"Cleave Unto Charity the Greatest of All"
Kevin Call
May 27, 2003
Thank you so much to those who presented the musical number. I should tell you that I requested this hymn be sung this afternoon. In my mind, it best embodies the ideas and principles I wish to discuss with you today. You will remember that the prophet Joseph Smith, on the afternoon of his death at the hands of a blood-thirsty mob, requested John Taylor sing this hymn, not once, but twice. The message, so beautifully contained therein, certainly must have had a calming and reassuring effect on Joseph and those friends assembled with him in that upper room of the Carthage Jail.
On a more personal note, this particular hymn has an additional meaning to my children, one of whom has just helped calm my nerves as she sang today. You see their great-great-great grandfather was with the prophet in that second-story room on that fateful day in June of 1844. He, too, listened to the message of this hymn, undoubtedly pondered its meaning, and would certainly have shared in the heavenly comfort extended to this quartet of faithful disciples as John Taylor sang of the seemingly unnoticed, unheralded, and unselfish acts of love shown to a Apoor wayfaring man of grief.@
Though Willard Richards would ultimately survive the fateful events of that day, this latter-day apostle was prepared to follow the commandment of Lord given to apostles of old. On the eve of the greatest gift of love ever offered to mankind, a gift that would find conclusion on a cruel cross at the very hands of those for whom the gift was offered, gathered in yet another upper room, again with those He called friends, the Lord declared:
AThis is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends@ (John 15:12-13).
Brothers and sisters, this is the principle I wish to explore with you this afternoon. How can we truly come to love one another as the Savior commanded on that very evening when He faced the incomprehensible agony of the bitter cup? Why is this principle of love so important to the Lord? Why should it be equally important to us? How can we develop this AChrist-like@ love beginning today, even in our busy lives at BYU-Idaho? Ultimately, how do we follow Christ=s admonition given to yet another group of apostles in ancient America?
AWhat manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am@ (3 Nephi 27:27).
May I share with you some stories, some that I have personally witnessed on this campus and others from the pages of scripture, that help me better understand what this Christ-like love, or charity as the scriptures calls it, looks like.
My fervent prayer today is that as we listen and reflect on these stories, the Spirit of the Lord will whisper, to both you and me, what each of us must do to more fully understand and develop this Christ-like attribute of charity. What you feel, the personal impressions you may receive while we are together, will be of far more worth and importance than anything I will say. In such a case, we will have both been edified and taught by the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, if you will act on any such impressions you receive, I witness to you, that you will become more like He whom we are striving to emulate, even the Lord Jesus Christ. As President Bednar has taught us so often at this university: our faith grows, our spirituality deepens, and our understanding of gospel principles is enhanced when we receive, recognize and respond to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Many years ago, I had the blessing of being called to serve in the bishopric of one of the marrieds wards on campus. I use the term Ablessing@ only in hindsight, for upon receiving the call, having served previously in another campus bishopric, I knew firsthand of the spiritual strength, dedication and abilities of so many of the young men and women here. I confess that I was somewhat reluctant to leave my home ward and family once again. I was at the time teaching fourteen Primary Blazers and I loved that experience.
Surely there were more than enough worthy and qualified students in the ward itself to fill this position. Most, if not all, were returned missionaries, many of whom had served as branch presidents the world over. Many of these young men would make excellent counselors to this good man who had been called as their bishop; and I told him so. Surely, they didn=t need me for this calling.
Well, I was right. They didn=t need me, but as I accepted this calling from the Lord, I came to find out that I needed them. I needed to learn from the strength of these valiant ward members, to learn from their dedication, and specifically to learn from their example of Christ-like love for each other.
I witnessed so many acts of selfless love in this student ward. You see, the interaction of ward members can change rather dramatically once the almost unavoidable, self-serving motivation of church activity to Acheck out@ members of the Priesthood or Relief Society as potential dates has been removed. Not that this student-ward phenomenon is all bad, but if left unchecked, it can sometimes get in the way of the real reason for church activity: to worship God and learn how to become more like Him; to learn how to love and serve others as He did; to learn to sacrifice for others as He did.
