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Follow Thou Me

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During the past weeks I have fasted and prayed for the guidance of the Spirit, that I might come to understand the message the Lord would share with you today. I pray that the Holy Ghost will help us learn together and that those who have come seeking answers will feel God's love for them, as "we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, [and] we preach of Christ."[1]

When I was a little girl our Primary put on an annual "Life of Christ" pageant. Twelve boys played apostles, but there weren't many roles for girls. One year I played Pontius Pilate's wife. Loaded with costume jewelry, a diamond dangling on my forehead, I ran on stage to plead for a prisoner because of a dream.[2]

The role I wanted least but remember best was a Foolish Virgin. We were given wooden lamps, but only five lamps had a yellow flame. I remember being teased by my oldest, tallest, brother-who also played the role of Christ-about being one of the foolish five. In our scene the 10 virgins gathered at the back of the stage, and when "the bridegroom came"[3] a big crowd surrounded Jesus and walked across the stage, "and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage". The five wise virgins joined the celebration and exited with the crowd of disciples and a loud bang signaled "the door was shut".

One performance is a powerful memory. When the door slammed and the lights went out, and the five foolish virgins were left alone on a darkened stage, it wasn't my playful older brother, in a glued on beard and white robe, behind a closed door. It was Jesus, and my child's heart ached to join him. I did not want to be alone in the black, shut out because I was not prepared, was not worthy. I yearned to be a disciple and follow Him.

Since that defining moment as a Primary child, when I stood on a dark stage holding an empty lamp, additional experiences have fortified my desire to stay on the path. As I share some of my experiences with you my prayer is that we will come to recognize some of the steps we need to take on the path of discipleship, and encourage one another, to "walk the path that [he] hast shown". Together I hope we'll learn of the blessings offered at BYU-I that can help us "[find] strength beyond [our] own"[4] to heed the call in 2 Nephi 31:10 "Follow thou me."   

What Does It Mean To Be A Disciple?

Five years ago this week David A. Bednar (2004) gave the first devotional talk of Fall Semester, "A Disciple Preparation Center." It was to be his last devotional address before his call as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Elder Bednar defines a disciple as "a follower of Jesus who learns of and from Him and lives according to His teachings". When I heard President Bednar's talk I was nudged to go beyond a definition of the word disciple and ask myself, "What does it mean to be a disciple?"

A large print of this painting by Carl Bloch hangs in the Rexburg Temple. In it the Savior seems to tenderly invite all of us to "Follow thou me."[5] During my shift as a temple worker I have often had occasion to reflect on what Bloch teaches us about heeding the Savior's words and following him. (My thanks to Brother Leon Parson for sharing with me his artistic insights about Bloch's work.)

This is what I see: Of the 31 faces and heads in the painting only 25 percent appear focused on the Savior. Some scowl, others turn away. A woman's head is bowed in godly sorrow, while on her coif a young girl's two fingers are poised to capture one of the Lord's creations, too spiritually immature to recognize she is in the presence of the Creator.

A teenager glares at the little girl, disdainful of her attempt to catch the butterfly. A grandmother in the crowd watches the child, as if pleading for the girl to pay attention to the Master, while the figure at the Savior's feet gazes with fervent adoration and appears to listen attentively.

When I look at this painting I am prompted to ask myself: "Am I distracted by the world? Am I paying attention? Am I listening? Do I hear and obey? Does my life reflect His?" Sadly, too many days I recognize my need to repent of weaknesses and shortcomings, that I have wandered off the path and become encumbered in the darkened mists of impatience and pride. I am humbly grateful for the Atonement's daily opportunity to repent and try harder.

The First Commandment: Love The Lord

Turn with me to Matthew 22:37-40: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind sets us on the path of discipleship. But we cannot love Him if we do not know Him.

Elder Maxwell (2004) taught that to be a disciple the "first commandment includes all of our heart, soul, and mind.... we will have missed the train if Jesus is a stranger and far from the thoughts and intents of our heart." If we do not want the Savior to be a stranger, and "far from...our hearts" we must know him and reflect often on his life, his example, and his atoning sacrifice.

