Brothers and sisters Aloha.
It is my humbling pleasure to be with you this day in this capacity as your devotional speaker. I wish however to emphasize the word 'humbling' over the word 'pleasure.' I'm so appreciative of my beautiful and talented wife, Jennifer, for her introduction and music, and also for my cherished colleague Dave Kammerer for helping set the tone for my words today. I'm appreciative as well of the symbolism that their instrumental selection provides for my chosen topic.
For more than seven years now, I have provided musical selections in this setting to help set the tone for our devotional speakers. I know first hand of the thought and care that goes into each musical performance and I honor those that are called upon for this service and appreciate their efforts and hours of practice to offer an acceptable gift to the Lord. I assure you that I am much more comfortable in the role as devotional musician than I am as speaker and I pray that my words may have as much meaning for you this day as I hope that my music has had for you in the past.
Sometime back, while reading in the Book of Mormon, I came across a familiar word in an expression that caused me to ponder, re-read, and cross-reference for further understanding and comparison. The familiar word to me, at least in my line of work, was "instrument" as used in the expression "an instrument in the hands of God" or "an instrument in His hands." I'd like to begin today by reading three scriptures where this expression occurs and then comment on what I pondered. These are not all of the references of this kind in the scriptures, but these are the three that I'd like to explore today. Being an instrumental musician, it may be possible that I am taking the word or its usage a bit too literally, but I pray that you will grant me some license here as I believe an instrumental musician can offer a perhaps "less traveled" perspective on the subject. To underscore the value of the musician perspective, I remind you with humble heart that it is, in fact, an instrumental musician that is one of the very symbols of our religion.
[photo of Angel Moroni atop a temple]
In pondering the topic that I have chosen for myself, the lyrics of a popular 1970's seminary tune kept coming to mind. Some of our faculty that attended seminary in the 1970's might remember. The tune was entitled, "Like Unto Us" and its message was taken from the teachings of the Savior as He taught us to liken the scriptures, or the stories in the scriptures to our lives. Personally, I have remembered this concept all of my life because it was set to music and I could easily internalize its message. This idea of gospel internalization through sacred music is in fact a supporting theme for my topic today which I will address later.
Beginning with my first theme, I present the following scripture and how I have it them to myself. I pray that it may give you cause to ponder as well. The first reference comes from 2 Nephi 1:24. The context of this scripture is when father Lehi is counseling his rebellious sons in a time after they had reached the land of promise following many trials along their journey. Lehi states,
"Rebel no more against your brother [Nephi], whose views have been glorious, and who hath kept the commandments from the time that we left Jerusalem; and who hath been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise; for were it not for him, we must have perished in the wilderness" (2 Nephi 1:24).
In this scripture, one thing that stands out to me is the fact that father Lehi is so clearly aware, and obviously pleased, of the Lord's use of his son Nephi as an instrument in His hands. Truly Nephi is one of the finest examples of the Lord working through His prophets. How pleased and humbled father Lehi must have been to know that he had been influential in the development of such a worthy servant. I believe that Lehi recognized Nephi's mature gospel potential even as Nephi was a boy and that he saw him as the Lord saw him. How he must have devoted great resources for the nurture of this son whom he knew would be a resonator of goodness for the Lord. Of course Lehi loved all of his children, even those that ultimately worked against him, but it was Nephi that became the true instrument for the Lord.
To explore this further, and for a "likening" comparison, in the microcosm, I believe that the relationship between the Lord and His servants such as Nephi is somewhat analogous to that of the relationship between a musical artist and his or her prized instrument. I invite you to draw your own gospel comparisons as I describe to you my perspective of this relationship.
To the musical artist, no possession, at least that can be owned, is more valued than their instrument. It is their voice, or medium for expression. An artist might liken the familiar phrase from the Doctrine and Covenants to read
...whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my [instrument] it is the same. (D&C 1:38)
An instrument is an extremely personal choice for a musician. Many instruments are auditioned, few are chosen. Quality instruments are not necessarily blemish-free. Some are brand new, some are very seasoned, some have a bright timbre, some have a dark and sober tone; all must resonate the sound ideal of the artist's heart in order to be acceptable. Instruments most fully resonate when they are clean. Sometimes artists have a number of prized instruments each for a specific use. In my personal collection, each instrument is valued because of unique tone quality. All have their purpose; some are more useful and versatile than others, but all are considered valuable. To underscore their value in my life, my wife and I are in at least "tongue and cheek" agreement that, in case of fire or calamity, we save the children first then, if time permitting, we save the instruments next.