After about a year in this calling, I would witness such an act of selfless sacrifice that it continues to affect me to this day. At the beginning of our second year as a bishopric, our bishop underwent a rather extensive surgery that left him hospitalized and then homebound for several months. For those months, as the first counselor, I had the weighty and truly daunting responsibility of functioning as the Aacting@ bishop in his absence.
Ask any counselor, in any bishopric, in any ward how he feels when the bishop is out-of-town. I=m sure thoughts such as Aplease don=t let anybody die or get arrested this week@ have crossed the minds of brethren in such circumstances. Bishops are special. Something very real happens when hands are laid on an ordinary man=s head and that sacred mantle is bestowed. Of that I bear personal witness. But I also know that the Lord sustains and inspires counselors who are called upon to assume, even temporarily, the duties of the bishop. It is still a terribly humbling experience. The counselor always knows that the mantle remains on the shoulders of the absent bishop.
For two or three months everything in our ward ran fairly smoothly. We dealt with the usual concerns common to many young couples. The ward members were so good to look after each other. Now, to those of you who are married and going to school here at BYU-Idaho, what I am about to say will be no great revelation. To those of you who are single and whose parents= bumper sticker may appropriately read: AMy child, and my money, go to BYU-Idaho,@ -- listen carefully. The day is coming when you will very likely stand as a witness to this next truth. As a general rule, married students are poor, even what we may call Adirt-poor.@ But they=re happy! One often hears older couples reminiscing on their own early student years saying things like: AWe were so happy, we had no idea how poor we really were.@
Financial challenges are a very real part of early-married life. And sometimes those challenges can be truly overwhelming and frightening. The members of our ward were no different.
At times, financial situations can become so pressing that couples are forced to withdraw from school. Any of a number of situations, often including illnesses and/or loss of employment can contribute to such circumstances. As in most wards, we had a few couples who were so struggling.
One morning, just prior to the end of Fall Semester, as everyone seemed to be getting ready to take final exams and then leave for Christmas Vacation, a young couple called and said, ABrother Call, we really need to talk to you. Can we come see you this evening?@ Every possible problem scenario I could imagine flashed through my mind. This couple was relatively new to the ward. There was nothing out-of-the-ordinary about them that I knew of. What was their problem? Why did they need to see me so urgently? Would I be able to help? Were they in financial trouble, or worse? All daylong I worried about what their problem might be and if I would be able to help them.
That evening, as they sat side-by-side in my office, I asked how I could be of help. AOh, it=s not us, Brother Call.@ They immediately began to talk not of their problems, but rather about another couple in the ward who I knew were struggling with both serious health concerns and financial challenges. This couple would probably be withdrawing from school.
To my knowledge these two couples were not significantly closer to each other than any other couples in the ward. Neither the young husband nor wife in my office held what would be called a leadership position in the ward. The concerns they were expressing were not the result of any official church Aduties.@ I was moved that they were simply concerned about the welfare of another struggling brother and sister.
They handed me an envelope and said ABrother Call, what we would like you to do is deliver this for us without telling them where it comes from. Will you do that for us?@ I assured them that I would be honored to do so and thanked them for their generosity and concern.
After they left, I sat alone in my office with the unsealed envelope on my desk. I pondered on the example of love that I had just witnessed. Then my wonderment was multiplied as I looked in the envelope. The envelope contained what today would be the equivalent of about five hundred dollars. I was physically stunned. Five hundred dollars for a young couple in college who were working minimum wage jobs, paying tuition, setting up a household, getting ready for Christmas. This was truly a small fortune. I had just been witness to an example of the principle taught by the Lord as He and His disciples observed the widow casting in her mite. This couple had not given
Aof their abundance, but of [their] penury, [or poverty,] and had cast in of [their] living@ (Luke 21:4).
They were indeed examples of what C. S. Lewis meant when he wrote,
AI=m afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us they are too small@ (Mere Christianity. 1952. p. 67).
As I drove over to deliver this offering of Christ-like love, I was truly sobered. I had been taught by students, much like you here today, how I could better show charity for others around me. I am still to this day humbled by this young couple=s example of Christ=s command to ALove one another@ and by their obvious understanding Jacob=s teachings concerning our material possessions:
Before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them for the intent to do good to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted (Jacob 2:18-19).