A few years ago I was doing some scholarly research on the role of reflection in the learning process. I made the connection that the world advises us to reflect while the parallel word in gospel language is remember. My research helped me recognize that too often I took the sacrament on Sunday, left church, and then for days did not think about the covenant I had renewed to "eat in remembrance of the body" of my Savior and "always remember him and keep his commandments."[6]

While reading 3 Nephi 18:7 I recognized my need to improve:  "And this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you. And it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you." I wanted to have his Spirit with me, but recognized that I struggled to always remember him. In order to love the Lord with all my heart, mind, and soul, I searched for an answer to the question, "What can I do to remember the Savior's body, and the covenants I renew by partaking of the sacrament, throughout the week?"

As I reflected on how I could better remember my Savior, and the sacrifice and suffering of his body for the Atonement, one day I watched my granddaughter learning to say the parts of the body in both Spanish and English. Elena loved to sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,""Cabeza, hombros, rodillas, y dedos," pointing to each body part. As I listened to her song, images of the Savior flooded my heart and helped me recall his body, his life, and his love for me.

First, his head. The Savior taught, "foxes have holes, but the Son of Man hath not wherewith to lay his head."[7] After a mock trial, Pilate ordered the Savior scourged-39 lashes with leather thongs tipped with bone and metal, meant to dig into skin, then tear and shred flesh and muscle as the thongs were dragged across the back.[8] Then upon his head the soldiers placed a crown of plaited thorns.

His shoulders would have been strong-carpenters in Jesus' time not only fashioned wood, but cut and harvested their own logs-strong enough to carry timber, steady enough to carry a lamb. After the scourging, jeering soldiers placed upon his shoulders a purple robe. Finally, upon his shoulders, John tells us, "And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull".

The Savior had healing hands. "He put forth his hand, and touched [a leper]"[9] and he was healed; he touched the eyes of two blind men, and "immediately their eyes received sight."[10] "He took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them...and they did all eat."[11] He fed the 4,000. He fed the 5,000. "He touched" the hand of Peter's mother-in-law, "and the fever left her."[12] His hands "made clay...and he anointed the eyes of the blind man."[13] They drew in the dirt, to calm a murderous crowd, and save a woman scorned, from death.[14] His hand reached and "took the damsel by the hand" and the daughter of Jairus rose and walked.[15] "Jesus stretched forth his hand" and caught Peter as he sank into the sea.[16] On Calvary nails were driven into his hands. The Nephites would all come forth and feel the marks in his palms.[17]

When I take the time to remember, my capacity to love the Lord with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind grows and I am on the path to discipleship. "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes." He knelt before his Twelve Apostles and washed their feet. With the Nephites, "he himself also knelt upon the earth; and... he prayed unto the Father."[18] And in Gethsemane, "he... kneeled down, and prayed...and being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."[19]

His feet walked many miles on dusty roads, climbed mountains, walked on water, and wandered in the wilderness for 40 days. A devoted disciple washed his feet with her tears. And in the end his feet carried his bruised and bleeding body to a lonely hill called Calvary, there to be pierced by nails. During the hours on the cross, with his full body weight pulling on his arms, he stood on the nails in his feet, to lift his body so he could draw air into his lungs; most victims on the cross suffered death by suffocation.[20]

The Primary song ends with "Eye, ears, mouth, and nose," "Ojos, oídos, boca, y nariz."  From a spot on the Mount of Olives, his eyes beheld his city and wept "O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem!" Just days later, he looked down from the cross to see his mother, and commissioned her care to John. With his voice, "He cast out [evil] spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick". He spoke truth, prayed for the sinner, calmed the waves, and commanded the grave to open and Lazarus to come forth. He preached faith, repentance, baptism, love, and forgiveness. In agony he uttered, "It is finished, Thy will be done". Then on the third day, in a sacred garden, he softly spoke a single word to a weeping woman, "Mary".

