Brigham Young University-Idaho Combined Stake Fireside
January 3, 2010
Student Discipleship
Elder Ronald J. Hammond
Fifth Quorum of the Seventy
As I watched you arrive this evening, I had the impression that you represent some of the very finest of the rising generation. I am confident you will do much to prepare the world for the Savior’s return. I commend you. I am honored to be with you and profoundly grateful to your University leaders for inviting me to share this evening with you.
Many of you are new to Brigham Young University–Idaho. Sincere congratulations on your acceptance! Now, be careful and do not suppose because you made it here, that you have “made it,” period. Not so! BYU-Idaho is a “Disciple Preparation Center.” Your life thus far has prepared you for that preparation. Now, the journey begins in earnest! I invite you to listen carefully to the following two verses from a poem entitled; “Think Not When You Gather to Zion,” written by Eliza R. Snow [1] and modified for this occasion.
Think not when you gather to BYU-Idaho, all your troubles and trials are through,
That nothing but comfort and pleasure, are waiting on campus for you.
No, no, ‘tis designed as a furnace, all substance and textures to try,
To burn all the wood, hay, and stubble; the gold from the dross purify.
Think not when you gather to BYU-Idaho, the prize and the victory won,
Think not that the warfare has ended, that the work of salvation is done.
No, no for the great Prince of Darkness, a ten-fold exertion will make,
When he sees you approaching the fountain where freely the truth you may take.
To evaluate your scholastic progress, you will take tests. As students, you understand and even expect that. To measure your discipleship development, you will also be tested. During your years at this university, you will see some students getting good grades on discipleship tests. Others will struggle and barely pass. Sadly, a few will fail. Each of you is as capable of passing discipleship tests as any other. You must understand that. You must never forget that. “Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.” [2] Let me explain further…
A priesthood leader judged each of you worthy to attend this special university. Did you notice there were no worthiness questions about attractiveness, car make and model, or wardrobe? Worldly priorities like these may leverage one into great and spacious buildings but not into the Lord’s university.
Here, discipleship, the willingness to submit to God, is the qualifier. Discipleship starts every student out on equal ground with every other. “Or in fine,” Alma taught, “in the first place they were on the same standing with their brethren.” [3] It is given to each one of you to choose for yourself if yes, or no, or to what degree you will submit your will to God’s.
That, brothers and sisters, is what this special university is all about. Truth be known, you may receive a diploma simply by staying worthy and filling course requirements but, you will never be a true Brigham Young University–Idaho graduate until your very heart beats to the rhythm, “Thy will, not mine, Thy will, not mine…” – the soul cry of the true disciple of Christ!
STUDENT DISCIPLESHIP
This evening I will speak concerning “student discipleship.” What you receive specifically about what you need individually from this fireside will come from the Holy Ghost. What you hear that is not spoken will be the most important message you take home.
If you will, beginning this moment, reverently think about that Holy Being to whom you have declared your discipleship you will feel the Spirit’s presence. Remembering Jesus always, always invites the Spirit. [4] It may help you to write down the phrase, “To become a better disciple of Christ, I will…” and then prayerfully invite the Holy Ghost to help you finish the sentence.
Student discipleship implies student of discipleship and that refers to all of us. My message therefore, applies to all of us students engaged in the gospel curriculum of being perfected in Christ. We have much to learn. A lifetime and more of study and application are needed for us to become “even as he is.” But, trying to be like Jesus, and succeeding, will forever be, the true disciple’s ultimate objective. Brothers and sisters, “just men made perfect” are simply disciples who allow their discipleship to do for them and to them what it was designed to do.
Our subject this evening has many dimensions. I will discuss four. If you are perceptive, you will notice that they do not have rigid boundaries but weave and inter-weave, each one into the others. That is not coincidental. Student discipleship is:
- Continuous
- Unconditional
- Compassionate
- Submissive
CONTINUOUS STUDENT DISCIPLESHIP
In his Tree of Life vision, Lehi taught a fundamental lesson about the first dimension: continuous student discipleship.
And it came to pass that I beheld others [who did] press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.
