Tuesday, February 2, 2016

The Essence Of True Religion; A Christian Perspective.

The Essence of True Religion; A Christian perspective :-

The obligation to care for the poor and the needy lies at the very heart of the Christian gospel. The scriptures tell us that “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27).

In addition to refraining from evil, true disciples of the Master wear out their lives in the service of others. It was Jesus Himself who said, “And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.” (Matthew 20:27). As always, Jesus, the Chosen Servant, showed us the way, capping His mortal ministry with the supernal sacrifice of His sinless life: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

The ultimate measure of our discipleship is not to be found in professions of piety or in the number of Church positions we have held, but rather in the extent to which we keep Christ’s commandments. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them,” Jesus said, “he it is that loveth me.” (John 14:21). We cannot fully keep His commandments unless we serve others. Without that pure love of Christ, which expresses itself in the care of the less fortunate, whatever else we do, or profess to be, is but “as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1). “Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?” asked Moroni. (Mormon 8:39).

The essence of service is found in the words written on a commemorative tablet located in the southeast corner of the chancel in the cathedral in Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire, England. It is placed near the grave of a remarkable woman named Mary Deacon, who died in 1730 at age 73. Written with that peculiar genius for the language which makes the best of English usage, the felicitous phrase that commemorates her life reads as follows: “To the poor of this city gave her daily bounty, so private as not to be told, so large as scarce to be equaled.”

Those two concepts of privacy and generosity describe what should be the nature and extent of our service to others. Before discussing them, it is to mention that in passing the importance not only of how we serve, but also, why we serve. Though people serve for various reasons, some more noble than others, the highest form of service is that which flows from the pure love of Christ. Such service is given without thought of gain or reward in this world or the next, but simply because the giver loves God and His children. In that consecrated service has found the best of life, the surest road to heaven. Service to others, given in love, solves the divine paradox of Christ’s gospel, that one must lose his or her life to find it (see Matthew 16:25). We lighten our own burdens by taking on those of another. In the process of losing our life in service to others, we find who we are and who Christ is. This is the promise of Jesus and the miracle of service.

This is not suggested in any way that service to others is the only virtue we are to cultivate as disciples of the Master. But service to others is essential if we are to realize and retain the fullness of Christ’s Atonement in our lives. Consider these words of King Benjamin:

"For the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants". [Mosiah 4:26].

Now let us return to those two essential components of true charity: privacy and generosity. Jesus rebuked those whose charity was given ostentatiously, for the aggrandizement of the giver. He was saddened by those whose motives in giving were clouded by a worldly, selfish desire to receive public acclaim for their actions.

He said: "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men." [Matthew 6:1–2].

We can and should be grateful to all who serve others, whatever the honorable motivation of the giver may be, but there is a quiet and gentle joy that comes to those who give anonymously, privately, without thought of or interest in public acclaim or even of public knowledge of their benevolence. These are they who have conquered the selfishness of the natural man. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell has wisely noted, “There is a marked difference between the introspection that focuses on ‘How did I do?’ and the introspection that asks, ‘Did I do enough?'" All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1979], 63.

The second component of service that is under discussion today is that of generosity. As always, Jesus said it best: "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." [Luke 6:38].

Jesus commands us to be generous even with those who oppose us: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in the heaven." [Matthew 5:44–45].

That commandment, to love those who hate us, is one of the most demanding requirements of Christian discipleship. It flies in the face of the “natural man,” who demands blood, revenge, retribution; whose memory of wrongs real or imagined never dims; who sees compassion as weakness and holds forgiveness in contempt. But hard though it is, Jesus still requires such generosity of spirit as part of our service to Him. The Prophet Joseph Smith had a full measure of that spirit of benevolence and forgiveness.

During a time of personal weakness and great troubles for the Saints in Missouri, William W. Phelps betrayed the Prophet Joseph to his enemies. Later, when Phelps in bitter sorrow and repentance wished to return to fellowship in the Church, Joseph freely forgave him. Wrote Joseph: “Come on, dear brother, since the war is past, For friends at first, are friends again at last”. (HC 4:164).

With what, then, are we to be generous as we serve others, in addition to our forgiveness? Certainly, we are to be generous with our time. I can think of no one who gives of himself more fully all day every day than does our beloved prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley. His grueling schedule, which would wear out men many years his junior, along with his constant desire to reach out to all of God’s children and a deep conviction that “all are alike unto God.” (2 Nephi 26:33) combine to make him an extremely effective leader and superb example to all.