The Nephites all came forward, one by one, to feel the prints in the Savior's hands and feet.[21] He reminded them of that experience, when he said in 3 Nephi 18:7: "my body, which I have shown unto you." Elder Holland says, "In fact, in a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, our Lord has chosen to retain for the benefit of his disciples the wounds in his hands and his feet and his side-signs that painful things happen even to the pure and perfect." Those very marks of his love remind us that he remembers us: "Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet."[22] "I will not forget thee. I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands."[23]

The body we remember when we partake of the sacrament was born in simple grandeur to Mary, as a tiny babe in a stable, with animals in attendance, a manger for his bed. Elder Holland (1995) says that during Christ's life that same body "suffered pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind that he might be filled with mercy and know how to succor his people in their infirmities". And when a young boy named Joseph knelt in a grove of trees, that same body, gloriously resurrected, appeared in answer to a humble pleading, "which of all the sects is right...and which I should join".

Reflecting on the Primary song "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," helps me remember the body of Christ. When I partake of the sacrament I think of a head crowned with thorns, shoulders burdened by a cross, knees bent in prayer, and feet pierced by nails. When I allow those images to fill my heart I come a little closer to heeding the first commandment: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength."[24]

The Second Commandment: Love Thy Neighbor

Another step on our journey toward discipleship is the commandment to love our neighbor. In April Conference 2009 President Uchtdorf taught us in his address "The Way of the Disciple," that "The more we are filled with the Spirit of God, the more we extend ourselves to others. We become peacemakers in our homes and families, we help our fellowmen everywhere, and we reach out in merciful acts of kindness, forgiveness, grace, and long-suffering patience. These are the first steps along the...way of the follower of Jesus Christ."[25]

Speaking to BYU students, President Hinckley (1997) said, "I hope that you are developing a great desire to walk in the footsteps of the Master, to reach out to those in distress, to serve the Church with great faithfulness, and to serve your fellowmen in a spirit of love and consecration."

We are blessed at BYU-Idaho to enjoy the "miracle" of a temple on the hill (Eyring, 2009), where we can worship the Lord. In the temple we first make and keep sacred covenants, and then we have the privilege to return to serve our neighbors; attending the temple provides us opportunities to fulfill the second great commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."[26] Service in the temple helps us progress along our journey of discipleship.

For the past year I have been blessed to serve as an ordinance worker in the Rexburg Temple where I have weekly witnessed what it means to "love your neighbor." Volunteers come to the temple to care for the physical facilities and provide clothing, record ordinances, and clean the rooms. Patrons come to the temple to serve the dead, performing ordinances for those who have passed on. I have observed tender acts of service as patrons assist other patrons. Ordinance workers do all they can to help patrons have an uplifting experience. There is no place on earth where people are more kind, more gentle, more tender, or more happy! The temple is where I have come to more fully understand the words of the Hymn #220, "Lord, I Would Follow Thee":

1. Savior, may I learn to love thee, Walk the path that thou hast shown, Pause to help and lift another, Finding strength beyond my own. Savior, may I learn to love thee-Lord, I would follow thee. 4. Savior, may I love my brother As I know thou lovest me, Find in thee my strength, my beacon, For thy servant I would be. Savior, may I love my brother-Lord, I would follow thee.

As I have served in the temple, and there witnessed loving acts of service, I have come to know that the temple truly is the House of the Lord and He is home.

Keep The Commandments

A third step on the path of discipleship is obedience. In Second Nephi the Savior "said unto the children of men: Follow thou me." Then Nephi asked, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?"[27] As we learn to love the Lord, and love our neighbor, we must then be willing to keep the commandments. The Lord said, "Therefore, follow me, and listen to the counsel which I shall give unto you."[28]

During my rebellious teenage years I did not always want to listen to the counsel I was given. When I graduated from high school I wanted to attend a college where I could experience my freedom; even though my two older brothers attended BYU I did not want to attend a church school with what I saw as a rigid honor code. One reason was that my parents had strict rules about appropriate church attire and did not allow any casual clothes on Sunday.

This rule was especially challenging when I was a little girl because we wore dresses to school all week so girls particularly eagerly anticipated weekends so they could wear jeans and shorts. But on Sundays at my house my sister and I wore church dresses all day and my brothers wore shirts and ties. While other children rode bikes and played ball we played croquet in the backyard and board games in the house. I chafed at the rule and couldn't wait to go to college and wear what I wanted to wear-especially on Sundays.