This Christ-like attitude towards riches and money is required of all who would become like the Lord, be it wealthiest member of the church or the poorest struggling student at BYU-Idaho. May we learn what the Lord sought to teach his impoverished and afflicted saints in Missouri, when he said of them:
They have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them (Doctrine & Covenants 103:3).
Brothers and sisters, even in what you may see as your relatively impoverished status as college students, may I invite you to be generous with those Ariches@ with which the Lord has blessed you. Don=t pass up the regular opportunities and blessings associated with generous offerings made to Fast Offering, Humanitarian Aid, or the Perpetual Education Funds, to name just a few.
Remember also, like this young couple, to look in your own ward, apartment or neighborhood for those in need. The amount is not important, but the attitude and Christ-like characteristic of the widow offering her mite are.
While our attitude and actions regarding riches or money will certainly help us develop the quality of charity, such donations alone do not guarantee that this Christ-like quality will be ours. True charity goes well beyond the important but still incomplete act of sharing only of our material possessions. It even goes beyond a willingness to sacrifice our lives, as were Willard Richards and those others with Joseph in Carthage Jail. Will you open the scriptures that you have brought with you today and read with me the words of Paul found in First Corinthians, chapter thirteen? This is found on page 1454 of the New Testament. After telling the Corinthian saints that the faith required to speak in tongues, or prophecy, or even move mountains is nothing if they have not charity, Paul continues in verse three:
And though I bestow to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself [Vaunteth means to boast or to brag] is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly [The Greek word translated as unseemly means to be rude.] [Charity] seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth... (1 Corinthians 13:3-8; emphasis added)
Paul=s description of charity, or this Christ-like love, seems to describe the attitudes and personal characteristics we must develop. Rather than describe what we will do with our wealth in behalf of others, as important as that is, Paul=s teachings can be seen as a description of what the possessor of charity, or one striving to possess charity, will do with the greatest of all possessions, and the one thing we all have in equal quantity, time.
May I share with you another true story and example of this kind of love that I again witnessed at this university. A few years had passed since the previous story. I was now serving in my first year as the bishop of a campus singles ward. If I needed the Lord=s help before while our bishop regained his health, my need was now ten-fold. I felt so keenly the need for the Lord=s direction as I often struggled to know how to serve and teach and counsel the young people in my ward.
Brothers and sisters, may I once again bear my personal witness to you that our Heavenly Father sustains, leads and guides those imperfect and weak vessels He calls to serve in His kingdom. Something very real happens when priesthood hands are laid on an ordinary man=s head and the sacred mantle and keys of a bishop are bestowed.
We are each so blessed to always have close in our lives, our own bishop. Listen to his teachings. Follow his counsel. He has been given special keys designed to bring down the blessings of heaven upon those whom he serves, if they will sustain him. If you will, throughout your entire life, always follow the counsel of your bishop, no matter who the man happens to be at any given time, I know blessings will come into your life that you will otherwise miss. I know such blessings have come into my life in direct proportion to the measure in which I have sustained and followed my own bishop.
Well, the Lord certainly blessed and sustained me as a new bishop as I wrestled with knowing how to help and serve the members of my ward. In particular, I remember pleading with the Lord to help me know how to help one specific sister. I=ll call her Susan. Understand that Susan was not a bad person, but a history of family conflicts and interpersonal crises had resulted in some difficult challenges that often surfaced in Susan=s life. Susan often felt alone, and her actions and attitude did not always bring harmony into her apartment.
In fact, it was often just the opposite. It seemed that Susan would always test anyone=s offered care and concern by pushing back, and pushing back hard. As some of you will know, such apartment situations can be very challenging and difficult for everyone involved. Towards the end of the first semester, Susan=s roommates had reached the end of their patience. While I know they each loved Susan, things came to a head because of some unwise choices Susan had made which resulted in a trip for everyone to the Dean=s Office.
It seemed that a solution just could not be found to this difficult situation other than having Susan withdraw from school the next semester. Shortly thereafter I was visiting one day with another sister in the ward. I=ll call her Mandy. During the course of our interview, Mandy shared with me an experience of a few days earlier. In the middle of the afternoon, Mandy had come home from school to her apartment, something she rarely did.