And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost. [5]
Those same scoffing high rise residents also pointed the finger of scorn at Nephi and others who were partaking of the fruit, but, they heeded them not. [6]
Of the disciples who eventually partook of the fruit, some fell, some stood. What made the difference? The answer is a “tense” thing – past-perfect tense versus past-progressive. Those who fell away were they who “had tasted” but stopped. Those who stayed firm, on the other hand, “were partaking.” They tasted…and kept eating…and lived.
Jesus taught us to pray, “give us this day, our daily bread.” [7] Physical and spiritual nourishment are better given in daily doses than in huge, single-dose applications - as suggested in the “Parable of the Apple Tree.”
THE PARABLE OF THE APPLE TREE
The man loved fresh apples and so determined to plant his own tree and enjoy a yearly harvest. He learned what he could about nurturing an apple tree for the first two years before it produces fruit. He chose the spot, carefully planted the tree, and proceeded to prune it and water it – enough for two years. He dumped fertilizer around it, sufficient for two years. He applied two year’s worth of pesticide spray. And then, he left for two years. Upon returning, he saw, instead of a fruit bearing apple tree, a dried and lifeless one. He wept and said, “What could I have done more for my apple tree? Did I not prune it and fertilize it and water it?” [8]
To disciples in his day and ours, Alma asked the question of questions, “And now behold, I say unto you; my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel to do so now?” [9] Discipleship, like nurturing trees, is not a one time application, but a steady installment of tender care and attention. Not, “been there, done that” but rather, “still here, still doing!”
You will soon learn, if you have not already, that continuous discipleship is both taught and expected at Brigham Young University–Idaho. Brothers and sisters, endorsement is not a once-per-semester pronouncement of worthiness, but rather a continuous endorse-ability every day of every semester. And that applies to all – each student, every administrator, instructor, and employee. “If ye have once declared worthiness to attend BYU—Idaho, I would ask, can ye feel to do so now?” is a question you must ask yourself several times every day.
Alma the Younger commended his son, Shiblon, saying, “And now…I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness…unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth…even so I hope that you will continue…” [10]
With heart and signature, each of you has committed to steady faithfulness. That commitment is required of every entering and every returning student. Therefore, our beloved young associates, as you have commenced, even so may you continue. By definition, true discipleship must be continuous. God cannot look upon intermittence with the least degree of allowance. [11]
Chronicling the majestic, expansive work of creation, Abraham wrote, “And the Gods pronounced the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they, “great Waters; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed.” [12] There followed grass and tree, herb and seed, lights in the expanse of heaven, sea creatures, fowls of the air, animals of the earth, and laws to sustain life, and the Gods saw that all these would obey.
Happily for us, the scripture does not read, “…and the Gods saw that they were obeyed – occasionally, from time to time.”
Ponder, for example, what would happen if gravity became unpredictable or if the sun were to shine sometimes, every once in a while.
How would your life change if the commandments were intermittent? “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself – oh, and check the bulletin board in the Manwaring Center to see if that applies today.” Or, “Thou shalt not steal…every other week.”
And what of constancy in relationships? How would you feel about a marriage partner who says, “I love you today, but we’ll see about tomorrow. Well did James teach, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” [13]
Laws that govern all creation are continuous. Even the very notion that they could be “on again, off again” is unsettling. And yet, the devil would have you believe that obedience to God’s laws and His prophets can be intermittent and still be acceptable. Brothers and sisters, I witness and the Spirit confirms that that simply is not so. Should the thought ever enter your mind that counsel from bishops or stake presidents can be occasionally observed – perish the thought! It is not of God. If someone were to suggest that university guidelines apply only to some and only some of the time, “Get thee behind me!” would be an appropriate reply. It would surely be your safest.
THE HONOR CODE – CONTINUOUS DISCIPLESHIP APPLICATION
The BYU-Idaho Honor Code is an application of and an opportunity to demonstrate continuous student discipleship. This Honor Code is not a campus law, enforceable only when one is on school property or being watched. Rather, it is an opportunity for all of us, students, faculty, and administration alike, to demonstrate continuous allegiance to the Lord – on or off campus, in public or unobserved.
An enrolled BYU-Idaho student disciple for example, does not become “un-enrolled,” simply because he or she steps off campus. Nor is it enough to be kind and solicitous of others’ well-being when on campus only to turn grumpy and self-absorbed at a grocery store or gas station downtown.