My first Sunday at Utah State I was delighted to change into jeans after my meetings. But lounging around the dorm in torn levis and a tee shirt was not the anticipated relaxing experience. Physically and spiritually I didn't feel right. I discovered I was not comfortable departing from the habit developed as a child. From my youth I had been taught that the Sabbath lasted the entire day, not just the hours I spent at church, and if I meant to "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" then for me that meant dressing appropriately.

That was the only Sunday I changed into casual clothes. Elder Oaks said in 2008, "How we dress is an important indicator of our attitude and preparation for any activity in which we will engage. If we are going swimming or hiking or playing on the beach, our clothing, including our footwear, will indicate this. The same should be true of how we dress when we are to participate in the ordinance of the sacrament. It is like going to the temple. Our manner of dress indicates the degree to which we understand and honor the ordinance in which we will participate."

From my parents I had been taught the law of the Sabbath, and dressing appropriately for the ordinance of the sacrament, and I could not turn away from it-even when my meetings were over: "He that receiveth my law and doeth it, the same is my disciple; and he that saith he receiveth it and doeth it not, the same is not my disciple."[29]

What does whether or not I got to wear play clothes on Sunday when I was a little girl mean for us at BYU-Idaho? Elder Bednar taught:

A disciple of Christ is one who is following and learning to be like Christ-learning to think, to feel, and to act as He does....Discipleship demands the total transformation of a person by putting off the natural man and becoming a saint through the Atonement of Christ the Lord. A disciple is one who loves the Lord and serves Him with all of his or her heart, mind, might, and strength.[30]

Honoring my parents, and obeying their counsel, transformed me. A rule I found restrictive as a youth became a behavior that brought me comfort and peace as an adult. My next year at Utah State I experienced another defining moment. I met a tall, handsome, returned missionary and we fell in love. He proposed and together we picked out a ring. With his entire savings he paid cash for the diamond.

On a clear Sunday evening in January we drove to the grounds of the Logan Temple where we intended to become formally engaged. The white gold diamond ring slipped from between the pages of Sections 131 and 132 and fell into the freshly fallen snow. We searched for hours beneath the moonlight, alternately weeping and praying. Finally, we huddled in one of the temple wall alcoves, and fervently prayed for the ring's recovery. We promised the Lord that we would consecrate our lives to him. We promised to attend the temple monthly, pay our tithing, and fulfill our callings.  The hour was late and we sadly returned to our apartments.

The miracle was not that it didn't snow that night, nor that the next morning a friend plucked the diamond from the snow, just a foot away from where we had searched. The miracle was that the Lord gave us an transforming opportunity to identify the kind of lives we would live and solemnly promise to be obedient.

At BYU-I Student Honor can help us transform from the natural man and become the saint Elder Bednar describes if we will follow its precepts. President Clark describes Student Honor this way:

The first key element of Student Honor is the Code of Honor: the standards and principles common to all CES institutions. These include living a chaste and virtuous life, obeying the Word of Wisdom, being honest in our dealings with our fellow men, attending church, and living a Christ-like life. Other elements of Student Honor include the dress and grooming standards and housing guidelines. These help define the atmosphere where students live and study, and where employees work. The purpose of Student Honor is both to prepare our students to be disciples of the Savior and to protect them and the university from evil.[31]

It was difficult for me as a child to wear dresses on Sunday when it seemed all my friends were outside playing. And it is a challenge to meet the standards of Student Honor. But the Savior promises us that if we will follow him we "shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."[32] Nephi taught his people that the Savior showed us the straitness of the path and the narrowness of the gate and set an example for us, and then "said unto the children of men: Follow thou me."[33] Nephi then asked his people, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we followJesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?"

At BYU-Idaho Student Honor is an invitation to follow the Savior and demonstrate our obedience. President Clark (2007) taught, "Obedience to the commandments of the Lord and to the standards and guidelines that define the framework of Student Honor is fundamental to discipleship. An environment of obedience is crucial to the development of disciples."