While home, she did something even stranger for her, something she had never done before in the middle of the day. She decided to go to the commons area of her apartment complex and shoot some pool. Mandy was not the type of girl one would normally find shooting pool in the middle of the afternoon at the end of a semester with finals rapidly approaching. But something impressed her to do so on this day.
When she arrived, there was no one else in the area, except a girl she recognized from the ward but had never spoken with, Susan. At Mandy=s initiative, a conversation ensued during which Susan, for some reason, felt comfortable sharing much of what was happening in her life. This was unusual for Susan. She usually shared very little with anyone, including her bishop.
Something impressed Mandy to come home that afternoon, go to the Commons, and approach a stranger. Brothers and sisters, you and I know what that something was. It=s the same something I asked you to listen for today. Something that may impress you to be someplace or to do something for a Awayfaring@ brother or sister who Amay pass your way;@ more probable, one whom the Lord will put in your way.
Mandy had followed the impressions of the Spirit. A trust quickly developed in only a matter of days. She continued to follow impressions, including a challenging one that she volunteer to switch apartments with Susan=s current roommate. Due in large part to the effects of this selfless act of love, Susan was able to stay in the apartment complex and in school for the remainder of the year.
Mandy made this switch knowing that challenges would certainly follow, and much to the amazement of her many friends in the ward. Several knew something of the difficult situation she was entering. Was the next semester easy and trouble free? Certainly not. However, both Susan and Mandy=s lives were changed for the better. Both became more like the Savior whom they loved because Mandy lived what the Lord had taught when he said:
Love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12-13)
While Alaying down one=s life@ may at times actually mean physical death, as in the case of the Lord Himself, or Joseph and Hyrum, or Stephen, or Gideon, or any of the hundreds of thousands we honor this Memorial Day week who have willingly sacrificed their lives in behalf of the freedom of others, we also have opportunities every day to lay down other aspects of our lives for our friends.
Certainly Mandy was willing to lay down the comfortable surroundings of her apartment situation because of her love for Susan. The apartment Mandy was leaving was one of the strongest and most harmonious in the ward. Many girls would have readily left their own apartments in a heartbeat just to take the place Mandy was voluntarily Alaying down.@
The very way we live our lives can and should reflect the Christ-like love we are striving to develop in ourselves. The many acts of kindness and service practiced daily on this campus, be they large or small, help forge this charity in the souls of those involved.
Even the choices we make, which on the surface may appear to be only for ourselves, can and should reflect our concern for others. This is true as well for that which we may choose not to do. Let me give you an example from the Lord=s own life that exemplifies this principle. This act of love had nothing to do with a miraculous healing of the sick or the feeding of hungry thousands. It was a small decision, unknown to hardly any but his closest disciples; a decision to do something that was not required of Him; a decision made because of his love and concern that others might misunderstand and falter.
Turn in your scriptures if you would to Matthew, chapter seventeen. It is on page 1217. The Lord and his apostles had just returned to Peter=s hometown of Capernaum on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee when this incident took place. Let=s begin at verse twenty-four.
And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. (Matthew 17:24)
Now you need to understand what this tribute was to understand what the Lord says next to Peter. This was not a government tax but an annual religious assessment levied on all men older than twenty for the maintenance of the temple in Jerusalem. Did Jesus have to pay the tax for the support of what was, in actuality, his own house? Verse twenty-five continues:
And when he [Peter] was come into the house, Jesus prevented him [the Joseph Smith translation reads AJesus rebuked him@] saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. (Matthew 17:25-26)
Certainly the Lord was under no obligation to pay this tribute. Kings don=t collect taxes from their own children, nor need the Son of God pay taxes for the support of His Father=s house.
But the Lord chose to pay the tribute for a very important reason. And this is again the point of my message today. Let=s continue reading in verse twenty-seven. Jesus explains:
ANotwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.@ (Matthew 17:24-27)
ALest we should offend them.@ What did Christ mean? The word translated as Aoffend,@ both here and in every other passage found in the New Testament, does not mean Aoffend@ in the way we use the word today. It meant to Acause to stumble.@
Because of His great love for those asking if the tribute would be paid, concerned that they would misunderstand why He needn=t pay the tax and therefore Astumble@ in their own eternal progress, Christ chose to pay the tax.