It is not enough to be modest in dress, clean shaven, and pure in thought while at the Lord’s university and then adopt lower standards when off campus. Because you became a disciple of Christ by entering into covenants, you cannot be occasional with discipleship without also being occasional with covenants. And, referring to covenants, “occasional” is just another word for “broken.” Student discipleship implies serving God with all your heart, might, mind, and strength and doing so always at all times, and always in all places, and always in all company!
Brothers and sisters, I testify that student discipleship attitudes and patterns formed while at Brigham Young University – Idaho will have more to do with who you marry, how you marry, how you raise your children, where you live, how you live, Church membership vitality, enduring to the end in faithfulness, in fact more to do with every aspect of your life, than you will ever suppose until looking back from the vantage point of years to come.
UNCONDITIONAL STUDENT DISCIPLESHIP
The second dimension – Luke’s narrative of Jesus’ Gethsemane experience reveals a heartening pattern concerning unconditional discipleship. Pressed upon by the terrible burden of the atonement, Jesus prayed, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will but thine, be done.” [14] The very next verse reads, “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.” The Father’s will…then the Father’s help. The help came only after the heart yielded but significantly, it came immediately thereafter.
Heavenly Father is eager to help you but only in ways that will be good for you. You could hardly expect Him to send angels to speed you along your way on the wrong road or to help you succeed in doing something that would bring unhappiness! The Gethsemane pattern that Jesus taught applies to you, “The Father’s will…then the Father’s help.” His help will come only after your heart is yielded but, significantly, it will come immediately – in the very next verse of your own life’s narrative!
Challenging experiences come to all of us. “We will prove them herewith…” is well underway here at BYU-Idaho. As an instructor, I have watched and marveled as students like you have had mountain waves [15] break upon them. And like you, their unconditional discipleship has led them all the way from “Master the tempest is raging!” to, “Peace, peace, be still.” Let me tell you of one such couple. The husband is still enrolled. You will see both of them on campus. I will not disclose who they are. That way everyone will seem special, because it could be anyone you see.
A little over two years ago, this recently married couple discovered they were expecting their first baby. Early in the pregnancy ultrasounds revealed that part of the intestine was developing outside the body, a condition known as gastroschisis (gas-tro-ski’-sis). Medical professionals outside the Rexburg area were concerned about the severity of the deformity.
Like you, however, this young husband and wife were student disciples and their allegiance to Christ was unconditional. “Father, whatever you want is what we want.” And so they prayed and they fasted, they prayed and they hoped. The baby was born in Primary Children’s Hospital. Though serious, the deformity was miraculously much less extensive than diagnostic evaluations had indicated. Reparative surgery was done and the baby boy began to heal.
Last year, the couple’s prayers were again answered. Another baby was on its way, this time, a little girl. By inspiration, a name was chosen and preparations for her arrival were lovingly made.
At a graveside service just six days ago, the young father bowed his head and through his tears, dedicated the grave of their precious daughter who was born lifeless on Christmas Eve.
So like this young couple are so many of you. Through tear and trial, you preserve with all of your heart, the uncondition-ality of your discipleship. And the Lord who still looketh on the heart [16] sees your sincerity and immediately sends angels from heaven to strengthen you. If He did not, you could not possibly, as has this young couple, bear your Gethsemane burdens with such spiritual dignity.
Sooner or later those who are serious about eternal life must, from the very depth of their being, yield everything to God. “There it is Father, all of it, on the altar. My expectations, demands and perceived entitlements, my health, my wealth, my position, titles, and good name, my spouse, my children, my life – there it is. It is not Thine for the asking…it is Thine – period, without the asking. I give it all to Thee.”
But then, even as you speak, you will wince a bit realizing that all these were already His, His to give and His to take. Maybe then – maybe not – but in due time if you are true to your intentions, the Spirit will lead you from “mine, mine!,” to “Father, all my heart I give Thee, all my service shall be Thine!” [17] and in so doing, you will have yielded your will to God…the highest expression of your student discipleship.
