So, I went to my parents, hoping for some team brainstorming ideas. Nothing. Until...my dad said something really impactful. Something I really needed to hear. Something I needed to hear so bad I started crying when he said it. It was just a gentle reminder. He told me that he loves listening to me talk about the scriptures. He told me that he knows, and that I know, that I have a testimony of them. He told me that I know far more than he did at my age, and that I probably know more than most people my age. "Just look at your scriptures," he said, "they're filled and falling apart."
And so that's what I want to share today. My infallible truth. What I know, and what I will never forget. The truth is, I haven't been as good at reading them lately. And I can tell. It's almost to a point that I have felt physically drained. But, I still know they are true. And how I have been feeling is just another testament to that. No one could convince me that the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Bible, and Pearl of Great Price are not divine and true. I know that they are.
So, I want to tell you what I said in church today.
I want to talk about Peter.
He is one of my favorite people in the scriptures, because I think that
we can all relate to him. In October Conference
of 2012, Elder Holland spoke about “The First Great Commandment”. Let me set the stage here. Christ has died and the apostles are unsure
about what to do next. They turn to
Peter who is the head apostle, and he suggests going fishing. So they go back in time and become fishers, and
like on the night of their first encounter with Christ, they are unable to
catch any fish. Now since Elder Holland
can tell the story much better than I can, I’m going to quote some of his talk.
(After
an unsuccessful night fishing…) "[The apostles] disappointedly turned toward the
shore, where they saw in the distance a figure who called out to them, 'Children, have you caught anything?' Glumly these
Apostles-turned-again-fishermen gave the answer no fisherman wants to give. 'We
have caught nothing,' they muttered, and to add insult to injury, they were
being called 'children.'
"'Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find,' the stranger
calls out—and with those simple words, recognition begins to flood over them."
Now, let me pause and ask you a question. And I want you to really think about it, don't just read the words. What does it take for you to
recognize Christ? Think about that while you continue reading.
"Just three years earlier these very men had been fishing on this
very sea. On that occasion too they had 'toiled all the night, and [had] taken
nothing,' the scripture
says. But a fellow Galilean on the shore had called out to them to let down
their nets, and they drew 'a great multitude of fishes,' enough that
their nets broke, the catch filling two boats so heavily they had begun to
sink.
"Now it was happening again. These 'children,' as they were
rightly called, eagerly lowered their net, and 'they were not able to draw it
for the multitude of fishes.' John said the
obvious: 'It is the Lord.' And over the
edge of the boat, the irrepressible Peter leaped."
Pausing again. Now, Elder Holland does not elaborate on this “leap”, but I
want to stop and consider it for a moment.
Hearing and recognizing the Savior’s voice, Peter becomes so excited
that he “leaps” over the boat and begins to swim to the Savior. He was that excited and eager to see his Lord
again. Ok, so sort of crazy, right? I would think that the other apostles who had
stayed on the boat made it to shore and their reunion with Christ before Peter
did. Maybe his leap wasn’t really that
beneficial. But Peter’s eagerness sets
him apart in this story. Think again. How eager are you to please the Savior? What would you
do to meet his will and come to him?
Continuing with Elder Holland's narrative.
"Gesturing to the 153 fishes, Jesus said to His senior Apostle, 'Peter, do you love me more
than you love all this?' Peter said, 'Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love
thee.'
"The Savior responds to that reply but continues to look into the
eyes of His disciple and says again, 'Peter, do you love me?' Undoubtedly
confused a bit by the repetition of the question, the great fisherman answers a
second time, 'Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.'
"The Savior again gives a brief response, but with relentless
scrutiny He asks for the third time, 'Peter, do you love me?' By now surely
Peter is feeling truly uncomfortable. Perhaps there is in his heart the memory
of only a few days earlier when he had been asked another question three times
and he had answered equally emphatically—but in the negative. Or perhaps he
began to wonder if he misunderstood the Master Teacher’s question. Or perhaps
he was searching his heart, seeking honest confirmation of the answer he had
given so readily, almost automatically.
"Whatever his feelings, Peter said for the third time, 'Lord, …
thou knowest that I love thee.'