Jesus commands us to give generously of our talents in the service of others. In His masterful parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14–30, Jesus spoke of three men to whom had been entrusted varying amounts of talents according to their differing abilities. Two of the servants magnified their talents, increasing that which had been entrusted to them, but the third, too frightened, and perhaps too slothful to act, hid his talent “in the earth” and did nothing with it. The first two were commended by their Lord, but the one who had been untrue to the trust reposed in him was strongly rebuked, and that which he had was given to another.

Jesus expects us to magnify our talents, to be anxiously engaged in our labors, to be more competent and qualified in our service.  “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God”. (Mosiah 2:17).

Jesus commands that we be generous with our substance. Following this, since it's beginnings the Church has organized to assist its members to provide for themselves and others, ensuring their physical, spiritual, social, and emotional welfare. The Church also sponsors humanitarian relief and development projects around the world that benefit others not of our faith. These projects include emergency relief assistance in times of disaster and programs that strengthen the productivity and self-reliance of individuals and families and increase the capacities of communities and institutions to serve others. Hundreds of full-time volunteers with skills and experience in medicine, education, agriculture, business, social work, and so on serve throughout the world.

One of the miracles that happens when we give of our substance is that God provides more. As President Spencer W. Kimball reminded us, “What glorious consequences can flow from mundane acts and from small but deliberate deeds!” (TSWK, 252).

President Brigham Young grew to know that God provides for those who give freely of their substance to others. He wrote: "The first year that I came into this valley I had not flour enough to last my family until harvest, and that I had brought with me, and persons were coming to my house every day for bread. I had the blues about it one day; I went down to the old fort, and by the time I got back to my house I was completely cured. I said to my wife, “Do not let a person come here for food and go away empty handed, for if you do we shall suffer before harvest; but if you give to every individual that comes we shall have enough to last us through."

Do you believe that principle? I know it is true, because I have proven it so many times. Jesus commands us to be generous with our testimonies of Him and His gospel. One of the most severe rebukes given by the Lord in this dispensation was uttered by the Savior to missionaries who would not fulfill their sacred obligations to bear testimony:

"But some of the people not open their mouths, but hide the talent which have been given unto them, because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them."

A tender story from our early pioneer days in the American South illustrates the power of testimony. A century ago, feelings of misunderstanding and intolerance toward the Latter-day Saints periodically erupted into senseless violence in the South, with eight murders and many brutal assaults on our missionaries or local priesthood leaders from 1879 to 1900. During the summer of 1878, Elder Frank Croft, a missionary in northern Alabama, was forcibly taken against his will by “armed and vicious men” to be whipped. He was tied to a tree for that purpose. In the struggle a letter from his mother fell from Elder Croft’s pocket. The leader of the mob picked it up and read from it:

“Surely, my boy, they who are mistreating you Elders know not what they do or they would not do it. Sometime, somewhere, they will understand and then they will regret their action and they will honor you for the glorious work you are doing. So be patient, my son; love those who mistreat you and say all manner of evil against you and the Lord will bless you and magnify you in their eyes and your mission will be gloriously successful. Remember also, my son, that day and night, your mother is praying for you always."

[The leader of the mob read the whole letter to himself and then said to his companions:] “Men, after reading this Mormon’s mother’s letter, I just can’t go ahead with the job. Maybe we had better let him go.” [“A Mother’s Letter Saves Her Son’s Life,” in chapter 22 of Bryant S. Hinckley, The Faith of Our Pioneer Fathers, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1956, 257–59]. They did indeed let Elder Croft go unharmed, his life spared by a mother’s plea for her son.

This advice given by the Savior to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1829 applies still in our day: "Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward." Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. [D&C 6:33–34].

President Spencer W. Kimball pointed out that “the most vital thing we can do is to express our testimonies through service, which will, in turn, produce spiritual growth, greater commitment, and a greater capacity to keep the commandments”. (TSWK, 254).

In the final analysis, then, the greatest testimony we can ever give to others is an exemplary life devoted to service. “Service,” said President Marion G. Romney, “is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made” (CR, October 1982, 135; or “The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance,” Ensign, November 1982, 93).

Finally, Jesus asks us to be generous with our love. These simple words from a beloved hymn express that sweet sentiment well: "Because I have been blessed by thy great love, dear Lord,
I’ll share thy love again, according to thy word. I shall give love to those in need; I’ll show that love by word and deed:
Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed."
[“Because I Have Been Given Much". Hymns 1985, no. 219]

May each of us “be gentle and loving in deed and in thought, For these are the things Jesus taught” (“I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus,” Songbook, 78–79).

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Paramhans Jiddanand