This Sunday message comes from something I learned in my church music group. This weekend, I have the honor of singing with a special church choir I auditioned for a few months ago called "Chords of Faith". We'll be performing at the Festival of the Nativity. Last night we had an excellent practice in preparation for it, and something interesting happened that I'd like to share with you.
When we practiced the songs, it was clear that we were getting all of the notes right - but the conductors were still a little displeased. It sounded like we were going through the motions, and with no emotion. We agreed; we were so focused on getting the notes right that we forgot to sing with convention. We were able to refocused, we stopped trying to get notes right, and we started singing like we believed it. The difference was incredible, and we all saw the vision of how we should perform this weekend.
As I think about that experience, I can't help but wonder what other aspects of my life need the same fine tuning. Am I just going to church, or is there a purpose for me going to church. Anybody can dress up, drive to a chapel and sit for three hours, right? But what are we doing to make going to church an experience that makes a difference in our life.
If you're a boss, who do you give a promotion to; someone who just shows up, does his job and goes home ... or someone who you believe is going to offer something special to improve your department or company? Maybe I'm only "expected" to fix bugs in the software ... but is that where I stop, or can I dig deeper and really find solutions to help my clients? Anybody can give birth to a child, but what does it mean to be a real mother or father ... whatever it is, I'm sure it's more than just providing food and shelter?
In the LDS Church, we always say that you need to "magnify your calling", but I think it takes much more effort to do so. After learning a song, it doesn't take much more effort to sing it with feeling - in our choir's case, it was a simple reminder and decision to do. So whenever your caught going through the motions, think about something small you can do to refocus and make your music more beautiful ... whatever your music happens to be.
I am a fortunate man. I have a wonderful wife, wonderful kids, great job, and I have a testimony of the gospel. But as fortunate as I am, my family and I have not had the perfect life. As many of you have, we've gone through some hard times - negative economy has affected, too. Along with that, we're in a constant battle of trials from other people - even from those that we believed were our friends. And I hate to even say this ... I find it interesting that most of our grief has to do with fellow church members.
With that in mind, I've been thinking a lot about Matthew 7:15-23 that talks about wolves in sheep's clothing. It initially refers to false prophets, but upon further reading you find that this applies to anyone that portrays themselves as righteous but has other motives. The ones that preach for money are easy to spot; but there are many other wolves to watch out for that I feel are much worse. I think anyone who justifies not being nice to people in the name of magnifying their church calling can be classified as a wolf. Or someone that only starts being nice to you because they want something, or when you're no longer useful they stop talking to you. Or parents that treat their children lovingly in public, but ugly and cruel in private.
I wish I could provide specific examples, it would make the point I'm trying to make much clearer; but I believe it would be inappropriate for this post. If you want those examples, send me an e-mail. But what I will say is that I believe that a wolf is anyone that places anything in priority above any person, and the ones that are in sheep's clothing are those that do so in the name of doing the Lord's work - which for me means anyone in church. I believe this is the meaning of verses 22 & 23. Christ's love is unconditional; and if we're going to return to Him, we have to be like Him. And there will be many church members that will be surprised in the end how far from the Lord's will they really were.
I've learned again this week that the ends don't justify the means. Heavenly Father won't care that you conducted the best church choir, paid the most tithing, taught the best Sunday School class, baptized the most converts on your mission, or anything of the sort. The Lord's gonna want to know how you treated those around you and if you were there for them, especially your family. I'll end with the words of President Uchtdorf that sums it up best:
"Brethren, when we stand before the Lord to be judged, will He look upon the positions we have held in the world or even in the Church? Do you suppose that titles we have had other than "husband", "father", or "priesthood holder" will mean much to Him? Do you think He will care how packed our schedule was or how many important meetings we attended? Do you suppose that our success in filling our days with appointments will serve as an excuse for failure to spend time with our wife and family?
"The Lord judges so very differently from the way we do. He is pleased with the noble servant, not with the self-serving noble."
So keep an eye out for those wolves ... and don't become one, either.
I know, I realize it's actually Wednesday; but so what! Besides, I have to put God first so that everything else takes care of itself. That could be my Sunday Message in and of itself, and I could call it a day; but that would be too easy. Besides, something else is on my mind this week.
My daughter and I were looking through some books in our library room and came across my high school senior scrapbook. We sat together and looked through it page for page (I was much lighter!) I have fond memories of that year. I was the captain of my band (trombone), I graduated with honors, and was surrounded by a group of great friends. But interesting enough, most of my scrapbook was filled with things I got "outside" of high school ... my seminary class (ironically, I was also voted as the seminary class president - go figure!)
We met at 6 a.m. each morning at our church before school and was taught by the most amazing seminary teacher ever - Sister Collins. She inspired us to be great every morning, was always prepared, and gave us reminders every week to keep God in our lives. But mostly I remember her smile and the confidence she had in me. Any doubts I had to that point on whether I'd be going on a full-time mission or would always remain active in the church were erased by that year in seminary. Where would I be with her? I probably would be OK; but I think I'm more than OK because of her.
