Ordinances
Yesterday in our temple class, we began the lesson which talks about ordinances and covenants. We drill a lot in lessons and classes on, "What is a covenant?" A covenant is an agreement or a contract between two parties which involves promised performance on both sides, and in gospel terms, it means that we promise God certain points of obedience, and He answers us with promises of blessings. He never breaks those covenants--if they fall apart it's because we break our end.
We don't routinely delve into the meanings of ordinances as fully, we tend to glide by them. We emphasize that ordinances must be performed, that they are required of God and are obtained only through his priesthood, which is the authority of man to act in His name. We list the standard ordinances, but we stop short I think at times. It's easy to go on automatic and not recognize how deep the meaning goes.We have had the opportunity to stop and think more deeply as we prepare to answer questions or bring understanding.
I have come to this definition of an ordinance: an ordinance is a physical performance of an eternal principle, done under the authority and keys of the priesthood. Some ordinances, termed saving ordinances, are necessary for our salvation. These are the ordinances performed in the temples. Baptism, confirmation, ordination for the brethren, endowment, sealings. They must be performed for each of us.
Other ordinances are performed as needed for our comfort and fellowship as Saints. Blessing and naming babies falls into this category. We do not name and bless an older child when a family comes into the Church. Administering to the sick is an ordinance, but if you never receive a priesthood blessing it won't keep you out of the celestial kingdom. Brigham Young said that resurrection is a priesthood ordinance, which we do not have the keys to in this world, but they will be received in the next. That can kind of blow your mind today! The sacrament, which we receive weekly in our Sunday meetings, is an ordinance which offers us a renewal of our baptism covenants, and it's critical to our process of focusing, renewing our intent and efforts to keep the commandments and walk in the Spirit, but it is the baptism, the original ordinance, which makes it effective for us.
The concept of ordinances is part of what sets the restored gospel of Jesus Christ apart from all the other professions of faith in the world. The Lord told Joseph Smith, Wherefore he that prayeth, whose spirit is contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey mine ordinances. (Doctrine & Covenants 52:15) Section 84, speaking of the Melchizadek priesthood, declares:
19 And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
Ordinances belong to this life; they are a part of mortality. We have come here to become physical beings--to gain a body-- and we have to make witness of our faith and obedience in physical ways. I don't understand all the reasons why that is, but the linkage is powerful. (Think how much touch matters.) These ordinances are given to us as the keys of our progression towards God. Even in behalf of the dead, it must be mortal beings who perform the work in the temples. In the Millenium, resurrected persons can help find and direct, but they will not be able to do the ordinances because they are no longer part of this mortal life. Still-mortal Saints will have to do them. We will be busy indeed.
Truman Madsen said that only the acceptance of absolute obligation, the making of absolute promises, can unlock the divine within us. Anything short of that has only human effect. We do not promise to do our best and try our hardest when we take the covenant of baptism; we promise before God, absolutely, to stand as witnesses, to take the name of the Lord Jesus Christ upon ourselves and keep his commandments--forever. We are buried symbolically in the water to rise up a new creature, with our sins washed away and gone from us. Are we capable of living up to that, perfectly? No, unless we are hit by a truck moments afterwards and die, we will fail to remain clean and perfect. It's inevitable that we will fall short. We're only human.
The humanist outlook is that we should acknowledge that fact, and not expect or require perfection. All we can do is our best, right? Besides, they would say, there are no true absolutes. Of course, they deny that there is a God, who is the biggest Absolute of all.
But we testify that there is a God, and we are His children. He desires us to be like Him, and that means we have the potential of perfection, of the Absolute. It will take practice and patience, and it will take the experience of stepping forward without reservation to follow the path He sets for us, no matter that our steps will stumble from time to time--sometimes hugely--our intent and our heart and our hope have to be firm. His promises to us do not fail, and our promises to Him must be as firm, our intent complete. With His help our footing will firm up as we continue. The promise that makes the difference is the atonement of Christ; that is the power which makes up for our imperfections and failings, as we struggle along our Savior's perfect and unfaltering course. Our divine nature and possibility and our eternal potential can be unlocked by nothing less.
All that our Father has, He promises for us. Browning said, "A man's reach must exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" His ordinances are the training, teaching process for us to reach that offering, as obedience and spiritual experience bring us closer to our Redeemer, both in capacity and comprehension.
We don't routinely delve into the meanings of ordinances as fully, we tend to glide by them. We emphasize that ordinances must be performed, that they are required of God and are obtained only through his priesthood, which is the authority of man to act in His name. We list the standard ordinances, but we stop short I think at times. It's easy to go on automatic and not recognize how deep the meaning goes.We have had the opportunity to stop and think more deeply as we prepare to answer questions or bring understanding.