My second scriptural reference comes from the book of Mosiah. In Mosiah 23:9-10 the followers of Alma have fled before the armies of King Noah into freedom. The people wish for Alma to become their king but he refuses. He recounts how it was only through repentance and a major life change that he was able to bring souls to Christ.
Alma states, "But remember the iniquity of King Noah and his priests; and I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance;
Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his hands in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of his truth" (Mosiah 23:9-10).
One thing to be learned from this scripture is that the repentant soul can be an especially effective instrument in bringing souls unto Christ. Alma was a "diamond in the rough" missionary that needed to have the corrosion of sin stripped away in order to be effective for the Lord's purposes.
Recently I became aware of several old and tattered musical instruments that were headed for disposal. Were it not for the saving hand of a caring musician friend, several instruments would right now be in the landfill. While I personally saved all of the instruments that I thought had value for future restoration, I clearly overlooked at least one in the pile. To my surprise a traveling friend, with different expertise than mine, was able to identify at least one last "diamond in the rough" instrument and he targeted it for immediate restoration. He labored intensively on the instrument stripping away the old finish, cleaning all the small pieces, and replacing the broken parts. When he showed me the instrument after his labor, I could not believe the change. Here I had witnessed, in a relatively brief time, a major value transformation of a seemingly worthless instrument. It was all because the right person with the right knowledge saw the intrinsic value and was prepared act at the opportune time. He not only saved it from disposal but turned it into a sort of pearl of great price.
Relating back to the case of Alma, he was the diamond in the rough instrument. After he believed the words of Abinadi and repented of the abominable things that he had done, the corrosion was removed, the luster of his spirit shined, and the Lord was able to make use of his powerful personality to further His Kingdom. Through the refiner's fire which Alma passed, he became the right servant for the Lord at the opportune time to save many souls.
In the third scriptural example, also from the book of Alma, Ammon is speaking to his brothers and brethren following joyous missionary successes. He glories in the Lord as he realizes and acknowledges that he and his brethren have been used to bring many souls into the fold of God. He states,
"My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason we have to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we started from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?
"...And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.
"Behold, thousands of them (the Lamanites) do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God" (Alma 26:1-4).
While all three of these references contain similarities and differences, truly the bottom line that I wish to emphasis today is that we understand, it is a privilege, and indeed a blessing, and desirable for us to be used as an instrument in God's hands. We must also understand that it takes a clean inner vessel and obedience to the commandments for us to be considered for use in this capacity.
To become an instrument, the issue is not really whether He has a need for us, it is whether we can ready ourselves for His use. As a cook in our family, I have a few favorite pieces of cutlery. When my favorite kitchen knife is dirty, as you would expect, it cannot be used until it is clean. Once it is washed however, it again becomes the first utensil that I use. It does not cease to be my favorite knife when it is unclean, it is simply not usable for a time. I think that the Lord views us much the same way and that it is precisely the reason why He places so much emphasis on repentance in the scriptures. It is the way He has provided for us to keep ourselves clean. As a "fallen people," to use Book of Mormon language, we know that mortality offers many opportunities to tarnish ourselves before the Lord. These actions, which bring misery, are a great focus of the adversary and require a great counter offensive. May we use all of the tools given us by the Lord in this struggle to save ourselves and our fellow man.
As part of keeping the inner vessel clean, I believe in the long-espoused counsel of Elder Boyd K. Packer with regard to keeping a hymn at the ready for our minds to turn to in moments of temptation, times of stress, depression, or rationalization. And although it is a supplementary tool to augment our regular spiritual nourishment obtained from prayer and scripture reading, it can prove invaluable in the fight against the adversary. Music has been a powerful tool since ancient times for use in combating adversarial thoughts, and for praise. Elder Bruce R. McConkie once began an address by simply stating,
"Music is a part of the language of the gods."
From the Old Testament, one recorded example of its use to combat an evil spirit comes from the book of Samuel where David is brought before Saul to help him deal with the great turmoil that surrounded the build up to war with the Philistines. The scripture reads:
"And it came to pass, when the evil spirit which was not of God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him" (1 Samuel 16:23).