Elder Neal A. Maxwell (2000) taught, "The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar...The many other things we give to God, however nice that may be of us, are actually things He has already given us, and He has loaned them to us. But when we begin to submit ourselves by letting our wills be swallowed up in God's will, then we are really giving something to Him. And that hard doctrine lies at the center of discipleship."[34]

Elder Wirthlin (1994) "obedience is not always easy. In fact, it can sometimes seem stifling, uncomfortable, or even impossible. ‘But with God all things are possible'. You can be obedient."[35] "Discipleship requires all of us to translate doctrines, covenants, ordinances, and teachings into improved personal behavior" (Maxwell, 1996).[36] I recognize submitting our will to the Savior and following Him is challenging, but Elder Uchtdorf promises, "From the very moment we set foot upon the pathway of discipleship, seen and unseen blessings from God begin to attend us."[37]

President Hinckley said to BYU students (1997) "I hope that the BYU experience will cause you to take on those qualities that will make of you a true disciple of Jesus."[38] 

Following the pathway of discipleship is a journey we take every day and we are blessed at BYU-Idaho to have a temple and Student Honor to help us along our way. But we should not get discouraged if we sometimes we hit a roadblock, or step off the path. We should not get disheartened by those times we are less patient, less loving, less forgiving than we know we can and should be.

I celebrate the words of Elder Wirthlin (2007), "Oh, it is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us-even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will...The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of transformation. It takes us as men and women of the earth and refines us into men and women for the eternities".

The first time I renewed my temple recommend the member of the stake presidency who interviewed me was Val R. Christensen, now president of the Rexburg Temple. In the interview he asked me: "What have you done during the past year that makes you more qualified today than you were a year ago for a temple recommend?" Startled by this unexpected question I quickly reviewed the past year to determine if had improved my life during the previous twelve months.

That interview became a defining moment for me; every time I have renewed my recommend since I pause to reflect on my life and am prepared to answer President Christensen's question (even though no priesthood leader has ever asked me again) because I know the Lord wants to know if I am living the kind of life that will qualify me to follow the bridal party. And I truly desire to make my life a journey toward discipleship, my lamp trimmed and burning brightly when the Lord returns.

I leave you my testimony that the Lord lives and loves us. He wants us to have ears to hear and hearts to understand when He pleads, "Follow thou me". As we walk the path of discipleship three questions will help us as we ask: "Do I love the Lord with all my heart and soul? Do I love my neighbor? Am I willingly obedient and keeping the commandments?"

I close with Elder Maxwell's words: "God knows us perfectly. He loves us perfectly. His only begotten son, Jesus, has invited us to ‘come, follow me.' In a real and majestic sense, each of us has been called to serve in His holy discipleship. May we all renew our desires and efforts to do so". May the Lord bless us all as we journey together along the path of the disciple. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 


Notes

[1] 2 Nephi 25:26

[2] Matthew 27:19

[3] Matthew 25

[4] Hymns #220

[5] 2 Nephi 31:10

[6] D&C 20: 77

[7] Matthew 8:18-22

[8] John 19:1-2

[9] Matthew 8:3

[10] Matthew 20:34

[11] Matthew 15:36

[12] Matthew 8:15

[13] John 9:6

[14] John 8:6

[15] Mark 5:41

[16] Matthew 14: 31

[17] 3 Nephi 11:14-15

[18] 3 Nephi 17:15

[19] Luke 22:41,44

[20] Connolly, 1983, p. 51

[21] 3 Nephi 11:14-15

[22] D&C 6:37

[23] Isaiah 49:15-16

[24] Mark 12:30

[25] Uchtdorf, D. F. (2009, May). The way of the disciple. Ensign, pp. 75-78

[26] Matthew 22: 39

[27] 2 Nephi 31:10

[28] D&C 100:2

[29] D&C 41:5

[30] Bednar, D. A. (2004, August 31). Brigham Young University-Idaho: A Disciple Preparation Center

[31] Clark, K. B. (2007, May 10). Realizing the mission of BYU-Idaho: Developing disciple-leaders

[32] John 8:12

[33] 2 Nephi 31:10

[34] Maxwell, N.A. (2000, August). Insights from my life. Ensign

[35] Wirthlin, J.B. (1994, May). Live in obedience. Ensign

[36] Maxwell, N.A. (1996, June). Becoming a disciple. Ensign

[37] Uchtdorf, D. F. (2009, May). The way of the disciple. Ensign, pp. 75-78.

[38] Hinckley, G.B. (1997, November 4). The BYU experience