Sacrament Meeting Talk--12 February 2011

The following is a Sacrament meeting talk presented on February 12, 2011 in the Mission 2 Ward of the Texas West McAllen Stake:

Good morning Brothers and Sisters. I’m a little nervous about speaking to you this morning. I was baptized into the Church on November 24, 1972; so I have been a member of the Church for nearly forty years. In that time I have had the opportunity to speak in Sacrament Meetings on a number of occasions. But this is my first time to speak in this Ward; so it’s a new experience.

New experiences tend to make most of us a little uneasy, a little uncomfortable. And yet, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are often asked to do things that make us uncomfortable. It takes faith to do something when we are not certain how it will turn out. I’m a bit uncomfortable up here. I have about fifteen minutes to speak this morning. I don’t know if I can be interesting for that long.

I want to speak for a few minutes this morning about some people who had the faith to do something uncomfortable. Several years ago my wife and I watched with great interest the television documentary, “The Mormons,” on PBS. The program appeared to me to be about as fair as one could expect. I’m sure that many members of the Church would have liked for the program to have shown the Church in a bit more positive light; however, it was not designed to be an advertisement.

The program told about the persecution in the early days of the Church, about the Saints’ relocations from New York to Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and the long trek west to Utah. The program spoke of the faith necessary for these people to put up with the great hardships they faced. Many of them spent long periods of their lives in uncomfortable situations. For many of these early saints “I’ll go where you want me to go, Dear Lord, I’ll be what you want me to be” was a life or death decision. But they had faith that it was a decision that was necessary for their salvation and exaltation as well as for the carrying out of the Lord’s plan for the children of men.

These people had faith—faith that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ had actually spoken to the boy, Joseph Smith. They had faith that a Prophet of the Lord told them to pack up and leave; so they packed up and left. It appeared from this documentary that many non-Mormon Christians have a very difficult time accepting one of the core beliefs of the Latter-day Saint Church, namely, the Joseph Smith story. Most people are simply unable to accept the belief that a young man of fourteen-years-of-age actually spoke with God and Jesus Christ, was visited by an angel, and was given golden plates, which he translated, the translation later published as The Book of Mormon.

This story, the Joseph Smith story, is fantastic, to say the least. Indeed, the rational mind does not accept such a fantastic idea. That being said, it begs the question: When looking at Christianity as a whole, is the Joseph Smith story really so fantastic?

Truly, the rational mind does not accept the belief that a man could heal others by a touch or a word, that a man could alter the chemical composition of water to change it to wine, that a man could bring the dead back to life, that a man could walk on water, or that a man could die and return to life. The rational mind is unable to accept these ideas. And yet, the Christian world, in general, accepts these ideas without question. These beliefs, although completely irrational, are central to Christianity. Belief in Christianity requires the believer to suspend reason and accept that which is unreasonable.

Critics of Mormonism typically ask for proof where no proof is available. Joseph was alone when he claims to have been visited by the Father and the Son. The plates of gold were returned to the angel, Moroni, when the translation was completed. There is no archeological proof that the events described in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ ever took place. The truthfulness of the Joseph Smith story hinges on his testimony and the testimony of a small number of men who claimed to have actually seen the golden plates. Being a true Latter-day Saint requires faith.

On the other hand, where is the proof of Christianity? What proof do we have of a virgin birth? What proof do we have of the healings? What proof do we have of the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand? What proof do we have of the resurrection? The truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ hinges on the testimonies of a small number of men who claim to have associated with Him over a period of approximately three years. True Christianity requires faith.

How do we get that faith? We get faith by doing. If we want to have faith in the law of tithing, we must live and practice that law. If we want to have faith in the Word of Wisdom, we must live and practice that law. Sometimes in the Church we are asked to serve in a calling for which do not feel we have the skills. Sometimes we are called to positions for which we feel we are not spiritually ready. Sometimes we are asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting and we are reluctant because we don’t speak perfect English or have a great voice.

When we are asked to do these things, do we truly believe we have been called by revelation? Do we truly believe that the Bishopric was inspired by God to ask us to speak? I am sure there are a number of us here this morning that have accepted callings asking, “Why am I being asked to do this?” and then a year or two later have said, “I understand why I was called.”

When I write something, I can sit down at my computer with my Spell Check and my Grammar Check, and I can read it and re-read it so that when I’m finished, what I have written is perfect. But I don’t talk that way. I don’t always use perfect English. I’ve heard my voice on a tape recording, so I know what I sound like. As a public speaker, I’m much more of a George W. Bush than a Barack Obama. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. Because if I speak with the Spirit, and you listen with the Spirit, you’ll get my message. And if I don’t speak with the spirit, or you don’t listen with the Spirit, it doesn’t matter if I use perfect English and have the voice of a radio announcer; you won’t get my message.

Over the years I have heard a number of members claim that if the President of the Church told the members to pack up and go to the Promised Land, they would do it. I have no doubt that most of them that said that would be true to their word. Most of us believe the Prophet is inspired. Do we also believe our local leaders are inspired? We stand up on Fast Sunday and bear our testimonies that we know the Church is true. We say that we are willing to do whatever the Prophet asks us to do. But if we say, “Maybe I’ll do what my Bishop asks me to do, or maybe I won’t,” then we really don’t have a testimony that the Church is true.

I don’t know if the Prophet is ever going to ask us to leave our homes and gather in Utah, or Missouri, or some other place. I do know that we have priesthood leaders in this ward that are asking the brethren to do their home teaching. We have Relief Society leaders that are asking the sisters to do their visiting teaching. We have a Ward Mission Leader that is asking all of us to share the Gospel with our neighbors. We have a Bishopric and a Stake Presidency that are asking us to serve in callings. Do we have faith that these leaders are inspired?

“I’ll go where you want me to go, Dear Lord, I’ll be what you want me to be” is not a life or death decision for most of us today. But I testify to you that it is a decision that is necessary for our salvation and exaltation as well as for the carrying out of the Lord’s plan for the children of men. I pray that we will have the faith to be true Christians and true Latter-day Saints. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.