More Than A Contribution

President Hunter said, “As I think of the blessings God has given us and the many beauties of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I am aware that along the way we are asked to make certain contributions in return, contributions of time or of money or of other resources. These are all valued and all necessary, but they do not constitute our full offering to God. Ultimately, what our Father in Heaven will require of us is more than a contribution; it is a total commitment, a complete devotion, all that we are and all that we can be.”  That the Lord in His Church requires more than a contribution I think is evident in our Sacrament Meetings.  A visitor from another Christian denomination coming for the first time will likely wonder when the plate for contributions will be passed around during the meeting—but we don’t do that.  Instead of asking for contributions from its members, the Church asks for much more, inviting the members to commit each Sunday “that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them” (Moroni 4:3).  Each Sunday we come to Church not to make a small contribution, but rather to promise to always remember the Savior and keep all the commandments He gives us.  Giving a $20 bill in the plate would be much easier. 

                The scriptures make it clear that the Lord requires much more than a simple contribution of good will.  Amaleki in the Book of Mormon put it this way, “And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him” (Omni 1:26).  Our offering should be that of our whole soul—the Lord is not concerned about the monetary value of the contribution of our possessions.  The story of the widow’s mite I think illustrates this; the Lord saw “many that were rich” at the treasury who did “cast in much,” but it was with the widow who “of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living” (Mark 12:44).  Another New Testament example of this principle is the story of Ananias and Sapphira who “sold a possession” but “kept back part of the price” from the Lord when they had covenanted to consecrate their all to the Lord (Acts 5:1-2).  Because they did this they both died, a symbol for us that we will die spiritually if we hold back our commitment to the Lord.  In a modern day scripture we learn that the Lord accepts those whose “hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite” and who “are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice,” even “every sacrifice” which the Lord requires.  He further stated that He “requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days” (D&C 64:34).  It’s our sacrifice, our spirit, our heart, and our minds that the Lord wants; not some predefined set of worldly “contributions” to His Church.  In the old law Jehovah put it this way, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5).  He reiterated this during His mortal ministry when He told us that the “first and great commandment” is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37).  In Christ’s gospel we are not asked to give some of our time to serve God; we are asked to give everything.  As Joseph Smith put it, our religion must “require the sacrifice of all things” to really lead to salvation.  And that’s much more than a contribution.