Do we ever find ourselves in situations where others could misunderstand our actions, justifiable or innocent as they may be? Could our actions become a stumbling block in the spiritual lives of those around us? The world would say, AIt doesn=t matter what others think. That=s their problem. Who cares?@ The Lord cares, and He cares because of His love for both you and those who see you. Look on the same page where we have been reading about the Lord@s decision to pay a tax He did not owe. Matthew chapter eighteen, verses six and seven. As we read, remember what offend means:
But whoso shall offend [look at the footnote] But whoso shall [cause to stumble] one of these little ones which believe in me (Matthew 18:6, emphasis added).
Remember, we are all little ones when it comes to belief in the Lord. The Lord called his own apostles Alittle children@ on the very night of his atoning sacrifice. (see John 13:33)
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! (Matthew 18:6-7)
Perhaps some of the most important acts of charity you will ever perform both here at BYU-Idaho, and throughout your life, will be in the daily decisions you make about how you live your religion. Addressing this topic in a recent General Conference, Elder Holland taught parents specifically, and all of us by association:
ATo lead a child (or anyone else!), even inadvertently, away from faithfulness, away from loyalty and bedrock beliefs... license no parent nor any other person has ever been given...Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children [and others] know you have made.@ (Ensign. May 2003, p. 86; emphasis added)
One final story from my time spent serving in student wards. Unfortunately, this is a negative example; an example of how someone who didn=t understand this principle Elder Holland was teaching may have became a stumbling block to those around him.
It is often said, Aobedience is the first law of heaven.@ While I don=t know where this exact saying originated, there are many scriptures that teach the importance of obedience. Even the very scripture about love that has been the center of our discussion today reaffirms the importance of obedience:
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (John 15:12-14)
Any successful returned missionary can bear testimony to the truth of this principle of obedience. If they can=t, I would submit to you that their mission was not as successful as they may think. My story is about one such returned missionary.
As in all singles wards, our brethren consisted of both returned missionaries, the experienced, all-knowing, and mighty RMs, and those whom the sisters lovingly referred to as Apreemies.@ You know what I=m talking about. Too much fun, I fear, may have been had at their expense. But one day they will return to campus, having served the Lord valiantly for two years, and claim their rightful place and the title of Returned Missionary.
In my position as the bishop, I was aware of the influence many such returned missionaries had on the younger brethren in our ward. Great was the example of many of these men on those who would shortly find themselves called as ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world. Unfortunately, there were also exceptions.
I remember one day as one of my returned missionaries walked into the Elder=s Quorum meeting just before it began and sat down close to a few of our younger brethren. He was an outgoing and seemingly carefree person that seemed to thoroughly enjoy life. Today he was wearing a most unusual and bold necktie. It literally screamed at you, so much so, in fact, that it spawned several comments from those around him.
He explained that he had purchased the tie while on his mission but that his mission president didn=t like it and had asked him not to wear it. Then he said something in such a dismissive way that it made me want to cry for him, and scream ANo@ in the ears of those future missionaries, literally sitting at his feet. ASo I just didn=t wear it whenever the President was around.@ Several laughed with him and the meeting began.
What effect had this blatant expression of a disobedient attitude from one who should have known better had on those who heard it? I would probably never know for sure. Some would argue that we=re only talking about a necktie. But in my mind=s eye, I could easily imagine these future missionaries struggling, as all successful missionaries must do to some extent, to come to an understanding of the importance of obedience in their own lives. My disobedient and unthinking returned missionary certainly had not made their struggle for understanding any easier.
A year or two later I would unexpectedly encounter this same young man in a parking lot in Utah. We chatted briefly about how he was doing and what he was doing after having left Ricks College. I couldn=t help but notice that he was wearing very short cutoffs and a tanktop. It hadn=t just been about neckties, after all. It was, in fact, about obedience and temple covenants. How many others had been, and would be affected by the poor choices he was making in his own life?