In the 16th century, the protestant reformer Martin Luther corroborates the effectiveness of music in this favorite quote of mine:
"Music is a fair and glorious gift from God. Music makes people kinder, gentler, more staid and reasonable. I am persuaded that after theology there is no art that can be placed on a level with music; for besides theology, music is the only art capable of affording peace and joy of heart... the devil flees before the sound of music almost as much as before the word of God."
Early in the 20th century, Elder Melvin J. Ballard, a member of the council of the Twelve (1919-1939) said
If the mood in which you find yourself is distasteful to you, if your spirits are oppressed, overwhelmed with sadness, if you are despondent and lack hope, there is no way by which you may so quickly transform your own feelings as through singing yourself in the atmosphere and spirit you would like to be in.
Think of where your mind went as we sang the opening hymn, The Spirit of God, like a fire is burning. Perhaps it traveled to Kirtland during the early years of the Restoration, or perhaps to the plains of a pioneer journey. Think of where it went next as Sis. Duerden and Bro Kammerer played "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief." Perhaps your mind traveled to Carthage, or perhaps it traveled to a personal memory created from this hymn. For me these two hymns have vastly different mental imagery. How amazing would it be to have the text of each of those hymns internalized.
I believe that most of us have at least a few favorite hymns that have been internalized over the years, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Their message is valuable and relevant and I pray that we will continue to draw on them for strength and not take their message for granted. May we find an increased capacity to utilize sacred hymns to both enrich our lives through joyous praise and to help assist us in the battle against the adversary. I invite you to scan your own memory. If you can think of all of the verses for at least two or three hymns beyond "I am a Child of God" or "We Thank Thee O God for A Prophet" I commend you for already making use of this tool.
Just as music is often contextual, so too is it valuable for us to equip our minds with a variety of sacred texts for different needs. A statement from the First Presidency message in the preface of our hymnbook reads,
"Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns. Hymns move us to repentance and good works, build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end."
Allow me to provide an example of my use of a hymn in context. Before I began speaking to you today, I had the musical prayer in my heart, "I Need Thee Every Hour." I have used this hymn many times in moments of stress such as during times of meditation before an important musical performance. In situations like these, I have not found the hymns "Scatter Sunshine," or "America the Beautiful" as useful. They have their own time and place. I recently learned from a 1994 conference address by Elder Dallin H. Oaks that in the weekly meetings with the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, each person takes a turn selecting an opening hymn. He stated that the hymn "I Need Thee Every Hour" had been the most requested selection by this group since his calling to the Twelve. Think of how the first verse can be comforting in so many situations:
I need thee ev'ry hour
Most gracious Lord.
No tender voice like thine
Can peace afford.
I need thee, oh, I need thee;
Every hour I need thee!
Oh, bless me now my Savior;
I come to thee!
Think of how the second verse may prove useful for the college student that has found themselves in a compromising situation late at night:
I need thee ev'ry hour,
Stay thou nearby.
Temptations lose their pow'r
When thou art nigh.
I need the oh, I need thee;
Every hour I need thee!
Oh, bless me now my Savior;
I come to thee!
A few weeks ago, brother Chad Ford used a wonderful story about Mahatma Ghandi. I asked him if it would be okay to briefly recount the story for my purposes and he graciously agreed. If you'll recall, the story told of a mother that was seeking the Mahatma's assistance in helping her son stop eating sugar. Her son was addicted to sweets which she thought made him hyper and unable to attend school. She hoped Gandhi would tell her son to stop eating sugar as she was sure that her son would listen to the leader. As she made her request, Gandhi paused and then told the woman to come back in one week. The mother and child traveled the long distance to return one week later. At that time, Gandhi took the little boy, sat him on his lap and simply said, "Please do not eat sugar. It is bad for you." A bewildered mother, who had now traveled the difficult journey twice to meet with the Ghandi, asked, "Why didn't you just tell him that last week?" Ghandi smiled and answered patiently, "Last week, I too was still eating sugar."
I loved that story and have tried to make a change for myself because of it. Here's how. As an instrumental musician, I freely admit that my attention in music is much more drawn to the expressive qualities of rhythm, timbre, and melody rather than to text. Song texts have always been a comparative challenge for me. So, in following the advice of Ghandi and in preparation for this devotional, I have taken the occasion the past few weeks to try out the very challenge that I wish to issue to all of you now. That challenge is simply to target a "less familiar" hymn that you think has text that will be helpful to you in the coming days or in the remaining semester. Be prayerful about it and memorize all of the verses. For those of you not musically inclined, understand that this is not necessarily a musical exercise but an exercise in gospel internalization. It may take more than a week or even two, but pursue the task until it is complete. Review the words in your mind during odd moments of down time; call upon it in times of temptation, discouragement, or spiritual fatigue. Although I'm sure results may vary, I testify to you that through this simple exercise of the past few weeks, I have found an increased capacity to love, increased patience, increased ability to deal with stress, and I have found less overall spiritual fatigue. I also testify to you that if you memorize with the right attitude, this hymn can be a source of strength that will stay with you for life.