Brothers and sisters, you will need heaven’s help if you are to succeed here at school and afterwards. You cannot do it alone. I invite you to search your heart and pray that you can put off any resistance toward any commandment, guideline, or expectation the Lord has given to BYU-Idaho student disciples. Your unconditional giving to Him will nurture His unimpeded giving to you – His Spirit, His guidance, His power, His peace. I know that to be true. I witness that it is so.
COMPASSIONATE STUDENT DISCIPLESHIP
Third – Compassionate student discipleship: Integral to student discipleship is a covenant to seek out and help those in need. Learn to live that principle well. Student discipleship will not let us turn our heads, drop our eyes, or cross to the other side of the street when people in need are nearby – no exceptions, no options.
A document entitled, “Leadership Training Emphasis” was introduced to the Church in September 1995. In the intervening nearly 15 years it was the definitive statement on what every Church leader’s focus should be. In December 2009, the document was revised with the following phrase added, “…and assist the poor and needy in the Lord’s way.” [18]
In the December 10, 2009 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune was an article entitled - "New LDS emphasis: Care for the needy." A few lines from the article...
“Compassion for the elderly and infirm that has come to characterize Thomas S. Monson's ministry soon will be embraced more fully by the worldwide church he leads.
The LDS Church is adding ‘to care for the poor and needy’ to its longstanding ‘threefold mission,’ [soon to be called ‘purposes’] which is to preach the LDS gospel, purify members' lives and provide saving ordinances such as baptism to those who have died.”
You are not a disciple just so you can follow Jesus, but so you can lead others to Him as well. The Master’s best followers are also His best leaders. Brothers and sisters, the strait and narrow path invariably leads past the poor and the needy. When Jesus says, “Come, follow me,” you know where He is going and who He is going to see. If you really want to see who needs you most, move away from the mirror and over to the window. Behold the poor and the needy! Opportunities aplenty, enough for many lifetimes!
THE POOR AND NEEDY WITH YOU ALWAYS
Why would those who are serious about discipleship development also be serious about caring for those in need? Jesus explained to his apostles, “For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good.” [19]
Why will we always have the sick and infirm among us, not to mention folks with flat tires and friends who turn against them? Why these and many more in a seemingly endless line of people with challenges?
Some day, perhaps when we see more clearly than we now do – or now can – we will appreciate how much those who needed us did for us. We need the needy. When they can give us nothing else, they can still give us the opportunity to serve.
As student disciples, your divine nature yearns to reach out to others and lift them up. I promise that not one day will go by this semester but what you will see someone in need. The poor and the needy do not always wear rags and look malnourished. If you look, you will see them – poor wayfaring men and women of grief, of heartache, of poor test grade, failed relationship, low self esteem, sagging hope, and more…who will often cross you on your way. Your disciple’s heart will want to do something for them and you will do your best to give them what you can.
And what will be the result? Will you succeed in succoring some? Surely you will. But, at the end of each day, notwithstanding your best effort, you will likely remember some you just could not or did not get to. Thus, unaided they move on, life’s load one day heavier. If you do not understand the Lord’s purpose in what is happening, you may become discouraged, wondering if it is all in vain.
What you must not overlook is what is happening to you, who you are becoming, while you are about the serious business of lifting arms and strengthening feeble knees. [20] For their labor the priests in Alma’s day were to receive…grace. [21] In the process of doing what your discipleship demands of you, that is – praying, weeping, yearning, pondering, fasting, giving, and then giving some more to those in need…you will receive grace too.
It is not in spite of the poor and needy that your discipleship will deepen; it is because of them – a tender case of we without them cannot be made perfect. [22] For your labor you modern day good Samaritan’s receive the enabling power by which you can improve your student discipleship and eventually be perfected in Christ.
To the wounded and the weary, I would show a gentle heart is a day after day after day baptismal covenant. The very first ordinance of the gospel is received by the very first covenants including seeking out the poor and the needy. As Latter-day Saints, we are expected to bear one another’s burdens, mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those in need of comfort, [23] compassionate disciples of Christ just trying to practice what His prophets preach!