"To which Jesus responded (and here again I acknowledge my
nonscriptural elaboration), perhaps saying something like: 'Then Peter, why are
you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this
same conversation? Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I
want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them
forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to
preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly
loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do.'"
Elder Holland concludes, "My beloved brothers and sisters, I am not certain just what our
experience will be on Judgment Day, but I will be very surprised if at some
point in that conversation, God does not ask us exactly what Christ asked
Peter: 'Did you love me?' I think He will want to know if in our very mortal,
very inadequate, and sometimes childish grasp of things, did we at least
understand one commandment, the first and
greatest commandment of them all—'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy
mind.'"
So now, I want you to think of your answers to my questions. What does it take for you to recognize
Christ? How eager are you to meet his
will? Would you leap off the boat to follow
him? And finally, in your conversation
with God, could you reply “Yea, Lord”? Did you feed his sheep?
At the end of John 21 verse 19, Christ simply says, “follow
me.” He has given us the perfect example
to follow. We must “feed his sheep”
through missions, examples, testimony, faith, endurance. We must defend our faith.
I believe that if you will follow Christ and surrender your life
to him, he will mold you into what HE needs YOU to be. I know that sometimes I may jump off the boat
and be so eager to seek after Christ that things don’t go quite according to
plan and I arrive later than intended, or have skipped a step so things aren't perfect.
But I also know that my love for Him can enable to be molded by His will
and His plan.
But maintaining that faith is not always so easy, is
it? Let me share another story about
Peter.
We’ve all heard the story in Matthew 14:22-33, there’s a bit of a storm outside and the disciples are struggling through it on the sea during the night when suddenly they see a figure walking on the water. They cry out in fear and Christ responds, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid”. Christ beckons to Peter and Peter walks on water, one of the many miracles in the New Testament. Yet, despite the miracle and obvious faith Peter must have had to accomplish it, he becomes afraid and begins to sink.
I imagine that Peter, who had so much faith in Jesus that he could walk on water, perhaps took his gaze off of Christ for just a moment and succumbed to the “boisterous” winds around him. Like Peter, I know at times my focus wavers, and I lose sight of my rock and redeemer in the midst of the temptations and business of the world. I think maybe we all do.
Another thing I found especially important in this set of scriptures was in verse 25, it says “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea”. My bishop pointed once that the fourth watch is the early hours of the morning, from about 3 to 6 AM. Likely the storm had been going for many, many hours already, and it wasn’t like Jesus was oblivious to it. In fact, he was very aware of it. He purposely came during the fourth watch.
In Ether 12:6 it says, "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."
I believe that Christ comes to us in the fourth watch of our trials, when we are most tired and exhausted, to lift our burdens. He will come to us after we have learned what we need to from our experience.
One last thought about Peter. In verse 31, after Peter calls out to Christ as he is sinking, Christ “immediately...stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt.”
Christ immediately reached out to Peter when he saw he was in the most need. He did not hesitate; he saved Peter, just like he has saved all of us. He waited until Peter had struggled through his trial and done his best and called for help and in that he learned an important lesson.
I know that it is in my darkest hours when I pray the hardest and have the most faith in Christ. It is in those hours of the fourth watch that he is able to work the greatest miracles in me. Like Peter, who was in one moment full of faith, and in the next fearful, I struggle to be strong always, but I know that if I endure to the end, Christ can do great things in my life and allow me to “walk on water”. I have yet to experience a fourth watch which does not end with Christ calling and reaching out to save me.
I know that the scriptures are true. I know that God lives and loves us. I know that because of the atonement I can not only repent and return to Christ, but that I also have an ally to give me strength and comfort when I am weak. That I have a Savior who will push me as far as I can go, and then pull me back in a warm and loving embrace.
I want to share my favorite scripture. D&C 50:40-44.
40 Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.
41 Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me;
42 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost.
43 And the Father and I are one. I am in the Father and the Father in me; and inasmuch as ye have received me, ye are in me and I in you.
44 Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon the rock shall never fall.
Christ has overcome the world for me. He will guide, love, and protect me despite what I made Him suffer. And He will do the same for you.
One final thought. Never forget His love and devotion to you. Never forget what you know. Be diligent in who you are and keep your eye on the Savior. D&C 6:23 says, "Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?" Remember what you know.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Until next time,
A
