There is no safety in the scriptures.
That was the theme, right? [I turned to the bishopric here.] How the scriptures are dangerous to us?
In fact, the theme is safety in the scriptures, but I’d like to suggest that if you think the scriptures are safe, if you think that they are there to ensure that you feel comfortable, secure and at peace with who you are and the way you lead your life, you aren’t reading them well enough yet.
I think that deserves some explanation.
That there is safety in the scriptures is, in fact, true. But let’s be clear that the enemy from which the scriptures protect us is ourselves.
The natural man, the scriptures teach us, is the enemy of God. And who or what is the natural man? We need only look in the mirror. We need only consider the moods that hit us, affected by weather, affected by sleep, affected by other drivers on the road, affected by the way our spouse hangs the toilet paper, affected by the way our children behave in public, or at bedtime.
The natural man is the one who is most often feeling embarrassment, frustration or anger.
The natural man is also the one who gets overly giddy, who laughs too loud, who likes to let others know how optimistic or positive he or she is, who takes pride in his or her accomplishments, who believes that his or her heritage, talents, intelligence, or other gifts, should attract special treatment or consideration, who is most happy especially when things are going his or her way, and seeks out who to blame when things are not.
The natural man never entirely takes responsibility.
The natural man never entirely acknowledges his faults.
The natural man is willfully unconscious of his or her own racism, sexism, or any other attitude of superiority.
The natural man takes advantage of others, is assured of his or her own rightness before others, is impatient or unkind, or, conversely, acts and is attracted to the role of the martyr, taking pride in longsuffering for others.
The natural man cares about whether he or she knows more than others, about science, about literature, about life and how to live it, even about the gospel.
The natural man wonders if his neighbor pays tithes the right way, notices what others are wearing at church, and complains about people who are late, loud or lazy.
We can barely avoid being the natural man.
We are here, in part – in large part, perhaps – to learn how to control this creature, and direct his ways, powers, talents and abilities for good.
There are, King Benjamin taught his people, “divers ways and means” of sinning, “even so many [he said] that I cannot number them.” [Mosiah 4:29]
So, the scriptures, St. Paul wrote to the young bishop, Timothy, are given “for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” not that the man of nature may be comforted, safe or at peace, but “that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” [2 Timothy 3:16-17]
To become the “man of God”, we must be willing to submit our natural urges, desires, talents, traits and tendencies to the will of God. In inviting and instructing us to do this, the intention of the scriptures is to make us thoroughly uncomfortable with the natural man, to disturb our peace in our prosperity, and to undermine our sense of self-satisfied or self-sufficient security.
The scriptures are, in fact, on the attack.
Sometimes, the scriptures are likened to the Liahona, that odd device found by Lehi and his family, and taken by them to be a gift from God to direct them to the promised land.
As they were faithful in keeping the commandments, the Liahona provided them with instructions. As they followed those instructions, they were guided to where they needed to be.
But was the way that was given to them always peaceful, prosperous, comfortable and kind?
Shortly after Nephi tells us, “we did follow the directions of the [Liahona], which led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness,” he also tells us, “our families [were] much fatigued, because of their journeying… [and] their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness.” [1 Nephi 16:16-20]
Thanks for making the journey easy, Liahona.
No, for the natural man, a life’s journey spent heeding the directions in the scriptures, is not easy.
It’s not easy to put aside jealousy, anger, and selfishness; it’s no cake walk to seek to live by the principles of mercy and justice, to bridle your passions, curb your tongue, and serve others with a willing heart. For the natural man, all of these ideas are opposed to his immediate and native inclinations.
At the same, each of us who here carries the burden of being under the sway and weight of the natural man, is also, in the very core of our being, an eternal creature of light, a son or daughter of God, and we carry within us the spark of a pure and divine existence.
So another role of the scriptures is to help us find and sustain that spark, and to live by its loving light, rather than by the legacy of our natural inclinations toward selfishness and sin.
The scriptures tell us stories that show us the worst and the best of human existence. They show us both the jealous and the just, the selfish and the spiritual, the murderers and the merciful. We learn by them to recognize what is right and what is wrong, what leads to death and damnation, and what leads us into life eternal.
Most importantly, each book, chapter and phrase within the scriptures is part of a witness of the divine role of Jesus Christ, upon whom our salvation depends more thoroughly than on anything or anyone of any kind at all, even more than all the scriptures in the world.
So, as we read and learn to love the often direct and dangerously disciplining doctrines set out in sacred text, we should always keep in mind that they are means to an end which is above and beyond them.
Read them to learn how the natural man is so easily beset by sin and temptation. Read them to learn how good intentions can bring bad results; how our limited knowledge and understanding can lead to error; how easily even some of the best of us can fall into transgression or sin affecting not just ourselves, but the lives, hopes and happiness of others.
Read them to learn what righteousness looks like. Read them to discover the purpose of life, and the promises of eternity. Read them to be reminded that family, friendship, decency, honesty, kindness, justice, mercy, understanding, faith and hope, charity and love, are not just words to write on greeting cards, but qualities of life and living that we not only can but must develop and improve upon in every way, every day.
But read them most to become acquainted with the God whose word inspired them. Read them for the opportunity that reading them gives to feel His presence, here and now, through the power of His Holy Spirit, conveyed to us by the gift of the Holy Ghost. Read them to discover the qualities and character of Jesus Christ, who is our standard in this life, and our exemplar for all eternity; the one whose ministry we are to model, and whose gift of an atoning sacrifice we are to learn to accept.
For each of us, there are different scriptures that, at different times of our lives, have more meaning or impact. For example, it was only after becoming a father, and having reached that stage where my children were old enough to decide for themselves the kinds of life they would live, having experienced both joy and disappointment with both them and myself in relation to those things, that I finally began to empathize with the prophet Lehi, and the scriptures written about him suddenly touched me in ways I hadn’t even contemplated before. I learned that in each stage of life, the scriptures may open to us in entirely new ways, providing new instructions, insights, reprimands, corrections, and inspiration.
But there are also some scriptures that have eternally the same, singular meaning. Those are the verses and chapters which speak most directly about Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us. So, in closing, rather than continue to talk about the scriptures, I would like to share with you the one passage of scripture that has, for me, never changed in meaning or depth, but is as profound and important a scripture as I have ever found. I think you will all know this one. It comes from the prophet Isaiah, and reads like this:
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? |
I testify that the scriptures – the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and many of the sayings of our living prophets that are heard at every general conference – bless us with the opportunity to feel discomfort with who we are and what we are doing; that they point us in the direction we should look – to our Lord Jesus Christ – and the path we should follow through the wilderness of this life – his example, and his grace – and that if we pay heed to them and suffer the uneasiness of being changed from our natural state to a spiritual one, we will, eventually, feel peace and joy, and will recognize how safety from sin, error and the lonely eternity of damnation, were always the gifts that they provided. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.