A More Excellent Way

In reading and pondering the "Sermon on the Mount," I was struck by the contrast of the Savior's injunctions on righteous living and the temptations He endured from the hands of Satan.

Following forty days of fasting, Jesus was met by Satan who tempted him saying, "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread" (Matt 4:3). Jesus answered, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (vs. 4). In the next chapter, Jesus teaches, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled" (vs6). Where Satan appealed to corporal appetites that can be sated but never satisfied, Jesus teaches us how to live so that we will always be filled. It starts with a recognition that we are not yet as we will become. If we desire with all our hearts to be who He knows we can become, he will feed us.

Satan issued his second attempt, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” By throwing himself off the pinnacle of the temple in such a fashion, Jesus would have drawn the admiration of the people but would do so in a way that would put himself at a level above the rest. Salvation is not a ranking. We don’t get to Heaven by being better than someone else. Consider Jesus words on the mount, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt 5:4). Meekness is not weakness. In the words of President Uchtdorf, “We don’t discover [meekness] by thinking less of ourselves; we discover [meekness] by thinking less about ourselves” (October Conference 2010, “meekness substituted for humility”). Meekness is a recognition that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father. We all have weakness but within us is the seed of deity. We access our potential as we follow the Savior, utilizing his atoning sacrifice in our life.

Satan’s last attempt to lure Christ was to promise him the riches of the world. “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matt 4:8-9). Contrast that with the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3). Being poor in spirit means that we recognize that we are in need of the Savior. As we choose to follow Him and accept his gospel we are promised his spirit. Our poverty is transformed by his wealth. We are promised that “all that [the] Father shall be given unto [us]” (Doctrine & Covenants 84: 38).

After teaching us of hungering after righteousness, of being meek and poor in spirit, Jesus then commands us, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect” (Matt 5: 48). The seeming contradiction is resolved in our ability to do so through accepting his atoning sacrifice in our life. This perfecting process is explained beautifully in the closing words of the Book of Mormon, “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot” (Moroni 10:32-33).

Surely, as the Prophet Moroni explained, “in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way” (Ether 12: 11).

And They Straightway Left Their Nets

As Jesus began his ministry, he invited men to follow him. I love the story of Peter and his brethren. They had been out fishing all night and were surely tired and worn out but had returned with nothing for their labor. Cleaning their nets for another day, Jesus came and first asked if he could sit in the boat a little off the shore and teach the people who had thronged to see him. After he was done preaching, he turned to Peter, telling him to launch out again and drop his nets. I'm sure Peter wondered what the son of a carpenter could tell him about fishing. By all accounts Peter was very successful in his trade, owning two ships that he governed. Sighing, he gathered his men, put the freshly cleaned nets back in the ship and obeyed. Of course, we know that when they were let down, they were immediately filled to the point of breaking and required the assistance of all they could find. Realizing he was blessed beyond the measure of his faith, Peter cried out, "I am a sinful man." Jesus then told him that from henceforth they would be fishers of men, and "they straightway left their nets."

I am grateful to know men and women who like the ancient apostles have willingly given up all that they have to follow the Lord. I, like Peter, feel that I have been blessed beyond measure. I have been thinking of what nets I have in my life that keep me from being the disciple that Jesus would have me be. Let me share two thoughts that I have had, taken from outstanding talks given at my church this Sunday.

The first is the net of forgiveness. A woman in my congregation who has felt betrayed by her father has battled with her emotions and the ability to forgive him. By all accounts his actions are deplorable and worthy of condemnation. She spoke of her struggle to reach out to the Savior and through his atonement, forgive him. In a very powerful way, she taught me of His ability to take away our pains, even when caused by someone else. Not only pain, he takes away our bitterness and rage. Her forgiveness does not mean that she says, "it's OK, I forgive you." It is not OK, but she can feel remorse for his actions without letting it affect her ability to love the man. She showed us one way that we can truly leave our nets and follow Him.

The second net is that of consecration. Being the day before Valentine's day our next speaker spoke of the relationship that a husband has with his wife. Using Paul's text from the fifth chapter of Ephesians, he reminded us that our relationship with our spouse should be the same as Jesus' relationship with us, the church. He gave all for us. In our church we are asked to live the law of consecration in our families. The law of consecration is to give all our possessions to the church, as in the days of Peter after the Pentecost when the saints "had all things in common." Though we are not yet asked to do that, we are aked to have all things in common in our families. It is not a "50/50" relationship. If we both give 100% of each other to the cause, we'll get much more in return. As such, the nets of our material goods will bind us together instead of creating dividing boundaries between us. It left me thinking of how I can more fully give of myself to my wife. My material possessions don't bother me at all, they have long since been "ours" rather than "mine" and "hers." My heart and desires I pledge to her but I can do better... and I will.