Brothers and sisters, the way we choose to live the everyday events of our lives really does reflect the love we have for our Heavenly Father, for His Son Jesus Christ, and for our brothers and sisters, each of whom is striving to bring to pass his own eternal life and exaltation-that which the scriptures calls God=s work and glory. Remembering this definition of God=s glory should give additional clarity to the Lord=s teaching:
ALet your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.@ (Matthew 5:16 -- emphasis added)
It really does matter what others think about what we do; about how we keep our covenants; about how we follow the Honor Code; about how we live our lives. May none of us find ourselves a stumbling block for those the Lord has commanded us to love.
We have talked today about some of the ways we on the BYU-Idaho campus can better develop that Christ-like love for others known as charity. Like the young couple, we can be generous in sharing the bounty of God=s material blessing with those who are less fortunate. Like Mandy, we can choose to voluntarily lay down aspects of our own life, be that time, convenience, or comforts in finding direct ways to serve others. We can regularly pause to ask, AHow will my actions be perceived by others? Could my actions possibly cause another to stumble in their commitment to the Lord?@ If so, then like the apostle Paul whose issue was not neckties, but believe it or not, whether he should eat certain kinds of meat, may we respond:
AIf meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.@ (1 Corinthians 8:13)
Yet, even after doing all that we can possibly do on our own to develop this love for others, there remains one essential step that anyone and everyone must take who truly desires this blessing in their life.
Reminiscent of Paul=s instructions to the Corinthian saints concerning the supernal nature of charity, another witness of Christ explained this step to saints of any time and any place, to those whom he called the Apeaceable followers of Christ:@
AWherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail - But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever;@ (Moroni 7:46-47)
Now, here is Mormon=s explanation of that all-important step:
AWherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ...@ (Moroni 7:48)
He continues, reminding us why it is so important, for our own sakes, that we love others with this pure love of Christ:
Athat ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, ...that we may be purified even as he is pure@ (Moroni 7:48, emphasis added).
As the literal sons and daughters of an eternal and divine Father in Heaven, our ultimate goal should be to become as He is, to dwell where He dwells, to be glorified as He is glorified by helping to bring to pass the eternal life and exaltation of man. To achieve that divine destiny our feelings and actions towards others, our neighbors, must parallel those feelings and actions of Christ, Himself.
You will remember the Lord=s response to the question of which was the greatest commandment:
AThou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, ...soul, and ...mind. The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.@ (Matthew 22:37-40)
Could it possibly be that the difference between those who ultimately achieve their divine destiny, and those who dwell eternally in non-celestial realms, will have more to do with how they understood and lived the second commandment than the first?
Ultimately, charity is a gift from God given only to those who truly love Him and ask for this gift in faith. As with all things, faith is demonstrated through action. Faith without works truly is dead. (James 1:17) The many acts of love I have witnessed on this campus over the past twenty years, are but examples of that living faith shown by those who, I am certain, have also spent time on their knees pleading for Heavenly Father to grant them this most desirable and greatest of all gifts.
Brothers and sisters, I bear to you my personal witness of the divine origin of this gift. I have been blessed of the Lord on occasion to taste of this gift in some small degree. Perhaps in no more profound way, than the first time I stood in front of 150 students like you, having been called several weeks earlier to serve as their new bishop. We were to be a new ward when school reconvened. I was called while they were gone for the summer. None of us knew each other. For the three weeks before school began I had only a list of 150 names.
How could I learn to properly serve these brothers and sisters? How long would it take me to come to truly love them? Time was spent on my knees as I anxiously awaited their arrival and our first meeting together.
I remember vividly that Sunday morning, as these choice sons and daughters of God raised their hands, itself an act of faith and love on their part, to sustain me as their new bishop. As I stood in front of them for the first time, I felt a love so deep, so profound, and so eternal for people I had never before seen, that I knew I was being offered a taste of this divine gift of charity - the very love that Christ feels for each of us. The Lord had heard and answered my prayers.
I bear witness that He will continue to do so in each of our lives, if we will ask in faith, demonstrated by our seeking for, recognizing and following impressions born of the Spirit to love and serve one another. Of these things, and especially of His divinity and love for each of us, I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.