For me, the hymn of the week has been "Lean on My Ample Arm" Hymn #120:
Lean on My Ample Arm O thou depressed!
And I will bid the storm Cease in thy Breast.
What ever thy lot may be On life's complaining sea
If thou wilt come to me Thou shalt have rest.
Lift up my tearful eyes, Sad heart, to me;
I am the sacrifice Offered for thee.
In me thy pain shall cease, In me is thy release,
In me thou shalt have peace Eternally.
Blessings are abundant right now for my family and me so I don't know why I selected this particular hymn. It is obviously well suited to comfort the weary or console the mourning but I just like its message to help me with my life's small trials. It also helps me feel that the Lord is near as I work out my own salvation and make myself worthy for His purposes. I wish to share a personal experience of how the Lord has blessed my wife and me as we have sought his assistance and prepared ourselves for His use. Along with hymns, in times of need, I also draw upon life's experiences to help bolster my testimony. This is one of those fond experiences that I draw upon to help me remember that the Savior has been instrumental in my life and cares about me.
In the summer of 1997, I was about to complete graduate school and was heavily involved in all the details that go along with completing such a monumental life task. At the same time, I was seeking employment in my field for the coming school year and had been seeking employment on the university level for a year previous. It was late in the hiring season for a prospective university professor and my wife and I were concerned about the possibility of having to seek employment that was not career-related. During the peak of this concern, two events transpired that were most memorable to me as I felt the Lord's hand in assisting my life's direction.
The first event was a strong impression received following a phone call. For some time I had considered a certain occupation that had proven successful for several of my friends. On the day that I finally decided to act, I located the contact numbers that had sat dormant in my files for many months. Following my first phone call toward this end, I was most strongly prompted not to pursue this line of work. Although discouraged, I ceased at that moment from pursing that path.
Not knowing how to proceed, and in an uncharacteristic request of despair, my wife and I decided to call our home teachers for a blessing to help me find employment for the coming year. Our home teachers came and offered such a blessing. The following afternoon, the memorable second event transpired. In the most unexpected way, I received a phone call from a university department chair offering me employment for the coming year. Please understand that this was not a person that I knew or an institution that I had even applied for employment as I was unaware of their need for a person with my expertise. Clearly, this was a blessing from above and I cherish the fact that I was being watched over. My faith was bolstered and life was good. I soon learned, however, that this was only a phase of the training that the Lord had in store for me. The years following that phone call turned out to be extremely challenging years and, at times, I questioned whether I had been divinely directed. It was not until I began work here at BYU-Hawaii in the fall of 2000 that I realized why the Lord had prepared my wife and me in such a way.
From these experiences, I gained personal testimony that blessings come after the trial of faith, after all we can do, and in the Lord's time. I also learned that if we are to be instrumental in His work, He needs to become an instrumental part of our work. He was for me in these critical times of my life and my wife and I are forever thankful for that blessing.
In conclusion, I believe that the Lord truly wishes for all of us to be a part of His heavenly orchestra. And for His work to move forward, He needs many types of instruments. This includes instruments with testimonies that are rooted in meek personalities, bold personalities, artistic personalities, and business-minded personalities. He needs instruments from all parts of the world and from all walks of life as long as they are willing to follow His baton and the guidance of his orchestra president, President Hinckley. I know that since the Savior was a part of the spiritual craftsmanship of our earthly tabernacles, He loves us because of, and not in spite of, our unique abilities and inabilities. It is our duty as members of the Church to keep these earthly instruments clean and well-maintained so that when the Savior gestures His heavenly cues, we are able in those opportune moments to resonate the pure doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I wish to honor my wife this day for her sacrifices in our marriage and in motherhood and I wish to publicly express gratitude to my Father in heaven for her and the two beautiful children that we waited patiently for so many years. I also honor my goodly parents for raising me in the church and providing me with a model for raising my children in the gospel. I love and adore all of these people in my life. I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and bear record of its truthfulness, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.