case here, that particular spiritual realization and growth came afterwards. I need to remember this experience when I see others struggling their best in to do the job they have been called to do, and that they have accepted. I can lend a helping hand to them. I can devote my prayers for their growth and their success.

3/11/2021 – D&C 26:1

This section is just two verses long—a short revelation---and a very important revelation to us all.

Joseph has been carrying a great weight with the restoration. The Lord is asking him to “be devoted to the studying of the scriptures”. (v 1) As for me and my scriptures the more I read, the more I ponder, the more I feel, and the more I want to make those little changes (and sometimes those little changes are actually very large, and a bit of a struggle to make) that will open me up: to the Lord, and to other people. 

Joseph is still certainly to see to his household: “…performing your labors on the land, such as required” (v 1) But the Lord has far more for him to do: “…until after you shall go to the west [west to Fayette NY—about 100 miles], to hold the next conference; and then it shall be made known what you shall do.” (v 1) But He wants Joseph to rest up & take care of himself, to read, to ponder, to preach to others, to take care of his household. And the Lord’s promise is that He will be next to him and “then it shall be made known what you shall do.” There is a time and a place for everything good.

One scholar (last name of Matthews wrote ‘Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible’) said on p 27: “…’Studying the scriptures probably had something to do with the translation of the Bible, since the earliest manuscript entries, recorded in the summer and fall of 1830 are in the handwriting of John Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery. Apparently the ‘translation’ and the ‘study’ were being conducted at the same time, perhaps they were actually one and the same.”  

For me, scriptures really do come alive when I work to do more than just read the words…it’s when I try to put those words into action in MY life that I feel the sweet difference.

3/12/2021 – D&C 26:2

From the Study Manual: “Not only are church officers sustained by common consent, but this same principle operates for policies, major decisions, acceptance of new scripture, and other things that affect the lives of the Saints.”

In Doctrines of Salvation it says: “I have no right to raise my hand in opposition to a man who is appointed to any position in this Church, simply because I may not like him, or because of some personal disagreement or feeling I may have, but only on the grounds that he is guilty of wrong doing, of transgression of the laws of the Church which would disqualify him for the position which he is called to hold.”

In the April 1972 General Conference Elder Loren C. Dunn explained the responsibilities that accompany the sustaining process: “When we sustain officers, we are given the opportunity of sustaining those whom the Lord has already called by revelation. … The Lord, then, gives us the opportunity to sustain the action of a divine calling and in effect express ourselves if for any reason we may feel otherwise. To sustain is to make the action binding on ourselves to support those people whom we have sustained. When a person goes through the sacred act of raising his arm to the square, he should remember, with soberness, that which he has done and commence to act in harmony with his sustaining vote both in public and in private.”  That last sentence made me think more carefully why I raise my arm, and then how I follow through with what I have just agreed to. I’ll write that sentence one more time: “When a person goes through the sacred act of raising his arm to the square, he should remember, with soberness, that which he has done and commence to act in harmony with his sustain vote both in public and in private.”

And probably my favorite quote that I found—this one from Harold B Lee in the April 1970 General Conference (that was just 1 month….well, actually almost 2 months…before Bob & I were married.)

“When you vote affirmatively you make a solemn covenant with the Lord that you will sustain, that is, give your full loyalty and support, without equivocation or reservation, to the officer for whom you vote”

When I sustain, I must do that with my full mind and heart, and that will help both the person I have sustained, as well as myself, to grow in awareness, in concern, in compassion, in love. That feels like the best road I could take.