I have come to this definition of an ordinance: an ordinance is a physical performance of an eternal principle, done under the authority and keys of the priesthood. Some ordinances, termed saving ordinances, are necessary for our salvation. These are the ordinances performed in the temples. Baptism, confirmation, ordination for the brethren, endowment, sealings. They must be performed for each of us.
Other ordinances are performed as needed for our comfort and fellowship as Saints. Blessing and naming babies falls into this category. We do not name and bless an older child when a family comes into the Church. Administering to the sick is an ordinance, but if you never receive a priesthood blessing it won't keep you out of the celestial kingdom. Brigham Young said that resurrection is a priesthood ordinance, which we do not have the keys to in this world, but they will be received in the next. That can kind of blow your mind today! The sacrament, which we receive weekly in our Sunday meetings, is an ordinance which offers us a renewal of our baptism covenants, and it's critical to our process of focusing, renewing our intent and efforts to keep the commandments and walk in the Spirit, but it is the baptism, the original ordinance, which makes it effective for us.
The concept of ordinances is part of what sets the restored gospel of Jesus Christ apart from all the other professions of faith in the world. The Lord told Joseph Smith, Wherefore he that prayeth, whose spirit is contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey mine ordinances. (Doctrine & Covenants 52:15) Section 84, speaking of the Melchizadek priesthood, declares:
19 And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
20 Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
21 And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
This is not just about keeping the commandments in terms of our behavior (don't lie, cheat, steal, etc.), but about taking a further step and acting in carefully prescribed ways under the authority of God to follow the pathway he sets out for us. The concept of authority, of carefully designated, conferred and recorded authority is key. We declare that God spoke again to the earth (and continues to do so), and that every priesthood holder in our church can trace his authority by physical laying on of hands back to Peter, James, and John and thus to Jesus himself. What a bold claim that is! How audacious unless it's true.
Missionaries meet and teach many who have begun their spiritual journey in other churches. They may question why they have to be baptized again. Our answer is that we respect the desire of their hearts to come unto Christ, demonstrated in that action, but the power of salvation only comes through the power of God, and that comes only through His true authority. This baptism will give them more than they have ever dreamed, in all their previous faith.
Missionaries meet and teach many who have begun their spiritual journey in other churches. They may question why they have to be baptized again. Our answer is that we respect the desire of their hearts to come unto Christ, demonstrated in that action, but the power of salvation only comes through the power of God, and that comes only through His true authority. This baptism will give them more than they have ever dreamed, in all their previous faith.
Ordinances belong to this life; they are a part of mortality. We have come here to become physical beings--to gain a body-- and we have to make witness of our faith and obedience in physical ways. I don't understand all the reasons why that is, but the linkage is powerful. (Think how much touch matters.) These ordinances are given to us as the keys of our progression towards God. Even in behalf of the dead, it must be mortal beings who perform the work in the temples. In the Millenium, resurrected persons can help find and direct, but they will not be able to do the ordinances because they are no longer part of this mortal life. Still-mortal Saints will have to do them. We will be busy indeed.
Truman Madsen said that only the acceptance of absolute obligation, the making of absolute promises, can unlock the divine within us. Anything short of that has only human effect. We do not promise to do our best and try our hardest when we take the covenant of baptism; we promise before God, absolutely, to stand as witnesses, to take the name of the Lord Jesus Christ upon ourselves and keep his commandments--forever. We are buried symbolically in the water to rise up a new creature, with our sins washed away and gone from us. Are we capable of living up to that, perfectly? No, unless we are hit by a truck moments afterwards and die, we will fail to remain clean and perfect. It's inevitable that we will fall short. We're only human.
The humanist outlook is that we should acknowledge that fact, and not expect or require perfection. All we can do is our best, right? Besides, they would say, there are no true absolutes. Of course, they deny that there is a God, who is the biggest Absolute of all.
But we testify that there is a God, and we are His children. He desires us to be like Him, and that means we have the potential of perfection, of the Absolute. It will take practice and patience, and it will take the experience of stepping forward without reservation to follow the path He sets for us, no matter that our steps will stumble from time to time--sometimes hugely--our intent and our heart and our hope have to be firm. His promises to us do not fail, and our promises to Him must be as firm, our intent complete. With His help our footing will firm up as we continue. The promise that makes the difference is the atonement of Christ; that is the power which makes up for our imperfections and failings, as we struggle along our Savior's perfect and unfaltering course. Our divine nature and possibility and our eternal potential can be unlocked by nothing less.
All that our Father has, He promises for us. Browning said, "A man's reach must exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" His ordinances are the training, teaching process for us to reach that offering, as obedience and spiritual experience bring us closer to our Redeemer, both in capacity and comprehension.
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