My scrapbook reminded me that I've had (and have) other role models in my life that are just as meaningful as Sister Collins. Where would I be with them? Then I had an even more scary thought ... how many people in this world go through life without a role model? If this world is going to be a better place, it would be because we take action and be an example to our children, their friends, and other young people that we can have a positive effect on that our around us. I believe the right term is "pay it forward".
Thank you, Sister Collins - and all those who helped to make me better than I could be on my own. Thank you.
Many people don't know this, but I enjoy singing in church choirs. I am a baritone - which means I can sing either tenor or baritone; however, mostly find myself singing tenor because the parts are more interesting and challenging. And on occasion, I even sing in ensembles or even solo.
The last time that I sang a solo was two years ago at a funeral. The funeral was for a good friend of mine that actually took his own life and left a wife and children behind. It was (and still is) an incredible loss for all of his, because he was such a wonderful person. I was asked to sing one of his favorite songs ... "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief". It is a natural "tear jerker" in its own right; add a funeral to the mix and you're got yourself a tough assignment. And it was. As much as I tried, I couldn't get through it without breaking down ... badly! When I finally finished, I was sobbed uncontrolably in my wife's arms.
I decided to take a break. A few weeks ago, I was asked to sing another solo. I almost said no; but I told the choir director that I'd think about it. A few days later, I accepted; I really didn't have a good reason to say "no", but all the same I was reluctant. Besides, I never want to disappoint anybody.
So tonight, I sang my first solo in two years. The event was a success, and so was my solo. I felt really great to sing again, and many people expressed their appreciation. I felt good about my decision to sing. Seeing the joy on people's faces reminded me that the talents that God gives us are meant to be shared. God gives us talents to bless our lives and the lives of others; and if I had refused this solo, none of us would have blessed tonight.
I am reminded of the Parable of the Talents; those that use their talents or skills to gain more (or to bless others) will be found in good favor with God. Those that hide them will lose them and will not be in good favor with God. If you have talents or skills that aren't being shared, I strongly urge you to reconsider. I know that as we do so, blessings will come to us and those around us that we would not be able to enjoy otherwise. It may even require a sacrifice on our part; but then again, anything that's worth while always does.
It was me and wife's turn to give talks in sacrament meeting this past Sunday at church. The topic we were given to speak on was "How to Give Earnest Prayers". I've known the mechanics of how to give a prayer for a while; I've been given prayers in public since I was in my teens (right around the time I joined the LDS Church.) But it's been a while since I've thought about making sure that my prayers are earnest.
It made me think back to the first time I started praying earnestly, and it was when I prayed really hard for someone else ... on my mission. I think about the families I taught the gospel to and how badly I wanted them to be baptized, and there was no doubt that prayer was crucial in our proselyting efforts. But this doesn't help you if you're not trying to save souls - how do you pray earnestly while you just trying to live?
I thought of my own parable. I compared praying to a modern day programmer ... like myself. With technology advancing so quickly, some may ask the question of how a developer is supposed to keep up with everything. The short answer is that we don't! And since we don't need to use everything all the time, we don't have to. We do the best we can to continue increasing our knowledge of programming concepts. Then, whenever we need more or get stuck, we turn to Google for answers. Once we find what we're looking for, we do our best to apply what we've learned. If we didn't, our jobs would be much, much harder than they are now.
I also believe that our lives can be much harder without constant communication with God. There's no possible way that we can learn all that He knows in this lifetime; and since each of our lives are different, we don't have to. I think we all do the best we can with what we have; but daily prayer to an all knowing Heavenly Father can give us the strength, courage, and knowledge we need to fill in the gaps.
That's my parable! And since everyone knows what Google is (even the kids), it went over pretty well with the congregation ... at least, that what my family and friends told me. It made sense to me anyway.
As you may or may not know, I always cook on Sunday. I've been cooking on Sundays for the past 5 years or so. Today was extra special, because we also had our fulltime missionaries over for dinner, Sisters Becker and Halvastadt. We had Fettuccine Alfredo with Meatballs, salad, watermelons, and french bread. We also had cinnamon rolls and vanilla ice cream for dinner. As usual, it was delicious (if I do say so myself.)
During the message that Sister Becker presented to us, her companion Sister Halvastadt said something interesting about doing member missionary work. She said that the main thing to remember is what you're really sharing when you share the gospel ... and that's you. If you're living the gospel, then that's who your family, friends, and neighbors need to see. Before they even find out about your religion, it's important that they get to know you as a person and like what they see.
When I think back to when me and my brother Sebastian were fellowshipped to the gospel by our high school buddy and his family, we bonded with them before we even knew what church they belonged to. Not only were we invited to play on the church basketball team, but several times we were invited to their home for dinner and to other church and family activities. After that, introducing us to the missionaries and their church was much easier. And because we respected them and loved them, they earned our trust - and the decision to join was clear.
There are so many people all around us that we could do the same thing with; how unfortunate it would be if we let these chances to change lives pass us by due to fear. I think a lot of people's fear are based on being afraid to share what we believe; we need to leave that to our capable fulltime missionaries. To be effective member missionaries, we just need to be us and trust that the Lord will prompt us from there.