SUBMISSIVE STUDENT DISCIPLESHIP
Fourth – Submissive student discipleship:
The year: 41 b.c. The place: Zarahemla and regions round about. The situation: the more humble part of the people suffering great persecutions and wading through much affliction. “Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts to God.” [24]
Joy, consolation, purification and sanctification! How? How could they, given the persecution and affliction and all the day to day trials those surely suggest, how could joy and consolation fill their souls all the way to sanctification?
The answer is lofty. It is at the heart of the Savior’s atonement and the very essence of discipleship. Simply said, they yielded their hearts to God who then bestowed upon them peace, consolation, and hope – fruits which Christ’s atonement made available and which their submission made accessible.
Many are the scriptural examples of disciples yielding their hearts to God in the most trying of times. One of the most touching is the Book of Mormon account of Amulek. [25]
Obedient Amulek received the prophet Alma, into his house and submissive Amulek fed and cared for him many days saying, “I know that thou [Alma] wilt be a blessing unto me and my house.” Yielding Amulek went forth to preach and as he did he said of Alma, “he hath blessed mine house, he hath blessed me, and my women, and my children, and my father and my kinsfolk; yea, even all my kindred hath he blessed,
Blessed?! Within a year, obedient Amulek had been imprisoned and submissive Amulek had forsaken all his gold, and silver, and his precious things and yielding Amulek had been rejected by those who were once his friends and also by his father and his kindred. Amulek was taken to the place of martyrdom to witness the destruction of the “believers.” Assuming that his wife and children did not deny their faith, then when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were being consumed in the fire, he was watching the very murder of his own family. And when he groaned to Alma, “How can we witness this awful scene?” he was really, really feeling those words!
In what for him, surely must have amounted to his own Gethsemane nightmare, Amulek did what all true disciples must do when called upon to do so…he bowed his head and through his tears, yielded his heart to God. How? It seems beyond mortal capacity. And it was. His strength did not come from man nor man’s sorely limited understanding. Amulek’s example would be and his strength surely was the Lord, Jesus Christ.
No crown of thorns, no cruel cross,
Could make our great Redeemer shun;
He counted his own will but naught,
Jesus set the example and invites us to follow saying, “that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do” [27] – “Thy will, not mine.”
Like Amulek and like so many others in so many times and places, you student disciples here this evening have been invited and will be expected to yield your hearts to God and to do so in days both wonderful and terrible.
Surely there were 18 to 30 year-old saints in 41 B.C. Zarahemla. Their challenges were probably quite similar to your own. They likely struggled to get an education, lamented over the scarcity of well-paying jobs, fought back tears on bad-hair days, labored by day and by night in Church callings, and fought off temptations assailing from all sides. Some sought mightily to find and marry the right kind of person. Others, having married, then struggled to pay rent and maternity bills and to buy enough 1st Century b. c. disposable diaper equivalents to get them by till their next paycheck.
Your challenges may be similar but you will face them in a day when the intensity and sophistication of Satan’s labors will be as they have never been before. You will see war on a scale that your counterparts in 41 b. c. never saw. You will see iniquity become more tolerated and more celebrated. You will experience more intense persecution, more natural calamities, and more unrestrained attacks on marriage and family than anyone in ancient America could ever have imagined.
Just as you read of them in Zarahemla now, so will others in the future read about you, and I am confident that it will be some of the best student discipleship reading ever produced. And should any in that coming day wonder how you possibly did all you did notwithstanding the powers opposing you, they will understand when they read, “Nevertheless, this generation of student disciples of 2010 did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts to God.”
CONCLUSION
Brothers and sisters, a welcome to Brigham Young University–Idaho is also a welcome to student discipleship. Two ends of the same stick. That discipleship has already begun. Continuous, unconditional, compassionate, submissive – every day will see you engaged in, struggling with, and being blessed by one or more dimensions of student discipleship. And, if you are obedient and if you are patient and diligent, at some point the Spirit will give you a sacred glimpse into what these three or four years are really all about. Then you will see, perhaps for the first time, that student discipleship is not about earning the highest degree this university can confer but about inheriting the highest degree of glory God can give.
And in this, as in every other upward, worthy endeavor, I witness that Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten of the Father, is your perfect example of student discipleship. He marked the path and led the way... [28] the way to the yielded heart. I so testify as I express my love for and confidence in each of you…in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.